Leslie's Crossword Puzzle (link to more puzzle envelopes)

MrW and I enjoyed this one. The NYTimes Mini Crossword Puzzle is still my first stop every morning after I check the blog to see how many mistakes I have made. I hope that doing a daily crossword puzzle is good brain exercise. I have so many fun envelopes from Leslie - and hope to send some in return one of these days. 

There are probably some other crossword designs on the blog. Although I do not recall if I have ever done one. (pause) I opened a new tab and did a search for more crossword themed envelopes. There are some really good ones. We will see if this link takes you to the same set of envelopes that I saw when I did the search. It's worth a click and a bit of scrolling to see some. 

The good ones are at the end. You have to scroll past more recent ones where I was simply talking about doing crossword puzzles.

Link to more crossword designs

If the link works, I will be doing this more often. The amount of good stuff that is buried within the 10+ years of blogging is <searching for a word other than awesome.> Feel free to leave a good word in the comments.

 

From Maggie to Wrigley+Jan

 Maggie's envelope for Wrigley and Jan is so cute. Her rendering of the puppy is so cute. It's effective that she flipped the direction that her drawing is facing. She also put this one inside a plain envelope to avoid the issues with the scanners not reading her beautiful script. So, technically, she did not need all 3 stamps, since it did not go through the mail. But, I think it looks a lot cuter with the 3 stamps.

***

A couple weeks ago I was wondering if you could get a PhD in art. As I recall there is a university where you can propose your own idea for a PhD and one of the best designers of crossword puzzles wrote a proposal and was granted a PhD in crossword puzzle design. (I hope I am remembering that correctly.)

I seem to recall conversations when I first got into calligraphy in the 90s - where I pondered getting a PhD in penmanship. At the time, it seems like people thought that the only art related area that offered PhDs was in art history.

Flash forward to me finding the guy in Poland who had a PhD in art - and then finding a website that listed places to consider if one wanted a PhD in art -- and I found this website:

https://www.phdstudies.com/phd/arts

If you are really interested, look at the whole list - it is not that long. If you want my quick impression - most of the PhD programs are in other countries - several in England. In the US - there is one in Texas that dovetails art with technology - so that doesn't count (in my world.) And there are a couple others that look like those online universities.

I'm am a consummate fence-sitter on the topic of degree programs in art. I'm not against them, as are some people. But, I do not think they are essential. Whether you study at the college level - or just go straight to work - as an artist - you have an equal chance of success. And that definition of success is deeply personal. 

This will be discussed further in late August.

“glimmers” refers to small, ordinary moments that spark feelings of happiness and joy — and, consequently, an inner sense of peace. 

“glimmers” refers to small, ordinary moments that spark feelings of happiness and joy — and, consequently, an inner sense of peace. 

Covid Coping -- Guess My Word

I do not play a lot of games. I do the NYTimes mini-crossword puzzle daily. Once in a while I play mahjong - less than once a month. But that's about it. Recently, I saw something about word game and gave it a try - and I really like it. It took me a while to figure it out, but it has really grown on me. I've only been playing for about 5 days -- so I guess it grew on me very quickly. I'll post a link to the game and also a screenshot so you have an idea of the progression of guessing. My strategy is to always start with an M-word -- and then work backwards or forwards - generally half way in whichever direction I need to go.

https://hryanjones.com/guess-my-word/

If you get the easy word, you can try a harder word. I have always figured out the easy word and today, I did it in under 1 minute. I have only figured out the hard word half the time. When I give up and click on the answer, it is always a word that I actually thought of, but was inept on how to spell it.

If you are in hibernation with another person who likes word games, you can play this game with two people. You each choose a word and then go back and forth - guessing words - and your partner tells you if your guess is before or after the target word.

August from Kate - Pips

 

I wish Kate lived in my neighborhood so that she could come over and use that stamp on one of the 24 nichos that have to be built by the middle of October. It's Sept 12th - and I'm nervous.

***

People make fun of the NYTimes because they have so many games to play on their website. It looks like they have put the mini-crossword behind a paywall....which is OK - because they added Pips - which I love.

