That Elusive Word: When the Crossword Taunts You
We’ve all been there. Staring at the grid, the answer dancing just out of reach. You
know
you know it. It’s on the
tip of your tongue
. That frustrating, almost maddening feeling of certainty mixed with utter helplessness. The letters are there, flickering like heat haze on a summer road, but they refuse to coalesce into a cohesive, satisfying word.
This week’s crossword puzzle served up a particular challenge:
“Tip of the tongue?“
. It sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? A common phrase, an everyday experience. Yet, as I wrestled with the other clues, stubbornly refusing to let the “easy” ones fall into place first, the more this phrase haunted me.
The surrounding answers provided minimal assistance. A few vowels here, a stray consonant there, but nothing that screamed out at me. I tried anagrams of the clue itself, a desperate tactic I often employ when logic fails me. “Tongue of tip?” yielded nothing. “Pig of tone?” absolutely nothing.
My mind raced. Was it a literal interpretation? A part of the mouth? A sensation? Or something more metaphorical, a feeling of near-success? The possibilities felt endless, each one slipping through my mental fingers like sand.
I consulted my usual arsenal of crossword solving tools. The thesaurus, of course, offering a smattering of synonyms for “tip” and “tongue” that only added to the confusion. My crossword dictionaries, typically reliable, remained stubbornly silent on the matter.
Online crossword clue solvers became my last resort. Plugging in the letters I
did
have, I scrolled through page after page of suggestions. Some were close, tantalizingly so, but none felt quite right. They lacked the inherent cleverness, the satisfying “aha!” moment that defines a truly excellent crossword answer.
Frustration mounted. I put the puzzle aside, hoping that a brief distraction would allow my subconscious to work its magic. I made a cup of tea, walked the dog, even attempted to balance my checkbook (an activity guaranteed to bore me into submission).
Returning to the grid with fresh eyes, I stared at the seemingly innocent clue.
“Tip of the tongue?“
.
The beauty of a good crossword clue, as any seasoned solver knows, lies in its ability to mislead. To take a familiar phrase or concept and twist it just so, forcing you to consider it from a new perspective. Was this clue deceptively simple? Was I overthinking it?
The struggle continues. I’m sharing my experience because, in the world of crosswords, we’re all in this together. We’ve all faced that moment of near-understanding, that agonizing proximity to the solution.
Perhaps, by sharing my process, you, dear readers, can offer a fresh perspective, a new angle of attack. Maybe, just maybe, one of you holds the key to unlocking this particularly stubborn crossword clue. Let the brainstorming begin! What are your strategies for tackling a particularly elusive crossword clue? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Let’s crack this crossword together! And be sure to check back later, as I’ll update the post when I finally triumph over this linguistic beast!
Available Answers:
ESE.
Last seen on the crossword puzzle: Washington Post Crossword -Saturday’s Daily By Zhouqin Burnikel / Ed. Patti Varol