Okay, so today I was trying to solve this crossword, and I got totally stuck on one clue: “_ de France”. I mean, I know it’s something about France, obviously, but my brain just went blank. I stared at it for a good five minutes, racking my brain for anything that fit.

First, I tried to think of famous French landmarks. Eiffel Tower? Nope, too many letters. Louvre? Nope. I even considered things like “Arc” for Arc de Triomphe, but that didn’t work either. It was driving me crazy!
Then, I decided to go through different categories. Regions of France? Nope. Famous French people? Still nothing. French food? I even thought about “vin,” because, you know, France and wine, but that wasn’t it either. I was starting to feel pretty defeated.
Breaking it Down
I decided to take a step back and look at the structure of the clue.
I saw that the blank space was for 4 spaces.
- It had to be a four-letter word.
- It was something de France, so something “of” France.
Suddenly, it hit me. “Tour”! The Tour de France! The famous bicycle race! I filled it in, and it fit perfectly. I felt so silly for not getting it sooner, but also so relieved. It’s amazing how your brain can just freeze up like that.
So yeah, that’s my little crossword adventure for today. It just goes to show, sometimes you need to step back and look at things from a different angle, or maybe just let your brain connect the dots on its own time. It’s simple!