Puzzles
I have only one app exclusive to my iPhone for which I pay a subscription. It permits me to play the New York Times crossword, Wordle, Spelling Bee, and Sudoku. I play the first three regularly and the last rarely.
I first purchased the app to find more challenging crossword puzzles to play. The New York Times crossword has a reputation for difficulty that some might find intimidating. In fact, the difficulty level varies through the week. Monday is the easiest puzzle and each subsequent day through Saturday is more challenging. Sunday is a larger grid, which adds to the complexity, and usually includes some sort of play on words. Thursday is unique in that its difficulty is a function of special features, like rebuses, that one discovers only through play.
The time required for completing each puzzle relates to its difficulty. I can usually finish a Monday puzzle in seven or eight minutes. Saturday and Sunday often take an hour. On occasion I am stumped and cannot complete the crossword. Even so, I enjoy the brainwork required to fill the squares. Monday’s puzzle, then, is far less satisfying for me that Saturday’s and Sunday’s, whether or not I finish.
Puzzles appeal to me because I am a problem solver. Discovering a solution to an issue gives me the same satisfaction as completing a crossword.
There is, I think, only one distinction between a puzzle and a problem. The solution to a puzzle is known in advance, albeit not to the solver. For a problem, the solution must be discovered by the solver. This distinction is only meaningful if the person tackling a problem uses it as pretext for concluding that the problem cannot be solved. In such a case, the situation tells us more about the solver than the problem. Apart from trick questions, it must be the case that a problem has a solution, no matter how intractable it seems. A problem without a solution is not a problem at all; it is a mystery.
This insignificant difference between a puzzle and problem means that playing crosswords provides lessons that can help in solving puzzles. I share a few in the following paragraphs.
More than one approach to a solution is available. Most of the time I play a crossword by attempting the across clues and then the down clues. In a puzzle design with many long across answers, however, I find it fruitful to do the down clues first. On occasion, I do both across and down clues together in the same part of the grid. There is no one right way to complete a crossword puzzle.
The same is true of solving problems. Some problems lend themselves to algorithmic, or step-by-step, approaches. For some others, a heuristic, or rule of thumb, works well. In still other cases, trial and error reveals the correct solution. The problem solver might find it necessary to use lateral thinking or Janusian thinking to see the problem from a completely different angle. The more alternative approaches with which problem solvers are acquainted, the more likely they will be to find the solution.
Solving skills improve with use. I first started playing crossword puzzles when I was a teenager. I remember laying on the floor, pencil in hand, with the Kalamazoo Gazette spread open in front of me. I don’t recall how successful I was although I do remember learning that Elia was Charles Lamb’s pen name. I admit that I was not very good at playing the New York Times crossword when I first started. For the first few puzzles, I turned to Google when I was stumped. That seemed to be contrary to the spirit of the enterprise, however, and I stopped. I kept at it and became better and better at completing puzzles.
I teach a session on problem solving for a community leadership program. My goal is to acquaint attendees with techniques that can help them, in their careers and other pursuits, to find solutions to the questions they encounter. I guide them through a methodical approach to taking on a problem, introduce them to tools they can apply in particular circumstances, and warn them of thinking errors that can impede finding solutions. I am willing to do this because I am convinced that this familiarity can be the basis for exercising a set of skills that will make the participants more adept in finding the solutions they seek.
Knowledge is power. I suspect the reason the New York Times crossword has a reputation for difficulty is due to the range of knowledge that is helpful for the solver to have. I find that my classes in French come in handy and have some recent Disney films to thank for teaching me a few useful words of Spanish. I need to know geography, current affairs, and popular culture. I know the names of quite a few hip hop and pop music performers whose music I have never heard. Some of this knowledge I brought with me and some I gained by playing the puzzle.
A successful problem solver is more likely to be one who is broadly educated, possessing knowledge beyond that required for everyday success in a career. I recall reading of an engineer whose approach to raising a sunken ship was based on a similar situation he remembered seeing in a Disney Donald Duck comic book. The more one knows on a range to subjects, the better one is likely to be in seeing solutions that might otherwise not be found.
