“Butte’s Kin”: A Tricky Crossword Clue Solved
Ah, the joy of a challenging crossword puzzle! That satisfying moment when you crack a tough clue, the lightbulb illuminating your brain, and the thrill of finally filling in that elusive square. But then there are those clues that leave you scratching your head, staring at the grid with a furrowed brow, muttering under your breath.
This week’s puzzle threw me for a loop with a particularly perplexing clue: “Butte’s kin.” Now, I’m no stranger to tricky wordplay, but this one had me stumped. It’s not a straightforward definition, and it seemed to require some lateral thinking.
“Butte’s kin” – the phrase itself evokes a sense of geography, of family, of something connected. But what exactly is that connection? Is it a literal kin, like a relative? Or is it something more metaphorical, something related by association or function?
I started by brainstorming. Butte, as we all know, is a prominent, isolated hill or mountain with steep sides and a flat top. That’s the literal definition, but what about the broader context? What else could be related to a butte?
My mind raced through possibilities – mesas, plateaus, hills, even mountains. Maybe it’s a geological term, a specific type of formation. But none of those seemed quite right. There was something more elusive, something more abstract, at play here.
I tried dissecting the word “kin” itself. Does it imply a specific number of relations? Could it be a group, a collective, a family? And what kind of family? Is it a family of geological formations, a family of words, or perhaps a family of…ideas?
The more I pondered, the more I realized that this clue wasn’t just about the literal meaning of “butte.” It was about understanding the underlying concept, the essence of what defines a butte.
And that’s when it hit me – a sudden flash of insight, a mental “aha!” moment that brought a smile to my face. The answer was right there, staring me in the face, hiding in plain sight.
Stay tuned for my next post, where I’ll unveil the solution to this tricky clue and share the logic that led me to it. Until then, happy puzzling!
Available Answers:
MESA.
Last seen on the crossword puzzle: Thomas Joseph – King Feature Syndicate Crossword – Jun 18 2024