Okay, so I’ve been messing around with crosswords lately, and there’s this one clue that’s been driving me nuts: “Totally awful, in slang”. It popped up in the NYT Mini Crossword on July 3, 2024, and I just couldn’t crack it. I mean, I consider myself pretty good with words, but this one had me stumped.
First thing I did was scour the internet, obviously. I typed in “totally awful in slang nyt” into the search bar and started browsing through the results. There were a bunch of sites offering crossword solutions, which is cool, but I wanted to figure it out on my own, you know? I saw some hints like “think of a word similar to ‘garbage’” or “it’s a short, common word.” Okay, that’s something, but it didn’t quite click.
Then, I started brainstorming. I thought of all the slang words I knew for “awful.” There’s “lame,” “trash,” “garbage,” “sucks”… I wrote them all down, trying to see if any fit the pattern of the puzzle. I even started looking into language trends and how slang evolves, just in case there was some new word I hadn’t heard of. I was going deep!
I spent a good chunk of time on this, switching between reading articles about crossword strategies and staring blankly at the puzzle grid. I tried different combinations of letters, hoping something would magically appear. No luck. I even asked a few friends if they had any ideas, but they were just as clueless as me.
Finally, after what felt like ages, I decided to peek at one of those solution sites. And guess what? The answer was right there, staring me in the face: “trash”.
I realized the answer has to be trash after all. I felt kind of silly for not getting it sooner, but also relieved. It was like this huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Here is the list I summarized:
- lame
- trash
- garbage
- sucks
So yeah, that’s the story of how I wrestled with a simple crossword clue and finally emerged victorious. It was a humbling experience, but hey, I learned a new word, right? Or rather, I rediscovered a word I already knew.
Now I’m hooked on these mini crosswords. They’re a fun little brain teaser. If you are into them, maybe we can swap some tips sometime.
