Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The Nerdiness of My Family

Note: In my family "Nerd" is considered a term of endearment.

So, for awhile I've been thinking about my family and crossword puzzles and word puzzles in general. We seem to have an addiction to them. We play word games online like Letter Linker and Text Twist. Of course, we do much better when there is a person or two helping over your shoulder. Letter Linker is great preparation for playing Boggle. At a ward board game activity a few years ago, some of us played Boggle. We only lasted one round because I beat everyone by so far they didn't want to play with me any more. They had no idea that this came from playing word games online.

A couple of months ago, I was looking around the house for a new crossword puzzle book that I had purchased and I asked several people if they had seen the book. They would reply with something like, "No, but don't take the one that is in __________ location." They were quite adament. You would think I was going to steal their money, not their crosswords. I personally prefer Cryptoquizzes, Bowl-a-scores and easy to medium crosswords. My family is fairly varied in the puzzles they like to do, so usually we get a good chunk of the variety puzzles completed. It is important, when on vacation, that each person has their OWN puzzle book. You wouldn't want to share. It is o.k. to swap, but it is important that every person can do puzzles at the same time, if they want to. If there is only one book, Ma will say, "Just tear out such-and-such page for me." Of course, the most popular place to keep puzzle books is in The Loo. (Not to be confused with the person, Loo). FarmerBoy has recently solved the issue of books with no pens, by buying a sticky holder to keep the pen is. We may have to fingerprint if the pen goes missing.

Also, if there is a puzzle started, but not finished, it is perfectly acceptable to complete said puzzle, even if you didn't start it. Puzzle books on the table are especially susceptible if left open to a partially-completed puzzle.

I often say that for my tombstone, I will have a crossword puzzle. To learn who I am and important dates in my life, you will have to solve the crossword puzzle. No, the answers will not be on the back!

So, do any of you have any favorite word games that you like to play?