So, I sat down with the paper this morning, like usual. Flipped through to the puzzles section and saw this crossword. The theme listed was “tide competitor”. Alright, I thought, laundry detergent. Let’s see what this is about.
I scanned the clues first. You know how it is, look for the easy ones, the short fill, stuff you know right away. Penciled in a few three-letter words, some common answers. Got those knocked out pretty fast. Felt like I was getting somewhere.
Then I started hitting the theme clues specifically mentioning competitors to Tide. My brain immediately went blank for a second. Okay, uh, Gain? Yeah, that’s one. What else? All? Purex? Arm & Hammer? Started listing them mentally.
Got stuck on a longer one pretty early. Didn’t have enough crossing letters yet. Just couldn’t see it. So, I skipped it, moved around the grid. Tried filling in some ‘down’ answers hoping they’d give me letters for the ‘across’ ones I was stuck on. It’s always a back-and-forth, chipping away at it.
Hitting the Wall (and Breaking Through)
There was this one section, top right corner, just wouldn’t yield. Had a couple of weird words crossing one of the main theme answers. Erased a few guesses there. Frustrating. Had to leave it and hope inspiration would strike later.
Went back to the clues I thought I knew. “The one with the orange box”, maybe? That had to be ARM & HAMMER, right? Counted the letters. Yep, it fit the spaces I had open. Scribbled that one in firmly. That felt good, like cracking a code.
Seeing ARM & HAMMER gave me the ‘M’ for another word, which then gave me a ‘P’ for something else. Suddenly, that tough top right corner started making sense. The crossing words weren’t so weird once I had a letter or two in place.
Worked my way through the rest. GAIN fit perfectly where I suspected it would. PUREX showed up after getting some crosses. It was like dominoes falling. Fill one in, it helps you get the next one.
Finally, only one clue left. It was short, but I just couldn’t dredge the answer up. Stared at the crossing letters I had: _ A _. What fits? Reread the clue: “Competitor known for ‘free & clear’”. Ah! ALL. Right. Obvious now.
Penciled in the last letters. Looked over the whole grid. Everything filled. No empty squares. Done. Tossed the pencil down. Wasn’t the hardest puzzle ever, but that theme definitely made me think about detergent brands more than I ever wanted to. Felt good to finish it, though. Another puzzle conquered. Time to move on with the day.
