You CAN Learn to Solve Word Puzzles: With Ed Stein

At Continuing Ed: Crosswords on Oct 27; Cryptic Puzzles, Nov 1

by Sarah Near, Director of LM Continuing Ed

(October 26, 2005) Can solving the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle actually be taught? According to Ed Stein, it's doable. He's proved it in crosswords classes over the past four years at Continuing Education in Larchmont and Mamaroneck, Bronxville, and Greenwich, and at several special events and at seminars at his alma mater, Wesleyan University. In each session, Mr. Stein starts out by providing strategies to solving a crossword puzzle - how to read a clue, what to be aware of – and offering concrete examples for working out answers to clues. And to cement what he's taught, during the second half of each session, he gives each student a brand new New York Times Sunday crossword edited by Times Puzzle Editor Will Shortz, and together the class solves it -- voila! - in about an hour. Finished, correct, every time.

Puzzleman Ed Stein acts more like an emcee, directing the class to certain clues across or down that the students should get, but rarely ever telling them answers as they build on letters from other clues they’ve just solved. And he'll let them make mistakes, because part of solving a puzzle is realizing a mistake, correcting it, and moving on. Mr. Stein has taught puzzle-solving to children as young as fifth grade and to seniors at nursing homes, assisted living places, and senior centers. At his debut with one senior center, he found that out of the 20 people attending, only one had ever done a crossword puzzle - and these were people in their eighties.

How did Mr. Stein first realize that puzzle-solving could be taught? About five years ago, he was sitting in a doctor's waiting room when a nurse announced that, sorry, the doctors were running one hour late. Everybody groaned. Sitting next to him was a woman who wore a bandana wrapped around her head; she was pale, obviously suffering from cancer. She had with her the Times Sunday magazine section opened to the puzzle page. The crossword was completed but the cryptic puzzle below it was blank. He asked if she knew how to solve the cryptic. When she shook her head, he proceeded to explain the six basic rules of solving the cryptic, relating them to the specific puzzle. The woman came alive as she caught on fast. The hour flew. The next time he came to that office, the nurse asked him what he did for that woman, she was so animated! That experience made him realize, if he could teach puzzle-solving to a cancer patient and make it fun, he should be able to do it with any kind of puzzle and any kind of student.

Mr. Stein has been solving puzzles since he was in the sixth grade in Springfield, Massachusetts. He recalls " BIKINI" being the answer to "Atoll in the Pacific." Now, he's been solving puzzles for over a half a century. Puzzles, he maintains, are a healthy avocation. Even NBC's "Today Show" had a segment recently on "Staying Young" that advocated doing crossword puzzles.

Mr. Stein will be teaching the crossword puzzle class through the Larchmont & Mamaroneck Center for Continuing Education on October 27 and the cryptic class on November 1. The tuition for each class is $45. You can register on-line at lmcce.org or call 698-9126 for more information.

Sarah Near is the director of Larchmont & Mamaroneck Center for Continuing Education.

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