Okay, so this morning I decided to tackle the NYT crossword. I’ve been trying to get better at them, and honestly, some days are just brutal. I printed it out, grabbed a pen – yeah, I’m old school like that, I like the feel of actually writing – and settled in with my coffee.
First pass, I always just scan for the gimmes. You know, the ones that are super obvious, like three-letter words or fill-in-the-blanks. Got a few of those, felt pretty good. Wrote them in, nice and confident.
Then, the struggle began. I stared at some of the longer clues for what felt like forever. I swear, some of these clue writers are just messing with us. I mean, who comes up with this stuff?
- I skipped around a lot. If I got stuck on one, I’d just move to a different part of the puzzle. Sometimes, getting a few crossing letters can help you unlock a word you’re totally blanking on.
- I used my good old trick, guessing.I made wild guesses, using letter patterns and any possible context clues.
- Used the little grey cells. Sometimes I just sit back and stare off into space, letting my brain work in the background. Sounds weird, but it helps!
Slowly but surely, I started filling in more and more of the grid. There were a few times I almost threw in the towel. I thought for sure, this is where I quit for today.
But, I managed to finish！I can’t even explain the feeling, it is so amazing!
