Man, today was a bit of a puzzle, literally. I’ve been messing around with this crossword, and the clue “negligent” just kept staring back at me. I mean, I circled it, I stared at it, I did everything but actually solve it.
So, I did what any normal person would do. I started looking up. I searched for synonyms. Words like “lax,” “neglectful,” “remiss,” and “slack” came up. They’re all kind of the same thing, right? But they weren’t helping me crack the code.
Then I took another approach, and I started searching for solutions related to a phrase. I found a bunch of websites saying they had the answer to clues like “___ really not a big deal.” Some were saying it’s a three-letter word, others were talking about a “Missing Letter Crossword.” It was all pretty wild. I even found some that said there were 40 possible solutions! Can you believe that?
I even went down this rabbit hole about whether looking up answers is cheating. Apparently, most people don’t think it is. I guess if it’s not an official rule, it’s fair game, right? But there was this one person, Amanda Rafkin, who disagreed. I kinda respect that, sticking to your guns and all.
I also looked for words that mean the same as “extend.” You know, words like “lengthen,” “prolong,” and “protract.” They all mean to make something longer, but “extend” can also mean making something wider or increasing its range. And then there’s “interpret,” which is like explaining something to make it clear. Words like “elucidate,” “explain,” “explicate,” and “expound” are all about making things understandable. I found that interesting, but it was way off from helping me solve the main clue “negligent”.
Anyway, after all that searching and reading, I finally stumbled upon a site that had the answer to the “negligent” clue. Turns out, it’s a pretty common clue, and there are a few different answers depending on the puzzle.
- I jotted down the answers,
- tried them out,
- and guess what? One of them fit!
Finally, after all that, I solved it. It wasn’t easy, but I got there in the end. It just goes to show, sometimes you gotta dig around a little to find what you’re looking for, even if it’s just a word in a crossword puzzle.
Moral of the story?
Don’t be afraid to look things up, but also, maybe try to figure it out yourself first. You never know what you might learn along the way.
