The Patreon Letter - 31st May, 2020 (Patreon)

Hi friends, Em here with a letter in under the wire. I was hoping to have this out earlier in the week, but as you all know it's been a hard time. Everyone has already been struggling with COVID-19 related stress, for me it's been hard to go out to the store every week for groceries when everybody has decided they don't have to wear masks and social distance anymore. Just going to this one thing is now high anxiety as people will wander around the store just for something to do like it's the mall, and ... well, I hope things stay safe, I guess.

On top of that I've spent the last three days glued to my phone like many of you as protests have erupted across the country in the face of continued police violence, particularly towards the black community. This letter isn't about that, but you all should know by now that Abnormal Mapping stands 100% behind black people fighting against centuries of state violence, and we also support any demonstrations against the police state and fascism. It's been in equal amounts hopeful and heartbreaking to see how rightfully angry people are and the swift power that cops bring to bear on our populace for daring to ask to have the boot taken off of our faces. 

With all that said, my heart and mind feel a little frayed lately, so I've been trying to decompress by taking my mind far away from thinking about the state of the world in my free time and have instead thrown it into a youtube hole. That youtube hole these days is suddenly-famous youtube channel Cracking the Cryptic, a British puzzle-solving channel with a focus on Sudoku and Sudoku variants. It's really good, you should check it out.

CtC has been around for quite a while now, and they're a channel I've dipped into from time to time, always having a nice relaxing time watching them break down complicated puzzles step by step as they solve them blind on camera. Because they have a thriving community that tests puzzles before they record, they're always being presented by the best of the best of these sorts of logic puzzles, so you essentially only get bangers (and difficult ones at that) to watch over, which makes it often a remarkable experience to watch someone tease apart something beyond my more casual Sudoku efforts.

I've played a lot of Sudoku in my time, introduced to it through the puzzles included with the original Brain Age game on Nintendo DS. It's a fun logic puzzle, with relatively simple rules and very clear logic and elimination methodologies. Despite being driven by numbers, stock Sudoku isn't math based at all, using the numbers 1-9 just as placeholders for nine distinct objects our brains can sort easily. Which means it's a good global puzzle type, requiring less cultural knowledge than something like chess puzzles (distinct from chess) or a crossword puzzle. 

The actual thing that makes CtC delightful however is the zeal with which they go about solving. I think the host that most people know and watch is Simon Anthony, an enthusiastic formerly professional competitive Sudoku player who approaches both the community and the puzzles with an affable quality that helps establish a good rapport for his description and commentary on solving puzzles. It's his video on the Miracle Sudoku puzzle that really pushed CtC into the public eye recently, and it's a perfect encapsulation of why people like these videos when he gleefully exclaims "It's like the universe is singing to me!" as the puzzle begins to collapse around a solution after 20 minutes of brain-stopping work. 

It's the perfect example of what makes CtC work: the puzzles are very hard, often flummoxing the hosts, who then very calmly begin picking the puzzle apart. They aren't speed solving, but instead trying their best to communicate what people who might be playing along might want to look for as they play, pointing out logic that can apply to broader variants and ideas of logic puzzles, and then joyfully getting excited when things begin to finally come together and the puzzle begins to end. 

The thing that draws me to these isn't necessarily the challenge, I don't really have the bandwidth to attempt these puzzles myself and don't think I'd be able to tackle half of them. But these videos instead have the energy of really good DIY videos, a youtube hole I think people with any sort of hobby have fallen down, watching people woodwork or paint or sew or cook or any number of things. There is a satisfaction to watching a thing be done, especially when that thing is hard, by one person just applying their skills to it. 

Competence has a spectator allure, when presented as a way to welcome you into someone else's passions. 

I don't remember every tip of CtC I've watched, but I definitely find it illustrative of ways of thinking that if I did go back to puzzles would probably help me solve them. More importantly, it describes a curiosity and methodology that is careful and curious instead of frustrated and aggressive. So much of internet culture is predicated on big personalities and loud acts that watching someone just click away for 30 minutes as they describe the functions of their thoughts is a way to put your own brain into problem solving mode even when all you're doing is having some breakfast in front of your tablet. 

There's power in that escape, whatever version you might be looking for. In trying times, when I can't bring myself to clean up my own workspace enough to build a gunpla, I can still tune in and watch CtC or channels like it make things and do things and be reminded of the simple joys of doing things even vicariously. It's the DIYs and maker and puzzle videos that get me through the worst nights these days, and hopefully you too can find some joy from either CtC or someone else. 

If you have channels like this you like, let me know. I'm always looking for new rabbit holes to go down as summer begins to stretch on and self isolation continues for the next who knows how long. We will all get through this by reminding ourselves of the joys we bring each other, especially in moments of intense stress and difficulty.

Until next time, 

Em