She does not write a word down until she is absolutely certain that it is the right word. When finished, her crossword puzzles look like they could be the solution page that you find in the back of crossword puzzle books.
Some puzzles are harder than others. Every morning I complete the USA Today puzzle on line. Mondays are the easiest day of the week and by the weekend they become more challenging. Sorta the opposite how we live life.
I enjoy doing crossword puzzles in airplane magazines when I travel. I enjoy doing the puzzles in used newspapers I find in restaurants. I enjoy the Detroit Free Press newspaper because there are usually three puzzles in each days paper. Why? I love words.
In the book entitled, The Lie That Tells a Truth, John Dufresne says, "the limits of your language are the limits of your world." I think he is right. I think many people live their life with a limited number of words in their vocabulary and thus live in a limited world.
Recently I ran across a quote from a person who said, "I was reading the dictionary, I thought it was a poem about everything." I am not advocating that we read the dictionary cover to cover, but I am suggesting it wouldn't hurt us to go back to the days in school when we had "vocab" lessons and we learned new words every week.
Crosswords puzzles are the way I learn new words. And yes, sometimes when I near the end of a puzzle and I am still missing a couple of words, I yield to the temptation to just fill in the blanks neatly so I can say, "finished." And by the way, I didn't learn that from my mom. But when I succumb to the temptation to do this, I learn a new word even though its not a real word. Know what I mean?
Gotta go...USA Today crossword puzzle is calling...
Cruciverbalist...new word for the day...Meaning? Person who designs or solves crossword puzzles.
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