Just how popular are crossword puzzles?

I suck at crossword puzzles. There. I've said it.

Fellow literature degree holders boast that they faithfully complete the Sunday NY Times Crossword puzzle. In pen. 

I can't even complete the crossword puzzles in the local paper let alone something of the stature of the NY Times crossword puzzle. 

This is clearly a failing on my part. (A point in my favor, though, I have read Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Twice. This might be a failing too, depending on your point of view.)

My grandmother, however, is an excellent crossword puzzler. She actually completes the ones in her local paper. That's diligence.  That's faithfulness. That's moxie. 

I like crossword puzzles. Or rather, I like the idea of crossword puzzles. I want to be able to brag that I can complete any crossword puzzle in pen, let alone pencil, but I lose patience. I'm not very good at following through and actually completing one.  

Instead, when I visit my grandmother, I glance through the ones that she's started and fill in any clues that immediately jump to mind.  You know, the easy ones. Sometimes, I'll flex my brain muscle and try to puzzle out the harder clues, jotting down words in the margin of the newspaper column that might be the correct answer, but won't know until I solve the next clue that word is connected to. It's a quagmire. I quickly lose patience and toss the puzzle aside, leaving it for the patience and diligence of my grandmother to complete. 

My grandmother is a far better person that I am. 

I'm embarrassed to admit to my inability to complete a crossword puzzle. Why? Because I was a literature major in college and completing a crossword puzzle seems like something I should be able to do. In pen. On a lazy Sunday afternoon after church. But no. 

What does this have to do with writing a manuscript and getting published? Not a thing. I've been awake since three o'clock this morning. I'm feeling a little loopy.  And this blog post idea crashed into my mind as I lay there, trying to force myself to sleep but unable to quiet my thoughts as one idea after another ping ponged around in my head. 

So. Dear gentle readers, do you do crossword puzzles?