Rather than trying to cut down on time, why not reflect on what I have learned about solving, about the world and about myself? The crossword is a rare chance to tune out the outside world and focus deeply, even if just for a minute.Īs my spreadsheet grows, I will strive to ask others not how much time they took to solve the puzzle, but what they discovered while doing so. Now that I’m out of school, perhaps my next 1,184 days of crossword data ought to focus on that part of the process. By always typing without thinking, I had missed out on the fun. During a solve, I would often miss a humorous clue or witty wordplay because I would complete the puzzle on the Acrosses alone. Now, I am just as grateful for the social experience of the crossword as I once was for a speedy solve. For so many people, the crossword is a glue, capable of forging new relationships and strengthening old ones over a common passion. I even know a few people who have listed the New York Times Crossword as an interest on their résumés in hopes of starting a conversation with a potential employer. Yet another friend loved the crossword so much that, for her birthday, her friends gifted her a pillow printed with the first puzzle they had solved together. Hers was filled in less consistently with daily solves, but involved far more people who were committed to the Mini cause. One evening - deep into my second year of solving - a good friend pulled out her own spreadsheet, which was formatted a bit differently from mine. “For so many people, the crossword is a type of glue, capable of forging new relationships and strengthening old ones over a common passion.” More than anything, the Mini is powerful enough to bring us together as we await the unknown challenges ahead. It allowed us to seem knowledgeable without “doing the reading,” as is common in college. With our hectic lives and busy schedules, the Mini offered a fleeting yet inspiring outlet for college students to work our intellectual muscles in ways that sitting in a lecture hall did not. For these students, it became a different vehicle for social interaction. Surprisingly, a newly released Mini was enough temptation to draw their attention away from partying and toward a collaborative mental exercise. In small groups around the apartment - sitting on the couch, leaning against the wall - other people were engaging in the same collective task: solving that Mini. For the first time, I talked about how I had solved the puzzle, rather than how fast I had solved it.Īfter a congratulatory high-five, I turned my attention back to the rest of the room. It offered a quick glimpse into that person’s thought process. Instead, this joint solve was a way to get to know someone better. Someone I didn’t know approached me for help with the Mini and, in that moment, it was not about fingers tapping furiously across the keyboard or zipping through clues to beat my friends. dopamine surge that accompanied the release of the next day’s Mini had set in. One Saturday night, during a pre-pandemic party, the 10 p.m. It is alluring, accessible and perfect for putting me in a state of creative flow.Įven so, I wonder why my generation craves this bite-size need for speed.Ĭould it be because we can get it done quickly, make note of our achievement and move on - not just on the Mini, but in every aspect of our overbooked lives? There is something about the Mini that makes it irresistible. I cannot name another habit that I have purposely maintained for this long. Some columns in the spreadsheet are accompanied by annotations that dredge up memories about a particular Mini, like a frustrated “Sheesh” after a two-minute solve and a gratified “Get outta here!” when I finished in under 10 seconds for the first time. And what started as a friendly competition to claim victory over a few seconds of each day become a passion project spanning our time in college - and beyond. Since the beginning, we have kept a spreadsheet of our solve times. More than three years ago, when I was a student at Duke University, two friends and I embarked on this quest to solve the Mini every day. Today was my 1,184th day in a row of completing the New York Times Mini Crossword.
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