Tackling That “Goliath” Crossword
So, the other day, I stumbled across this crossword puzzle, themed something like “prepared to fight goliath”. Sounded interesting, you know? A bit dramatic for a bunch of squares and clues, but hey, why not? Felt like a bit of a challenge, and sometimes you just need that little mental workout.
Got myself set up. Coffee on the side, my trusty old pen – none of that erasable stuff for me, I commit to my mistakes, haha. Spread the newspaper out on the table. First glance, the grid looked… well, big. Like a proper weekend challenge. Okay, Goliath, let’s see what you got.
Started off pretty okay. You know how it is, you scan the ‘Across’ clues first, looking for the easy ones. Stuff like “Opposite of black (5 letters)” or “A baby cat (6 letters)”. Knocked out a few of those pretty quick. Felt good, building a bit of momentum. Got some letters filled in, which always helps with the connecting words.
Hitting a Snag
Then, inevitably, I hit a wall. There was this one section, down in the bottom right corner. Just a mess of empty squares. The clues felt deliberately tricky. I remember one was something like “David’s projectile launcher (5 letters)”. Obvious now, right? But at the moment, my brain just went blank. Was thinking catapult? Trebuchet? Nope, too long. Just couldn’t see it.
Spent a good ten minutes just staring at it. Read the intersecting clues again. Tried different letter combinations in my head. Nothing clicked. It’s funny how your brain can just freeze up like that. You know the answer is probably simple, but it hides. That’s the ‘Goliath’ part, I guess – not the size, but the stubbornness of the clues.
- That tricky 5-letter one…
- A weird abbreviation I didn’t know.
- Some obscure historical figure maybe?
Frustration started building up. Almost reached for my phone to look it up. But I have this stupid rule – try everything first before cheating. It feels better when you crack it yourself, doesn’t it? Put the pen down, took a sip of coffee. Decided to switch tactics, went back to the ‘Down’ clues for a bit.
The Breakthrough and Finish
Working on the ‘Down’ clues actually helped. Filled in a word that crossed into my problem area. Suddenly, that gave me the starting letter for the “projectile launcher”. S-L-I-N-G. Ah! Of course. Simple. Felt a bit dumb for missing it, but mostly relieved.
Once that corner fell, the rest came together pretty steadily. A few more tricky spots here and there, but nothing like that earlier block. Filled in the last square. Looked over the whole thing. Yep, all done. No empty spaces, everything seemed to fit.
Didn’t feel like I’d actually slain a giant, obviously. It’s just a crossword. But there’s a definite satisfaction in wrestling with something tricky and coming out on top. Cleared my head a bit too. Guess that’s why I still bother with these things. A small battle, fought and won, right there on the newspaper.
