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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   892 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for October 15, 2025

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

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Limiting my screen time is a somewhat futile endeavor since I work on a computer, but I do my best to limit phone time. To that end, I recently ordered a bunch of NYT crossword books for something to do with downtime when I don't want to read whatever novel I'm working on.

I've been reminded how much crosswords can drive me crazy. Incomprehensible themes and horrible perversions of the English language are pervasive. I don't mind extreme trivia or obscure words or having to learn the clues and words that seem to appear in every third puzzle, but puzzle authors trying to be cute or clever is annoying.

Yeah, this is why I never got into crosswords either. I think it's like blank poetry or leetcode - in theory there's a big space of possible puzzles, but in practice they're written to conform to very specific formats. Let me know if you find any crossword that isn't like that.

in theory there's a big space of possible puzzles, but in practice they're written to conform to very specific formats.

There are only so many ways to cram a bunch of words together and have them all be actual words. The bigger the grid and the smaller the dead space, the fewer options there are for the possible words. The infinite possibilities start to shrink rapidly.

Aside from that practical limitation, the audience for crossword puzzles apparently loves atrocious answers, so puzzles are written to please them. One I did had the clue "lived like a single man," and the answer was "batchedit." I had never heard that phrase, and it's awful (why does it have a "t" in there when "bachelor" doesn't have one???). I cannot imagine ever hearing someone I know use that phrase. Searching the phrase online, though, and puzzle fanatics can be found screaming in delight at how creative it is. So when puzzles are written to please balloonheads like those, it's no wonder so many puzzles have insufferable clues and answers.

Rex is unimpressed with BATCHED IT.

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