My local newspaper prints last weeks NYT and LAT crosswords every Sunday. We always do both and there is almost always one obscure word in common or sometimes reversed ( the clue in one is the answer is to the clue on the other). I really don’t believe that it is coincidence.

May I ask what you're planning to change careers to? Seems a shame to have gone through all that training only to do something else.

Thanks for the response! Whilst I've got you, could I pester you to answer a few more questions?

1. Is being a psychologist what you dreamed it would be?
2. If you could go back and give advice to yourself when you were younger, what might you say?
3. I'm a guy. I've noticed that most psychologists, and certainly people on my course, are women. Do you have any idea why this might be, and have you found this to be the case where you work? I'm kinda hoping this will make me stand out a bit amongst the hordes of candidates.
4. You mentioned data science. I've used a bit of R and psychology obviously involves some statistical analysis etc., but do you think that would've been an easy transition? What were your thoughts there? Sounds like maybe you had a similar back-up plan to me and my idea of a computer science conversion.

I'm definitely going to soldier on and hope to become a psychologist for now. But that voice at the back of my head does make me question it sometimes, especially since I'm a mature student, so spending another 6-10 years before I become a psychologist in the best of cases wouldn't be ideal. But it's hard to imagine being satisfied in life if I don't give it a shot.

Thanks again.

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>>°•°<<

If you met Will Shortz in a dark alley, would you fight him?

Everyone looks at the pay and compares it to to average, but then completely ignore the fact that:

• this is often after a decade of gaining experience

• these also include some of the highest performing academically capable people

I'm privileged to be in a role with almost guaranteed progression to earning about £60k. But at the same time, I could earn most twice that if I'd gone into Data Science and worked for a private company. Or even just moved to Canada doing the same job!

Damn that sucks. PWP is still a great job for experience but being locked in makes it hard to recommend when the stress can be unhealthy.

It is competitive but if it's what you want to do I'd still encourage going for it. There are many other job routes other than Clinical Psychology if it doesn't work out. You can become a CBT therapist, or look at a Health Psychology route, or a PhD if you like research. I think I'd have kept trying for the doctorate if I hadn't got on at least for a few more years (I know some people that take 5+ attempts to get on).

My backup career outside mental health was data analysis/data science, or some research position.

Don't worry too much if you don't get a first. As long as you can show you're academically capable, that's what's needed. Experience + clinical skills are what most institutions look for.

oh okay, I thought that’s what you meant but I’m a bit clueless on the world of crosswords (no pun intended) so wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.

I worded that poorly. The baseball clues can be legible to a certain segment. I wouldn't classify them as pop culture.

Thank you for your reply 🙂

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I always thought crossword puzzles would be created by computers these days, since at first glance it appears to be an easily automated task. What would you say is the 'human touch' that makes publishers like the wall street journal choose you over a computer for this task?

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are you and Levar Burton real life friends?

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And ‘oreo’

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How? Without bringing in the same amount from the transaction fees, where does the money for the insurance come from?

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AI and machine learning are imperfect at best. Simple drop-down menus are clear, exact, and reliable.

Especially if I'm on a phone, I don't want to take ten minutes to try to describe something I am looking for in exactly the right way to get results. Let me select an area on a map, set a few common options, and have a button to select from additional options if I need. A conversational AI is useful when you expand to other platforms. If you introduce Google Assistant or Siri or Alexa integration, or an Android TV app, places where a keyboard and mouse aren't available, it becomes more useful. That said, I think you have to ask the question of whether it's the right platform for you. Would someone want to book a stay on their TV, or an Alexa device without a screen?

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No, the property owner. do you offer better insurance for them, or anything incentive for them to switch?

I am sorry but as a cleantech business developer that is highly involved in fund raising, only reason that an startup failing to raise 50k today would be either bad business idea or bad business plan. You being poor or whatever is just excuses.

I have seen organizations that would grant me 50k if i fill a simple form tomorrow...