So, I’ve always been a bit of a word nerd, and crossword puzzles? They’re my jam. I’m not saying I’m some kind of crossword genius, but I can usually hold my own. Well, today I decided to tackle the New York Times crossword, you know, the big one. The one that makes you feel all smart and accomplished when you finally crack it. Yeah, that one. It was August 3rd 2024.
I started off pretty strong, breezing through the first few clues. I was feeling good, you know? Like, “Yeah, I got this. This is easy.” But then, I hit a wall. There was this one clue that just stumped me: “In your face!” I stared at it, I frowned at it, I might have even growled at it a little. Nothing. My brain was drawing a complete blank.
I tried a few different things. I went through the alphabet, trying to fit letters into the empty spaces. Nope. I tried thinking of synonyms. Still nothing. I even tried shouting “In your face!” at the top of my lungs, hoping the answer would magically appear. It didn’t. All it got me was a weird look from my cat.
Then, I remembered this crossword solver thing I had seen online. I figured, why not? I was desperate. I typed in the clue, and guess what? Turns out there are actually 40 possible answers for the clue in some database! I was shocked. I did find that there was one answer total for the NYT crossword that day, so I tried that one.
- The answer popped up on the screen: It was simple, obvious even. “In your face!” is just… “In your face!”. I felt a mix of relief and frustration. Relief that I finally had the answer, and frustration that I hadn’t figured it out myself.
Anyway, I plugged the answer into the puzzle, and it fit perfectly. I was able to finish the rest of the crossword without too much trouble. It wasn’t my fastest time, but hey, I finished it. And I learned a valuable lesson: sometimes the answer is right there in front of you, staring you in the face. You just gotta know where to look, or be stubborn enough to keep trying.
So yeah, that’s my crossword adventure for today. It was a bit of a rollercoaster, but I made it through. And who knows, maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to solve the whole thing without any help. Or maybe I’ll just end up shouting at my cat again. We’ll see.
What I learned today:
- Even when you’re stuck, there are a lot of different ways to find an answer to your problem.
- Even if you use a hint, it’s still an accomplishment to finish something you found challenging!
- Crosswords are harder than they look.
