Today, I spent some time messing around with the New York Times Crossword. I’ve always found these puzzles to be a fun challenge, but also pretty darn tough sometimes.
So, I started with the one for July 8th, 2023. I usually try to do these things on my own, but man, I got stuck pretty quickly. There was this one clue, “Feel elation,” and I just couldn’t figure it out.
First Attempts and Getting Stuck
I tried a bunch of different words, thinking about synonyms for being really happy, you know? I scribbled down stuff like “joy,” “bliss,” “euphoria”, “happy” but nothing seemed to fit. The spaces didn’t match up, and the intersecting words weren’t making sense either. I spent a good chunk of time just staring at that one clue, feeling totally stumped.
Searching for Help
Then, I figured, why not look it up online? Maybe there were some hints or something. I Googled “Feel elation NYT crossword” and found a bunch of sites talking about it. Most of them were just giving away the answer, which I didn’t want right away. I still wanted to try and solve it myself, but with a little nudge in the right direction.
Finding the Answer
After scrolling through a few pages, I found a site that listed the answer as “FLOATONAIR” which is 10 letters in length. And then it hit me! I plugged that into the puzzle, and suddenly, other clues started to make sense. It was like a domino effect. Once I got that one word, I was able to fill in a few more, and then a few more after that.
Solving More of the Puzzle
With “FLOATONAIR” in place, I was feeling pretty good. I tackled some of the other clues that I had been skipping over before. Some were still tough, but having that one big answer filled in definitely gave me a boost. I managed to solve a good portion of the puzzle, all thanks to that one hint. I used a thesaurus to look up words.
- Started the NYT Crossword for July 8, 2023.
- Got stuck on the clue “Feel elation.”
- Searched online for hints without directly looking for the answer.
- Found the answer “FLOATONAIR” on a helpful website.
- Used the answer to unlock other parts of the puzzle.
- Continued solving with renewed confidence.
It’s amazing how just one answer can open up a whole puzzle. I’m still not sure if I’ll be able to finish the whole thing, but it’s been a fun ride so far. It’s taught me that it’s okay to ask for help sometimes, even with little things like crossword puzzles. And also, that sometimes you just need that one key to unlock a whole bunch of other stuff.
