It’s that last tenth where my gray matter turns to crap.
See, I’m playing this puzzle game (on my Gameboy) and it’s pretty enjoyable. Of course the puzzles get harder as the level increases. So, ok, I break each puzzle down into segments and work on them one at a time. I can do this. Then I try to assemble them into an overall solution. Here’s where the rot sets in. I can correctly identify each piece needed for a solution but for the life of me I can’t get them assembled. I just keep overlooking one, tiny, little thing on each stinking level. I end up going online to search for walkthroughs. Each time I want to smack myself in the head because it’s so obvious. (Yeah, obvious after you see the answer einstein.)
Same deal with crosswords. I like doing crosswords but can never finish one by myself. Meaning the moderate to hard puzzles, the easy level is about as much fun as taking dictation. I get down to the last couple of clues and falter. I used to have a stack of unfinished crosswords at home-kept hoping I’d eventually figure them out-until I tossed them all in the garbage one day in a fit of pique.
Come to think of it, I must have a half-dozen uncompleted projects lying around the house as well. Could this all point to some sort of heretofore undiscovered character flaw? Intellectual defect? Probably just inherent laziness. I could actually finish those if I ever got up off my duff.
I think.
Meanwhile I just want to get through one lousy level by myself. All the way through with no cheating. Is that too much to ask brain?
As to the crossword puzzle problem, it’s merely a variation of “you always find it in the last place you look.” The last words to get are the hardest. If they were easier you would have filled them in sooner.
As to the Gameboy issue: You probably really aren’t enjoying the game enough. You are thinking of it more in terms of something you “should” do rather than really, really, really want to do. Just try some other form of recreation.
E.g., I do a lot of games and puzzles (including crosswords). But I hate those puzzles like “The person with the beard doesn’t live next door to the blue house.” epic logic puzzles. I could write an idiotic computer program to do it. So there’s no creative challenge.
If you’re not enjoying it enough to desperately want to finish it, do something else.
It’s Toki Tori.
I think it’s fun really and I did get through the first half of the game by myself. (The chicken is cute.) I’ve just hit a few snags and it was making me feel kind of dunce-like. Putting it aside for a day or two sounds like a good idea.
With the crosswords there’s a sort of competition factor I think. My mother used to whip them out in no time. And she always did them in ink. Plus she usually rolled right over us kids in Scrabble and canasta. Not to mention that I’ve got three college level degrees compared to her high school diploma.[sup]*[/sup] Punctured my pride I guess.
Oh, and while I’m at it-anyone else got an interesting puzzle-type game? (In case I accidentally manage to finish this one.)
*I admire her immensely and have told her so. She’s a fabulous lady.
**dwry]/b]:
“Oh, and while I’m at it-anyone else got an interesting puzzle-type game? (In case I accidentally manage to finish this one.)”
Try The Lost Trail. Yeah, it’s an simple old MS-Windows 3.x game (but it runs on Win9X), and it has a couple bugs that sometimes hit you, but it’s interesting. There’s a nice “Aha!” to solving it.
Of course you do crosswords in ink, otherwise you might make a mistake.
More seriously: If you do crosswords everyday for a couple years you can get quite good at it. You learn all about oleo/olio/olla and such. A newbie shouldn’t compare him/herself to an expert. Just compare to yourself a few months ago.
