|
2016-10-10 - We generally put the importance of fitness at the front door of physicality. However, according to Harvard Education mental fitness is just as vital to our wellbeing, especially as you grow older. As we age our brains change, our neurons (brain cells) accumulate fat deposits, hindering their function. The neurons die from old age, and are not replaced with new ones so that brain starts to shrink as we age. This means that the messages that are sent between neurons work at a slower speed. Improving your mental dexterity helps to keep both your mind and body healthy. Additionally, mental exercises that aid relaxation are equally as useful as those stoking your brainpower.This doesn’t mean you can forget physical fitness, healthy bodies prevent diabetes and heart disease. However, it does mean that you should find time in your daily routine to complete mental dexterity exercises. This will keep your mind sharper and your body healthier, thus helping you maintain your independence.Don’t worry, though, this doesn’t involve IQ tests or brain competitions. What these exercises do is help you slow down and decompress, and boost a waning memory.We already know that physical exercise can help battle depression, but as it turns out mental exercise is also beneficial.Crossword puzzles test the reasoning part of your brain and are an excellent way to keep your mind sharp. They are an ideal way to build your brain muscles, and aid in increasing your reaction time, attention span, and improve your logic, reasoning skills, and trivia knowledge. Crossword puzzles are the perfect mind improving task because it sharpens your focus. We live in a world where everything has to be completed while multitasking, and as wonderful as that is it breaks our ability to concentrate. Focusing on a single task improves concentration and improves your production rates. When sitting down to do a crossword puzzle it becomes your sole focus.A healthy and sharp mind helps prevent dementia, Alzheimer’s, and can even help to prevent or improve the symptoms of depression and anxiety. For people who have already been diagnosed with the former, crossword puzzles can be used to slow down the progress of symptoms.You might be thinking all of this sounds great, but you’re busy and you just don’t have time. If you don’t have time to solve an entire puzzle, that’s fine- you can work on your puzzle for 10 to 15 minutes every day until it’s done and move on to the next one. Nothing says that the puzzle needs to be completed in one sitting. You can even involve your family and make it a group exercise to increase bonding, and verbal skills for everyone.
Source: Crossword365
2016-10-06 - The health benefits of crossword puzzles have been well documented for adults, and the elderly. Additionally, the suggestion that completing crossword puzzles in a group can improve communication skills and cooperation.What is rarely discussed, however, is the benefit crossword puzzles can play in childhood development. Children frequently start out with jigsaw puzzles in large, simple shapes that fit into a board with cut outs. They move on to more complex puzzles in order to improve their hand eye coordination, cognitive skills, and emotional skills as they learn patience. Crossword puzzles improve language skills, have benefits to mental dexterity and concentration. They help the mind recognize patterns and improve critical thinking. So, what benefits are there to collaborative thinking?The first one is obvious- collaboration. This encourages verbalizing thoughts and contributions, as collaborative crossword puzzling requires communication. It also requires the ability to shift your perception. You may come across a clue that you are sure you know the answer to, however someone else believes the answer is something different and both fit your current puzzle. Two (or more) people are bringing different viewpoints in order to reach the same goal- completing the puzzle. As the process requires communication, each puzzler is hearing another perspective. Additionally, when working in a group you are able to piggyback on other people’s thoughts. Sometimes hearing someone talk their thoughts out loud can jog your memory into assessing the puzzle using a different tact, which can lead to the answer. When working in a group to do anything it’s frequently known as brainstorming. Brainstorming and piggybacking are similar, in that both involve working by thinking out loud. This can also improve your chances of coming to the correct answer, as a puzzler might be on the verge of coming up with an answer, and talking it out can help the group finish the thought. Crossword puzzles initiate deep thinking and creative learning, and doing so in a family group spreads the knowledge. When you consider quiz teams, each person has a different frame of reference, which means they can answer particular sets of questions more comfortably than the other members of the team. The same can be said when it comes to puzzlers. If parents regularly involve their children in the crossword puzzle process they are collaborating to share their knowledge. The majority of puzzles have a theme, and part of the crossword puzzle process is recognizing the pattern which explains the theme. They are also an excellent way to install confidence in your child, and teach them puns, metaphors, and plays on words that are frequently used in crossword puzzles.How you choose to approach your puzzling in a group is up to you, but the process might be made easier provided everyone can read the clues for themselves, as well as see the puzzles themselves.
