Decisions Decisions

Lately I've been getting the Times either later than usual or, a couple of times, not at all ... I could subscribe, and did, for many years, but as part of paring down on a number of things, including all that paper going to recycling ... well, I'm still not going to resubscribe. So I've spent the last few weeks considering subscribing to the Times puzzle online and today -- running late, no time to pick up the paper -- I decided to succumb to the digital age finally and do the puzzle onscreen in Across Lite instead of on paper with a pen. The cost is $39.95/year, a bargain I'd say, especially since digital subscribers get a bonus puzzle thrown in as well as access to the "cru"-written cryptics.

I subscribed this afternoon but had to save the solving experience until tonight. I've used Across Lite before, but that was several years ago, and I must say the program has grown up in those years. There are all sorts of options: you can choose where the clues are displayed (if at all) in relation to the puzzle, what fonts you want used, how you prefer the mouse jump from square to square, and so forth, all easily and intuitively configured. And you can easily get rid of the timer that displays automatically on first opening the program, which is a good thing because I found the timer to be particularly annoying. I really don't care how fast or how slow it takes me to solve a given puzzle and don't want, much less need, a timer nagging away at me.

Nevertheless, even though I care not one whit how long the solving takes, the end of February will find me hunched over the puzzles of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, being held this year February 27-March 1 at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Brooklyn. I don't do it for the prizes -- of which I'll win not a single one -- I do it for the cameraderie of like-minded folks. And, this year, my friend Ellen plans to attend, too, so I'll actually know someone there. Woot!

So that's decisions 1 and 2. The third decision was to put the Harper's puzzle aside for a few days to regroup. I've filled in more spaces, and discovered a few of the "upgrades," but still the majority of the entries totally elude me. Ellen gave me a bit of help by naming one of the upgrades but I still didn't get the crossing for it. I am, in fact, completely stuck, totally frozen ... absolutely ready to cry Uncle. Ellen, meanwhile, has long since completed the whole thing, although she tells me there is still one upgrade that eludes her. Wow. I'm impressed.

I will say that this is the furthest I've even gotten with a Harper's cryptic, and the first time I've ever managed to figure out the added twist, so I'll be looking forward with some eagerness to next month's challenge.