Exercising the Brain

[MichaelJH]

It is as important to exercise your brain as well as your body. Tonight is a really good quiz night on BBC2 with Mastermind, Only Connect and University Challenge.

What do you do? What are your favourite quiz shows?

[080311]

Oh love Only Connect, and University Challenge always feel good if I get a couple of answers right. Have a nephew who is in his 40’s now, he is a Consultant Gynaecologist in the States he was a small boy maybe 7/8 and was here visiting his Grandparents when University Challenge came on the TV at the end he turned to his Dad and said he didn’t want to go to University and when ask why he said he didn’t want to go on TV and answer questions😂 Think he found them very hard!

I love a crossword and sudoku, can lose a hour without really trying.

[SpiritoftheFloyd]

I enjoy all 3, Currently recording all 3, as I'm watching Leeds v Wolves game on Sky

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Having seen the result I hope you are not a Leeds fan... 😁

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to MichaelJH]

No Tranmere fan 🙄

[Sunnie2day]

I'm the person no-one wants on their pub quiz team - I even 'choke' watching quiz shows. Absolute rubbish, I am, at those.

But I play cribbage and backgammon, I also play speed- solitaire every morning and do speed-solve jigsaws, both using a timer to gauge my response times.

Do those count as brain exercisers?

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to Sunnie2day]

Absolutely they count. Anything that gets the brain working counts. I'm currently doing 1000 piece jigsaws to keep distracted while we're in Tier 3 lockdown.

[Sunnie2day in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Oh no, Tier Three! It can't be easy to go back into what comes close to being full-on lockdown, I'm sorry to hear you're in a T3 area. We Scots are expecting Nicola Sturgeon to announce tiers for us sometime tomorrow or the next day - my area will probably be a T2 at least.

1000 pieces, I'm awed - I can do 500 (if I find all the corner pieces first, lol!) but 1000 pieces is too daunting for me to even consider. What image is your jigsaw?

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to Sunnie2day]

You could double the number of corners with an octagonal jigsaw...

[Sunnie2day in reply to MichaelJH]

Oh sure, and then if I'm still reasonably sane I could move up to round ones, and 3D ones and...hahahahahaha, it'll never happen

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to Sunnie2day]

Yes Merseyside - Tier 3! A few local pubs that serve food opened and realised that the footfall wasn't enough just doing meals and have closed again. The Metro Major is saying he hopes we're out of T3 by Christmas! My God the hospitality sector will have all gone bust by then!

Jigsaw - currently doing one of Tower Bridge London, after that, mid town New York from the air, then Brooklyn Bridge. Should keep me occupied for a few weeks,

[Sunnie2day in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

I saw a 1000 piece Manhattan night skyline I would love to work - but I know better.

The hospitality industries are on their last gasps, same with entertainment and sports. Sport has a less slim chance of survival but I don't think spectator-less games-matches-races are going to stand the test in the medium-long run.

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to Sunnie2day]

Night time jigsaws - really hard due to lack of contrast - just finished one - took me 8 days on and off to complete it.

[Sunnie2day in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Lol, a 500pc daytime one can throw me, especially the landscape ones featuring a pond or lake reflecting the shoreline - I did an autumn leaves one a few weeks ago with the reflection so mirror like I nearly binned it.

I have a 100pc Earth seen from space one staring at me from the shelf, the shelf where it will stay as a reproach to me ever thinking I could manage something like that. I got the Earth part done reasonably quickly but the space part was a not-happening frustration I finally gave up on.

[MelB51 in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Love jigsaws! They kept us sane in the first total lockdown and are proving useful this time too! Currently don8ngnone called ‘cats in the kitchen’. Only 500 pieces but quite difficult all the same. Limbering up before we tackle a 3D one of the world!

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to MelB51]

If only we could have looked into the future and seen Covid-19 coming, we could have bought shares in a jigsaw manufacturer - to quote Del boy "this time next year we'll be millionaires Rodders"

[Lezzers in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Or shares in toilet roll and sanitisor!!

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to Lezzers]

Of course, especially them.

[MelB51 in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

Absolutely! We completed about 6 or more during my original shielding in the U.K We had one left when we came to our place in France in July and that’s the one we are working on right now! We are too afraid to go back to Liverpool now as the virus is rife there and anyway, I don’t want to travel. Happily, we have a challenging 3D one waiting and there’s always Amazon France! Shares in Amazon would be even better than in Ravenscroft😂😂

[SpiritoftheFloyd in reply to MelB51]

Didn't realise you lived in Liverpool - I live on the Wirral. The numbers are not good in Merseyside at the moment. The Metro mayor is saying he hopes we're out of Tier 3 by Christmas! As so much of the economy of Liverpool is built on the hospitality industry it's a worry of how much permanent damage will be done. I moved here in 1982 a year after the low point of the riots and have watched the city slowly rebuild itself, it's frightening that all that could be lost so quickly

[MelB51 in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

I am Liverpool born and bred but worked in Switzerland for a clinical diagnostics company for about 15 years...the best years of my life! Went to Australia from Switzerland ...worst decision of my life and so I bought an apartment in Liverpool to have a base there near my family. My best friend is a Consultant Haematologist who lives on the Wirral and when I contracted Legionnaires disease in Florida in 2015 and was in Intensive Care in the Royal, it was she who advised my husband to get them to to test for that condition. Once out of hospital (although with heart failure and other conditions) we built a house in the South of France where we are currently hiding!! Love Liverpool and miss it loads. Especially as all of my kids and grandkids are there. Stay safe!

