A key word in the world of local public radio. Photo: Charlie Teich
Oct 24, 2020 —
Are you a puzzle-solver? There’s a lot of uncertainty in the world these days, and word puzzles are one of the ways I’ve tried to crowd it out of my brain late at night. (Washing towels is another way, but that is a metaphor for a different column.)
Specifically, the puzzle that distracts the worrying part of my brain these days is the New York Times’s "Spelling Bee." It’s simple in design but challenging in practice – construct as many words as possible out of the seven letters arrayed in a beehive pattern, with each word required to use the center letter at least once. My wife and I both work on this, the goal being to reach the "genius" level and feel good about life before we fall asleep.
We could be doing this at 10:30 or 11 at night, and drift off to sleep at a time that I still associate with Johnny Carson. In reality, I have turned off the light many times at an hour more associated with Music Through the Night. But it needs to be done by 3:00 a.m., because that is when the day’s puzzle disappears. In fact, there are apparently some people who set their alarm for 3 a.m., just to get going on Spelling Bee as soon as it appears.
So there’s also a more specialized puzzle that I – and my colleagues in public radio – have been trying to solve for years. In fundraising times, why do some listeners jump on the opportunity as soon as it appears, while others wait for the closing moments?
Like the letters in Spelling Bee, the fundraising circumstances are a bit different each time. But the framework never changes – you listen to NCPR because we report on child care challenges in the North Country, the debate over trail access in the Adirondacks, and how schools are dealing with the Covid-19 crisis. You listen to The Radio Bob Show, Trail Mix, or The Thread. You tune in for Morning Edition, the BBC Newshour, and Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me!. And yet for many listeners, it’s the looming deadline that spurs you to donate.
Well, we’re approaching 3:00 a.m. in NCPR’s Fall Fundraiser. We’re closing in on our goal of $350,000 (we're $50K away!), and our deadline of Monday evening. As a special bonus, when you contribute at ncpr.org/give, you’ll receive an NCPR reusable Chico™ shopping bag - and you’re entered in our grand prize drawing for a $1500 Visa gift card.
And best of all, you will have definitely reached the genius level.
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October 24, 2020 at 11:44PM
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The Sweet Spell of Success | NCPR News - North Country Public Radio
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