#PRIM AND SERIOUS CROSSWORD REGISTRATION#
Registration for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford is Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. "But what a sense of satisfaction when you finish it." "You feel like you're killing yourself when you're doing them," he said, laughing. They can be maddening, frustrating and just plain painful. They're tough, but the cryptic puzzles in Harper's and the Atlantic provide more formidable challenges. He now does The New York Times puzzles every week. Krupenevich, who lives in Newington, has been doing puzzles since his days in the Navy, when he had a lot of time and very little to do. But so does painting, another of her passions. When I compete, I'm usually in the bottom half, let's put it that way."ĭo puzzles keep her mind limber? Sure, she says. "I like the participants, but we're never going to win. "But you goback to Babe Ruth and I'm with you."īarbara Nerreau, 70, a retired social services director from Trumbull, doesn't expect to win anything at this year's Stamford tournament. "I'm a little dim on rock groups and current athletes," he said. Puzzles have helped keep his brain limber, he said, though he admits he's still a little weak in certain areas. "It was one of the best ways to keep in touch with something especially American," he said.Ĭrawford suspects there is something to the theory that crosswords help keep away Alzheimer's. It was a peripatetic existence, but there was one constant: He carried books of crossword puzzles from post to post. "To be 81 and to be beat by some runny- nosed kid."Ĭrawford retired from the foreign service in 1980 after working all over the world, including China, Turkey and Africa. What if he gets beat by some teenager? The youngest contestant will be a 17-year- old from Russia. To tell the truth, the event scares him a bit. "I never seriously considered it, but my daughter said I was a big sissy if I didn't," he said. His daughter, Claudia, a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, persuaded him to go. It will be his first trip to the contest. He will be the oldest contestant in this year' s puzzle tournament in Stamford. Ralph Crawford, 81, of Jacksonville, Fla., has been solving puzzles for nearly 65 years. Many puzzle enthusiasts seem to pick up the hobby at a young age. That's what a team of neurologists reported last year after analyzing the leisure activities of Alzheimer's patients and patients with no symptoms of the disease. In fact, the medical evidence indicates that those who remain intellectually active from a young age have the best chance of avoiding Alzheimer' s. "Either you do puzzles or you don't," she said. She agrees that her hobby keeps her mind sharp, but she doubts seniors will start doing puzzles just because doctors say so. She also does puzzles in Newsday (too easy) and the Nation and the Atlantic Monthly (much harder). She plucks down $20 every year to get the Times puzzles online. My friends and I say we're in Densa."īlanshard readily admits she is addicted to puzzles. There are these people heavily into Mensa. "It's really like going to the moon for the weekend," she said, excitedly. Jane Blanshard, 71, a retired teacher and editor from Storrs, will be there. As usual, seniors are expected to turn out in force: About one-quarter of the participants are over 60. He expects a record-breaking crowd this year. This weekend, Shortz will host the 25th annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford. "Crossword puzzles are an easy way to keep the brain limber," said puzzle guru Will Shortz, editor of the beloved New York Times crosswords. Studies have proven that regular mental exercise, such as doing crosswords, can keep the brain supple, helping to stave away diseases like Alzheimer' s. Until recently, the fruits of this exercise were apparently few: broken pencils, sore foreheads, that hard-to- quantify sense of self-satisfaction.īut recent medical evidence suggests doing puzzles may be good for you, especially for senior citizens like Krupenevich. Solving crossword puzzles has always demanded some serious mental gymnastics.
"I think most puzzlers have a flat forehead from slamming it with their hand and saying, `Of course, of course,'" Krupenevich joked. Capture the "a," and you've got Priam, a Trojan king. Hm-m-m.įinally, without doing too much damage to his pencil, he got it. Neat, neat what's a synonym for neat? Trojan king. It was one of those clues that made 71-year-old Wally Krupenevich want to jam the pencil into his forehead. This Weekend In Stamford, Will Shortz Presents His Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tourney Byline: Maurice Timothy Reidy Courant Staff Writer
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