Okay, guys, let’s talk about today’s little adventure with the New York Times Mini Crossword. The title of my blog post was supposed to be “opposite of fantasy land nyt,” and let me tell you, it was a bit of a head-scratcher.
So, I started my day like any other, with a cup of coffee and the daily crossword. I saw this clue, “With 4- and 5-Across, opposite of fantasy land,” and I was like, “Alright, let’s do this.” I filled in a few other words first, just to get the ball rolling. I noticed that 6A was “Bend in the road,” and the answer was obviously “CURVE.” Then 7A was “Be in the driver’s seat,” which had to be “STEER.” Easy peasy.
Now, back to the main clue. I remembered reading somewhere that in these crosswords, every letter should match both an Across and a Down word, and if the answer is a phrase, there are no spaces. This got me thinking. I also recalled something about asterisks in crosswords indicating a theme, but that didn’t seem to apply here.
I spent a good few minutes staring at the grid, trying to figure out what 4- and 5-Across could be. My brain was churning, and I started to feel a bit like I was in a maze. I even googled a bit, just to see if I could find any hints. I stumbled upon some pages that talked about the clue, but they were just saying it was tricky, not really giving away the answer.
- I read that the answer to “With 4- and 5-Across, opposite of fantasy land” was “THE.”
- “THE” was supposed to be 1-Across.
- I was totally confused, but still very determined to solve it.
Then, it hit me. I looked back at the puzzle and saw that 1-Across was just a single word, and it was “THE.” Could it be that simple? I checked the clue again: “With 4- and 5-Across, opposite of fantasy land.” So, 4- and 5-Across were part of the answer. I looked at what I had for 4- and 5-Across, and there it was, staring right at me. I couldn’t write it down, or it will be too obvious. I filled in the blanks, and bam, the puzzle was solved!
My Realization
It was such a simple solution, but I was so caught up in overthinking it that I almost missed it. I learned that sometimes, the most obvious answers are right in front of you. You just need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. So, yeah, that was my little adventure with today’s crossword. It was a good reminder to not overcomplicate things and to trust my instincts.
Hope you guys enjoyed this little story. Keep on puzzling!
