Because you are getting older...much...faster than you are getting either faster or wiser. There must be some tools, preferably free or cheap, that will deal with your brain slowing down. Are you listening?
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Cryptic Crosswords
I have been doing these since the seventies: as they say, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Harper's Magazine pioneered them in the US, but the redoubtable classic is the Times of London. A cryptic gives you clues that are meant to confuse: you must parse them for a primary clue, which is a synonym, and a secondary, which might be a pun, a hidden word, an anagram, another meaning, a homonym, etc. What am I talking about? Here is one from the latest edition of The Nation magazine: "Cerf edited article within The Nation (6)." I miss the 10x10 cryptics The New Yorker published for a few years many years ago: here is their guide to solving cryptics: Guide to Solving Cryptics. The Nation's cryptics are fairly accessible and manageable, and printed on their inimitable cheap stock--and The Nation might be a good read for those in whom Fox News has instilled brain death. There are many other cryptics available online.
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