[zoyd]

The one thing that has given me pause for thought is the crossword puzzle test.

In it, several people were given the NYT crossword puzzle to do several days before it was published. They averaged how far and how long it took the subjects to work the crossword puzzle.

Then, AFTER the puzzle had been published (and people around the country had worked it), they tested a new group of people (who hadn't worked the puzzle). THOSE people did remarkably better, on average, than those who worked the puzzle BEFORE it was published.

Maybe the second group was just plain better at crosswords, I dunno, but it was a strange experiment.

[DoughtyOne]

Strange hugh. I'm sure you've noted, but new words are introduced by the media all the time. Who introduces those words an in which format might be an interesting sidebar to this issue. Are some of these words used more frequently in the evening news broadcasts just after appearing in the papers? Could one week be long enough for people to see two, three possibly seven more of them before the second tests are given?

There are probably more reasons for this. Something as strange as testing at different times of the day could influence the results.