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Puzzled by Connections

A photo of the New York Times Connections PuzzleEvery morning, I drink my coffee and solve the The New York Times Wordle. Recently, I added a new puzzle to the mix: Connections.

Have you seen this puzzle? It is pure evil, and I’m completely addicted to it.

Basically, you are given 16 words and must sort them into four groups of four words that have a common thread. When you make four mistakes, the game is over. Groups are categorized by color: the yellow and green topics are supposedly the easier ones to get and blue and purple are the harder ones. Sounds easy, right?

But here is how they get you. Several words can have common themes and different meanings and can be grouped into different categories. In order to win, you really have to get into the mindset of the puzzle creator to figure out what they are actually thinking. And it is SO HARD.

I’ve solved a few of these puzzles but not as many as I’d like to. Clearly, I don’t know what the creator is thinking, but I do know they definitely have a maniacal laugh. I hear it every time I open this puzzle and attempt to solve it.

Take yesterday’s puzzle for instance. Five words were definitely related to Christmas. They were: mistletoe, reindeer, snowman, stocking, and candy cane. I can only pick four so I chose: “mistletoe, reindeer, stocking, and candy cane.” And I was wrong. I had another guess so I kept “reindeer, stocking, and candy cane” and went with “present.” There are plenty of presents given on Christmas, so that must be it.

Wrong again.

Now, I’m Jewish, so after another attempt at getting all the Christmas-related words right, I started to wonder if there was some mysterious holiday tradition I was missing out on. So, I walked away. I grabbed more coffee and sat back down again. I gave up on Christmas words and tried to create a different group. I was so happy when I put the words “bagel, cheerio, donut, and lifesaver” together. Round shaped foods for the blue category, Alex!

I thought I was on a roll, so I went back to the Christmas words and tried one more time. I went over each word, considering hidden meanings and watching my morning fly by. I decided to keep “mistletoe, reindeer and candy cane” and replaced the word “stocking” with “display.” People have Christmas displays all the time – in their front yards, in the shopping malls, on TV. That must be the answer, right?

Wrong!

FUCK!

And now the game was over.

The correct grouping was “mistletoe, stocking, snowman, and reindeer.” I’m sorry, but when is a snowman specific to Christmas? Aren’t snowmen agnostic or at least seasonal? Yes, I know all about Frosty the Snowman, but I’m sorry – presents are more associated with Christmas than a corncob pipe and a magic hat.

Oh, and why wasn’t candy cane included in the Christmas words??? Because it fit in a different category – things with stripes – “referee, crosswalk, tiger, and candy cane.” Cue the maniacal laugh…

I know. I know. First world problems. But, yesterday’s puzzle really put me in a bad mood.

Will I try again tomorrow? Absolutely.

XO,

Elisa

The Power of a Compliment

It’s easy to get discouraged during a job search. When I was employed, I would wake up every morning with a to-do list a mile long. I knew exactly what I needed to do at work, and would sometimes give myself a mental pat on the back for crossing things off my list. At the end of the day, I could look back and feel accomplished.

Now, the to-do list is still a mile long, but I’m have trouble deciding what to prioritize. This is so not like me. I’m the queen of prioritizing my work. But this is different. Like a Wordle puzzle with too many options to choose from, I tend to freeze up (or scroll Reels on Facebook as an exercise in avoidance and procrastination).

Do I hit the job boards on Indeed and Idealist or plan out posts on LinkedIn? Should I work on my freelancing website or schedule a few more networking calls? Maybe I’ll add a few more organizations to my target list and work on some answers to potential interview questions. I also need to nag a few people about a few letters of recommendation.

Which one of these things will get me that much closer to a new job or a writing gig? The answer: all of the above. It can be quite overwhelming at times. My goal every day is to be able to say that I was productive.

Which is why a compliment from an old friend was so welcome. We go way back to my synagogue days when we were program directors in our respective congregations. While we live in different states, we stayed in touch online. During this phone call, we talked about the different directions I could go in with my career. He shared some of his most recent work experiences with me and offered some solid career advice.

Before we got off the phone, he said, “You are incredible at what you do, Elisa. Hang in there.”

Incredible? I don’t know if I would describe my contributions as incredible. But I have to admit that it’s really nice to hear someone else say it. He put me back in the right mindset by reminding me that I still have plenty to offer. I need to remember that as I continue to push forward.

Wherever I decide to put my efforts tomorrow or the next day or the next, the prioritizing is probably not the most important thing. What’s important is to DO SOMETHING because I know every little bit helps. So far this week, I got my resume down from three pages to two pages. I also found a few places on my resume where I could explain my accomplishments more clearly. Before I knew it, I had a whole new resume to send out. Today, I posted on LinkedIn and made some new connections. Tomorrow, I’m going to follow up on a few job applications I sent out last week and look into taking a few classes toward another certificate.

For now, I’m going to watch the Phillies and get a good night sleep. Tomorrow is a new day.

XO,

Elisa

P.S. – If you would like to follow me on LinkedIn, here is the link to my profile. I’d love to connect with you.

Red October

I had to laugh at today’s writing prompt from the beloved fearless leader of the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

“What do you do in the Fall that is unique to this season.”

For Phillies baseball fans, tonight we aren’t enjoying the changing colors of the leaves, attending a fall festival, or carving a pumpkin. Tonight, we are watching the Philadelphia Phillies begin their road to the World Series!!!

We will get there one game at a time, and tonight we are taking on the Miami Marlins in the first postseason game. We will be saying our prayers and yelling at our televisions. We will cheer on the players and curse out the umpires when they make bad calls. Hopefully, bats and helmets aren’t thrown into the stands, but when it comes to this team, you never know.

It’s not fall in our house. It’s Red October. And it’s going to be AWESOME!

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