Ron Rosenbaum states:

"Need I suggest that those who spend time doing crossword puzzles (or sudoku)—uselessly filling empty boxes (a metaphor for some emptiness in their lives?)—could be doing something else that involves words and letters? It's called reading."

He also says: "What gets me is the dumbing down, the narrowing of the notion of "puzzle." People, there are real puzzles out there ranging from the metaphysical ("Why is there something rather than nothing?") to the physical (How did consciousness arise from unconscious material?) to the moral (When do human rights begin—at conception, birth, or somewhere in between, and why?) and historical (Was CIA counter-spy James Angleton right about the "mole" who may or may not have changed history?), the geopolitical (NATO membership for Ukraine?) and the cultural (Why did they cancel Mystery Science Theater 3000, the smartest show on television?)."

I find his statements offensive, and ignorant. I for one love to do crosswords, sudoku, and other word puzzles AND *GASP* I LOVE to read! I also spend time pondering things in life, though not such useless things as 'Why did they cancel Mystery Science Theater 3000, the smartest show on television?'

So it seems to me that Mr. Rosenbaum has his own "tragically limited and reductive fill-in-the boxes way" and 'need I suggest' that maybe before he writes such an arrogant article, he 'could be doing something else that involves words and letters? It's called research.'

Ahhh I think reading his article and then spending time discussing it has caused my 'mind to think in a tragically limited and reductive fill-in-the boxes way.'