A quiet afternoon ski on Mont Royal. When I'm stuck on a problem and can't think my way to the answer, often the smartest thing I can do is to leave it alone.
I put on my runners, or in the winter, my cross-country skies, and I go for a long trek.
I don't know if it's the abundance of fresh air, the lack of other voices, the unobstructed views, or the lulling repetition of putting one foot in front of the other but before long the tight knots of the problem loosen and the answer I was seeking floats up into my mind. In the past, I've used this technique to work through creative writing problems -- primarily those that crop up when I'm working on a personal essay -- but I've discovered recently that it applies to solving and setting cryptics, too.
I put on my runners, or in the winter, my cross-country skies, and I go for a long trek.
I don't know if it's the abundance of fresh air, the lack of other voices, the unobstructed views, or the lulling repetition of putting one foot in front of the other but before long the tight knots of the problem loosen and the answer I was seeking floats up into my mind. In the past, I've used this technique to work through creative writing problems -- primarily those that crop up when I'm working on a personal essay -- but I've discovered recently that it applies to solving and setting cryptics, too.
When my father, who taught me cryptics, gets stuck on a puzzle, he turns his mind over to what he calls The Committee of Sleep. He finds that after a good night's rest (he is one of those lucky people for whom there is rarely any other kind), he can immediately see answers to which he was blinded the night before. Within a few minutes of picking the puzzle back up in the morning, the grid is filled.
The New Yorker ran a piece about this phenomenon in 2012 in an article entitled "The Virtues of Daydreaming". In it, psychology professor Jonathan Schooler of the University of California at Santa Barbara is quoted as saying that "if you’re trying to solve a complex problem, then you need to give yourself a real break, to let the mind incubate the problem all by itself."
The New Yorker ran a piece about this phenomenon in 2012 in an article entitled "The Virtues of Daydreaming". In it, psychology professor Jonathan Schooler of the University of California at Santa Barbara is quoted as saying that "if you’re trying to solve a complex problem, then you need to give yourself a real break, to let the mind incubate the problem all by itself."
Cryptic crosswords can have the opposite effect, too, of course: they can absorb our attention so completely that we tune out everything else. In fact, an acquaintance was telling me recently that when she is seized by a vicious migraine headache, focusing her attention on a puzzle will often keep the pain in check.
What is your brain like on cryptics?
When a puzzle has you stumped, how do you get "unstuck"?
And do you ever use puzzles as a welcome distraction?
What is your brain like on cryptics?
When a puzzle has you stumped, how do you get "unstuck"?
And do you ever use puzzles as a welcome distraction?
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