The Aesthetics of Crossword Puzzles (2024)

FAQs

What type of person likes crossword puzzles? ›

Men, women, young people, old people, scientists, musicians, people who work at Walmart. The common theme is a desire to be intellectually challenged. Roughly, people who are more into words are more likely to solve crosswords while people who are more into logic are more likely to solve Sudoku.

noun. cru·​ci·​ver·​bal·​ist. ˌkrüsəˈvərbələ̇st. : a person skillful in creating or solving crossword puzzles.

Moreover, crossword puzzle clues often force you to link concepts you hadn't pictured together. These features mean that crossword puzzles cause large areas of your cortex to be active, and stimulate new connections in your brain.

Crossword puzzles have been a popular pastime for decades, and for good reason. Not only are they a fun way to pass the time, but they also offer a variety of cognitive, emotional, and social benefits for your brain and overall quality of life.

The ISFJ personality type is also called “The Defender.” People with this personality are kind, but reserved. They may seem quiet, yet they are constantly observing the world around them. ISFJs are great at remembering the small details, which is why they make great puzzlers.

According to profiling with the Myers-Briggs test, many dissectologists who excel at putting puzzles together are people with personality types that are either INFJs or ISFJs. In other words, these are “Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, and Judgment” and “Introversion, Sensing, Feeling, and Judgment,” respectively.

Linguistic Intelligence

Young adults with this kind of intelligence enjoy writing, reading, telling stories or doing crossword puzzles.

They perform better on reasoning, attention, and memory tasks. The study also showed that seniors who often complete crosswords and other word-based puzzles have a brain function equivalent to that of a person ten years younger.

Puzzles exercise multiple cognitive functions, making them an ideal activity for individuals with ADHD who often struggle with executive functions such as planning, organising, and problem-solving.

Beyond that, Pillai says, “there is a hypothesis that [doing crossword puzzles] improves working memory or one's ability to keep multiple things in mind at the same time.” This improved memory reserve, the thinking goes, could compensate for some of the losses in cognitive function caused by the onset of dementia.

Does doing crosswords prevent dementia? ›

And a study from JAMA Open , published in July 2023, found that frequently engaging in brain-challenging activities, including journaling, playing chess, and solving crossword puzzles was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia among older adults.

Puzzles provide a much better opportunity to relax, making it easier to fall asleep and properly switch off. You need to look at individual parts of a jigsaw puzzle, or available spaces in a crossword puzzle and figure out how to fit the pieces or words into their space.

Don't be intimidated by crossword puzzles. “ERA” is the most common entry in crosswords, as well as “ARE,” “AREA,” and “ORE.” If a clue is in plural, the word will probably end in “S.” “Cheating” by checking a letter or word is encouraged if you're stuck.

Work on the Clues You Know When you start a crossword puzzle, focus on the clues you know first. Fill in the answers to the clues that you're confident about, as this will give you a foundation to build upon. Once you have a few answers in place, it can be easier to solve the remaining clues.

Perhaps the most famous is the November 5, 1996, puzzle by Jeremiah Farrell, published on the day of the U.S. presidential election, which has been featured in the movie Wordplay and the book The Crossword Obsession by Coral Amende, as well as discussed by Peter Jennings on ABC News, featured on CNN, and elsewhere.

If you like puzzles, you're probably very detail-oriented in life. That's not to say you're a perfectionist, but you notice very fine details that most people's eyes would gloss right over. This focus is a valuable skill in many career fields.

People who often feel helpless and feel as if nothing that is about to happen next is under their control often enjoy playing jigsaw puzzles. As solving jigsaw puzzles makes the person feel in control. It offers the feeling of security and makes them feel as if they are in command of what's going to happen next.

CRUCIVERBALIST Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com.

What Do You Call a Person Who Loves Puzzles? Dissectologist (noun): A person who enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles. A puzzle lover. A "dissectologist" is a term used to describe jigsaw puzzle solvers who consider themselves puzzle enthusiasts, and for some, professional puzzlers.