It is here that there is one obvious difference between solving a crossword and solving a problem. The former is usually a solitary pursuit. Success in solving problems often requires bringing in other people whose knowledge and experience differ from one’s own.
Patience and perseverance are required. I was working the Saturday crossword before I sat down to write this article. It is not going well. There are more blank squares than filled ones at this point and I have been at it for nearly half an hour. (The app includes a timekeeping feature to let me know how much I’m struggling.) Sometimes I find it necessary, particularly with more challenging puzzles, to step away from them for a while. When I return, I frequently discover an answer to a clue that seems so obvious I wonder how it was hidden from me.
The most important problems to solve are those for which the solution is difficult to find. I like to say that one of the challenges facing local government executives today is that all the easy problems have been solved. We might characterize at least some of the remaining problems as thorny or wicked. Giving up is not an option. Finding the right answer requires the solver to be as stubborn as the problem. It also requires continually renewing one’s faith that a solution exists.
Mistakes will be made. It is considered the highest of compliments to say that someone does the New York Times crossword in ink. I would not be one of those people. I am thankful that my iPhone app makes correcting errors painless.
The obvious answer to a crossword clue is not always the correct one. This might become apparent when possible responses to clues that will cross the word I have inserted cannot be found. At such times, it is necessary for me to backtrack, clear my answer, and try a different word.
The willingness to give up on a course of action is a key to successful problem solving as well. The solver can be blinded to possibilities by a range of factors. What worked the last time, no matter how successful, might not be what will work this time. Other factors might have changed over time. If a course of action seems unhelpful, change course.
It is the clue that is difficult, not the answer. Many times the complexity of a crossword puzzle is due to the way in which clues are worded. The lack of context might mean that the response could be either a noun or a verb. In other instances, the clue is intentionally misleading. At the end of the day, though, the answer is just a word.
Problem solvers can also be distracted by factors that prevent seeing the obvious solution. It took me a while to learn that one way to overcome this, in situations in which citizens brought issues to me, was to ask them what they thought was the best way to address the matter. This eliminates all the extraneous elements I might see and focuses attention on what is important to them.
In addition, I find that not every problem warrants my attention. A resident visited me the other day to complain that rainwater from a neighbor’s property was flowing into his yard. I have heard versions of this scenario dozens of times. My answer is always the same. It is not a public nuisance; it is a private nuisance. The complainant has legal recourse to address this. In other words, it is his problem, not mine.
A coworker a year or so ago used a helpful analogy. When people bring problems to you that are legitimately theirs to solve, it is though they are taking a monkey off their backs and putting it on yours. Refuse to accept that monkey. Let it stay on their backs.
Sometimes good enough is good enough. There are occasions when I do not complete a crossword puzzle. I fill the last square in the grid and expect the notification to appear congratulating me on my success. Instead, the app tells me I am close, but something is amiss. I might take a few moments to look over my answers to see where I have gone wrong. In nearly every case, these are typographical errors I failed to notice.
When I first started playing crosswords, and became skilled enough that I was completing the vast majority of them, I was obsessed with finding my errors. Now I realize that I likely misspelled the correct word for that clue. Discovering where I had done so no longer adds any enjoyment to the play, so I give up the search very quickly. It is good enough.
Problem solvers who strive for ideal solution will likely find disappointment awaiting them. The perfect is the enemy of the good, Voltaire advises. In addition, it is possible to be too clever by half. If a solution addresses the problem, it need not be elegant. It must just work. If it does, it is good enough. It is time to move on to something else.
Other leisure pursuits that involve problem solving offer similar lessons. They provide a further benefit: they take the mind off the problem at hand, giving the solver the mental break necessary to start afresh on finding the solution. We all need this kind of rest from time to time.
Update: I solved the Saturday crossword to which I referred above in forty-five minutes, twelve seconds slower than my Saturday average.