[Maisie2014]

I love those programmes. I was useless at only connect and only got a couple right. I had better luck with university challenge though. I’m trying to get back into reading to pass the time. I couldn’t concentrate after my heart attack so it’s been slow going but I’m getting there. The TV has been pretty awful but the new Inspector Montelbano programmes were great, as always.

[Lezzers]

Jigsaw puzzles kept me sane during lockdown, until I got the puzzle from hell! Only 500 pieces but could hardly get beyond doing the edges! Literally tried for weeks. My sisters came to stay (after lockdown) they couldn't get any further either! We've been doing puzzles since we were kids & had never not completed one. This one is now back in the box if anyone wants a challenge! 🤔🙄

[Sunnie2day in reply to Lezzers]

Not I'm foolish enough to think any jigsaw described as 'the puzzle from hell' is up my street, but what is the image?

[Lezzers in reply to Sunnie2day]

Country garden! Have tried to add a photo but no idea how to do that!

[Sunnie2day in reply to Lezzers]

I see you've posted the photo on a new discussion, thank-you and I'm headed there in 3, 2...

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to Sunnie2day]

Mine is a lockdown map. Totally impossible as it keeps changing before I complete it.... 🤣🤣🤣

[marigoldb in reply to MichaelJH]

Still got your sense of humour Michael, great. I enjoy jigsaws 1000 pieces quite a challenge. Although a mended heart now, have real mobility issues, so have to make use of crossword in daily paper, sudoko, reading, and plenty of phone calls to friends near and far.

Where would we be without WhatsApp?

How is your rehab going?

Best wishes, expect too late now for the bbq Michael?

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to marigoldb]

Am toying with a few ideas for a virtual gathering! 🤔

I may do a general post on my rehab at some stage but a few issues are amputee specific. PAD is highly relevant to this forum but I feel some current issues less so.

[marigoldb in reply to MichaelJH]

I understand the usefulness for group with issues relevant to amputees. As well as BHF I am part of support group for Polymyalgia, GCA, coping with living taking prednisolone, another one is for those with osteoporosis, and the many controversial attitudes and research into drugs for and against them.

The Health Unlocked support groups are so valuable aren’t they?

So glad you are considering a virtual gathering. We so enjoy your ideas, your wit, and the way you get us all responding. Takes all sorts doesn’t it?

Have a good day!

Marigold

[Thanksnhs]

You are all too clever for me! Never watch quiz shows since sale of the century and brucey was in the generation game 🤣take your pick with Hughey green hehe and the last jigsaw I done with dad must have been about 1966, kindl for me during lockdown or whatever our Nic has in for us next, no pubs or restaurants open at the moment, not sure if there are anything she can close! Char

[Handel]

Bit late replying to this one Michael but always watch Mastermind, Only Connect and University Challenge (that was a close one last night).

We started doing a London Street 1000 piece jigsaw just after Christmas and kept it on the table forgetting the little grandkids were coming over. Arthur, our 3 year old completed the top corner and a Mini Cooper in the middle of the jigsaw!!!!

Hope you're doing OK xxx

[Qualipop]

Only connect drives me mad. Some of the links are so unbelievable yet I Love it. If I get just one question right I feel like a genius. You have to have a mind that works in a specific way. I did both walls last night but couldn't do the missing vowels. I did get the cheeses last week. Uni challenge has changed a lot. I like the Chase but get really irritated by people who don't make educated guesses and the total lack of knowledge of some people. My brain work involves learning to speak Norwegian; just completed a full year with 206 days in a row without missing one. Jeg blir sint når jeg ikke kan huske ordene. ( I get angry when I can't remember the words). Jeg har hatt en norsk hunderase i femtisju år. ( I've had a Norwegian breed of dog for 57 years.

I had a phone call from a friend two days ago suggesting that now he's so deaf, we should use email instead. He's 95 and just taught himself how to use a computer. Keep those brains working!

[dunestar]

My favourite is university challenge. I can usually get a few right but equally some I can't understand the question, let alone know the answer. I don't do jigsaws at home - I feel it would be my downfall as nothing else would get done. But in 2018 shortly after my diagnosis about this time of year my local library had a community jigsaw where everybody could stay for a short while, or in my case a lot longer, and do a bit. It was a life saver for me.

[benjijen]

I also like 'Impossible' - multiple choice and not too much chatter. I record Pointless so I can fast forward through the chatter! I used to like 15 to 1and sometimes watch Uni Challenge

[gladliz]

Love quizzes and jigsaws. Did you now there is a wonderful jigsaw site on the internet. Don't use it much these days as working on a tablet so the pieces are a bit small, but it's ok on a pc. It's free and called Thejigsawpuzzles.com. Used to lose myself for hours on it.

[Gail1967]

Love the Monday night quizzes - it’s a miracle to get any only connect right & we start off guessing the average age of the teams on UC- just incase we get no q’s right too!!!

[Alison_L]

I impressed myself with how many Blackadder & Blake's 7 answers I knew, and even managed a couple of Boxer Rebellion ones (ie guesses!). 0 on Tales of the City though

[MelB51]

Love University Challenge! So happy when I answer even a few questions! Only connect is beyond me and I always forget about Mastermind!

[Prada47]

Hi Michael

I record both Uni Challenge and Connect. As someone has already said you need to be attuned to answer the questions on Connect. I have found over the past few months the more you watch it the better you become at understanding how the questions are set Like it is with crosswords.

I have a friend who has a PH d in English , but the first thing he puts on his CV is represented Aberdeen Uni on University Challenge.

Hands Face Space to stay safe

[PhilGM]

We watch all three but being a “bear of very little brain” I find Only Connect a bit too much like hard work! However my wife, who still works from home three day a week is pretty good at it, so the adage of use it or lose it seems to apply!