Second of Five NYT Crossword: What’s the Big Fuss?
Alright, so you’re tellin’ me there’s this thing called a “second of five NYT crossword”? Sounds fancy, like somethin’ them city folk do. I ain’t never seen one of these crosswords myself, but I hear they’re like them puzzles in the newspapers. Only, these ones, they seem to be a real big deal, always hearin’ folks talkin’ ’bout ’em.
Now, from what I gather, these crosswords ain’t all the same. Some are easy-peasy, like pickin’ berries on a summer day. Them’s the Monday ones, I guess. Then they get harder and harder as the week goes on. By Saturday, they say it’s like tryin’ to catch a greased pig – near impossible! And Sunday? Well, that’s a whole other beast, bigger and meaner than the rest. Folks say it takes ’em hours, sometimes even days to finish. Can you believe it? Spendin’ a whole day on a puzzle! I got better things to do, like feedin’ the chickens and mendin’ clothes.
But folks seem to like ’em, these crosswords. They say it’s good for the brain, keeps you sharp. I reckon that’s true. My brain ain’t what it used to be, always forgettin’ where I put my spectacles. Maybe I should try one of these crosswords, see if it helps. But then again, I got enough puzzles in my life already, like tryin’ to figure out why the cow ain’t givin’ milk or why the rooster’s crowin’ at 3 in the mornin’.
- What’s this “second of five” thing anyway?
From what I hear, the “second of five” means it’s the Tuesday crossword. See, they got a whole week of these things, Monday through Friday, and then that big Sunday one. So, Tuesday’s the second one in line. It’s supposed to be a little harder than Monday, but not as tough as the ones later in the week. Kinda like climbin’ a small hill before you tackle a mountain, I guess.
And folks are always lookin’ for clues, for answers. I heard tell of folks searchin’ online, lookin’ up past crosswords, tryin’ to get a leg up. They say things like, “We solved this clue, that last appeared on February 16th.” Or “We solved this clue, that last appeared on May 20th.” Sounds like a whole lot of work to me. I just ask the neighbor if I need somethin’.
- Solving the puzzle: Is it worth the trouble?
Now, some folks, they take these crosswords real serious. They got timers and everything, tryin’ to see how fast they can finish. I heard someone say they spend “roughly 20,589 minutes or 343 hours or 14.3 full days” doing crosswords! Can you imagine? That’s more time than it takes to grow a whole field of corn! And if they get stuck, they go lookin’ for answers online, or in databases. They say they “search using a clue (or part of a clue), enter the letters you already have, or both.” Sounds like a whole lot of fuss over a bunch of words.
But I guess if it makes folks happy, then who am I to judge? Maybe there’s somethin’ to it, somethin’ satisfying about fittin’ all them words together just right. Maybe it’s like finishin’ a quilt, or bakin’ a perfect pie. You start with a bunch of pieces, and you work and you work, and finally, you got somethin’ beautiful and complete. And they even have special ones, like “the mini” ones they do on Thursday, December 5th, sounds like somethin’ my grandkids would like, always too busy for the real work.
So, what’s the deal with this “second of five NYT crossword?”
Well, it seems to be a popular puzzle that folks enjoy, even though it can be tough. It’s a Tuesday crossword, a little harder than Monday, and people spend a lot of time and effort trying to solve it. They search for clues, look up old puzzles, and even time themselves. It might not be for me, but if it keeps folks entertained and their minds sharp, then I reckon it ain’t such a bad thing after all. Maybe one day, when the chores are done and the chickens are fed, I’ll sit down with a cup of tea and give one of these crosswords a try. But for now, I got a garden to tend to and life’s too short to be stuck on words when you got real work to do.
