Alright, so, I was trying to solve this crossword puzzle today, and I got totally stuck on one clue: “distinction.” It got me thinking, how many darn ways can you say “distinction” in a crossword? Turns out, there are a ton!
First, I grabbed my phone and hit up one of those crossword solver websites. I typed in “distinction,” and boom, it spit out like 60 possible answers. 60! Can you believe it? My brain was already hurting.
Trying to Narrow it Down
I looked at the crossword grid again. The space for the answer had four letters. Okay, that’s something, right? Back to the solver site, I filtered the results to show only four-letter words. The top suggestion was “NOTE.”
- NOTE seemed like a decent fit. I mean, a distinction can be a kind of note, something you’d pay attention to, yeah?
Checking Other Possibilities
But I wasn’t totally sold. What if it was something else? The site also gave me some longer words, like “MERIT” (five letters) and “HONOUR” and “NICETY” (both six letters). Those didn’t fit the space I had, but maybe there was a trick to it? I dunno, I’m not a crossword pro.
I started plugging in “NOTE” lightly in pencil, just to see how it looked with the other clues I’d already solved. It seemed to work okay, but I still wasn’t 100% sure.
Looking for More Clues
Then, I found another website that listed a bunch of definitions for “distinction.” One was “a marking off by visible signs.” Hmm, that kind of reinforced the “NOTE” idea. Another definition was about “excellence or superiority,” so words like “MERIT” and “HONOUR” started making a bit more sense, even though they didn’t fit my four-letter space.
This website also mentioned that the clue “distinction” had been spotted over 20 times in different crossword puzzles. That’s a lot! It felt like everyone was messing with my head with this one word.
Synonyms Galore
Just for kicks, I looked up synonyms for “distinguished,” which is like, the adjective form of “distinction.” The list was crazy long: “celebrated,” “eminent,” “famous,” “illustrious,” “noted” (there’s that word again!), “notorious,” “renowned.” My head was spinning.
The “Aha!” Moment (Maybe?)
Finally, I went back to the original crossword solver site. There was a little note that said, “Other definitions for ‘note’ that I’ve seen before include mention, Record; memo.” And then it hit me! “NOTE” could totally work as a distinction, like a notable difference or a point to be noted.
I darkened in the letters for “NOTE” in the puzzle. It felt right. It fit with the other clues, and it made sense in the context of the whole puzzle’s theme. I think I finally cracked it.
So, yeah, that’s how I spent my afternoon, wrestling with a single crossword clue. It was a wild ride, but I think I learned a thing or two about the many, many ways to say “distinction.” And hey, at least I got a good story out of it, right?
