When it gets this hot, I’m with my eldest granddog, Indy. We both look for a room with a ceiling fan. She also demands that the room have a tile floor to cool both bottom and top. She has the floor of course, but there is a cool corner for me in a comfortable chair and a small table for my ice water.
She just closes her eyes and lives for the moment. I pick up a book of crossword puzzles. If something has to be working, using the mind doesn’t require a lot of exercise. Indy doesn’t mind — just so she doesn’t have to move.
I spent a lot of my childhood looking over the shoulders of my parents and my grandmother as they labored over crossword puzzles. They were all puzzle addicts. Grandma lived with us and often got to the puzzle first. If Dad brought in the newspaper, he might get a few words in before he had to leave for work, but while Mom was cleaning up the kitchen, Grandma polished it off.
Now, I have the luxury of a puzzle all to myself — with an occasional assist from my Best Friend who knows all sorts of technical stuff and most of the sports questions.
As many of us puzzle addicts have discovered, there are the easy ones and the hard ones. The New York Times, especially the Sunday puzzle, is a mind bender. There is always a “gimmick,” often a groaner of a pun. If you can catch on, it is pretty easy to fill in the other letters. They do give you a clue at the top of the page, but even the clue can be obscure. This, of course, adds to the fun and makes you feel really smart IF you can figure it out.
The Times puzzle usually includes the name of the word merchant who created the puzzle. I learned early that some of the puzzle-makers are tougher to figure out. When I do manage to finish a difficult one, I’m really puffed up.
I really liked the Pensacola News Journal, which continues to have several puzzles in each edition. The week begins with the Monday puzzle almost too easy to bother solving, but by the time Friday or Saturday rolls around, you are going to need your dictionary. The News Journal also carries a past-date New York Times Sunday puzzle too — every Sunday.
So, during the heat wave, you can find me in a relatively cool corner logging extra time with pen and print. I don’t have to share them with Dad or Mom or Grandma, they are all mine! Indy sleeps. She couldn’t care less!
Liz Ciancone is a retired Tribune-Star reporter and columnist.
Liz Ciancone
LIZ CIANCONE: Avoiding the heat no puzzle to Indy the dog
- Liz Ciancone
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LIZ CIANCONE: Another beloved dog goes to heaven
We are short one granddog. This past week, “Indy” could no longer use her back legs and she went to that great dog kennel in the hereafter.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Withdrawn society not very social any more
My Best Friend and I went out for lunch the other day. It was a sit-down place with our own “server” (in my day I was called “a waitress”) and everything offering personal attention. The manager even came over to ask if everything was all right.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Technology, new fabrics made ironing much easier
As surely as Tuesday follows Monday on the calendar, ironing day followed wash day on Mom’s housekeeping chart.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Looking back at memories of ‘history’
I was reading a whodunit the other day. The protagonist was trying to solve the mystery of what had happened to a local citizen soldier who had disappeared during the war.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Smell of fresh air gave way to dryers
Remember when clean clothes smelled like fresh air and sunshine rather than fabric softener and dryer sheets?
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LIZ CIANCONE: Courts see a different appearance than cops
Have you ever noticed the transformation between the arrest of an accused lawbreaker and the first appearance in court?
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LIZ CIANCONE: We always want more than we need
Washington seems more preoccupied with the unemployment rate than they are about the constant stalemate. Still with thousands out of work and the unemployment rate hovering somewhere between 7 percent and 9 percent, it does deserve more than a passing nod.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Old age is in email of the beholder
My Best Friend isn’t much for writing letters, so email has opened a new world for him. He can dash off a few words to a high school friend or his college roommate — now living in Florida and Washington State,
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LIZ CIANCONE: A memory test from the oldtime radio days
For some reason, I seem to be the go-to source for all sorts of obscure information out at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Friskey no doubt was in favor of gun control
I once owned a gun. Actually, it was Dad’s gun and I was allowed to use it. He bought an air gun which shot BB’s to protect our home — in a way.
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LIZ CIANCONE: A robin stops to welcome the spring
I saw a robin the other morning. It was not the first robin of spring, of course. A few of the more daring robins had opted to spend the winter and, although they looked pretty sorry about it on a few occasions, it was a fairly mild winter.
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LIZ CIANCONE: The mystery of the small animal mascot
I hope you won’t think I’m picking on small animals, but I’ve been thinking about Easter and the Easter bunny.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Rising up to defend the poor groundhog
I read in the newspaper the other morning that Punxsatawney Phil is being hauled into court and charged with falsely predicting an early spring. I am volunteering my services as counsel for the defense.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Keeping eye out for signs of spring
The problem with expecting a groundhog to predict the arrival of spring is that there are groundhogs scattered all over the country. The Pennsylvania groundhog may not see the same kind of weather as the groundhog out here in Dobbs Park. In this way, false hopes are roused and the groundhog loses credibility as a meteorologist.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Not every other name smells sweet as a rose
It was either Romeo or Juliet who said, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
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LIZ CIANCONE: Innocence appreciated when you’re growing up
I grew up rather stupid. I didn’t realize it at the time. Neither did my teachers who seemed to think I had “promise.”
