How the Day Begins
[This post was originally shared as part of Issue #84 of the SneakyArt Post. Read it in entirety here.]
In my family we start the day with words. Every morning, a tray is carried up to the terrace, bearing the first cups of tea, a bowl of sprouted beans and vegetables, and another bowl of dry fruits and nuts. Also, the day’s newspaper.
Straightaway, we open to the page with the crossword and word jumbles. We don’t waste time on headlines or the front page. It’s a morning ritual I miss all the days that I spend away from home. Sometimes I help my parents solve clues over a video call. This month and next, I am once again part of it. Lucky me. 😁
🗞 Crosswords
What do you do when you can’t solve a clue? Would you wait until the end? Would you *gasp* leave the crossword incomplete? My mother does not have patience for such silly ideas. She has a Crossword Solver app on her phone. She gives herself, and therefore us by extension, five minutes to solve a clue. If it isn’t done, she discreetly enters the word or phrase in the app and it throws out likely answers by letter-count. My father and I shake our heads and purse our lips, but she doesn’t care for our staid morality either.
I am pleased to announce that we have a 99% success rate with the daily crossword, even without the app. But when they give you clues like ‘consanguineous’, I wonder what I am expected to do…