My introduction to crossword puzzles was through a childhood friend. Sue Ellen lived with her elderly grandmother, a woman who sat at the kitchen counter every morning until she finished the day's puzzle. I can still picture her tap-tap-tapping the pencil's eraser on the newspaper as she searched the inner recesses of her mind for a word. She had a scowl on her face until the solution came to her. When it did, her eyes lit up and she'd pounce on the paper to write the answer in the tiny boxes. Then she'd smile, set her pencil down, and take another swig from her coffee cup.
     Years later, when I worked in a car dealership, the older salesman in the office next to mine worked the daily crossword. Also a coffee drinker, he made several trips to the machine in the service department for refills, leaving the newspaper open on his desk. As soon as I heard his footsteps go down the stairs, I snuck into his office and filled in a word or two, then went back to my desk and pretended to be on the telephone.
     Can brain teasers really do battle against the onset of Alzheimer's, as newspaper and magazine articles would have us believe? With this thought in mind, I bought my husband a crossword book. He tried one puzzle. Here's what I found out about my hubby: When it comes to word games, he is short on patience. If the clue for one down, a three-letter word, is "Family pet," he's positive the answer is "dog." If the first letter, a C, has already been filled in because one across is cucumber, he still thinks the family pet is a dog. After all, we have one. We don't have a cat. We never will. The book went on a shelf in the den, where it gathers dust, right next to the find-a-word book I had purchased for him the year before.
     When Suduko puzzles became the rage, I gave him a book of those. "This is math," I said. "It may be more your style." We worked on a puzzle together. I was intrigued, but he wanted no part of it, saying he didn't think warding off Alzheimer's would matter if the challenge brought on a stroke or heart attack.
     The premise that I can save a few brain cells has me hooked on the New York Times crossword puzzle--the one that becomes more difficult as the week moves along. Monday, and sometimes Tuesday, is usually a breeze. By Wednesday, I'm scratching my head and often don't finish until Thursday, when the answers are provided. I've tried the Friday, Saturday and Sunday offerings, but I'll have to admit: If mental acuity in my senior years depends on my finishing the weekend's puzzles, I'll be lucky to remember my name.
     Recently, we had a meal with my son and his family. I had brought activity books and crayons for the children. When our six-year-old grandson raised his head and triumphantly held his book up for everyone to see, we all clapped and exclaimed over his intelligence. He had completed the find-a-word page.
     The next day, when my husband left for work, I noticed a dusty find-a-word book poking out of his briefcase. "Bested by a six year old?" I asked.
    "And how," he said.
    "Plus," he added, "Those kids remember everything. There just might be something to this theory of brain puzzles warding off mental decline."
    "You won't get far without these," I said, handing him the car keys he had forgotten on the kitchen counter.