"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few."  ~ Shunryu Suziki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

I don’t love crossword puzzles in general, but I do the New York Times mini-crossword everyday. I love it! It’s little, it’s timed, and it makes me think. One of the first things I noticed about myself when I started doing them on the daily during Covid was that my mind tended to lock in and lock down on what I think an answer should be. To change my mind about that was nearly impossible. I could almost feel the answer I had running a rut through my brain, digging a deeper and deeper thought trench until I couldn’t get out. 

Here’s an example: “What do you mean the answer isn’t ‘fresh'? It’s gotta be ‘fresh.’ That’s the only five letter word for ‘new!’...Oh–I see. ‘Novel.’ Yeah, that works too.”

This, to me, feels like an expert mind. I thought I absolutely knew it, but I didn’t. Surely the Times had it wrong this week! Had I come to th...