Alright, settled in this morning with the newspaper crossword. The theme was something like “eat it big time”. Sounded kinda fun, maybe food-related, maybe about messing up? Figured I’d give it a shot.
First things first, I grabbed my trusty pencil – yeah, I still use pencil and paper for these things, feels right – and scanned for the gimmes. You know, the short fill-in-the-blanks, the stuff you just know. Got a few right off the bat, which always feels good. Builds a little confidence, you know?
Then I started hitting the theme clues. And man, they were a bit tricky. “Eat it big time” could mean a lot of things. Was it about literal eating? Or failure? I wasn’t sure. Some clues were like “Really chow down” or “Suffer a major defeat”. Okay, so a mix.
Hitting the Tough Spots
Got stuck on a long one across the middle. The clue was something about a massive failure, fitting the “eat it big time” vibe. Didn’t have many crossing letters yet. Put it aside for a bit. Went back to the simpler clues, trying to build up more letters around the tricky spots.
Managed to get a few more downs. That gave me some letters for that long across clue. Let’s see… had a ‘B’, then maybe a ‘T’, then an ‘E’. Started sounding out possibilities. Looked at the clue again: “Experience a total disaster”. Okay, how about ‘BITE THE DUST’? Yeah, that fit the letter count and the letters I had. Penciled it in lightly.
Working Through the Grid
With that one in place, a whole section started opening up. It’s always like that, isn’t it? One tough answer unlocks a bunch more.
Here’s kinda how it went:
- Filled in obvious short words.
- Tackled clues I felt good about.
- Used those answers to get letters for harder clues.
- Focused on the theme answers once I had some crossings.
- Kept bouncing around the grid, not staying stuck on one spot too long.
Found another theme one: “Gobble up greedily”. Had P _ G / _ U T. Pretty clear that was PIG OUT. Okay, so the theme definitely covered both literal eating and figurative meanings.
Finishing Up
There were still a couple of sticky corners. One involved some old movie director I barely remembered. Had to really wrack my brain, think about the era, the number of letters. Eventually, a crossing letter made it click. It’s always satisfying when you dredge up some obscure name from the back of your mind.
Took me maybe a good 45 minutes, with a coffee refill in between. Lots of erasing, a few moments of staring blankly at the grid, but eventually, I got it all filled in. Checked the crossings, made sure everything made sense. Yep, looked good.
Felt pretty good to finish it. Wasn’t the hardest puzzle ever, but those theme clues definitely made me think. A decent mental workout to start the day. Now, what to do next…
