Sunday, August 06, 2023

Singing Along To The Same Old Song

There once was a dragon named Puff
We sang about him and other stuff
But then there was rock
And occasionally Beethoven and Bach
Yet of folk songs are there ever enough?
#MusicFromChildhood

Saturday, August 05, 2023

Nostalgia or Neuralgia

When we used to drink Fresca
And do puzzles by Maleska
Enthralled by what was on paper
But now that's become all vapor.
#BecomingCrossAboutWords

Thursday, August 03, 2023

Tea for Two with Letter Boxed

For whatever reason, on July 19, 2023 I was able to successfully complete the Letter Boxed puzzle in the NY Times with only two words, the first time I had done that.  I don't have a screen shot of my solution but I know the first word I used was cybernetics, since I wrote a little post about it to my Facebook Friends. I had been doing this puzzle for a few months, either after completing the Spelling Bee or when I was stuck on the last few words there.  I had been satisfied with simply getting a solution until then, though if I could get one with three words that seemed like an accomplishment.

But now I have the bug to find two-word solutions and as of late I've been reasonably successful at it.  Moreover, this has actually become more interesting to me than the Spelling Bee, even though that is much more popular, because it seems that these solutions to Letter Boxed are not prescribed, so there is more freedom to come up with solutions of your own making. 

Now I'd like to know whether the puzzle is designed so there always is a two-word solution or if it is just a happy coincidence that I've been finding them as of late.  Also, has there ever been a one-word solution?  I haven't tried for that yet.  At present it seems impossible or, if not that, then certainly out of my grasp.

I had been updating this blog post with screenshots of the recent solutions, but it seemed that blogger didn't like my doing this - the screen shots would "evaporate" and what remained was only a text-based summary of the solution.  So, I've made a Google Docs version of the screenshot solutions.  I hope to keep that up to date and will try to do so as long as this activity holds my interest.