Okay, so I stumbled upon this “Hidden Gem Crossword” thing today, and let me tell you, it was a bit of a rollercoaster. I’m not usually one for crosswords, I find them a little, you know, stuffy. But this one promised hidden words and a bit more of a challenge, so I figured, why not?
First, I printed out the crossword. Yeah, I’m old school like that. I like to have a physical copy to scribble on. The grid looked pretty standard, nothing too intimidating. The clues, though, were a mix of straightforward and cryptic, which immediately got my attention.
I started with the clues that seemed easiest. You know, the ones that are just straight-up definitions. “A type of fruit,” “A place to sleep” – easy peasy. I filled those in, feeling pretty good about myself.
Then came the trickier ones. Clues like “Lost, but found in the garden” – what?! I spent a good few minutes just staring at that one, my brain doing somersaults. I tried a few different approaches, thinking about different meanings of “lost” and “garden.”
- Is the “lost” a hint?
- Maybe this “garden” is not a place?
And then, it hit me! The hidden words! The instructions mentioned that there were words hidden within the grid, unrelated to the clues. So, I started scanning the letters I’d already filled in, looking for anything that jumped out.
Boom! There it was. The word “ROSE” was hidden diagonally across a few squares I’d already filled in. I was seriously excited at that moment. It felt like cracking a secret code.
I kept going, using a mix of solving the regular clues and hunting for those hidden words. Some of the hidden words actually helped me with the regular clues, giving me some extra letters to work with. It was like this cool, interconnected puzzle.
My Final Thoughts
Honestly, it took me longer than I expected, but I finished it! And it was way more satisfying than I thought it would be. The combination of regular crossword solving and the hidden word search kept me engaged the whole time. It wasn’t just about knowing the answers; it was about looking at the puzzle in a different way. I’ll definitely be trying another one of these “Hidden Gem Crosswords” soon. Maybe I’ll even try timing myself next time!
