Alright, let me tell you about my little adventure with the crossword puzzle earlier today. I sat down, ready to go, feeling pretty confident I could knock it out pretty quickly.
Most of it was straightforward, you know, the usual stuff. But then I got stuck on one particular clue. It just said: “very taxing”. Seemed simple enough at first glance, maybe seven letters, I think.
My First Attempts
My mind immediately jumped to money, like the tax man stuff. IRS? No, too short. AUDIT? Doesn’t fit the vibe perfectly. LEVY? Nah, didn’t seem right for “very taxing”. I tried fitting a few variations in, but the letters I already had from the crossing words just weren’t lining up. I remember having an ‘O’ near the start and maybe an ‘R’ somewhere in the middle.
So, I put the pen down for a minute. Clearly, the obvious money connection wasn’t the path here. What else could “taxing” mean? It can mean something that’s really difficult, puts a strain on you, wears you out.
Thinking Differently
I started thinking about words that meant burdensome or really demanding. Like hard work, you know?
- Maybe HARDSHIP? Didn’t fit the letter count I thought I remembered.
- STRESSFUL? Possibly, but again, didn’t quite match the crossing letters I vaguely recalled.
- TIRING? Felt a bit too simple.
I looked back at the grid properly. Okay, seven letters confirmed. And the crossing letters gave me O _ E R _ U S. That helped a lot. Now I had a structure to work with.
I went back to the “burdensome” idea. What seven-letter word fits O _ E R _ U S and means burdensome or taxing? I mentally cycled through possibilities.
And then it hit me: ONEROUS. O-N-E-R-O-U-S. It fit the letters perfectly! And the meaning? Yeah, burdensome, involving effort that is oppressively difficult. That’s pretty much spot on for “very taxing”.
Felt good finally getting that one filled in. It wasn’t about money taxes at all, but about how draining something can be. Took a bit of mulling over, but figuring out those slightly tricky definitions is always the best part of doing these puzzles. Just had to shift my thinking a little bit. Glad I stuck with it!
