Okay, so today I decided to tackle the New York Times crossword. Saw the theme involved ‘law’ somehow, figured I’d give it a shot. I usually do these to keep the brain ticking over, you know?
Getting Started
Fired up the app on my tablet. First thing I usually do is scan for the gimmes. You know, the fill-in-the-blanks or the really short stuff. Knocked out a few three and four-letter words pretty quick. Stuff like ‘ERA’ or ‘ATE’. Builds a bit of confidence, gets some letters on the board. Makes the longer clues feel less scary.
Hitting the Theme
Then I started bumping into the law-related clues. Some were straightforward. Stuff like ‘Legal document’ ending up being ‘BRIEF’ or maybe ‘WRIT’. Got those okay. Then there were trickier ones. I remember one clue, can’t recall the exact wording, but the answer turned out to be ‘AMICUS’. Took me a while, had to get a few crossing letters before that one clicked. Another one was probably playing on ‘BAR’, like the exam or the association, not the place you get a drink.
Tackling the Tough Spots
- There was this one corner, top right I think, just wouldn’t fall. Had a couple of legal terms crossing each other and I just blanked.
- Put the tablet down for a bit. Made a coffee. Sometimes stepping away helps shake things loose.
- Came back, looked at the crossing words I did have. Erased one I wasn’t sure about. That opened it up. Realized I’d misspelled something earlier, which threw everything off. Classic mistake.
- Punched in the letters. Slowly, that whole section filled in. Felt good.
The Process
It’s always a back-and-forth, isn’t it? You type something in, looks right. Then a crossing clue makes no sense. So you delete, rethink. I use the ‘check word’ feature sometimes if I’m really stuck, but try not to overuse it. Spoils the fun a bit. Mostly it was just trying combinations, thinking about legal phrases, courtroom stuff. ‘JUDGE’, ‘JURY’, ‘PLEA’ – those came up. Had to think about different meanings too. Like ‘SUIT’ – could be clothes, could be a lawsuit. Context is everything.
Finishing Up
Got the final letter in. The app played its little victory tune. Always satisfying. Scanned the whole grid one last time, just to see how the theme answers played out. Yeah, it hung together pretty well. Some clever wordplay in there relating to legal concepts.
Overall, it was a decent puzzle. The law theme wasn’t too obscure, mostly common knowledge stuff mixed with some crossword tricks. Passed an hour or so nicely. Kept the old grey matter working. That’s the main thing, right?
