Before there was Wordle and the NYT Crossword Mini and Spelling Bee- There were Pocket Posh books by The Puzzle Society. – 4 x 6 “ Mini Crossword and Jumble Books – I use to buy them at Barnes and Noble and kept one in my bag and in my car for all those waiting games I use to play picking children up from school and practice.
I never lived in an area that had Jumble in the newspaper – I discovered the game when visiting my grandparents, whose paper did carry the Jumble – so I especially liked having a small book of those.
I paired them with erasable ball point pens. They had a lot of Sudoku books also, but I was never clever enough to have much success with those. The Puzzle Society produces over 70 nationally syndicated puzzles, including The Washington Post and LA Times Crossword and the daily Jumble.
Facing a New Year filled with medical appointments, after a year end diagnosis, I decided to see if they were still around and I was not disappointed. I found a few on Amazon – some with collector’s item prices – but the best source is still Barnes & Noble.
Distributed by Simon and Schuster and published by Andrews McMeel Publishing – the self proclaimed stewards of creativity – the posh pocket library has expanded with some larger 5×7 volumes, as well as logic puzzles and self care activities, but the original large index card size ones still exist – yay! – Some come with a free subscription to The Puzzle Society, if you are so inclined.
I ordered three – a crossword, a jumble and a coloring book, to have on hand when I need a screen break.
I pair them with Frixion Erasable Pens, by Pilot, which come in a rainbow of colors, but I use the four color pen with the champagne gold body. Ooh, La, La – It has a larger grip, that my cranky cramping hands like.
For pencil lovers – I like the Pentel 8 color Automatic Pencil. It’s pricier, but I picked one up to pair with the coloring book – The brightly colored leads can be fragile, so don’t press too hard – they are refillable. If you buy the architect version of the pencil – known as the Pentel Multi 8 Pencil Lead Holder and lead set – it comes with refills and a lead sharpener – so while it costs about $5 more – it’s definitely a better value and it’s black – so it looks more grown up than the blue one.
With the Posh Title, I always assumed they were published in the UK – but no – the publisher is based in Kansas City and Posh is used to convey the sophisticated cover style of the books, they describe them as “little gems that are small in size, but big on fun and style. A perfect take a long “- I agree.
Armed with my posh pockets and airpods – I can take on any waiting room with a smile:). Wish me luck 🍀
