Every day for the last two years, Nimish Patel has poured over both The New York Times and Los Angeles Times crossword puzzles, turning to his teenage son and daughter for help with the clues he can’t quite get.

Patel, 47-year-old partner and vice chairman at West L.A. law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, said he was inspired to start doing the brain benders when he saw a fellow passenger completing crosswords on a flight.

“I decided to see if I could do it,” said Patel. “I couldn’t get one clue.”

In fact, he still remembers when he triumphantly finished his first crossword puzzle. He was sitting at the breakfast table in his Santa Monica home, so deep “in the zone” that it took him a minute to realize all the boxes were filled with letters.

“I felt as gratified as when I found out I passed the bar exam,” he said.

After a brief victory dance, Patel continued on with his hobby; each morning he takes on a paper version in the L.A. Times, followed at night by a digital version of the one from The New York Times on an app.

He does “cheat” from time to time, said Patel, by referring to his 16-year-old daughter for the questions about pop culture and French (she’s studied the language in school). Patel’s become a much better speller because of crosswords, he said, and appreciates the way the puzzles are “a mile wide instead of a mile deep,” as you can’t just be intelligent in one facet to succeed.

“(In) a crossword, you just have to know everything about life,” he said.

Class Action

Crystal Williams, founder of Torrance natural skin care line Balm Shop & Co., said her first volunteer trip to Mexico more than six years ago spurred her to continue to volunteer.

“I realized how much I really love helping,” she said. “Sometimes it takes you getting out of your normal surroundings to realize what you love.”

Williams, 38, said she goes on a trip at least once a year with the help of friends who work with organizations abroad, particularly in Africa.

One of her favorite trips was last year to Namibia, where she spoke at Eros School for Girls, mentoring the boarding school students about everything from identifying goals to navigating friendships and bullying.

“They didn’t want us to leave and at the same time we didn’t want to leave them,” she said. “It was one of the most memorable experiences.”

Staff reporters Hayley Fox and Subrina Hudson contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Jonathan Diamond. He can be reached at jdiamond@
labusinessjournal.com.