Flashback Friday

What a long week this has been. And to think a week ago right this minute, I was still in Disney World.

The Bloggie Doggie is celebrating Flashback Friday by sharing this picture of him sleeping in Jordan's bed. If you are very observant, you will really notice just how old this picture is. I'm not sure who the cutout picture is on the wall. But it's NOT a Jonas Brother...

What a comeback for the Red Sox last night. They were trailing 7-0 in the 7th inning and came back to win 8-7. Have they delayed or denied the Devil Rays a trip to the World Series? Unbelievable.

I love crossword puzzles. I do at least one every day. And most week days I do three. I do the one in the paper first, usually during lunch. I also print the one that is on the paper's website (which is different than the one they run in the paper) and also the puzzle from USA Today. I wish, wish, WISH I could do the NY Times puzzle. But I just can't pull that one off. Maybe one day....

I'm totally weird about the puzzle in the newspaper. I have to have the paper folded in just a certain way. The fold makes all the difference. I also do the puzzle in pen. Several reasons why: First, I'm just not really a pencil person anyway. Second, I *hate* the feel of pencil on newsprint paper. Third, I am a believer in COMMITTING your answer. I always have a crossword puzzle with me. Either in my purse, or my tote bag, or by my bed. I'm always doing a crossword puzzle.

Some interesting facts for you today about crossword puzzles...in case you wanted to know. Probably not, but hey, it's my blog... so read on people.....

Monday's puzzle is the easiest. The puzzles get harder as the week progresses, with Sunday's puzzle being the hardest.

Black squares are usually limited to 1/6 of the entire grid.

The puzzle grid is created in a way that it has 180 degree rotational symmetry. In other words, the pattern looks the same if you turn the puzzle upside down.

But different countries have different grid styles and rules. Like this.....

Typical American puzzle:

British puzzle. More like a lattice grid:

And Japanese. Black squares can't touch each other:
Fill in the blank clues are always the easiest. (e.g. "____ Boleyn" = Anne)

A clue that ends in a question mark usually signals the answer is some type of pun. (e.g. "Grateful?" = ashes (grate may be full of them)

Puzzles are often one of several standard sizes. For example, many weekday puzzles (such as the New York Times crossword) are 15×15 squares, while weekend puzzles may be 21×21, 23×23 or 25×25.

Many puzzles contain a "theme" which is a number of long entries (generally three to five in a standard 15x15-square "weekday"-size puzzle) that share some relationship, type of pun, or other element in common.

That's about it for Crossword Puzzles 101. Class dismissed. I love crossword puzzles! Mom does the sudoko puzzles. She's gotten quite good at those. But I can't grasp numbers. I love words and letters. (That explains why she is a bookkeeper and I'm a writer.....)

OK people - I hope your Friday is a 5-letter word starting with "G"!!!