Alright, so the other day I found this crossword, had “huge promotional push” slapped on it somewhere, maybe in the title or theme notes, I forget. Looked like a decent way to waste some time, you know, keep the ol’ brain ticking over. So, I grabbed a pen – yeah, I still use pen, makes it feel more permanent, more committed, even if you mess up.
First thing I did, like always, was scan for the easy stuff. The gimmes. You know, the three-letter words, the common stuff like ‘ERA’ or ‘ART’. Got a few of those filled in pretty quick, felt good, like I was making progress right off the bat. Built a little framework, letters scattered here and there.
Getting Into It
Then came the actual theme clues, the ones tied to this “huge promotional push” idea. Honestly, some of them were a bit… much. Stuff like ‘Massive ad campaign’ or ‘Discount event’. My first thought for one was just ‘BIG SALE’, but it didn’t fit the squares. Had to rethink. Okay, what’s another word for a big push? Maybe ‘DRIVE’? Yeah, that worked for one.
I hit a wall around the middle section. There was this clue, something about a ‘Marketing blitzkrieg’. Bit of a dramatic word, ‘blitzkrieg’. Took me a while. I had a few letters, like B _ _ T Z. Just stared at it. Chewed the end of my pen. What fits? Tried thinking about all those annoying ad campaigns you see everywhere. Suddenly, ‘BLITZ’ just popped into my head. Felt kinda silly it took so long, but hey, got it done.
- Scanned for easy fill-in-the-blanks first.
- Tackled some of the theme clues – mostly marketing words.
- Got stuck on a few tricky ones, needed connecting letters.
- Had that ‘aha!’ moment with ‘BLITZ’.
The Grind and The Finish
Some parts were just annoying. You could tell they really wanted you to think about advertising. ‘Publicity stunt’, ‘Media coverage’, ‘Special offer’. It was like doing homework for a marketing class I never signed up for. Had to guess a couple based on the letters I already had. You know how it is, sometimes you see B R _ N D and you just know it’s gonna be ‘BRAND’.
Slowly but surely, the grid started filling up. Got the top right corner sorted, then worked my way down the left side. The crossing words really help, that’s the beauty of crosswords, isn’t it? One right answer can unlock three or four others if you’re lucky.
Finally, just had a couple squares left in the bottom right. Filled in the last word, I think it was ‘PUSH’, fittingly enough. Looked over the whole thing. A few messy letters where I’d second-guessed myself, but it was complete. Felt that little sense of satisfaction, you know? Like tidying up a messy drawer.
Overall Thoughts
It wasn’t the hardest crossword I’ve ever done, but the theme was relentless. Felt a bit like being beaten over the head with a sales flyer. Still, it passed the time. Made me think about how much of that ‘promotional push’ stuff is just background noise in our lives now. Anyway, job done. Might look for a different theme next time, maybe something about history or nature. Less stressful.
