Crosswords
This weekend Bonnie and I finally got around to watching Wordplay. It's a documentary about Will Shortz -- editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle -- along with the people he work with and the people who solve his puzzles (a motley collection ranging from regular civilians to celebrities like Jon Stewart and Bill Clinton).
I watched it because it's a great film and it's really entertaining. Almost all of the people interviewed are very sympathetic characters - self-effacing and modest, even apologetic, that they all have this fascination in common. If you haven't seen it, rent it or request it from Netflix.
But it got me thinking -- for someone who writes for a living, and loves words, I absolutely hate word puzzles. Anagrams, word finds, crosswords -- any of them. I'm no good at them, they frustrate me, and I hate them. Hate hate hate.
I guess what some of it must come down to is an observation by the former Times Public Editor/Ombudsman who noted that his experience was that the people who do the best job at the puzzles are mathematicians and musicians. Those people, he said, are very adept at interpreting coded information very quickly. I'm neither a musician nor any good whatsoever at math.