Okay, so I’ve been getting into gardening lately, and my wife, she’s super into crossword puzzles. She found this “gardening tool crossword” thing online and, well, I figured, why not? Might learn something new, right? I printed it out – old school, I know, but I like having paper in front of me.
First thing I did was grab a pencil – gotta be able to erase, you know? Some of those clues were tricky! I started with the ones I knew right away. Like, “Used for digging small holes.” Easy peasy – “trowel.” Boom, filled that in.
- “Long-handled tool for turning soil” – Okay, this one I thought about for a bit. I initially put ‘shovel’ but it was too short for the blanks, after staring at it, and thinking of what I actually do in the garden, I changed it to ‘Fork’. Makes sense!
- “Protects your hands” – “Gloves!” Another easy one. My hands are always getting cut up and dirty, so gloves are a must.
- “Carries water to plants” – This one almost got me, I thought maybe just put, “can” but there were too many letter slots. Then, after visualizing myself watering the plants, I realized it was “watering can.” I felt stupid for a second there.
There were a couple I really had to think about. One was something like, “Used for trimming hedges.” I kept wanting to put “scissors,” which, I guess technically, you could use, but it clearly wasn’t the right answer. I looked at the crossing words I already had filled in, and finally got it – “shears”! I’ve used those before, just didn’t connect the word right away.
The Hardest One
The absolute hardest one was a long one, something about “a tool used to spread materials evenly, like soil or compost.” I was stumped. I went back to the garden, looked at my tools, and even poked around the shed a bit, hoping for inspiration. Finally, my wife (who was sneakily watching me struggle, I’m sure) gave me a little hint. She said, “Think about what you use to smooth out the soil after you plant something.”
And then, bam! “Rake!” It was so obvious, but I just couldn’t see it. The crossing letters fit perfectly, and I felt this huge sense of accomplishment. Finally finished the whole crossword!
Honestly, it was kinda fun. Learned a couple of new terms, maybe, and it was a good little mental workout. Might even do another one next week. Might have to ask the wife to pick a harder one though, I am a pro now!
