You can break the world into multiple binaries. There are those that give and those that take, morning people and evening people, do-er's or a don't-er's. There are almost as many jokes about that split: there are 3 types of people, the ones who can count and the ones who can't. Those who separate others into groups and those who don't. And of course, those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.
I will add one more to the list: those that like to do puzzles and those that don't. The fact is we all have to figure things out for which the answers are varied and not always readily apparent. It might be how to substitute something in a recipe, or what order to run some errands, or what to wear. There may be multiple right and wrong answers, and there may be multiple ways to determine a winner or loser. But whether you like to do it or not, whether you call the exercise a riddle, a challenge, a conundrum, or yes, a puzzle, they are the stuff of everyday life.
What we're talking about in this case are little constructs designed to be solved with no ulterior motive other than to crack them, ones for which there is a definite correct answer. They might involve word play or numbers, images or drawings. The results count for nothing other than bragging rights, though there is money to be made if you are pit against others to find the fastest, best or most elegant solution.
Many enjoy playing them daily, a fact not lost on web sites trying to draw traffic to them. Take the Great Gray Lady of record, The New York Times. Crossword puzzles became popular in the 1920's, but a 1924 article in the paper poo-poohed them, lamenting the effort as a "sinful waste in the utterly futile finding of words the letters of which will fit into a prearranged pattern, more or less complex. This is not a game at all, and it hardly can be called a sport; it merely is a new utilization of leisure by those for whom it otherwise would be empty and tedious." Fast forward to today, and not only does the paper carry 3 versions 7 days a week, but also 6 other word games and 3 other visual and logic games There are many who would no more begin their day without a cup of coffee than they would without their 5 letter Wordle starter.
But does any of that mean anything? If you are a good puzzle solver, does that make you stronger, prettier, a better cook or improve your tennis game? While research has shown that the skill is linked to a variety of factors, from cognitive agility to persistence to "fluid intelligence," they note that correlation is not causation. In other words, you may be smart at doing puzzles, but they don't make necessarily you smarter or good at anything else.
Still, they do demonstrate those skills, and at the very least, connect you with others of like mine. And so perhaps it's no surprise that the professional networking and job-hunting destination LinkedIn added puzzle solving to its site about 2 years ago. In the LinkedIn spirit they want to you to use it as a networking hook, and encourage you to share your results the same you do a promotion. So "Great job on the new account!" is supposed to be cheek and jowl with "Unreal! You Queened in 5!"
I know it's a tough job market, but lately I've gotten more prompts to play their games than anything else: "Ten of your coworkers are connecting the dots!" And while I appreciate that it's one more point of possible contact with a professional acquaintance, I am not a puzzler. Whether because I can't, or more likely because I just don't care, my brain isn't facile at making those connections in either words, number or images. Yes, if challenged, I can do the little puzzles that prove I am human and so gain access to my online accounts. But in that case I have skin in the game. Ask me a four-letter word for "ailments of body or society," with no relevance other than filling in a grid, and I draw a blank. I mean, if I thought about it, it would be "ills." But don't make me do it.
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Marc Wollin of Bedford does not do games. His column appears weekly via email and online on Substack and Blogspot as well as Facebook, LinkedIn and X.