Source: Crossword365
2016-10-01 - You might think you don’t have the mind of a crossword puzzler, however anyone can learn to be better at completing crosswords. There are a number of steps you can take to better understand puzzles, how to solve them, and what steps you can take in order to gather the correct answers. Work in a groupWorking in a group promotes collaboration, which leads to sharing knowledge. So, while you may not know something, someone else in your puzzle group may be able to help. If you can’t work in a group, you can always call a friend for help if you come across an answer that evades you. CrosswordeseThere are words that are frequently found in crossword puzzles, but don’t tend to crop up in everyday conversations. Words like aga, arno, elbe, epee, apse, olio and iota. Make yourself familiar with these common words filled with vowels that many crossword setters slip into their puzzles in order to make words fit. Follow The CluesCrossword setters adhere to strict puzzle rules, so clues are written in the same part of speech as answers. Look for clues that that require answers ending in ING, EST, ED or S. It is possible that you can pencil these in ahead of time which could help you solve other clues. Before pencilling the answers in, check the corresponding clues- if it is also a plural then chances are the end letter is S. If you’re looking for an abbreviation, the clue will indicate this. If the answer is an acronym, the clue will generally feature an acronym within its text. Don’t rushIt’s easy to jump to conclusions when you read a “simple” clue, however many words have different meanings. So a clue reading “nurse” could be related to the medical profession, or it could be to breastfeed, or perhaps sip a drink. Other words that mean many things: tire, spring, bear, entrance.ReferencesLooking up the answer isn’t cheating, it might feel like it, and it might even quell your feeling of success as you fill in the final answer. However, you may find yourself at an impasse, you have exhausted all other options so there is nothing else left for it. You can check a dictionary, encyclopaedia, atlas, or the internet. Consider this, the most compelling part of solving a puzzle is walking away from it with more knowledge than you had before. So you should never be too afraid to look something up if you have exhausted all other options. The only way to learn is to expand your mind, take time out to memorize crosswordese, capitals of states and countries, mountains, continents, seas, oceans, world currencies, and major rivers. Not only will you become a better puzzler, but spending times memorizing and recalling is great for your brain health.
Source: Crossword365
2016-09-29 - Crosswords are more than just a great way to pass your time. You may just love solving problems, and find it an excellent hobby, but as it turns out: it’s good for your brain. Researchers have studied the positive effects crossword puzzles can play for your brain provided they are completed regularly. The good news is that once a week constitutes regularly, so you should have no trouble fitting one or two in. Solving crossword puzzles on your own is beneficial, however working in a group adds another dimension. Collaboration requires creative thinking in a strategic fashion. Overall, crossword puzzles are a brain consuming activity, you can improve your verbal skills, increase your deep thinking, and help you solve problems. Prevent the onset of Alzheimer’sCompleting crosswords on a daily basis helps to keep your brain sharp and active, especially in your senior years. This can prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s. BondingWhen working in a group you act as a group, thus creating a bonding experience. Not only does it improve social bonds, but it improves the speed of thinking and solving the problems. Expanded VocabularyCrosswords provide regular learning, because you will constantly learn new words. When you come across a new word you’ll likely head for the dictionary in order to understand the definition of the word, which means it’s going to stick. Deep EngagementSolving puzzles leads to digging deeper into the problem(s) at hand. Suddenly your sole focus is solving the problem, and forgetting about your worries… leading you to relaxation bliss. Problem SolvingVery rarely do you meet a simple crossword puzzle, while some may be easier than others none of these are easy. At some point you will have to rack your brain to solve a problem. Racking your brain can help you deal with life’s normal troubles. Because crossword puzzles help you think clearly and understanding puzzle patterns can help you understand life’s patterns.PatternsPatterns provide our lives with structure and help us to explain how things are connected, and they are rooted in science and math. One of the most efficient ways that crossword puzzles keep your brain fit is by exercising your pattern detecting muscle. BoredomMany people suffer from boredom, and for those who are anxious, bored, depressed or lonely solving crossword puzzles can help you relax. It can keep your mind engaged and allow you to have fun. Whether you are a puzzle person or not, anyone can enjoy crossword puzzles. So you see, crossword puzzles really aren’t just a fun hobby, they can reduce stress, exercise your brain and fend off the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s. If you’re new to crosswords start off with the easier options before working your way up to more difficult puzzles.
Source: Crossword365
2016-09-26 - We’ve been playing crosswords puzzles since 1913 and for some of us they’re part of our routine, for some just a way to spend the time while on the bus or train but either way we’ve all experienced these things while trying to solve them.
1. Knowing that the answer you're thinking of is wrong but it's the only one you got so you try to fit it in the grid.
via GIPHY
2. When you struggle for hours with a clue and a random friend passes by and immediately knows the answer.
via GIPHY
3. When you've only one clue left but can't find it no matter what.
via GIPHY
4. When you see people solve their crosswords with pencils instead of pens.
via GIPHY
5. The frustration of needing to Google a clue or check it out on Crossword365 — and then realizing you already knew it.
via GIPHY
6. The pure joy when you've finished a difficulty level that you never thought you'd be able to.
via GIPHY
Source: Crossword365
2016-09-23 - This New York Times Crossword is famous for being featured on the Simpsons Episode 6, Season 20 "Homer And Lisa Exchange Cross Words" which was originally aired on Fox in the US on November 16, 2008 . In this episode, Lisa finds out that she has a talent for solving crossword puzzles, and she enters a crossword tournament. Lisa is really disappointed when she finds out that her father has placed a bet against her in the championship match.Crossword puzzle creators Merl Reagle and Will Shortz guest star as themselves in this episode and then Reagle went on to create a special crossword that had a Simpson-related message which was published on New York Times Sunday crossword on November 16th, 2008 as a promotion for the episode. Below you can see the solved crossword. Try to spot the Simpsons-related answers and let us know in the comments how many could you find!Need help with current New York Times Crosswords? Visit daily updated our archive here.
Source: Crossword365
2024-12-13 - Making worse
Source: 7 Little Words
2024-12-13 - Aqueous art
Source: 7 Little Words
2024-12-13 - Illegally extracting money
Source: 7 Little Words
2024-12-13 - Dreadful
Source: 7 Little Words
|
|
|
|
