Millions keep minds sharp, spirits high by working crosswords

BYLINE: Elizabeth Weinstein, FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

His start-the-workday routine hasn't changed in 20 years.

Michael Torch arrives at his McGraw-Hill office each morning and
goes straight to his computer.

Before beginning a project, the vice president of manufacturing
operations completes the online version of the New York Times
crossword puzzle.

"I like the challenge," the Dublin resident said. "I'm looking for
the theme or the trick in the puzzle -- as well as just doing it
quickly."

Torch is among an estimated 50 million Americans who solve
crossword puzzles at least occasionally.

Crosswords not only lighten the mood but also benefit the mind by
keeping the wits sharp, according to puzzle solvers and medical
experts.

"We're faced with problems every day in life: What's the fastest
way to run our errands downtown? Or how can we save a few dollars
at the grocery?" said Will Shortz, crossword-puzzle editor of The
New York Times . "We just do the best we can and move on to the
next problem.

"With crosswords, you can see the challenge through from beginning
to end. And when you fill in that last square, you know you have
the perfect solution. It's a very satisfying feeling."

This weekend, 500 crossword-puzzle lovers will convene in Stamford,
Conn., for the 27th annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament,
directed by Shortz. At stake: a grand prize of $4,000 and the honor
of a ranking among the quickest, most accurate solvers.

Torch, like hundreds of others, takes part in the tournament -- the
oldest and largest of its kind -- by mail rather than in person.

After the tournament, he receives the puzzles and completes them,
records his time, then mails them back to the judges -- who
determine where he would have placed if he had vied in Stamford.

"I know I don't fall at the high level," said Torch, who has mailed
an entry for the past six years. "These people solve a daily in a
couple of minutes."

He needs anywhere from 4 1/2 minutes to a half-hour, depending on
the difficulty.

Jerry Cordaro of the Cleveland suburb of University Heights is
among the few Ohioans competing at the tournament site.

"Most everyone goes to have a good time and be surrounded by fellow
puzzle geeks," said Cordaro, who last year finished 160th among
495. "You just go there to decompress. It's a weekend of nothing
but testing your brain against everyone else around you. It's a
blast."

The tournament, started in 1978 and sponsored by several
businesses, was developed by Shortz.

"Puzzles are normally a solitary activity," he said. "I thought it
would be wonderful for puzzle people to be able to get together and
share their passion."

Although folks in all demographics enjoy crosswords, Shortz noted,
twice as many women as men are devoted to them.

Common professions among puzzle solvers, he said, include computer
programmers and technicians, writers, editors and teachers.

"It's easy to get hooked on crosswords," said Timothy Parker,
crossword editor for USA Today and chief executive of Master
Puzzles, a game and puzzle maker.

"One addictive quality is a lot of the newspaper crosswords get
harder each day: Monday is easiest, and Saturday and Sunday are the
most difficult. The goal is to try and get through the whole week
and try to complete each day knowing that they're getting harder
and harder."

The benefits for the brain are well-documented.

Through a 21-year study published in June by doctors at the Albert
Einstein College of Medicine in New York, senior citizens who
worked crossword puzzles four days a week faced a 47 percent lower
risk of dementia than those who did them once a week.

Dr. Robert Friedland, a professor of neurology at Case Western
Reserve University in Cleveland, has studied the effects of
intellectual stimulation in preventing Alzheimer's disease and
other age-related neurological disorders.

"We found that people who are more intellectually active from age
20 to 60 are less likely to get Alzheimer's," he said.

The idea applies to educational activities (such as taking a class
or learning a new skill) as well as recreational activities
(solving a puzzle).

"It has to be something that people do over the course of their
life," he said, "but it's never too late to start."

Mary Jo Fresch, an associate professor in education at the Marion
Campus of Ohio State University, appreciates the personal
satisfaction of a finished puzzle but also its educational value.

She often gives her students quizzes in the form of crosswords.

"Crossword puzzles are effective in classrooms because they step
outside the usual structure of what we might do in schoolwork," she
said.

"It's a fun way to get at the same kind of learning."