Okay, so, I’ve been kinda obsessed with the New York Times crossword puzzle lately. Not just doing them daily, but like, really getting into the stats and stuff. I decided to track my progress throughout the year. Here’s how I went about it.
Setting Things Up
First, I needed a way to record my solves. I could have used a fancy app or something, but honestly, a simple spreadsheet felt right. I fired up Google Sheets and made columns for the date, day of the week, solve time, and any notes I wanted to jot down. Nothing too complicated.
Getting into a Routine
Next up was actually doing the puzzles every day. Some days were a breeze, finishing up while I had my morning coffee. Other days, especially Saturdays, man, those were tough! I’d be chipping away at it all day, taking breaks, coming back to it. But I made sure to solve each one, even if I had to sneak in a few minutes here and there.
Watching the Data Grow
- It was pretty cool seeing the spreadsheet fill up.
- I started noticing patterns.
- Like, I’m way faster on Mondays and Tuesdays, obviously.
- And those weekends?
- A total crapshoot!
I even started color-coding my times – green for super fast, yellow for average, and red for those real head-scratchers.
Tweaking and Improving
After a few months, I started getting the hang of it. I picked up on common clues, those weird crossword-only words, you know? I even started recognizing the constructors’ names and their styles. It felt like I was getting inside their heads a little bit. My solve times started dropping, which was super satisfying. There were definitely days I felt like a total crossword boss, like I could do it in my sleep. Of course I failed sometimes, but it was okay. I didn’t beat myself up.
The Final Results
By the end of the year, I had a pretty impressive spreadsheet going. And no missing days, which I’m pretty proud of. I even made some charts and graphs to visualize my progress. Was I a crossword master? Definitely not. But I was consistent, and I definitely got better. It is such a great memory to look back at those records. Overall, this whole thing was less about becoming a crossword god and more about just having a fun, daily challenge. And, you know, collecting some cool data along the way. It’s neat to have this little record of my year in crosswords, something I can always look back on.
