The easy ones are too easy. The hard ones are too hard. The medium ones are too mediocre. The jumbo ones don't fit on my lap. The newspaper ones get black ink on my hands. The big-print ones can only be found in nursing homes. The British ones aren't even crosswords. The tricky ones (word play) are too tricky. The American ones have too many foreign words/phrases. The "T.V. & Movie" ones have too many archaic/one-hit-wonder actors to know without Googling. The Bible ones assume you have memorized all the scriptures in all languages from the ancient times. The Weekend ones take all week. The Sunday Time's ones are just down-right frustrating unless you're Einstein. Furthermore, They're addictive and bad for your mental health. Vent over. Back to 72 Across: A gay Russian czar post Ming Dynasty (Fr. adj.) . . .
They're definitely additive. I do three crosswords every day: USA Today ( easy, but doesn't get much harder as the week goes on). Boston Herald ( OK at the beginning of the week and gets harder as the week goes on.) The Saturday Stumper is very difficult (but challenging). I've never finished it. LA Times ( gets harder as the week goes on.) There are two puzzles on Sunday (one by Merle Reagle) which are somewhat challenging. I think all writers should tackle crosswords regularly, to advance their word skills.
I prefer Codewords. You know, where each letter is replaced with a number and you have to work out which one's which?
I celebrate if I can get one clue in a cryptic crossword. My brain just doesn't work that way. But nobody else I know can do them either
Unfortunately I know MANY people who do them every day ...and they regard me with scorn because even when I'm told the correct answer, I don't get it. I fall back on the excuse of my Yank upbringing, not my lack of Mensa potential. I don't get the references 'cause I'm not from around here. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
