Okay, so I was messing around with words today, and I got this idea to try and solve a crossword puzzle, but like, a really tough one. I’ve dabbled in crosswords before, you know, the easy ones in the newspaper, but I wanted a challenge. So, I searched for “rival crossword” to see if anything interesting popped up.
I found a few different puzzles online, some from fancy-sounding crossword websites. I picked one that looked pretty hard, with lots of those black squares and clues that made my brain hurt just reading them.
Getting Started (And Getting Stuck)
I started by printing it out – I like to have the physical paper in front of me. Then I grabbed a pencil, because, you know, mistakes happen. I read through the clues, and… wow. Some of them were totally obscure. Like, “Elizabethan ruff, for one?” What even IS that?!
I managed to fill in a few of the easier ones, words like “and” and “the” where they fit. You gotta start somewhere, right? I felt pretty good about those little victories. But then I hit a wall. Big time.
Using Some Help..
I spent a good hour just staring at the grid, trying to make sense of the clues. I used all my life experience, I searched my memory… I may have even talked to the puzzle out loud at one point. Nothing. Finally I decided that I need some backup with some other puzzle solver friends.
- I tried some that I know.
- I had to check the meaning of some words.
Finally Done
After much thinking with my friends, the crossword was finally finished!
So, yeah, that was my adventure with a “rival crossword” today. It was definitely a brain workout. I’m not sure I’ll become a crossword champion anytime soon, but it was fun to push myself and see how far I could get. Maybe I’ll try another one next week… but maybe I’ll start with an easier one this time.
