UNABASHED BRAGGING…AND A LITTLE MORE

This morning I completed my 21st consecutive Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle.

Am I bragging?  Obviously, yes.

But there is a little more to it than that.

At 71 years of age, I worry about the state of my mental acuity.  I think I’m still at 100%, but know that there are people around me who, while fully functional, are not quite as sharp as they used to be.

And common sense tells me that if I start losing it, by definition I will be among the very last to know.

So I regularly test myself in various objective ways.

One is by doing number games.  I prefer KenKen above Sudoku, probably because the name has a certain appeal to me.

And another is doing the Times crossword puzzle every day.

It is unusual for me not to complete a daily puzzle – even Saturday’s (arguably the most difficult of the week – which I have not even looked at yet today).  And, as noted earlier, Sunday’d puzzle is already in the books.

Eventually I will not complete a Sunday puzzle, and the string will be broken.  So be it.

But I figure when it becomes typical for me not to complete it, and I’m missing a few more boxes than usual, I better start reconciling myself to the fact that age is starting to take its toll.

Of course it could also be too much sex.  But you’d have to ask my wife about that…

…along with the three mistresses, several neighbors and the waitress at…OK,  I may be exaggerating a tad.  Forget the whole thing, I already did.