There are some crossword clues that hit you like a bolt of lightning, the answer springing to mind almost before you’ve finished reading the question. And then there are others. Oh, those others. The ones that sit there, stubbornly refusing to yield their secrets, mocking you with their apparent simplicity, yet guarding their true meaning behind layers of linguistic cleverness. This week, we encountered one such
crossword clue
that truly put our collective noggin-scratching abilities to the test.
The clue in question? “Something you may turn up your nose at?“
At first glance, it seems straightforward, doesn’t it? Our noses, as anatomical marvels, are primarily associated with one sensory input. So, naturally, the mind immediately gravitates towards that literal interpretation. What do we typically turn our nose up at, in a physical sense? Unpleasant
things
that assault our olfactory senses. A bad smell, a foul odor, a pungent aroma that sends us recoiling. The immediate instinct is to list every synonym for “stink” or “stench” you can possibly recall. And believe me, we went through them all, from the mild to the truly grotesque. “Is it
that
? No, too generic. Is it
this
? Hmm, wrong number of letters for this particular puzzle.” The dictionary was practically smoking from all the furious page-turning.
But this is a
crossword clue
, and seasoned solvers know that puzzles rarely offer such a direct, one-to-one translation. The beauty, and often the frustration, of a good
crossword clue
lies in its ability to dance between literal and figurative meanings, to trick you into thinking one way before nudging you subtly (or sometimes, not so subtly) in an entirely different direction. And “turning up your nose” isn’t
just
about scent, is it? It’s an idiom, a gesture loaded with social meaning.
When someone “turns up their nose” at something, they’re not necessarily recoiling from a physical odor. They’re expressing disdain, contempt, scorn, or a feeling of superiority. They might be looking down on something, deeming it beneath them, or simply finding it objectionable in a non-olfactory way. Perhaps it’s a particular type of food they find unappetizing, a piece of art they consider low-brow, a suggestion they deem ridiculous, or even a person they find unsavory. The possibilities, when you open up to this broader interpretation, suddenly explode.
This is where the true fun of a challenging
crossword clue
begins. You’re forced to step back, to re-evaluate your initial assumptions, and to consider the myriad ways words can be twisted, played with, and recontextualized. Is the answer something tangible? An abstract concept? A reaction? A state of being? The very ambiguity is what makes it so engaging. It’s a mental tug-of-war, a delightful struggle against the clever mind of the puzzle constructor.
We spent a good deal of time down this rabbit hole, exploring all the nuances of “turning up one’s nose” both physically and metaphorically. The whiteboard was filled with scribbles, arrows, and crossed-out ideas. Frustration sometimes crept in, followed by moments of collaborative brainstorming that felt like detective work. It’s a testament to the power of a well-crafted
crossword clue
that it can provoke such a thorough linguistic and conceptual investigation.
So, take a moment. Ponder this specific
crossword clue
. What comes to your mind when you think about “something you may turn up your nose at?” Is it the obvious, or is there a layer of cleverness waiting to be uncovered? The journey to the solution is often as rewarding as the solution itself, especially when tackling a truly excellent
crossword clue
.
Available Answers:
ODOR.
Last seen on the crossword puzzle: Universal Crossword – Deep Undercover By Danish Abdi