This game is based on dominos - and it took me a few days to catch on - but - Oh.My.Gosh - once I got the hang of it - it's become my new favorite. 

I finished the easy puzzle in 24 seconds and the medium puzzle in 3 minutes - and the hard puzzle in 4 minutes. If you like puzzles, just go to the New York Times - and click on games.

jeri - crossword

steal worthy.

jeri has asked me more than once how i come up with so many idea...
by stealing them from people like YOU, jeri. (or, in this case, your sister  :-)

this just in

while we are thinking about crossword puzzles
here is one from a blog, that is all in french, so i have no idea if this letter actually arrived, but there is a photo of some envelopes where the puzzle has been completed.

http://postenomade.over-blog.com/30-categorie-1184458.html

you have to scroll past some other envelopes that are somewhat stealworthy.

one more crossword

this was jeri's entry in the graceful envelope in 2007. she is a frequent winner and has been first place or best in show, too.

this is a tour de force (a feat requiring great virtuosity or strength, often deliberately undertaken for its difficulty) - i had to do spell check and liked the definition. yes, she deliberately undertook a difficult task.

APR to Jessica - Strands puzzle

 

This was the envelope that was supposed to have my favorite cloud stamp plus 2 special delivery stamps but they slipped onto a different envelope - so the only thing I could find was this lavender stamp. It's OK. I actually like this lettering and somewhere I had the whole alphabet - so maybe it will pop up again some day.

***

I can't remember if I have already posted this.

The NYTimes has a new puzzle called Strands. There is a grid - and you have to find words.

All the words refer to theme. Each time you find 3 random words that have nothing to do with the theme, you earn a *hint* which is when they give you one the theme words. And - there is one *big* word - that ties everything together - and goes from edge to edge. I love this game/puzzle. You have to look carefully at the linked letters to *read* the words. I hope my pitiful brain is benefiting from the workout it gets with all these puzzles - mini-crossword, Wordle, Connections, Letter-boxed, and now Strands. 

LINK to Strands

Nov 2022 - Janet's Raven stamp - NameDrop game

 

Here is Janet's birthday month envelope to my daughter. Those stamps have inspired so many nice designs. For at least 10 years, I have wished that I had put the name of each stamp in the description so that I could do a search for all the envelopes that popped up for a particular stamp. We'll see how well I do at remembering to do this. It is Jan 2nd. I do not have high hopes. Low hopes. Does anyone ever say *low hopes*? I think it has a nice ring to it.

Here we go: Raven stamp

***

Here is a new daily *game* to play. It is just 5 days a week - not on weekends. I will give you a link - but you are going to have to be comfortable with figuring out how to sign up - if you are interested. It is NameDrop - through The New Yorker magazine. I signed up - for free - and so far, I have not been inundated with junk emails - but, I suppose that could happen. You also get a free daily crossword puzzle.

If you like games - this one is a general knowledge of people from any time and from any *sphere.* They include everything from ancient Greeks to contemporary playwrights to sports figures to political figures. 

You get a clue, then you can guess who the person is or you may choose another clue - up to 6 clues. If you have a correct answer, you get points based on how fast you figured it out and find out where you fell in relation to the other people playing the game. Today it was John Legend - and I did not figure it out until the last clue - and 47% of the people figured it out faster than I did.

It's a fun game - and they are all listed in order, so if you like the game, you may scroll down - and play all the previous games.

I am not sure if this link takes you to the info for signing up. You may have to dig around to find the sign up. Hopefully it will just take you to a page where you can try it to see if you enjoy it.

LINK to NameDrop

crossword winner

 my texas rep [ aka timtex ] sent the top postcard and asked on the back *did i win?* yes timtex, you won way back on May 18, 2013 when you sent the postcards that had just *JEAN* and just *420*

http://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/2013/05/this-is-cool.html

i will be announcing other winners in other categories by the end of the year:
1
best use of birds on heads
2
most improved penmanship
3
most generous
4
least likely to get a job at the p.o.
you know who you are....
5
person who sends the most mail art but refuses to send anything to me - (eyebrow raised)

 

harriet russell gets the lifetime achievement award for sending the most creative mail ever. it is published in a book.










