Okay, so today I decided to tackle this “clobber crossword” thing. I’d heard about it, sounded kinda neat, so I figured, why not?
Getting Started
First things first, I needed to figure out what the heck a “clobber crossword” actually is. Did a quick search, and basically, it’s where you take an existing crossword puzzle, fill it in completely, and then create new clues for the words you’ve already filled in. Sounded simple enough, I thought.
Finding a Crossword
I grabbed an old newspaper that was lying around – gotta love the classic feel of paper sometimes. I found a crossword in it, not too big, not too small, just right for a first try. I started by just solving the crossword the normal way. You know, using the original clues, filling in the blanks. Pretty standard stuff.
The “Clobbering” Begins
Once I had the whole thing filled out, that’s when the real fun started. I went through each word, one by one, and tried to come up with brand new clues. This was way harder than I expected! I mean, you’re looking at a word, and your brain just wants to go back to the original clue. Took some serious mental gymnastics to break free of that.
For example, one of the words was “APPLE”. The original clue was something boring like “Fruit that grows on trees”. So, I thought, what else could “APPLE” be? After racking my brains, I went with something like “Company that makes iThings”.
The Process and Stumbling Blocks
- Started with easier, shorter words. Felt like a good way to warm up.
- Got progressively trickier with the longer words. Those were a real pain.
- Sometimes, I’d come up with a clue, then realize it could fit another word in the puzzle. Back to the drawing board!
- I definitely spent a good chunk of time just staring blankly at the puzzle, waiting for inspiration to strike.
Finishing Up
It took a while, probably longer than it should have, but I finally got new clues for every single word. I tried to make them a mix of clever, funny, and maybe a little bit challenging. I think I did alright for a first attempt, I might give it another shot with a bigger puzzle sometime and test my final clobber crossword.
