Today, I dived into the New York Times crossword puzzle. The title for today’s share is “Swedish Holiday,” and boy, was it a journey.
Started my day by grabbing my phone and opening up the NYT crossword app. I saw that today’s puzzle was from July 27, 2024. These puzzles are made by different folks and have been edited by Will Shortz since way back in 1993. They get harder as the week goes on, you know, Monday’s the easiest, and Saturday’s a real brain buster.
So, I dug into the puzzle, and there was this clue that really got me thinking: “Swedish holiday in which crowns of candles are worn, familiarly.” I scratched my head for a bit, trying to figure it out.
Research and Discovery
I decided to do some digging online. I found out that this clue has been around for a while and has shown up in other puzzles too. There are apparently about 30 possible answers to this thing, but the one that fits here has just five letters.
I also stumbled upon some info about a big deal holiday in Sweden called Luciadagen, or Lucia Day. It’s super important over there. Kids dress up and sing this song, “Sankta Lucia.” Sounds pretty cool, right?
After a bit more searching, I came across a bunch of sites saying they had the answer. Some were even talking about the July 27 puzzle specifically. I compared a few answers and started to piece things together.
Solving the Puzzle
With all this info, I went back to the puzzle. I looked at the five-letter space and thought about what I’d learned. It hit me – the answer must be “LUCIA”! It made total sense with the whole crown of candles thing and it being a familiar term for the holiday.
I typed in “LUCIA,” and it fit perfectly. Felt pretty good to solve that one. It was like putting the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle in place.
So, that’s how my crossword adventure went today. It was a fun mix of solving, learning, and a bit of detective work. Hope you enjoyed hearing about it!
- Started with the NYT crossword app
- Researched the clue “Swedish holiday in which crowns of candles are worn, familiarly”
- Learned about Luciadagen and its cultural significance
- Compared different answers from various sources
- Solved the clue by entering “LUCIA”
That’s all for today’s little adventure. Keep puzzling, folks!
