Crossword puzzles, in my eyes, have always been folded and stacked next to my father’s side of the bed. He’d fall asleep filling one out every night. Sometimes working on several at a time, they’d remain in the pile until they were completed. I’d be eating Honey Nut Cheerios at the kitchen table, eyes-half awake before grade school, and he’d be holding a cup of coffee, waving a completed puzzle in my face: “Ya see that? It’s done!”
I had never understood his joy until now. I’ve done it. I completed a crossword puzzle!
done and done!
I know what you’re thinking; “you’re a senior in college, and you’ve never done a crossword puzzle before. Big Whoop.”
Well it is a big whoop. I’ve always dabbled in the Ithacan crossword puzzle. You ever take Cultural Anthropology with David Turkon? Was it on Tuesday/Thursday? Yeah, I bet your Thursday session wasn’t so boring because of pg. 24 in the positive publication. Filling out as many crossword clues in the seventy-five minute period is what got me through that semester.
So what did I learn from this experience? What did I gain from doing this crossword puzzle? A few things…
1. Jeans go with a “TEE” shirt.
2. “YTW” is code for Yield To Worst – like in a rocket-launch mishap.
3. A ‘Water Pipe’ is not a “BONG” as I originally jotted down. It’s a “MAIN.”
4. Humidity causes “MILDEW.”
5. If no globe is available to you, an “ATLAS” will suffice.
Let’s see if I can’t do next week’s CWP.
