Okay, so today’s crossword puzzle in the New York Times got me good. The clue was “Thunderstruck,” and I was totally blanking. It’s one of those things where you know you know it, but it’s just stuck somewhere in the back of your brain, refusing to come out. You know that feeling, right?
So, I started like I always do, trying to just work through the across clues and see if anything popped up. Got a few, felt pretty good, but still nothing on “Thunderstruck.” Then, I moved on to the downs, hoping that maybe getting some of the letters filled in would jog my memory. Nope, still nothing. It was pretty frustrating.
Next, I grabbed my phone and started to look around the web. Maybe some other crossword enthusiasts had the same problem and wrote about it. At first, it was the general stuff about the band AC/DC, as I think the song, you know. I read some lyrics, watched a part of the music video, still, no answer for the puzzle.
Then, I decided to look more closely at the puzzle, to see the other words that were close to this one. Maybe there is a theme that I didn’t see? I analyzed the words, tried to think of something that could fit, still nothing!
Trying a Different Approach
Feeling a bit defeated, I thought, “Okay, let’s try a different approach.” I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and started to write down the letters I already had filled in. Then I started to brainstorm words that fit the pattern.
- First letter: nothing
- Second letter: nothing
- Third letter: nothing
- Fourth letter: nothing
- Fifth letter: T
- Sixth letter: E
- Seventh letter: D
I wrote down a bunch of random words, just to see if anything clicked. “basted,” “lasted,” “tasted” you know, just random stuff. It’s funny, in the past, I tried different techniques, but I think that writing things down really helps me.
Finally!
And then, it hit me. I remembered that the answer was the actual word that was in front of me, I already had 3 letters! I filled in the rest of the letters, and boom, there it was. “ASTOUNDED”.
Man, it felt so good to finally crack it! Sometimes, you just have to step away, try a different method, and let your brain work it out. Crosswords, huh? They really keep you on your toes!
