Step up pace of mental workout
Doing a daily puzzle is a great way of staving off dementia – but choose the tricky ones, says SUE PURCELL
VARIETY is the spice of life as the old saying goes but now this guiding principle has also been given the thumbs- up by medical experts. In a large- scale two- year study reported on by medical journal The Lancet, Finnish researchers discovered that mental and physical activity combined with a healthy Mediterranean- type diet “could improve or maintain cognitive functioning” in older people at risk of dementia.
This correlates with findings in the “Puzzles in Education” report. Commissioned by the UK’s biggest creator of puzzles Puzzler Media and put together by the University of Cambridge, it identified that the use of puzzles like Sudoku and crosswords exercises working memory and can improve verbal fluency and recall.
For maximum brain stimulation we need to keep challenging ourselves. Fitness trainers say that if we do the same workout every time at the gym we’ll never get anywhere.
We’re advised to change our routines and ramp up the demands we make on our bodies to avoid reaching a plateau. It’s the same with the brain. Varying the demands you make on it will help you keep mentally agile and alert. Puzzles and crosswords stimulate the brain helping to keep it fit.
If you’re a long- standing crossword fan you probably find that you can fill in many answers almost on autopilot. Why not jolt your brain into working that bit harder by trying a cryptic crossword for a change? These puzzles are designed to offer a “pick- and- mix buffet” of food for thought. If you’ve always felt daunted by them it might be time to give them a try.
A new publication called Cryptic Crosswords has been launched with the aim of making the cryptics more accessible by revealing the special language used and the tricks of the trade to hone your problem- solving skills.
Cryptic crosswords are beneficial as a brain- training activity because of their frequent need to think outside the box. Take the clue: “Wicked light source, six letters”. The answer is candle. Do you get it? A candle is a light source that has a wick, so it’s wicked.
You probably read the word wicked as two syllables because that’s the usual pronunciation.
Cryptic clues encourage you to look at words and phrases with a new eye. They require no special general knowledge.
In the real world the volcano Etna is on Sicily. In the world of cryptics Etna is “Volcano in Vietnam”, “Volcano in Gretna Green” or “Volcano in Tibet, naturally”.
Cryptic clues aren’t necessarily difficult; the answer is often staring you in the face.
They are, however, designed to make you think.
Cryptic Crosswords is available for £ 2.50 from Morrisons, WHSmith, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and all good newsagents.