How depressing.
Mondays are the only days I generally time myself. They are the easiest puzzles and it takes longer to print them out than to solve them in Across Lite. Well, that's not quite true. Today's took me a little over five minutes. Many Mondays I'm a little under five. A couple of times in my life I've been under four. For that to happen, everything has to fall into place exactly right. Speed reading the clues and typing as fast as I can takes that much time.
It turns out I'm only average, if that. I should never have linked to Crossword Fiend who is, apparently, some supernatural force of nature from Chicago whose over-clocked brain works on completely different scientific principles. Today's report blithely notes a time of 2:42. This is incomprehensible to me. I've only been timing myself for a few years, but I'm not getting any faster. Even when I get close to a super-fast time, there will be a letter or two that trips me up and I founder while the seconds tick on louder and louder. Just depressing.
For the sake of this blog, I did an experiment this morning. I solved the Monday puzzle last night on my computer. I tried the same puzzle again this morning, reading and typing as fast as I could. It was a humbling experience. Despite the fact that I had already worked it out less than twelve hours earlier, my time was still slower than the Fiend's.
So I console myself. I'm not by nature or inclination a speed solver. No, I just enjoy the leisurely pleasure of finding the answers. I feel sorry for those poor sods who are driven by satanic pressure to compete with their friends and then show off. Man, I'm glad I'm not one of them!
I just wish I were faster.