“Dear Judge Vic, I’ve heard that crosswords are considered mentally healthy. Can you address this topic? Also, I’d like to work on your crosswords, but I hear they have legal themes. I worry I might not be qualified. /s/ New Kid.” Dear N.K., Thanks for the opportunity to cross-market.
According to Alzheimer’s Web sites, solving crosswords exercises an area of the brain that is implicated in dementia. In the spirit of fairness and full disclosure, solving math puzzles does the same. New York Times Puzzle Editor Will Shortz says solving crosswords “is the mental equivalent of going to the gym and working out on all the machines.” That’s because crossword solving calls on several aspects of your mental ability, not just your vocabulary and memory, as some think. A good crossword involves your mental flexibility, sense of humor, general knowledge and sense of logic.
I don’t want you, or anyone else, to think that because my puzzles are billed as being of interest to persons involved in law, business and politics, they exclude people who are not actively involved in those three disciplines. Some time back I did a puzzle called “Orderly Place.” The word COURT was across the center of the puzzle. Theme answers were partial phrases, so that, with the central word, solvers were treated to FRIEND OF THE COURT, IN CONTEMPT OF COURT, WE’LL SEE YOU IN COURT and SETTLE OUT OF COURT – terminology everyone can identify with.
I remember a puzzle I did in which the theme answers were STEAL AWAY, TELL A WHITE LIE, WELL AWARE and NATIONAL AWARD. The word LAW is hidden in each phrase; thus, the title “Legal Findings.” Nothing about this would alienate the average person. In a puzzle originally titled “Legal Volumes,” I used as theme answers several John Grisham book titles. One titled “Legalese” featured a quote from Mario Cuomo: I’M A TRIAL LAWYER. ON A GOOD DAY, I SOUND LIKE AN AFFIDAVIT. “Elder Law” also was a quip puzzle, showcasing a Charles Schulz saying: ONCE YOU’RE OVER THE HILL YOU BEGIN TO PICK UP SPEED.
In a tribute to a PBS TV series, across the center I put LEO MCKERN, who played the title role of RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY, which was on two lines in the lower right of the grid. Rumpole was noted for calling his wife Hilda SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED, which I worked into the upper left. Last week’s I Swear Crossword theme was a Henry Haskins quote: GOOD BEHAVIOR IS THE LAST REFUGE OF MEDIOCRITY. Neither that nor a colorful mini-theme, RED LOBSTER and BLUE RIBBON, was peculiar to law, business or politics. So, I used some non-theme words that could be clued accordingly: ALCEE (former U.S. District Judge Hastings); STARR (Whitewater special prosecutor Kenneth); ONE-L (early Scott Turow book or first-year J.D. student); ITO (Judge Lance); and more.
So, you can see the notion of the puzzles’ being “legal” is pretty loose, and that the themes do not render the puzzles inaccessible to anyone. Foreshadow: Start solving the puzzle today on a regular basis and watch for one in the next few weeks that might cross-market the column.
Vic Fleming is a district court judge in Little Rock, Ark., where he also teaches at the William H. Bowen School of Law. Contact him at vicfleming@att.net.