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LIZ CIANCONE: Years along rivers make them feel like home
I’ve been following plans for celebrating “The Year of the River” with interest. Rivers have played such a role in my life that I’ve celebrated a good many rivers. The Wabash River is merely the most recent example.
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LIZ CIANCONE: There are always cat stories to be told
I was asked the other day why I write about dogs I have known, but never about cats. “What’s the matter?” they asked, “Don’t you like cats?”
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LIZ CIANCONE: Sharing the family history
My Grandmother lived with us. Ed and I were eager audiences for her family stories about the Cooks. Mom also shared her memories of growing up with three brothers.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Do we want our privacy or not?
We Americans are a strange bunch. We insist upon our right to privacy, yet we neglect few opportunities to parade our personal business in public.
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LIZ CIANCONE: The low humor of Mickey Mantis
I’m told that a pun is the lowest form of humor. I guess that typecasts me! I love them, but then, I like any type of word play.
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LIZ CIANCONE: For now, justice is served in Bball Hall
News this past week brought justice of a sort. The folks who decide these things have declined to pick anyone to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Well, what would you do with only 1 sock?
Let me ask you something.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Movie memories don’t include many of the lengthy variety
There has been lots of reporting lately about how long movies are becoming.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Resist that big ‘let down’ on the day after Christmas
Today is the big day. That makes tomorrow a sort of let down — rather like “What have you done for me lately?”
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LIZ CIANCONE: No thanks to getting mags delivered via the Internet
I am a creature of habit. I like to know what I’m doing and I need to know how to do it. That’s why I am annoyed when corporate America seems determined to drag me, kicking and screaming into the age of Internet.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Everyone has a favorite holiday
I suppose everyone has a favorite holiday. My guess is that, for most of us, that holiday is Christmas. It's a holiday with a miracle no matter how old we get.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Christmas season puts time back into focus
It’s a funny thing about time. It can speed along so that you cannot believe that your kids can possibly be old enough to have good sense, or it can drag its heels while you wait for that first grandchild or while you are saving up for something really special.
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LIZ CIANCONE: The bottom line is what drives ‘Black Friday’ sales
Why is it called "Black Friday"?
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LIZ CIANCONE: Have we lost the meaning of holiday?
I’ve been considering a lost-and-found ad to see if anyone knows what’s happened to Thanksgiving.
- More Liz Ciancone Headlines
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LIZ CIANCONE: Another beloved dog goes to heaven
Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends
Ohio Woman Accuses 3 of Holding Her Captive
Fans Cheer Dramatic Heat Comeback
Time Lapse: Rebuilding Bridge Post-collapse
Car Crash in NYC's East Village Injures 8
Tiger on Sergio: 'It's Time to Move On'
Aug. Trial Set for Ohio Man in Triple Kidnapping
Raw: NASCAR Driver Jason Leffler Dies in Wreck
Raw: Car Jumps Curb in NYC, Injures 8
Robot Action Connected to Human Thought
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
Raw: Massive Protests Fill Brazilian Streets
Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions
Failed Cuba-to-Florida Swimmer Won't Try Again
Rain Damages Brazil Soccer Stadium
Raw: Volcano Erupts Near Mexico City
Raw: Baby White Rhino Debuts at Australian Zoo
Unusual Heat Wave Bakes Alaska
Raw: Heat, Spurs Back on Court Ahead of Game 7
Falling Cable Hurts 10 NASCAR Fans
James Gandolfini Dies at Age 51
Paula Deen Admits to Using N Word
Rihanna Hits Fan With Microphone
Men's Wearhouse Founder Fired
Miss Utah Explains Rambling Response
Exclusive: Locklear & Seymour Lock Lips
Miami Heat Wins in Overtime
Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles
Fists, chairs fly in restaurant brawl
Journalist Michael Hastings Dies in Fiery Hollywood Crash
Hairy Leg Stockings Aim to Deflect Male Attention
Inside Kim Kardashian's Premature Labor
Three Charged for Enslaving Mother and Daughter
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
Spurs' Popovich has no problem with Spurs' intensity
RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled
Paige Butcher Scorches on Hawaii Beach
Video: worst way to load cargo onto a plane
Never-before-seen footage of '08 Times Square bomber
