Puzzle Corner

Martian Tom said:

Good idea.

I'm not great with puzzles, though I quite enjoy them.  I like doing things like IQ tests, creativity tests, etc.  My spatial awareness isn't good.  I've never been able to do things like the Rubik's Cube.  My ex could solve it in under a minute, however mixed up it was, and I never understood how she managed it.  If I go around a couple of corners, I never know which way I'm facing, and can never place myself in relation to other parts of a building or area.

I like cryptic crosswords, though.

Yeah, I'm pretty useless at puzzles myself, Tom, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy them given the time. 

This reminds me of when I was working with a bunch of guys some years ago.

What we did was when things were slow someone would pop out and buy a copy of 'The Times' or 'The Guardian' or some other 'broadsheet' paper in order to cut out the cryptic crossword. What we did was get photocopies of it and hand the copies around to the guys and each of us would try to solve as many of the clues as we could and although you had to do it in fits and starts, depending on how busy it got, we could usually complete it between us before the day was out. 

I was pretty hopeless and had to use one of those electronic dictionaries/thesaurus to assist me, but it soon made me better at doing crosswords. I was never very good but it passed the time and lightened the group atmosphere.

The point about puzzles and so on is that it is something to occupy your mind with instead on dwelling on stuff that can make you unhappy, especially with other people..

Martian Tom said:

Good idea.

I'm not great with puzzles, though I quite enjoy them.  I like doing things like IQ tests, creativity tests, etc.  My spatial awareness isn't good.  I've never been able to do things like the Rubik's Cube.  My ex could solve it in under a minute, however mixed up it was, and I never understood how she managed it.  If I go around a couple of corners, I never know which way I'm facing, and can never place myself in relation to other parts of a building or area.

I like cryptic crosswords, though.

Yeah, I'm pretty useless at puzzles myself, Tom, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy them given the time. 

This reminds me of when I was working with a bunch of guys some years ago.

What we did was when things were slow someone would pop out and buy a copy of 'The Times' or 'The Guardian' or some other 'broadsheet' paper in order to cut out the cryptic crossword. What we did was get photocopies of it and hand the copies around to the guys and each of us would try to solve as many of the clues as we could and although you had to do it in fits and starts, depending on how busy it got, we could usually complete it between us before the day was out. 

I was pretty hopeless and had to use one of those electronic dictionaries/thesaurus to assist me, but it soon made me better at doing crosswords. I was never very good but it passed the time and lightened the group atmosphere.

The point about puzzles and so on is that it is something to occupy your mind with instead on dwelling on stuff that can make you unhappy, especially with other people..