Okay, so today I decided to tackle the New York Times crossword. Heard the theme involved things going “way up”, which sounded kinda interesting. Grabbed my coffee, sat down, and got started.
Getting into It
I usually try and find a foothold somewhere, you know, scan for clues that seem obvious or are fill-in-the-blanks. Got a few of the shorter across answers pretty quickly in the top left corner. That always feels good, gets the momentum going. Filled in some three-letter words, the usual stuff you see a lot. Felt like I was making decent progress initially.
Hitting the Theme (and a Wall)
Then I started noticing something weird. Some clues just didn’t make sense with the space going across normally. I looked at one long down clue, got a few crossing letters, and thought, “Wait a minute… this word looks like it’s going… up?” It actually clicked then. The “way up” part meant some answers were literally entered from bottom to top in the grid. That threw me for a loop for a bit! Had to mentally flip how I was looking at those specific spots.
- It took some getting used to, checking the clue number and then filling upwards.
- Made a few mistakes at first, putting letters in the wrong squares because my brain wanted to go top-down.
- Once I got the hang of it, spotting the themed entries became a bit easier.
Working Through the Middle
The middle section was kinda tough. There were a couple of proper nouns I just didn’t know. Had to rely heavily on the crossing words. Sometimes you just stare at a clue, and your mind is blank. I definitely had a few of those moments. I jumped around the grid a lot, working on sections where I had more letters filled in, hoping that would unlock the trickier parts. Got stuck in the southeast corner for what felt like ages. The clues seemed vague, and the upward theme answer running through it wasn’t helping immediately.
The Final Push
I put it down for a bit, stretched my legs. Came back to it fresh. Looked at that tricky southeast corner again. One of the down clues suddenly made sense, gave me a key letter for the “way up” answer, and then the rest of that section just sort of tumbled into place. It’s funny how sometimes stepping away helps more than staring at it. Filled in the last few squares, mostly shorter stuff connecting the bigger sections. Double-checked the themed answers to make sure they read correctly upwards.
And… done. Phew. That “way up” theme was a neat twist, definitely made me think differently. It wasn’t the hardest puzzle ever, but figuring out that gimmick and working with it kept me busy for a good while. Felt pretty satisfying to see the completed grid, especially after getting stuck a few times. Another crossword conquered!
