Okay, so today I decided to give the New York Times crossword a go. Saw the title, something like “It’s a Blast!” and thought, well, this sounds like it could be fun or maybe a real headache. Let’s find out.
Fired up the puzzle on my tablet. Did my usual first pass, scanning for the clues I could get right away. You know, the fill-in-the-blanks, the super common stuff. Got a few scattered around the grid pretty quickly. Felt like a decent start.
Then, things slowed down. Like they always do. Got stuck in the upper middle section. There was this tricky seven-letter word going down, and the across clues weren’t giving me much to work with. Just stared at it for a bit, sipping my coffee.
Hitting the Wall (and Breaking Through)
I started hopping around the grid, looking for easier sections. Picked up a few more answers here and there. Then I noticed a pattern. A couple of the answers seemed related to, well, blasts. Like loud noises, or maybe parties? Hard to tell initially.
One clue was something about a big party. Got that one. Another was about moving really fast. Got that too. This helped me get a crucial letter for that tough seven-letter word I was stuck on earlier. Turned out it was something completely different than I was thinking!
Getting into the Groove
Once that section opened up, things started flowing better. It’s funny how crosswords work like that. One breakthrough answer can unlock a whole bunch of others. I started bouncing between the Across and Down clues, using the letters I’d filled in.
- Filled in the NW corner.
- Worked my way down the east side.
- Jumped back to the west when I saw an opening.
It felt like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Finding the edge pieces first (the easy clues), then filling in the middle bits. The ‘blast’ theme definitely helped nudge me in the right direction a few times when I was unsure.
The Final Few
Down to the last handful of squares. Always the trickiest. There was one short word in the very bottom corner that just wouldn’t click. Tried a few different letters. Checked the crossing word again. Reread the clue for the tenth time.
Then, finally, it hit me. Oh, that kind of blast! It was a bit of wordplay. Plugged in the letters, and bam – the little success notification popped up. Puzzle complete.
Felt pretty good, I gotta say. This one lived up to its name. It was challenging enough to keep me thinking but ultimately solvable. A fun way to spend part of my morning. Yeah, it really was a blast.
