For the past month or so, Erin and I have been doing crossword puzzles daily. We try to do at least 2 a day and complete them in the fastest time possible. We try to compete with my parents, but as of right now, it’s a little one sided (i.e. a puzzle that takes us 15 minutes, takes my dad about 8 — although we did beat my mother last week by 1 whole second). When I first started doing puzzles, I found them ridiculously difficult and annoying, but as I’ve practiced, I’ve learned the patterns and have began to really enjoy it. Not only can we now solve puzzles we wouldn’t have been able to a month ago, we have cut our time down by nearly 50%.

Another great thing about doing puzzles is it keeps your brain in shape. It takes a certain kind of knowledge, and once you get used to the style, you’ll be shocked at how good you’ve become. Crosswords have also been shown to prevent Alzheimer’s and keep your brain young and healthy. We set up a routine to keep us on track. We have a list of puzzles and brain-testers we do every day to get our brains faster. Puzzles also are a great thing to do with a partner because it doubles the fun, and it can be useful in helping you finish an entire puzzle. Here’s our list of puzzles we do every day:

Puzzles

New York Times Crossword Puzzle

We can’t do anything past a Tuesday, but we’re working. This is the de facto in crosswords. Be prepared to really flex your brain. These puzzles can really delve into obscure English words, but once you’re done, you feel triumphant. A few things to note: you need a NY Times account and a credit card to do the puzzle. The interface to play the crossword online is a little lacking in terms of keyboard navigation and presentation, but it is satisfactory. Play it now.

Chicago Tribune Crossword Puzzle

This is a great free puzzle. The interface and navigation is fantastic. It also lets you see (if you choose Regular difficulty) whether your solutions are right or wrong as you type (nice for beginners). The difficulty is pretty good throughout the week, and we’ve lately been able to complete every puzzle. We do this one every day while we only do the NY Times on Mon/Tues. Play it now.

USA Today Puzzle

USA Today provides another fun puzzle. It uses the same great application to present crosswords as the Chicago Tribune. The difficulty is about the same as the Tribune too. We do this one after the Tribune almost every day. Play it now.

USA Today Quick Cross

USA Today has a nice collection of other crossword-related puzzles. Quick Cross is a nice 4 by 4 puzzle that you attempt to do as quickly as possible. We’ve done all of them within a minute, so you can do this at any time of the day. The clues are fairly simple, and it’s quite fun to see how fast you can do these. These puzzles trains your brain to work fast at solving clues. I highly recommend this game. Play it now.

USA Today Up & Down Words

Another great offering from USA Today. This puzzle presents you with a few clues, each of which has a 2 word answer. The second word of the answer is also the first word of the answer to the next clue. I’ve just started doing this lately, and it’s a real brain-scratcher some times, but very addicting. Play it now.

USA Today Sudoku/ WebSudoku

There are about a million Sudoku sites out there. I’ve started playing Sudoku, and it too keeps your brain quick. I really like the interface that USA Today provides (except for its annoying sounds), but it’s worth checking out other sites like WebSudoku. Play it now on USA Today or WebSudoku.

Who’s Who and What’s What

This little quiz presents you with 5 questions concerning important stories in today’s issue of the New York Times. It also includes links to the relevant article. This is a great way to stay informed with what’s going on in the world and test your knowledge of current events. Play it now.

Conclusion

Have a great time puzzling and try to keep it up. It becomes really fun and rewarding. If you have any alternatives or other puzzles you enjoy playing, please add your discussions in the comments.