{"id":37654,"date":"2021-10-22T01:41:31","date_gmt":"2021-10-22T08:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=37654"},"modified":"2021-11-02T17:05:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T00:05:01","slug":"playing-with-words-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2021\/10\/22\/playing-with-words-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing with words, and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

Think you\u2019re not a puzzle person? Think again. \u201cWe solve puzzles of every sort, every day. They show up in so many of our life choices \u2013 in our decision-making, in our development of human relationships, in time-management, and so on,\u201d writes local Jewish community member Jonathan Berkowitz. \u201cAlthough puzzles are usually considered to be activities of recreation, having any facility with puzzle-solving enhances other life skills. It helps you with listening, parsing, decoding, defining, lateral thinking \u2013 in short, problem-solving.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his recently published book, The Whirl of Words: Puzzling Past and Present<\/em> (FriesenPress), Berkowitz gets into the nitty gritty \u2013 history, philosophy, etymology, mechanics \u2013 of puzzle construction and solving in a conversational style that makes for good reading, even if you don\u2019t absorb all the details on the first go. In fact, an ability to give something the once-over and then revisit it is an important aspect of puzzle-solving. It\u2019s the second of eight steps that Berkowitz offers for solving puzzles, which would serve well for any puzzling situation.<\/p>\n

Puns, by the way, are a part of wordplay, which, writes Berkowitz, \u201cinvolves perceiving patterns where none were expected. Pattern matching is a hallmark of intelligence. It is at the root of science and art. Much of thinking is really just finding the underlying pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berkowitz is adept at both science and art. He appears regularly on CBC Radio 1, where he is \u201cthe Word Guy\u201d on the show North by Northwest<\/em>. He creates and solves puzzles and is a member of the National Puzzlers\u2019 League. Oh, and he\u2019s a professor of statistics at the University of British Columbia\u2019s Sauder School of Business.<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>The Whirl of Words<\/em> is about all kinds of wordplay, the main types of which, Berkowitz explains, \u201cinvolve letter play (wordplay involving the letters of the alphabet and their usage in words without regard to sound or sense), sound play (wordplay involving the sounds of words without regard to letters or meanings) and meaning play (wordplay involving the meanings of words without regard to letters or sounds).\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a chapter on numbers, both as words (one, two, three, etc.) and as mathematical concepts. There are discussions of the potential cognitive and other benefits of puzzle-solving, such as learning about a range of topics, from sports to geography to politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWord puzzles improve vocabulary, grammar, spelling and communication skills, boost memory and enhance cognitive and analytical skills,\u201d writes Berkowitz. \u201cBy improving your problem-solving skills, you may also improve your performance at work and in other areas of life. They can be a positive factor for your mental health, because focusing your attention on a puzzle can aid relaxation, ward off anxiety, and keep your emotions under control. After all, how can you think negative thoughts when you\u2019re concentrating on a puzzle? And, doesn\u2019t it feel fantastic when you solve a puzzle?\u201d<\/p>\n

Going back to his eight steps, out of context, they could be mistaken for a self-help guide:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cThe puzzle is in the details. Read the instructions carefully. Then read them again.\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cGive it the once-over, twice. Assess the challenge.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cDon\u2019t just sit there, try something.\u201d<\/li>\n
  4. \u201cDon\u2019t give up; persist.\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. \u201cOpen your toolbox.\u201d What approach might lead to a solution?<\/li>\n
  6. \u201cUse the force wisely. Be systematic and efficient.\u201d<\/li>\n
  7. \u201cSleep on it\u2026. Like a train, once you are on a track, it is difficult to change tracks. Put the puzzle aside and come back to it with fresh eyes and a refreshed brain.\u201d<\/li>\n
  8. \u201cYou are not alone. It is perfectly fine to seek help from resources.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As is also true with general life circumstances, the key to getting better at something is to practise. And Berkowitz provides plenty of puzzles for readers to solve, as well as the answers to them at the end of each chapter.<\/p>\n

    The Whirl of Words<\/em> includes a selected biography for those interested in further learning, and a much-needed glossary \u2013 most readers will discover many new words and terms while enjoying this book.<\/p>\n

    To read excerpts from The Whirl of Words<\/em> and to purchase a copy of it for yourself or a fellow puzzle lover, visit thewhirlofwords.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Think you\u2019re not a puzzle person? Think again. \u201cWe solve puzzles of every sort, every day. They show up in so many of our life choices \u2013 in our decision-making, in our development of human relationships, in time-management, and so on,\u201d writes local Jewish community member Jonathan Berkowitz. \u201cAlthough puzzles are usually considered to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37655,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[758,20947,20946,20948],"class_list":["post-37654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-jonathan-berkowitz","tag-puzzles","tag-whirl-of-words","tag-wordplay"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}