i'll have to give myself honorable mention for stick-to-it-ive-ness.
i saw that jane farr is giving up her regular friday posting. she is in my list of blogs over there on the right. and her blog drove a ton of traffic to my blog. so i have to think of some other way to drive people to my blog....

crossword puzzle inspired

these were unsent because it was back in the day when i would use actual envelopes to work out the designs. i liked the idea of stacking the letters. my friend, carol, had sent me a set of the gel pens that were glaze pens, i think. so i was looking for designs where i could use all the colors. clearly, it was difficult to write all the lines, one letter at a time. and being lazy...i didn't use a guide for the vertical columns. note to self...do a better job with this idea. note to p.o....design some stamps that are grid like. note to blogspot....send an apology to jean for this new improved method of posting blogs that she can't figure out......

Bob Dylan - off-topic

Written on Tuesday - I just discovered about 50 comments left by readers over the past 2 weeks - but the emails to OK them were hiding in my spam folder. I will try to remember to look in the spam folder more often. Sorry about that. I always enjoy hearing from readers.



This is being written on 26 Dec 2019 when I am having a marathon of clearing out folders. I am also muttering a few choice words under my breath as I find that I have been scheduling posts with envelopes that I already posted in 2019.

This artwork speaks to me because Bob is going to just forge ahead with his favorite activity, singing on a stage and I am going to forge ahead with my chaotic blog and y'all will have to bear with me when I have a few re-runs.

Artwork is by Barry Blitt. He has a Kvetchbook and does cartoons for The NewYorker. I like to kvetch. It mentions the NYTimes mini crossword puzzle. It's another free item that you might enjoy if you like a 2 minute break. Sometimes I can get it done in 1 minute. Rarely does it take more than 3 minutes.

More written on Tuesday:
Has anyone seen a recombobulation area at an airport? There are tons of photos online. Apparently, there is an area set aside to collect yourself after going through security. I was feeling very discombobulated when I saw how many comments were in the spam.

I feel bad about not having an envelope on this blog post. Sorry. If you need to see some envelopes just Google *mail art* and lots of them will pop up. Or go to Pinterest - or IG.

From JeanR in Sept - Ben-style (Cryptic Quote game)

 I think JeanR sent one other envelope with the Ben Shahn style lettering. Google has underlined Ben's last name, but I'm pretty sure that is correct. Is this the year I actually get around to doing my own version of Ben's lettering. I know that I have an envelope for Jean that is made out of a security envelope. It was made in the summer of 2020 and pops up on my desk every once in a while. Little by little, I am finishing my stack of unfinished envelopes. Soon, I will be free of the flotsam and jetsam and detritus. Maybe I have so much of that stuff because it is all fodder for art. Maybe, I will deteriorate once it is all gone. We shall see.

****

Above written a long, long, long time ago.

This written - Jan 1, 2021 -- 

Drinking coffee - reading the NYTimes.

I found a new game in an article about how some elderly people have been coping with the pandemic and the isolation. 

My morning routine is always: NYTimes Mini Crossword - usually takes around 1 minute - never more than two. Same time frame for the GuessMyWord puzzles - I can usually get both the easy one and the hard one. Under 5 minutes.

I am not going to add this game to the morning routine. I am going to put it in a folder labeled Desperate - for when I am in desperate need of a change of pace.

Link to Cryptic Quotes

I do not know if there are different sources for the game.

I've done Sudoku and Mahjong.

If anyone has any other games they enjoy - feel free to leave a comment - or if the comment feature doesn't work, send it to me in an email at:

jmwilson411-at-yahoo-dot-com

****

By the way - when I mentioned that my granddaughter and I sneak off and watch videos - lest you think we are wasting time - she often has questions that Nanna can't answer - like where in the world is the biggest volcano. Sometimes we research how to build little houses out of cardboard. We ran across a whole channel full of fanciful houses that are her skill level. Hopefully I can post our version when she is here this summer.

If you are curious -- here's the channel.

Link to Cardboard World

your serve

i don't think i posted this one yet. it was my return to the one cathy sent with 2 altheas playing tennis on a tennis court. i like both of our ideas, it's a tie.








 and an off topic topic from chuck. anything with letters is almost on topic