Okay, so the other day I was chilling on my couch, trying to tackle this crossword puzzle. I’m not usually big on crosswords, but this one was a gift from my aunt, and she’d been hinting for weeks about how much I’d love it. Anyway, one clue really got me stuck: “Lose power and prestige.” I stared at it for like, a solid 20 minutes. Nothing.
I paced around, grabbed a snack, even tried staring out the window for inspiration. Nope. Still blank. My brain was just refusing to cooperate. It felt like trying to find a matching sock in a pile of laundry, that is endless.
Brainstorm Time!
Finally, I decided to get a little more systematic. I grabbed a piece of paper and started brainstorming:
- What words mean “lose”? I wrote down things like “drop,” “misplace,” “forfeit.” They are all great, but they are not useful for my crossword.
- What about “power and prestige”? This part was trickier. I thought about things like “influence,” “status,” “authority,” “reputation.”
I tried combining words from each list, but no luck again. I was almost to give up and do something else. Then, feeling a little desperate, I started thinking about synonyms that were less obvious. “Power” could be “control,” “dominion,” right? “Prestige” is all about your “standing,” or maybe your… “clout”?
Then it was coming! “Clout”…if you lose clout, you’re…what is it? My eyes go back to the crossword. Seven letters.
I grabbed the crossword again, feeling a rush of excitement. Seven letters… and the third letter needs to be a ‘C’. I started muttering to myself, “lose clout… lost station… no.. decline…? ”
DECLINE! That’s it! It fits perfectly! I scribbled it into the puzzle, a huge grin on my face. It’s one of the best feelings.
So yeah, that’s how I finally cracked that “lose power and prestige” clue. I used a word, decline, to solve the “Lose power and prestige” crossword. Maybe I’ll try another crossword next week, this thing really active my brain. But for now, I’m going to celebrate with more snack.
