Okay, so I’ve always been a bit of a crossword nerd. I do the NYT mini every day, and sometimes tackle the big Sunday one if I’m feeling brave (or have a lot of coffee). Today, I saw “Chicago trains” as a clue and thought, “Hey, I can probably figure this out, I know a bit about Chicago!” Here’s how my brain worked through it:
My Thought Process
First, I googled “Chicago trains” just to get a general sense. I knew about the “L”, obviously, but wanted to see if anything else popped up. I saw a bunch of stuff about the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority), Metra, and Amtrak.
- CTA: This is the big one, the elevated trains and subways within the city.
- Metra: This seemed to be more about commuter trains going to the suburbs.
- Amtrak: That’s the national train system, so it goes through Chicago, but it’s not specific to Chicago.
My initial instinct was “L”. It’s so iconic, you always see it in movies and stuff. But it’s only one letter, it has to be wrong.
Getting Stuck (and Unstuck)
I looked at the number of the blank spaces,and it was three letters long. “CTA” fit perfectly! But I wanted to be sure, so I looked at some of the crossing words. I was able to fill out those words. Luckily, the letters matched up. “CTA” it was!
It’s always satisfying to get those little victories in the crossword. Sometimes it’s about knowing the answer right away, other times it’s about using what you know, doing a little research, and piecing it together. Today, my Chicago train knowledge (and a bit of Googling) paid off!
