Caffeine

I have got into the habit of doing a suduko first thing on a Saturday morning. This is the suduko from the Sunday paper. Last Sunday's paper. But it takes me all week to get around to do it, and the thought of getting another newspaper tomorrow with another suduko inside somehow adds to the pressure. These things will start to pile up if you're not careful. Especially as these particular sudokos seem quite tricky. There are plenty of easy examples out there, which you can complete in a matter of seconds, boldly filling in cell after cell in ink from the off. Whereas the ones in the Sunday paper have precious few obvious clues, and you find yourself having to annotate practically every cell with minute scribblings in pencil before you spot the single clue that unlocks the whole puzzle. Unless I am doing it wrong. Which is also why it ends up being Saturday morning when I complete it. I often start on a Friday evening, idly going over the suduko and accompanying crossword, only to end up getting stuck after 5 minutes, convinced that both puzzles are fatally flawed and I have been held back by misprints or deliberate, if not wilfully malicious, red herrings on the part of the compiler. And then on a Saturday morning, refreshed after a pleasant night's sleep and having recovered from the irritating stresses of the working week, with the sun streaming through the kitchen window and the cat purring contentedly next to the radiator, I positively whizz through these things. The large cafetière of coffee probably helps too. And there was also a jam doughnut this morning, a little tired compared to the plump freshness of yesterday, but still not bad at all, considering.