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Dear Reader,
Congratulations to the winners of the Puzzle Box Giveaway: Gary DeRemer, Dana Bilyeu, Linda Brown, Markenna Pharr and Ruth Farello. Hundreds of readers had fun doing the Dear Reader Column Crossword Puzzle over the weekend.
Even though I gave readers a Hint Link, so they could find the answers to the crossword puzzle, most people didn't use the link because they didn't want to cheat. Or as Bethany put it, "I had to think hard on a couple of them, but I didn't want to fudge and get help on the answers."
I found readers' cheating comments amusing. How can you cheat on a puzzle that is just for fun and you don't even have to finish it, in order to enter the free drawing? But deciding what's cheating, I admit it's a very personal and confusing issue. My husband finds it amusing when he asks if I've written today's column and my reply is, "Yes, but I cheated." When it comes to my writing, I consider it cheating when I search through old column notes I've started, but never finished. (I have two huge boxes filled with notebooks.) And I've definitely crossed over the cheating line when I discover some old column notes that for some reason didn't seem finished at the time. But then when I read what I'd written, a column was there all along I just didn't see it. Stealing old column notes and on top of that, not adding anything new--now that's definitely cheating! But as my husband reminds me, "Suzanne, how can it be cheating? Didn't you write those notes in the first place?"
You see how confusing deciding what cheating can be?
Is it cheating when I buy potato salad at the store and doctor it up with diced hard boiled eggs, parsley and paprika? Is it cheating when I wear tummy tucker panty hose, so I can slide into my favorite little black dress? (Well, the answer to that last one is no, because if I didn't eat anything when I had that dress on, I wouldn't need that tummy tucker panty hose in the first place. So when I first put the dress on, I didn't really need the extra tuck in the tummy, so it wasn't really cheating. Was it?)
If you missed the Weekend Crossword, it's still online. Give it a try, I think you'll enjoy it--and you have my permission to cheat or fudge or flimflam, or bamboozle or whatever you want to call it. Because you can't possibly cheat, it's just for fun. Here's the link: http://www.emailbookclub.com/photo/crossword062409.html
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.DearReader.com
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