Newspaper comics &. puzzles

Sudoku, 2-9

     About the only reason I want to subscribe to the newspaper these days is the comics and the puzzles. I’ve read the comics daily since I was a kid, so more than 65 years.  The strip people are generally excellent artists, offering wisdom and humor,  although I’ve had my favorites over the years whether they were excellent or not. I miss some of the ones that have disappeared permanently, such as Apt. 3G, Ali Oop, Snuffy Smith, Judge Parker, Mary Worth, Steve Canyon, and of course, Dick Tracy. I suppose Prince Valiant is my favorite oldest timer still here, and it’s a good example of how the graphics and social POV have changed over more than half century.  So is Dennis the Menace, one of the many characters not allowed to grow up, even as I did.  Mark Trail was a favorite that changed for the worse in its most recent iteration. All said, I’m glad when old strips get republished as is, such as For Better Or For Worse and Get Fuzzy and of course Peanuts.  I’m also pleased to see control and production pass to heirs of the originators.  Seems fitting. Then there are terrific relatively new comers, like Ray Billingsley’s Curtis, and Steven Pastis’ Pearls before Swine.  And I should be enthusiastic about the old folks my age in Pickles, but I really like sweet Luann’s crowd better.  So has any historian picked up the topic of this “ordinary” art form yet?  Must’ve, but if not, it’s a gem waiting to be found.

     The Jumble and Sudoku are my favorite puzzles, and I’ll boast a bit about them. I’ve worked Jumble so long that I can most often see the words intended immediately, and it’s not difficult to work out the long riddle, sometimes without the letters. Sudoku is the challenge, I rarely complete them, and I can get OCD about them often, spending up to 11/2 hours before I solve or discard, defeated.  I solved the three above in these past two days of frigid weather, what I called wasting time yesterday in a blog post.  But oddly I feel a mild sense of accomplishment, likely unjustified.  By the way, the first done was level 4, second level 2, third level 1 started three days ago.  The 1s seem so schwer zu mir.  Is this what youngster video gamers feel after hours in front of a tube?  Hmh.