Our family continues the crossword marathon. The anniversary puzzle was particularly satisfying. Being a Sunday it was challenging. One half was devoted to Star Wars and the other to Star Trek. There were parallel clues, and double letters to satisfy the both/and among us who enjoy sci fi. Having agreed when to zoom we were poised for action. The person entering answers as we called them out from four countries had to work fast. When our lead puzzler daughter
nailed the answer that stretched from top to bottom, "Do or do not there is no try" we switched to high gear. Jim and Bones were represented in the across the grid clue Space the Final Frontier. Mr. Spock and Hans Solo each had a moment to shine, as did The Federation and Rebel Alliance. As the light blinked Congratulations! we noticed the time: 36 minutes and 5 seconds. A perfect trophy for the anniversary.
We have upped our game, along with ten million others, to also take on Wordle. Although we solve it individually, there are two family chats about it. One includes spoilers. We can indulge in puns, opinions, and self congratulations when we nail it. I admit to having huffed a bit over agora.
There is a feature called hard mode, that some Odhners have turned on. Being a look-at-the-puzzle-lid-kinda girl I have not. All it takes is one click, plus you can change your mind to go back to easy. It is fascinating to consider private choice around difficulty. While there are accomplishments that seem impressive enough to me in their simplest form, like hiking the Appalachian Trail, or sailing across the Atlantic, some people raise the stakes by putting a time
constraint or a one eye closed limitation.
There are days when I silently think that my life is too smooth. Then things swivel and the kerfuffle leaves me gasping for breath. Maybe I can believe Yoda, and elect to participate in this life regardless of any label. It is worthy preparation for my own Final Frontier.
