Puzzles and your Health

Doctors and medical professionals frequently write about the advantages of crossword-solving as a beneficial form of brain therapy. Readers also write to tell us about the good effects that our puzzles had on their recovery after strokes etc. Here are some of the articles and feedback we've received. We'd also love to hear your story or receive additional articles you may come across in the media – please contact us here.

Six ways to keep your memory in tip-top condition

If you ever find yourself in the aisles of a supermarket not remembering what you’re there to buy, don’t worry, you’re not alone. We all have days when our memory seems to let us down and we forget not just the finer details, but basic information too.

Fortunately, there are plenty of simple ways to [more…]

Our inspiring DIY winner Arthur Daniell

Our inspiring DIY winner Arthur Daniell will turn 100 this year! His winning crossword was published in Christine’s BIG Crossword 319.

Arthur Daniell was born on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia in 1919. He was the second youngest of 6 children. His parents settled on a dairy farm at Monteith on the River Murray [more…]

What’s the crucial age to engage the brain to help ward off dementia?

This article appeared in Woman’s Day 14/3/2012:
Get the Kids Cross-Training

We’ve all heard doing the Woman’s Day crossword may help ward of dementia, but did you know the crusical age to engage your brain is between six and 40?

Researchers at the University of California surveyed 65 adults with an average age of 76 and found [more…]

Janette Barclay – Mount Maunganui, NZ

I am an avid fan of your puzzles, so thank you for them.
Progression of Multiple Sclerosis has depleted the use of my writing hand, so over the past year I have taught myself to use my left.
Oddly enough, the squares of the puzzles have been a great help, enabling me to re-size the letters [more…]

White Matter Keeps Brain Working: Expert

That daily crossword or Sudoku puzzle has just been elevated from fun time waster to vital task.

Australian researchers have found it’s not grey matter that disappears with age, but connecting white matter in the brain.

The research is rewriting the book on how the brain ages, and shows how important it is to undertake mentally [more…]

Insurance Companies, UK

Life insurance companies devise tests to help them gauge how long their clients will live. So it is important to get it right.

Some questions examine whether their clients involve their minds in any activities.

It’s an eye-opener to see the huge extent to which mental performance, IQ and mind-sports related answers can account for a [more…]

Professor Arnold Scheibel

In a July 1994 Life magazine article by Daniel Golden, Building a Better Brain (download the full article below) he quotes Dr. Arnold Scheibel, former head of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute who said, “Anything that is intellectually challenging can probably serve as a stimulus for dendritic growth, which adds to the computational reserves in your [more…]

J R Stirzaker – Mt Waverley, Vic

“I am 78 years old and an Ex-Rat of Tobruk. I have found since I have been doing your crosswords that my memory has improved. I am able to retain the meaning of words that I have had to look up in the dictionary.”

Trudi Campbell – Sydney

“I first came into contact with Lovatts Crosswords during a stay in hospital. I was then ten years old. I was taken to Dubbo to have my appendix out and was placed in the children’s ward. I was the oldest by about seven years.
“I was scared and I was all alone with no one [more…]