Some people may believe that solving crossword puzzles is as much of a waste of time as playing video games. Others may enjoy solving these puzzles, but feel they don’t have enough time in their busy schedule to sit down and complete one. Still others may feel overwhelmed at the difficulty and challenges that solving a crossword puzzle can bring. But, it is important to remember that solving puzzles is as beneficial to your overall health and well-being as eating an apple a day.
Improves Your Intelligence, Word Recognition, and Vocabulary
It is no secret that solving crossword puzzles can help you improve your word recognition and expand your vocabulary. These two key points can also help you to improve your intelligence and IQ, in turn, making you a more well-rounded and educated individual. How? Well, for starters, the clue words and phrases in many crossword puzzles can often contain a word or phrase you are not currently familiar with - which nearly forces you to look up that word to understand its meaning. Sometimes, these clues can also contain information about current or historical events, which will help you to learn about your surroundings. Keeping your brain constantly learning new things is what helps increase your intelligence, and learning new words and phrases is what ultimately helps expand your vocabulary, word recognition, and word usage.
Improves Problem-Solving Skills
In addition to improving your intelligence, word recognition, and vocabulary, crosswords are also very helpful in enhancing your ability to solve problems. They make you take a step back and think for a moment before just jumping to an immediate conclusion and hoping for the best. Today, many people struggle with problem-solving skills, and that is largely because of the fast-paced lifestyle we have become accustomed to. If more people would think about solving problems in the same way we solve crosswords - stop, think, then come up with an appropriate answer - they would find that problems are often more simple to solve than they originally thought and the solution is often just as simple.
Helps Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, solving crossword puzzles on a regular basis over the course of your lifetime can help prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. Furthermore, once affected with the disease, it may help prevent it from deteriorating the person’s mind as quickly. Studies have shown that people who complete crossword puzzles on a regular basis are often at a lower risk of this disease than people who do not. So, this just goes to show that a puzzle a day can help keep the doctor away!
A Great and Fun Way To Learn a New Language
You don’t have to be fluent in a language in order to complete a crossword puzzle. In fact, you can use crossword puzzles as a tool to help you learn a new language! Additionally, many schools that teach second languages to students often use crossword puzzles as a way to help students learn and apply the new language skills they have been taught in class. This just means that, if it’s good enough to be applied in schools, then it is also a good teaching tool to use at home. All you really need in order to do this is a translation book or mobile app nearby, a desire to learn a new language, and a passion for solving crossword puzzles.
I Understand These Benefits, but Crosswords Are Too Hard To Solve
Many people know and understand the benefits of completing crossword puzzles, but find excuses or reasons not to take the time to solve them. One reason may be that they find crossword puzzles too difficult to solve. In this case, here are a few tips to help make this challenging experience less difficult and more enjoyable:
- Take your time - There’s no need to try to rush through a crossword puzzle, unless of course you’re in a puzzle solving competition. By taking your time to solve each answer, you’re more likely to find the correct solution.
- Answer the clues you know first - By filling in the answers you already know, you’ve already completed half the battle. Start with the easy clue/answers and work your way toward the more challenging ones.
- Don’t use an ink pen - Instead, use a pencil with a good eraser and lightly fill in your answers into the blocks. This will allow you to easily erase any incorrect answers, without making the rest of the puzzle smudged and messy-looking.
- Don’t be afraid to use tools to help you - There are many crossword solving tools available online and offline that can help you solve some of the most challenging puzzles. Put these to good use!
As Much As I Love Solving Crossword Puzzles, I Simply Don’t Have the Time
Yes, this is one reason we hear often from puzzle-lovers - that puzzles are too time consuming. However, no one ever said that you needed to solve a puzzle all at once, nor did anyone say that you had to spend hours upon hours solving a puzzle. Many crossword fans spend their spare time solving puzzles, whether it’s while they are on their break or lunch hour at work, or at the end of the day before they go to bed. Finding the time, no matter how long, is the key to successfully solving a puzzle. If you never start, then how can you ever expect to finish?
who wrote the above about why it is so important to solve crosswords. It needs to be proofread. This is what it should say: "It is important to solve puzzles because it prevents Alzheimer's disease. In addition, crossword PUZZLES enrich your vocabulary. Many studies have shown that people who SOLVE crosswords have more successful job interviews than those who do not SOLVE THE PUZZLES."
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