the thing about puzzle books is that unless you are a genius, which some of you, gentle readers, undoubtedly are, you have to do them in pencil. and the thing about pencils is that the invariably get dull. and the last thing is that to solve that sort of problem, you really need a pencil sharpener.

or you can be like mike. open up the car window while the car is at a stoplight on a busy grand rapids street, pull out your pocketknife and sharpen the pencil out the window.

be aware, however, that you may draw interested stares. or someone like the guy in the car next to us who gave mike a "that was impressive" head bobble.