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from our March 2007 Newsletter |
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| What do technical communicators do in their spare time? Jackie Van Nice, technical writer for J&A, loves the challenge of a good crossword puzzle - and she’s not alone. Everyone from former President Bill Clinton to TV talk show host Jon Stewart is addicted to this historic pastime. |
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| “Crosswords are about finding commonalities between different pieces of information,” said Jackie, sitting with a cup of coffee in her Bluffton, SC home. |
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| “It takes a person with a natural curiosity about everything from history, literature, sports, language, pop culture – you name it – to get really good at crosswords.” |
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| Newbies like me like to use pencils so we can erase words that simply don’t work, but Jackie likes to use a pen. “I like to commit. It gives me a sense of confidence. I also like to be pretty sure of an answer before I write it down, so I cross-check other words to see if I’m on the right track,” said Jackie. |
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| Most newspapers tend to publish their easiest puzzles on Monday (the beginning of the work week) and gradually increase the difficulty level as the week goes on, saving the most challenging puzzles for Saturday & Sunday. Many people say the NY Times puts out the best crossword puzzles. |
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| A Real "Win-Win" |
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| In almost every instance, each clue only has one right answer, but there was at least one clever exception in history. In November 1996, the NY Times published a puzzle created by Jeremiah Farrell that included the winner of the presidential election. |
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| Read on... |
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