Apathetic. Five letters. Third letter is an "r." The answer? "Bored" -- the reason many people resort to pondering the crossword puzzle during class time.
Especially in large lecture classes, it's quite common to find students doing the crossword to bide their time, instead of taking notes. Abandoned puzzles, incomplete and strewn throughout lecture halls, serve as dire testaments to students' frames of mind in class.
"I want to go to class in case there's something important, but if I'm zoning out in the class anyway, it'll keep my mind awake if I do a crossword for a little while," first-year College student Jim Baltz said. "I won't necessarily do it the whole class because what's the point of going to class?"
Many students find themselves in the same predicament as Baltz, feeling the need to attend class, yet unable to pay attention once they are there.
"Most of the time I will deliberately save the crossword until my worst class of the day," first-year College student Gabrielle Moskey said. "Some classes I know there's going to be something that is not going to be interesting, and at least, while doing a crossword, I feel like I'm doing something that will challenge my mind."
Despite the fact that some students said they need the puzzles to keep them alert or awake during class, some professors forbid diversions of the sort. Others, however, are more understanding.
"There are lots of things that we do in classes that we're not as excited or interested in, or we're just very tired, so I try to be very tolerant of it in big classes," Psychology Prof. Brian Nosek said, admitting he often fell asleep in class as an undergraduate. "It's only when it's influencing or affecting other students' ability to concentrate -- that's when I would make an issue out of it."
Though there are many potential distractions for students, crossword puzzles pose several clear advantages. Students can easily obtain them and keep them tucked away discreetly amid their notebooks.
"I think they're a challenge," third-year College student Helen Spink said. "It's not necessarily an addiction; it's just a way to keep your brain going and focused."
Yet for others, the crossword puzzle is more than just a daily diversion from class work -- it's practically an obsession. Those are the dedicated puzzle enthusiasts, the ones who can tell you that an epee is a fencing sword and that neap is a low tide.
"They're just so addictive," first-year College student Lauren Abramson said. "Those little blank boxes that scream, 'Fill me in! Fill me in!' and you just can't say no."
Doing the crossword becomes a routine for many students, a challenge to see how much nonsensical information one can retain, ranging from movie quotations to clever plays on words and double entendres.
"Sometimes I think like no one would know a certain answer," Moskey said. "And sometimes I think, if I looked something up on Google, I could get the answer."
She went on to suggest that Google should create a link dedicated to crossword lovers, offering "completely random facts you'll never need to know in your entire life, but they will help you complete this crossword."
Some crossword aficionados might argue that using anything other than one's own knowledge, such as Internet search engines or dictionaries, should be considered cheating. It all depends on one's personal preferences, however, as does the common deliberation between the use of pen or pencil.
"It gets very annoying with a pen because you usually are wrong with a few of them," Baltz said. "Usually you regret using a pen."
Moskey, on the other hand, was in favor of working on the puzzles in pen. Even if she does discover one of her responses to be wrong, "I usually scratch it out," she said, demonstrating the practice with a puzzle in which she had written on top of the wrong answer in dark blue ink. "You just write [over it] really, really hard, and, as long as you understand it, that's all that matters."
The puzzles usually vary in difficulty based on the days of the week, Monday being the easiest and Friday being the hardest. Each crossword typically has its own characteristics: The Washington Post's crossword is normally more innovative and creative with clues and answers, while The New York Times' puzzle tends to be more difficult overall.
Abramson took a particular dislike to "the esoteric quotations" that are commonly found in The Post, while others stated an aversion to the misleading clues and arbitrary information encountered in puzzles, in general.
Yet there is always at least one crossword addict in the crowd, who may be perceived as pretentious and pedantic but who has the uncanny ability to complete the entire puzzle, in pen, within 15 minutes.
Perhaps their talent comes from frequent practice or the ability to remember all sorts of random facts, but whatever their reason for success, those who are adept at solving crossword puzzles can leave others feeling inadequate when they are unable to process such information.
"I kind of feel like it says something about my knowledge when I can't finish it, but I just shake it off, take it lightly," Moskey said. "It's just a game."
Read More
Fourth-year Bodo’s orders — creative or catastrophic?
By Lizzy Goldstein | 2 days agoWhile this selection of bagels had winners and losers, it is safe to say that the Class of 2024 has taken full advantage of the Bodo’s menu over the years.
The naked party uncovered
By Mia Tan | 3 days agoThe naked party, founded by fourth-year Architecture student Wells Woolcott, is the first of its kind at the University in recent memory.
A second chance to dress for graduation
By Julianne Saunders | 4 days agoI have learned to see my college graduation not as a way to make up for the past but as an event worth celebrating on its own.
