Words, My Best Friend

According to a study in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, “Concentrating on a hobby such as solving crossword puzzles or gardening, can help you forget your worries for a while and change your mood. It can be good to have an interest where you’re not seen as someone’s mum or dad, partner or employee. You’re just you.” This somewhere struck a  chord in me, as I was in fact looking out for an alternate hobby. As they say, in life you should always have a Plan B, lest Plan A fails. The same holds true for hobbyists like me who get bored after pursuing “hobby one” for a long time.                                                                                                  

I started on an enthusiastic note early morning with the daily crossword puzzle- a regular feature of our newspaper supplement. I pursued my new hobby with single-minded devotion for 3 months, and came across “the proof-of-concept” for myself that crosswords aren’t just insignificant word games or games that are the sole prerogative of the nerds and geeks. Every attempt at filling the squares was making me think beyond the obvious. I was brainstorming for possible words synonymous with the given clue. In a matter of 2 months, there was a significant improvement in my speed of thinking and talking and voila! some of the words discovered en route my crossword journey were helping me in my day to day conversations at the work place. Being an introvert, I find it hard to initiate a conversation; however, three months into this hobby, I do not feel like a fish out of water at social gatherings. The icing on the cake moment came when a colleague recently asked me at the send-off party of our boss, “How is it that you always end up with the right word at the right time?” I smiled, mumbled a quick thank you, and  am sure she will find out why after reading this blog.

Another note-worthy development that doing crosswords has brought out is peace in the household. Nowadays, I no longer rush to grab the morning main paper before my husband does. Any deviation from the normal is bound to raise eyebrows, and he did enquire after a fortnight, “Hey, don’t you read the paper anymore?” to which my reply was, “You know what, these days I find the SUPPLEMENT more interesting.” And, I don’t think he has found out why.J

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Initially designed and developed for children, the crossword gradually evolved into a serious adult pastime. Clues can range from straight or quick (lacking feeling=numb, chief of the Greek Gods=Zeus, pleasant and good-tempered= amiable) to indirect ones that promote lateral thinking and often end with a question mark.  Eg: Liquor, perhaps hidden in dance of communist origin?  The answer is RUMba, as the dance form “Rumba” originated in Cuba.

I personally prefer the US variety which totally avoids the “cryptic” and does not include “hanging” words. Advice to beginners: On an off day, never go for cryptic crosswords. You may end up driving yourself nuts trying to get the solution, and are more likely to feel dejected than not.