5 (hole) across
Crosswords and hockey go way back,
“It takes your mind off things in the morning, helps you block out the noise.” LEAFS’ MATT HUNWICK ON CROSSWORD PUZZLES
BUFFALO, N.Y.— Justin Williams, the genial Washington Capitals forward, has developed a reputation for scoring pivotal playoff goals and for solving crossword puzzles.
As a veteran, he is a vital mentor: “Everyone needs a father figure in the crosswords.”
There is a certain sense of accomplishment in finishing a crossword, the 34-year-old said on a recent Saturday morning. He was standing in the dressing room, a few feet from one newspaper crossword that had been completed before lunch.
“It’s not like scoring a goal,” Williams said with a smile.
“You’re proud of yourself. You don’t let anyone know, but if anyone asks if you finished it you can say ‘Yep, all done.’ ”
A handful of Capitals have become crossword devotees, forming a kind of coffee klatch around USA Today and, for those with bolder tastes, the New York Times. It is a daily ritual; an opportunity to bond with teammates, sharpen critical thinking skills or escape from the strain of a life spent competing under the spotlight.
Crosswords have surprisingly deep roots in the sport. Gordie Howe proclaimed a devotion to the puzzles. In 2002, Brett Hull told an interviewer he was “patient with crossword puzzles and the most impatient golfer.”
“It’s a broad range of people, but I think what everyone has in common is a desire to put the world in order, to make order out of chaos,” said Will Shortz, who has been editor of the Times crossword since 1993. “That’s what you’re doing when you’re solving a crossword.”
He quoted Margaret Farrar, the first crossword editor at the Times: “You don’t worry about where your rent cheque is coming from when you’re solving a crossword.”
“You put everything else aside in the world, because you are completely focused on the challenge,” he said. “And when you’re playing professional sports . . . you are completely focused on the game, and I think crosswords appeal to people who want to use their brains in a different way.”
In Mr. Hockey: My Story, published two years ago, Howe described the challenges he faced in elementary school. He struggled, classmates called him “Dough-head” and he failed the third grade.
“As an adult, I’ve done crossword puzzles my whole life to help me with my spelling and vocabulary,” he wrote, adding he also has come across his own name more than once. “I’ve seen Bobby Orr’s name as well, and it’s even easier to spell.”
The Red Wings continued to devour crossword puzzles in the decades that followed his retirement. In 1998, tough guy Darren McCarty admitted he was a novice solver, but that he had easy access to help from the resident expert, fellow tough guy Joey Kocur.
“I don’t cheat,” McCarty told the Windsor Star. “I might look at Joey’s to see what he put in, or I might make up a word, but I’d never cheat.”
Retired Red Wings defenceman Chris Chelios suggested not every crossword solver has been quite as dedicated. In his 2014 book, Made in America, Chelios retold a story he had heard about retired New York Islanders defenceman Denis Potvin.
“He was able to complete them amazingly fast,” Chelios wrote. “Then one day, one of his teammates happened to pick up one of the crosswords that Potvin had completed and reported Potvin didn’t have any of the words right.”
Patrick Merrell, an illustrator and author who builds crosswords for the Times, said part of the allure is that the puzzles are not strictly trivia or based on an accumulated base of knowledge. The result is that it “kind of exercises your brain.”
The Times puzzle is progressive, beginning with its easiest crossword on Monday, and moving to its most difficult at the end of the week. An expert solver, Merrell said, could probably finish the Monday puzzle in between five and 10 minutes.
Six years ago, the Islanders invited Merrell to race against three members of the team, led by veteran Doug Weight. It took the players 20 minutes to finish the puzzle, but Merrell was done in about seven.
“With practice, you kind of get used to it,” he said. “You see some things that reappear, some of the odd words that often appear in crossword puzzles. Just getting a knack for how the puzzle works and how things are phrased.”
Maple Leafs forward Peter Holland generally attacks the crossword puzzle in USA Today, in part because it is easily accessible at the team hotel.
On his best days, he will finish about three-quarters of the puzzle.
“I call it a ‘mental sweat,’ ” he said. “You turn your brain on in the morning, you know? Get thinking.”
“You don’t always finish them, but it’s still enjoyable,” said Leafs defenceman Matt Hunwick. “It takes your mind off things in the morning, helps you block out the noise.”
Williams signed as a free agent with the Capitals last summer, carrying with him a resume that included three Stanley Cup wins and a Conn Smythe Trophy, as the most valuable player in the playoffs. He has six game-winning playoff goals, earning the nickname “Mr. Game 7” along the way.
He said his affinity for crosswords began early in his career. They are a good way to fill the quiet times between games and meetings and practices on the roads. On a flight, he explained, “instead of watching some reality show on my iPad, I can do the crossword.”
The trainer will print crosswords off so players can chip away at a puzzle while they get therapy off the ice. Williams said a handful of players have become devotees, goaltender Braden Holtby and defenceman Karl Alzner among them.
It was a Saturday morning in Western New York. Had he tried the Times? “I do the USA Today every day,” he said with a broad smile. “The New York Times? Wednesday is about the cutoff.
“And then I need help, then it’s a team effort.”