Discussion: Focus Focus Focus

Interesting, I’d like to hear more about your course.

True dat. From an orienteering standpoint easy, west tyson. the second control i judged the control to be much lower in the re-entrant, peeled off earlier to get to that elevation, when i didnt see it, went to the next huge re-entrant wha????. came back, climbed up the entrant and left the control by the tracks of everybody else from the top. i was more worried about how to hold my compass so I could press my thumb into the pocket w my handwarmer than acually reading it, and might have been better off not having one at all. So put an absolute beginner on this easy but hill heavy energy sapping course, and thats what you might get. Really borderline dementia. Been doing too many crossword puzzles lately.

yepno focus. thought i would just show up and wing it, no prep, no warmup. that doesnt work for me at an orienteering event.

....borderline dementia. Been doing too many crossword puzzles lately.

Ha ha! Me too! Too many crosswords in the NYTImes. But I've hoped those would DELAY dementia by encouraging brain stimulation.

Unfortunately I've pretty much given up orienteering. No leg speed anymore. And quite unstable; taking a fall out there could be nasty. At least you got out there and did it! Were you the oldest competitor at that meet?

not sure about the ages. probably the oldest, but thats no excuse. and i didnt do it, i dropped out - but lived to run another day. what do you think of the nyt puzzles? at first i thought the intentional obfuscation was silly, but now i enjoy the challenge. takes some getting used to. I agree w the idea that they keep brain pathways well oiled, but they are verbal pathways not spatial pathways and thus seem unhelpful and perhaps a hindrance for orienteering skills.

Re the NYTimes crosswords: I usually knock off Monday's with no problem; Tuesdays take a bit of interpretation; and Wednesdays are a challenge on which I think I stand 50% completed, 50% abandoned half-filled in. Obfuscation is right! Have you ever attempted a Sunday NYT crossword? I think Rick Armstrong does Sundays occasionally. Talk to him about his technique.

And BTW what kind of armchair exercise would you recommend for lubricating the 'spatial' pathways?

Saturdays are supposed to be the hardest, aren't they? and Sunday equal to Wed? At least I think I read that somewhere.

I am probably one of the least qualified people on AP to answer your question, but I always thought I'd love to see map snippets juxtaposed w terrain photos that one could match w the correct map...or toggle back and forth. I guess that exists in the form of 'follow me' type videos. When you were orienteering, what about it did you find most challenging?

Clark, how did you know that?
NYT - Mon-Wed: Often 'cute' themes -- I usually complete them.
Thursday: Clever gimmicks abound which can confound when not found. Often complete, perhaps with 1-2 holes -- pop culture clues are my weakness. Fran helps with French. I don't use computers or dictionaries.
Friday: Usually unthemed. Quite hard; can sometimes get 'good start', rarely finish.
Saturday: Rarely try; if I try, rarely get very far. Hardest.
Interesting that Friday and Saturday tend to use less "crosswordese" [atui, nene, eno, emo, ska etc - 3&4 letter words rarely seen outside of crosswords]. But it is quite hard to get a start on their 10-15 letter every day phrases.
Sunday is very similar to Wednesday in difficulty -- larger and also themed -- usually 'nearly' finish.
Improvement: The more xwords you do, you'll pick up most of their common 3-letter words. Also, with practice your ability to ferret out 'clever' clues will improve.

Tough week!
THUR, FRI, and SUN all harder than usual. Major holes in all 3 for me - finished none.
And then even MON and TUES were hard for early in week - completing was a struggle.

Some puzzles just don't mesh w our personalities...plus our own mindset varies from day to day. Its a lot more than just knowing some words, in fact that can be a hindrance....because if you are clever and manage to fit the wrong wording into the space, that can take quite some time to untangle!

Ha ha! I got Monday and Tuesday this week with no problem. Liked Tuesday's 'Gotta Run' theme. Now if I can just figure out Wednesday's 16-letter 'historical event suggested by each of the six groups' it will be one of the first weeks I've ever done all three days perfectly...after 3-4 years of trying! Don't use computer or dictionaries either.

I don't recognize Chi's references, so we are out of sync. I do the syndicated NYT in STL Post Dispatch -- 5 weeks behind on weekdays; 1 week behind on Sunday.

I did finish Friday -- 1st all week -- bloggers did say, "Easy Friday". Nice to have pretty clean clues, no theme. Not even a start on Saturday.

Nice going! Five weeks! I subscribe to the midwest print edition...a nice fresh copy is on my doorstep by 5am every weekday. In addition, I get digital access and emailed special editions, such as the daily Times Digest, which also includes the current day's crossword. Maybe you could get that for free here.

Costs now $560/year for all that, but I look upon it as support for an institution that I'd like to see survive through the current tech upheaval. As an old guy, nothing I like better than to sit in a coffee shop with a hard-copy of the NYTimes, read the news, do the crossword, drink good coffee.

And BTW, I got Wednesday's 16-letter poser: French Revolution!

I subscribe to $180/year NYT digital - no crossword; no paper. Fran and I access it a couple times a day. Daily STL PD gives local news and plenty for us to read.

Anyone do 'cryptoquiz'? In the earlier stages its a blend of logic (like sudoku) and the structure of the english language (grammar/sentence structure and word formation/letter position), then later it becomes word and phrase recognition like a crossword puzzle...in a sense like orienteering, pulling together various diverse skills in the service of one goal.

A colleague of mine loved 'cryptograms' -- letter substitution puzzles usually featuring a quote and author. Just looked up one 'cryptoquiz'. I still prefer crosswords and numerical puzzles such as Ken-Ken, Kakuro, Killer Sudoku, or More or Less.