Okay, so I was messing around online the other day, trying to kill some time, yeah? I ended up on the New York Times crossword puzzle page, just clicking around, not really paying attention.
Then this clue pops up: “Cuban instrument that ironically has six strings.” Now, I ain’t no music expert, but even I know that sounds a bit weird, right? So, I got curious and started digging.
First Steps
My first move was to hit up Google. I typed in something like “Cuban instrument six strings NYT crossword,” and boom! A whole bunch of results popped up. It looks like this clue showed up on June 22nd, 2024, and folks have been talking about it since, especially around June 23rd.
The Hunt Begins
- I started skimming through these crossword forums and websites. Most of them were just giving away the answer, but I wanted to figure it out myself, you know?
- The answer is apparently this word, “TRES,” which is just five letters long. I saw some sites mentioning a thing called a “guajeo,” which seems to be related to how you play this instrument.
- Then I found out “tres” means “three” in Spanish. So, why’s it got six strings, then? That’s what I wanted to know.
Deeper Dive
I moved on to some music sites and started reading about Cuban music. Turns out, it’s a whole world of its own. They got all these different types of music, like rumba, son, and danzon, and they all use this rhythm called “clave.” Sounds pretty cool, right?
Anyway, back to this “tres” thing. It’s a type of guitar, but it’s got three pairs of strings instead of just six individual strings, which seems to be what makes it different.
Eureka!
Finally, I put it all together. The “tres” is a Cuban instrument that’s kinda like a guitar, but it’s got three sets of double strings, which adds up to six. It’s called “tres” because it has three courses, not because it literally has three strings. Mystery solved!
It was a fun little journey, and I learned a bit about Cuban music along the way. Who knew a crossword clue could lead to all that? And by the way, it is a little funny that a lot of people would think a Cuban instrument wouldn’t normally have six strings, so the name is kind of ironic, I guess.
This is the experience of solving this problem. I will continue to share it next time!
