Hey everyone, today I wanna share a little adventure I had with the New York Times Crossword. You know, the one that really gets your brain working. So, the clue I was stuck on was “Divination aids … or a phonetic hint to the shaded squares in this puzzle.” Yeah, it threw me for a loop too.
First, I stared at it for like, a good five minutes. Nothing. Then I started digging around online, checking out different crossword help sites. I found a bunch of people discussing this clue. It popped up on May 2nd, and apparently, it was a tough one for a lot of folks.
Some were saying the answer was “TEA-LEAVES.” That kinda made sense, right? Divination, tea leaves, it fits. But the “phonetic hint” part was still bugging me. I read through a few more forums and saw that this clue had shown up before, on May 3rd, even. Still, no one seemed to have a solid explanation for the phonetic hint part.
My Breakthrough Moment
So, I decided to look at the puzzle itself, specifically the shaded squares. I started saying the letters in those squares out loud, trying to see if anything sounded like “tea leaves.” And then it hit me. When you look at the shaded squares and sound out the letters, especially with a certain emphasis, you get something that sounds like “TEALEAVES”. It wasn’t a direct pronunciation, but it was close enough that it made sense phonetically, especially in the context of the puzzle. It also fits the structure of the clue, which indicates a combination of two different answers into one.
- I scanned through a bunch of websites.
- I read a ton of comments and suggestions.
- I analyzed the shaded squares in the puzzle.
- I said the letters out loud, experimenting with different sounds.
- I finally figured out how “tea leaves” could be a phonetic hint.
It was one of those “aha!” moments that make you feel like a genius, even if it’s just for a crossword puzzle. I went back to those forums and shared my theory. Some people were like, “Whoa, that makes sense!” and others were still a bit confused, but hey, that’s the fun of crosswords, right? Different people, different ways of seeing things.
Anyway, that’s my little story about tackling a tricky New York Times Crossword clue. It’s not every day you get to play detective with words, but when you do, and you finally crack the code, it’s pretty darn satisfying. Keep puzzling, folks!
