Okay, so today I spent some time tackling this thing called a ‘jean of fashion crossword’. Sounded interesting enough, right? I like jeans, know a bit about fashion, figured it’d be a breeze.
Getting Started
First thing, I got the crossword puzzle. Found it tucked away in an old magazine I was leafing through. Looked like a fun little challenge to kill some time. Spread it out on the kitchen table, grabbed a pencil – always pencil for crosswords, you know, for mistakes.
I scanned the clues, looking for the easy ones first. Stuff like “Classic blue work pants” – obviously DENIM. Or “Famous San Francisco jean brand” – that had to be LEVIS. Got those filled in pretty quick. Felt good, like I was off to a strong start.
Hitting a Wall
Then things got a bit trickier. There were clues about different cuts and styles I wasn’t immediately sure about. Like “Jeans tight through the thigh, looser below the knee”. Bootcut? Flare? Took me a minute, had to picture some old jeans I owned. Finally settled on BOOTCUT and hoped it fit with the other words.
Some clues were about specific fashion terms related to jeans. One asked for “The faded effect on jeans”. I drew a blank for a bit. Whiskering? No, that wasn’t it. Had to really think back. Then it clicked – STONEWASHED. Yeah, that sounded right. Pencil went back to paper.
- Checked the number of letters.
- Looked at the crossing words I already had.
- Sounded it out in my head.
That helped slot it in. There was another one, “The small pocket inside a front jean pocket”. What’s that called again? Coin pocket? Watch pocket? The clue needed five letters. Ah, WATCH pocket. Filled that one in too.
The Tough Bits
The hardest part involved some brand names I barely knew or some historical stuff. There was a clue about the origin of the word “denim”. Had to really dig deep in my memory banks for that one. Remembered reading something ages ago. Something about a French town? Nimes? De Nimes? Yeah, NIMES fit the squares perfectly. That felt like a real win.
Another tough one was about a specific type of denim weave. I just stared at the clue, “A diagonal pattern in denim weave”. Blank. Total blank. I looked at the letters I had from other words crossing it: T W _ L L. Had to be TWILL. Never would have guessed that straight off, but the crossings saved me.
Finishing Up
Slowly but surely, I started filling in the grid. Each answer helped unlock the next one. It’s always satisfying when the words start linking up, you know? Like fitting puzzle pieces together. Went back and forth between the Across and Down clues. Erased a few wrong guesses along the way – good thing I used pencil!
Finally, I got the last clue filled in. Stepped back and looked at the completed grid. Felt pretty accomplished, actually. It wasn’t rocket science, just a simple crossword, but it was a fun way to spend an hour or so. Learned a couple of new things about jeans too, which is always a bonus. Definitely a decent little brain exercise focusing on something practical like, well, pants.
