Tough puzzle or puzzled brain?
Friday, October 27, 2023 at 09:44AM
In retirement one does not have any particularly serious problems to which to apply one’s intellect. So those of us who still like to test our cognitive abilities turn to puzzles and games. I faithfully enjoy solving the Jumble each morning. I’ve taken to completing the Connections puzzle of the NYTimes. And my friend Heidi and I like to challenge each other with Isaac Asimov’s Super Quiz. Some days the puzzles are simple to solve. Other days, insolvable. Usually, I easily unscramble the four words and answer to the Jumble in just a minute or two. Ah, a good day ahead, I rationalize. Other days, there are words or clues that simply defy a solution. And when I find the answer in the next day’s newspaper, I wonder why I didn’t immediately “get it.” My overall solution rate is about 95%. NYTimes Connections is a simple game of dividing 14 words into four related categories. The creators make it more challenging by including a few words that could be put in multiple categories, so some deduction is needed. At other times, the relationship among the words is less than obvious. (From this morning, what do these words have in common - cars, swimmers, trees, and elephants? Some require a bit of factual knowledge such as familiarity with the names of sports teams. My solution rate is about 50% with a rate of 10% for perfect scores. With Isaac, everything depends on the subject of the quiz. Literature I rock; Canadian provinces I suck. I’d guess my overall solution rate is about 75%. What I often wonder if it is the difficulty of the puzzle itself - or the condition of my brain that leads to success or failure on each puzzle. I am at the age where I monitor my cognitive abilities, looking for small slips. Should I miss a simple jumbled word or not see an obvious relationship among words or fail to remember the occupation of a classic book’s main character, should I just pack it up and find a memory care unit before I hurt myself or others? I will have to say that I sometimes overcome my decline through cleverness. For example, on a recent trip on which I drove senior residents to grocery stores in a 12 passenger van, I locked the keys in the vehicle. Duh. My own car only requires a fob that just stays in my pocket - no messing with keys. Luckily, the van has a wheelchair lift accessed through doors that swing apart. Those doors were not locked and I was able to get this old body up and over the folded lift and into the van. No calling the office or AAA. Whew. I didn’t even hurt myself squeezing through the narrow opening between the folded lift and the ceiling of the van. Perhaps dumb luck may delay senility as well.
Reader Comments (2)
I like Connections as well. I got today's puzzle with one chance left, and only because the trunks connection was the only option left!
On most of the Connection puzzles, the commonality of the last 4 remains a mystery to me!
Doug