So, I found myself wrestling with a crossword puzzle the other day. It wasn’t anything fancy, just the one from the newspaper I grabbed while getting coffee. Usually, I just skim the headlines, but this time I thought, why not give the puzzle a go? Needed something to switch my brain off for a bit, you know?
Things were going okay, filling in the easy ones, feeling pretty smart. Then I hit this one clue: “Two piece suits”. Seven letters. My first thought immediately went to, well, actual suits. Like, the kind you wear to fancy dinners or job interviews. But seven letters? Didn’t seem right. “Trouser” and “jacket”? Way too long. I tried thinking about different types, maybe specific cuts, but nothing clicked.
I just sat there, staring blankly at those empty squares. Seven letters. Two pieces. My mind kept going back to office wear. Maybe it was some old-fashioned term? I even started thinking about those matching skirt and jacket sets my aunt used to wear. Still didn’t fit. It was really bugging me, more than it should have, probably.
Getting Stuck and Sidetracked
Honestly, I almost gave up on it. Put the paper down, finished my coffee. Started thinking about the weekend plans instead. But that empty spot in the grid just kept calling out. It’s funny how your brain latches onto these little things. I remembered this time years ago, trying to assemble some flat-pack furniture. The instructions were useless, much like how I felt looking at this clue. Just pure frustration, but you feel like you have to finish it.
So, I picked the pen back up. Started looking at the letters I already had crossing that word. There was an ‘I’ in the second spot, and another ‘I’ near the end. Something like _ I _ _ _ I _. Still drawing a blank.
The Breakthrough
Then I looked at another clue nearby, something about “beachwear”. And suddenly, it hit me. Like a ton of bricks. Two piece suits… but not those kind of suits. The beach kind! Oh man. I quickly filled in BIKINIS. B-I-K-I-N-I-S. Seven letters. Two pieces. Fit perfectly.
- B
- I
- K
- I
- N
- I
- S
I felt pretty dumb afterwards, honestly. How did I not think of that sooner? Spent all that time thinking about tailoring and formal wear. Goes to show how your mind can get stuck on one track. But hey, figuring it out felt good. That little rush of ‘aha!’ is why I bother with these things, I guess. Another puzzle conquered, eventually.
