Cruciverbalism

A New York Times Sunday puzzle is the perfect pandemic antidote. 

Why?

• It’s analog. Unlike working, eating or socializing, it does not require a screen.

• It reminds you that once, before Google, we nerds used to know things. The names of French rivers. That city in Ghana. How to write 551 in Roman numerals.

• Do enough of them, and be part of the club.

No, not the cool kids club. Definitely not that one. But there are secret handshakes: if the clue is abbreviated, the answer is, too. Question marks? Puns.

And as you pencil in Idi Aman, Brian Eno or jai alai for the fiftieth time, you know there are others out there who are just as smug in their knowledge of short names with unusual spellings.

A crossword puzzle is a world with defined edges where every clue has a solution. What better gift for 2021?