{"id":87749,"date":"2015-07-14T12:06:02","date_gmt":"2015-07-14T16:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=87749"},"modified":"2015-07-14T12:19:09","modified_gmt":"2015-07-14T16:19:09","slug":"downward-spiral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/14\/downward-spiral\/","title":{"rendered":"Downward Spiral"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7JWxNqyIRtk?rel=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It is a truth universally acknowledged that in the Monday-through-Wednesday crossword world, ELO\u00a0is the most listened-to band in history, Ava\u00a0the most popular girls\u2019 name, and time divides into eras\u00a0and eons. Think of it as the blue-plate special, but with Ali\u00a0instead of meat loaf.<\/p>\n<p>There are algorithms and programs that can predict the frequency of these usages. Of course there are. But for those of us who begin our day with the easy jog of a crossword, that\u2019s of no interest. We don\u2019t need to know; we <em>know<\/em>. It\u2019s not that writing in the answer for \u201cArchitect Saarinen\u201d or \u201cActress Thurman\u201d makes us feel smart, it makes us feel safe. As Stephen Sondheim said, \u201cThe nice thing about doing a crossword puzzle is, you know there is a solution.\u201d <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not talking about competitive crossworders, or even really good ones\u2014although it\u2019s heartwarming to think of people around the world puzzling as one of a Saturday. Rather, I\u2019m talking about those of us for whom the daily affirmation of remembering a few names, of spelling basic words, of<em> knowing how to read<\/em> is simple pleasure enough.<\/p>\n<p>And then there are those brief moments of sly delight, treats in the form of favorite words or references\u2014<em>lurid<\/em>\u00a0or <em>scamp<\/em>\u00a0or \u201cSinger Sumac\u201d\u2014moments that make you feel connected. People all over the world are thinking about Yma Sumac in that moment, puzzling over her five-octave range and strange career.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe, like you, people are looking up \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=moFQZN80-Z4\" target=\"_blank\">Ataypura<\/a>,\u201d or even Sumac\u2019s bizarre 1971 rock album, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Yma-Sumac-Miracles\/release\/1134653\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Miracles<\/em><\/a><\/em>. I\u2019m not saying that, in those moments, you understand how madmen see messages directed to themselves in newspapers and radio broadcasts. But you come closer, in those moments, than usual. It\u2019s not scary, it\u2019s glorious.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s just Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p><em>Sadie Stein is contributing editor of <\/em>The Paris Review<em>, and the <\/em>Daily<em>\u2019s correspondent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is a truth universally acknowledged that in the Monday-through-Wednesday crossword world, ELO\u00a0is the most listened-to band in history, Ava\u00a0the most popular girls\u2019 name, and time divides into eras\u00a0and eons. Think of it as the blue-plate special, but with Ali\u00a0instead of meat loaf. There are algorithms and programs that can predict the frequency of these [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[18790,18791,18792,12775,18789,16274,18567,18788],"class_list":["post-87749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-ataypura","tag-clues","tag-conspiracy","tag-crossword-puzzles","tag-gopher-mambo","tag-puzzles","tag-vowels","tag-yma-sumac"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Crossword Puzzle\u2019s Simplest Pleasures<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cThe daily affirmation of remembering a few names, of spelling basic words, of knowing how to read...\u201d\" 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