I’ve often said that one of the best parts of my job is reading your letters and you tell me how much you enjoy reading other puzzlers’ letters. Your feedback (both positive and negative) helps me to maintain and improve the quality of our puzzle magazines.

But on a personal level and just as importantly, your letters allow me to get to know you, your thoughts and personality.

Since the age of the World Wide Web, the days of ‘snail mail’ and elegant penmanship seem to be behind us. The number of us who put pen to paper is dwindling and the generation of today will rarely see anything handwritten arrive in their mailbox. Despite this, written communication has increased with technology, providing new ways to keep in touch.

You can imagine my delight when I stumbled across some research revealing that writing and receiving letters helps to keep your mind in tip-top condition. Not only does personal communication through letters and cards stimulate better health in the receiver, but composing a letter is good for both your physical and mental health. Scientists have long known that there are therapeutic benefits to writing about experiences, thoughts and feelings. Writing can reduce stress, improve memory and sleep and even speed up healing after surgery.

According to a paper published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, writing is beneficial because it enables a person to process and disclose their thoughts. The use of words denoting positive emotion, such as ‘good’, ‘happy’ and ‘love’ were associated with better health – so when you write to tell me you love our puzzles, you may be pleased to know you are improving both my health and yours!

Happy Puzzling!