I stumbled upon this crossword puzzle in the New York Times today, and let me tell you, it took me a bit to get going. The title of the puzzle was “Extremely Solid”. At first, I thought this was going to be an easy one. I read all the instructions carefully before I started.
So, I grabbed my pen and started filling in the squares. I noticed the puzzle got harder as the week went on. Monday’s puzzle was a piece of cake, but by the time I got to Saturday, I was really scratching my head. The Sunday one was bigger and it was supposed to be as tough as a Wednesday or Thursday puzzle. It was tricky, but I kept at it. But, I had no idea it was some kind of big deal in American culture.
Then I found out about this thing called the Spelling Bee. It’s like another game, with a grid of seven letters in a honeycomb shape. You have to make words that are at least four letters long, and every word has to use the letter in the middle of the honeycomb. I tried it out, and it was pretty fun. I got a few words right away.
I learned that the Spelling Bee doesn’t get harder throughout the week like the crossword. Any day’s Spelling Bee could be super tough. The guy who makes them, Sam Ezersky, said he likes to throw in a really hard one on the weekends. I guess I’ll have to try it out this weekend and see how I do.
There was this button that said “Yesterday” or “Answers.” I was warned that if I hit that button before I finished, it would end the game and I couldn’t put in any more words. I made sure to keep my fingers away from that button. I wanted to solve it on my own.
I kept working on the puzzle, trying different words, erasing some, and putting in new ones. It took a while, but I finally got it! That feeling when you solve the whole thing is the best. I was so proud of myself. I felt like a crossword champion!
My Takeaways
- Start easy: I’m glad I started with the Monday puzzle. It helped me get the hang of it.
- Keep trying: Even when it got tough, I didn’t give up.
- Use the clues: The clues were there to help, and I used them to my advantage.
- Don’t peek: I resisted the urge to look at the answers. It was more satisfying to figure it out myself.
All in all, it was a fun and challenging experience. I might start doing these more often. It’s a good way to keep my brain sharp, you know?