Okay, so today I decided to tackle something a bit different – monitoring crossword puzzle solving. Sounds kinda weird, right? But I was curious about how long it takes me to solve different puzzles and if there were any patterns.
Getting Started
First, I needed a way to actually time myself. I thought about using a fancy app, but then I figured, “Nah, keep it simple.” So, I just grabbed my phone and used the good old stopwatch feature. Nothing fancy, just start and stop.
Then I needed some crosswords. I have a couple of puzzle books lying around, so I started with those. I made sure to pick a variety – some easy, some hard, just to get a good mix of data.
The Messy Middle Part
So, I started solving. I made sure to hit “start” on my stopwatch the second I looked at the first clue, and “stop” when I filled in the last square. I jotted down the time in a little notebook I had nearby.
Here’s where it got a bit messy. Sometimes I’d get interrupted – phone call, the dog needed to go out, you know, life stuff. When that happened, I tried to pause the stopwatch, but I’m sure I messed up a few times. A couple of times I totally forgot to restart and solve like 5 clues and hit it again!
Also, I realized that “easy,” “medium,” and “hard” are kinda subjective. What I consider easy might be hard for someone else, and vice-versa. So my labeling system might not be super scientific.
- Date: 2024/10/27
- Puzzle Source: “Easy Crosswords, Volume 1”
- Time: 12 minutes, 34 seconds. (This one felt really easy.)
- Notes: Got interrupted by a phone call.
- Date: 2024/10/27
- Puzzle Source: “New York Times Monday” (I printed one from online)
- Time: 18 minutes, 55 seconds.
- Notes: Had to look up one answer. Darn obscure trivia!
What I Learned (Kinda)
After doing this for a while, I started to see some, um, vague patterns. Like, yeah, the puzzles labeled “hard” generally took longer. But there was a lot of variation. Some “easy” ones stumped me more than some “medium” ones. And those interruptions definitely threw things off.
I guess the main takeaway is that solving crosswords is, well, unpredictable! It’s not like a super controlled experiment. But it was still a fun little project. Maybe I’ll try it again sometime, and try to be a bit more organized about it. Or maybe I’ll just stick to solving them for fun, without the pressure of the clock!
