Word Games
This might turn out to be a pretty good day. I just solved the NY Times mini crossword in 50 seconds. Probably a record for me. If I hadn’t mixed up Monet and Manet it would have been under 50 seconds. Of course, I’m betting there are multitudes who routinely best the puzzle in a lot less than that. Still, it gives me a little buzz.
The other word puzzle I enjoy in the Times collection is Wordle. My current streak is 37 days, my longest was 138. I go back and forth on Strands and Connections. Various levels of pleasure. Connections, without a doubt, is the most puzzling. My longest streak is fifteen days. Sometimes I just quit right in the middle. Get two groups and then give in to the mysteries of whatever the editors think they’re getting at.
There was a time when winning was all that mattered to me. Remnants of the drive still bubble, but mostly it’s just memories. And not all of them are good. It’s just what I have to live with, the things I’ve done or failed to do. And nowadays I’m trying hard not to let the freight of that past bear me down. I want to learn from it, then live my life as though there’s a future. To get up each morning welcoming the day, and then thinking about tomorrow and what tiny pleasures might make their way to me.