Okay, so I saw this “huge promotional push crossword” thing and thought, “Why not?” I’ve got some free time, and it seemed like a fun little challenge. I wasn’t aiming for any speed records or anything, just wanted to see if I could actually finish it.
First, I printed out the crossword. I could’ve done it online, I guess, but I’m old-school. I like the feel of paper and pencil. Plus, it’s easier to scribble notes and cross things out.
Next, I grabbed a pencil – a mechanical one, because I hate sharpening pencils – and an eraser. Gotta have an eraser. My first pass was pretty rough. I started with the shorter clues, the ones that seemed easiest. I tried to go through the fill in the blanks first.
- Scanned the clues for anything obvious, like really short words.
- Looked for any “fill-in-the-blank” type clues.
- Did a quick skim for any clues I instantly recognized.
Filled in a few here and there, nothing major. Then came the slightly harder ones. This is where it got a bit trickier. I had to start thinking about words that might fit, based on the letters I already had. Some clues were straight up definitions, those were ok. Some were more, I don’t know, “thinky”.
For example: I would write down a few words on the side of the crossword to see and guess if those words were fit.
I got stuck a bunch of times, of course. That’s part of the fun, right? It’s like a little puzzle inside a bigger puzzle. When I was really stumped, I’d just move on to a different part of the crossword and come back to it later. Sometimes, a fresh look is all you need. And sometimes, filling in other words gives you a few extra letters to work with, which can be a huge help.
My Strategy(kind of)
It wasn’t really a “strategy,” more like a “method of not giving up.” I just kept chipping away at it. Sometimes I’d get a whole bunch of words in a row, and other times I’d stare at the same clue for like, 20 minutes, getting nowhere.
After a few hours(with breaks), I filled in most of them, and use the eraser to modify some words. It’s like, a game between me and the crossword creator.
Finally, I got it! It wasn’t pretty – the paper was all marked up, with eraser smudges everywhere – but it was done. I felt pretty good, not gonna lie. It’s a nice feeling, that little sense of accomplishment. It is a small but fun experience.
