A Dentist’s Concern

Daily crossword puzzles – a renewed obsession for me (started up again a few years ago) can be a real kick – or an exercise in destruction… depending on my mood! *grins* I especially look forward to Monday’s newspaper (easiest puzzle day) but sometimes even the simple straightforward clues read like a foreign language! *brain cramp* Ever since I discovered word puzzles (around the same age as my interest in playing hide and seek began to wane) my fave word puzzle has been the Jumble. It’s some kinda brainy fun to be able to “see” the correct word while looking at a jumble of letters… and a lot of the time it happens instantly! *zing*

Now there seems to be a direct correlation between my frame of mind and the tenor of the crossword puzzle writers… and consequently, their selected puzzle theme du jour… I tend to chaff when I feel like I’m being messed with! *sassy* You know how some crossword-toiling people will ask bystanders for help sometimes… when a clue is particularly obscure (or twisted)? Well, I am not one of those people. There resides within my spirit a narrow, but healthy, stubborn streak (Taurus) that keeps me riveted… nose to the grindstone… unable to put down the pen (no erasable writing utensil for this brave puzzle solver)… hence begins the ruination! *spunky* I just start writing in words because they fit in the allotted number of squares, even though they’re “not exactly” the answers that the puzzle writers had in mind! *giggles* It then becomes an evolving puzzle… veering further and further from the originally intended theme with every alternative answer I provide. How innovative… or not. Ha!

So here I am, filling in the answers to the hardest crossword puzzle of the week – from Sunday’s paper – and progressing with great accuracy (it happens on occasion)… no need to play around with goofy word substitutions… I’m on a roll! *whee* Then there’s this innocuous clue for a word needed to fill four itty-bitty squares: a Dentist’s concern. Hmmm… You may think the answer to any clue involving dentistry would literally write itself in this household… considering the fact that I worked as a Dental Assistant for 15 years… and… drum roll… hubby is the real deal… a bona fide Doctor of Dental Surgery. But you would be wrong. *sniff* For no apparent reason my gray matter suddenly goes completely dark here – as in black hole consistency – where the clue goes in, but nothing comes back out. And it’s not just me this time. Neither of us can get the answer right away (yes, I did ask for help this time) although in fairness, he didn't even look at the puzzle... just tossed out a wild guess! I decide to cogitate about this clue overnight (notice I didn’t say “sleep on it” since I’ve been quite the insomniac of late) and guess what? It dawned on me! *pun* A fundamental aspect of my dentition that the dentist is concerned with while I’m reclining back in the dental chair… mouth open wide… teeth presenting dutifully for their prophylactics… is one particularly edgy four-letter word: bite. *pun again*

Have a fabulous week! I’ll be back here by Wednesday ☺

~peace~