Boot Camp for Brain Cells

So, a few months ago I decided that my brain cells needed some stimulation. Spending most of my day with 12 and 13 years olds (I teach junior high) isn't quite cutting it. Anyways, I heard that crossword puzzles are supposedly one of the most superb forms of exercise for our little brain cells and can even help prevent Alzheimer's. Hence my new found love for the crossword puzzle.

I currently do the USA Today puzzle online. It's the best of them all because I can fill in about a third of it on my own...AND you know if you have the correct letter because it will be black and letters in the wrong place are red. This comes in super handy when I'm stuck on a letter...I just go through all the letters until I hit a black one! Yeah I'm that person.

I also use the internet when I am super stuck which should SO be allowed cuz some of the clues are just REALLY out there. Like take this for instance...

A four letter fruit that looks like it's name.
Well I instantly thought PEAR or ORANGE both of which are too obvious and well, Orange is too long...As I worked through the puzzle I found out that the fruit word starts with a U!! Are you kidding me? I so looked that up online. See if you can find it...you'll chuckle :)

Now the most awesome part of the USA Today puzzle is that it keeps track of your time. I beat my record last night with a 35:44. Not gonna lie, I'm pretty stoked.


image credit: unknown! If it's yours please let me know!