An early morning brain workout: Peter Delahaye

I had been curious for sometime when friends would post their daily “Wordie” result on social media. I eventually found that the game was part of a suite of brain teasers from The New York Times. I haven’t subscribed, but I play a set of four tests first thing in the morning as a new ritual. A new daily package of challenges arrives sometime overnight and is waiting for me on my iPhone app.

My ritual practice begins with “Spelling Bee” where you have to make words from seven given letters. The more complex the word, the more points are given. I have stayed stagnant on “Solid” as an intellectual level, while reaching higher results, (Nice, Great, Amazing, Genius) remains permanently unattainable.

I then go onto “Letter Boxed” where you get a number of tries at using all 12 letters around a square. I am usually able to connect all letters to make a word within four attempts, although it may take some time and considerable frustration.

Next comes “Connections”, where from a grid of 16 apparently random words you have to make four groups of four words connected to a theme. What surprised me was how hard this is for a non-American player to make any sense of. Only four mistakes are allowed and words may seem to belong to multiple categories depending on meaning. This is a test of general knowledge and how capable you are of thinking outside the box. I’m successful perhaps 40% of the time and, while resigned to failure, I feel no guilt about getting it wrong. Who knew names of 1970’s baseball stars? Who could connect four disparate words to recognize famous US TV soaps?

Resigned to failure, I’ve learned, provokes no stress whatsoever. Whereas “Wordie”, a game expecting you to guess the five letters of a chosen daily word within six attempts, always raises my blood pressure. “Wordie” remembers your successful attempts and shows you how long your current streak without mistakes is. My maximum streak has been 65 days – that’s 65 consecutive days getting it right - and when I have failed I seriously considered returning to bed for the day. My percentage win rate is 96%, but friends boast of streaks that are 200 plus. They must have health hearts as well as ridiculously healthy brains!

Adding these New York Times games into my routine takes an hour out of my day. It’s an emotional workout. I don’t try Suduko or Crosswords or the myriad other packages of brain teasers available with subscription.

So what does science say about brain teasers improving brain performance. The jury is still out on this one, I’m afraid. What I do know is that my mother had an elephantine memory even at the ripe old age of 100. She and I played Word Scrabble, at distance, for years. I’m banking on genetics to keep me brain healthy!