Okay, so today’s deal is this “it’s a blast” thing from the NYT crossword. I’d seen it around, figured it was just another one of those word puzzles, but man, was I wrong.
I started by just staring at the empty grid, you know, the usual crossword deal. Then I noticed that the “blast” part wasn’t just a word, it was like, an instruction. You gotta fill in some of the squares with multiple letters. Sounds simple, but it messes with your head.
Trying to Crack the Code
First few clues, I tried to solve them like a normal crossword. Got a few easy ones, but then I hit a wall. Nothing seemed to fit right. That’s when I remembered the “blast” thing. I started jamming multiple letters into single squares, kinda randomly at first. For example, a clue like “sound of surprise” became “OHWOW” instead of just “OH”.
- One clue was something about a loud party, and I figured “blast” could mean that. So I squeezed “HOOTENANNY” into a few squares.
- Another one, “celebratory event” and I wrote “PARTYTIME”. I stuffed all letters into just three squares.
- At first, I thought it’s a mess.
Slowly but surely, I began to see the pattern. Each “blasted” square was a mini-phrase, a little word explosion. It felt like the words were bursting out of their boxes, which I guess was the whole point.
The Aha Moment
After a while, I got into the groove. It was like learning a new language. I stopped thinking about individual words and started looking for those little bursts of letters. I was actually having fun, which is not something I usually say about crosswords.
Finally, after like an hour or so, I filled in the last square. I felt really great. It was satisfying, like I’d actually accomplished something. Not bad for a lazy Sunday afternoon, right? This “it’s a blast” thing? It really is a blast, in the end. I have finished it.
And I decided to share it with you all!
