As most cruciverbalists (aficionados of crosswords to the uninitiated) know, a morning is complete unless it starts with a crossword. This past weekend I was in Portland, visiting my brother and his family. This day started that way too. I was looking over the crossword Saturday morning, a cup of coffee in my hand. My two nephews, already at the table munching on their breakfast moved closer to watch me go at it.
I tried to involve them the best I could. I would call out clues and then say the answer out aloud, in the hopes that the two little rugrats would understand how it is done.
The clue was “Mississippi or Colorado”, and the answer was a 5-letter word. My little nephew first thought it was “state”. Then we found an across clue which gave us some help. It began with the letter R. My nephew, all of 9 years of age, said “River”. Just like that.
I thought it was an incredibly cool moment. This was the first clue he had ever solved. The puzzle needs to be saved away and cherished, much like his first kiss, or his first steps. Some adults are prone to be sentimental, and I am no exception. When he was 5, he would always grab the pen from me when he caught me doing a crossword and say, “Tell me what to write, and I will write it”. He would stick the pen on top of his ear, just like I did, and we would both look like draftsmen with pencils stuck in our ears. And now, here he was, solving clues of his own.
I hear from my sister-in-law that the little ones are trying to get at least a couple of clues a day. It looks like we have created a new generation of cruciverbalists. And I am quite happy about that.
