Dog breeds. Musical instruments. Olympic sports. These are just a few of the categories that I consider myself something of an armchair expert in, and it's all thanks to crossword puzzles.
When you do enough of them, you become intimately familiar with a wide variety of topics, including ones you might never have known much about otherwise; it's why so many crossword fans are also great at games like trivia and "Jeopardy!" (not to mention Scrabble, Words With Friends, Bananagrams, word searches... really, what can't we do?).
But sometimes, even a crossword obsessive like myself comes across a clue that makes us go: "Wait, do I actually know this category as well as I think?"
That's how I felt upon discovering 54-across in today's PLAY puzzle: "Sixt
competitor." I knew from the word "competitor" that the answer would likely be a brand (or perhaps an athlete or politician, but I highly doubted there was a famous human being named Sixt out there). That inference only got me so far, because I'd never heard of Sixt before and therefore had zero idea what kind of brand it'd be. In short: I was stumped.
Eventually, I managed to figure out the correct answer from solving the interconnecting clues, which led me to learn what kind of company Sixt actually is. Honestly, I was pretty surprised that I'd never heard of it before, considering that I know the names of practically all of its competitors (including the clue's answer). But that's one of the many reasons I love crosswords – they entertain and educate, often at the very same time.
Perhaps you're more familiar with this brand and category than I am, and 54-across won't stump you, too. But if it does, know you're not alone – and be glad to add a new piece of trivia to your knowledge bank!
Rachel Simon is the PLAY writer for USA TODAY, bringing you the inside scoop behind our crosswords, games, horoscopes, and comics. Have thoughts on this story? Email her at RSimon@USAToday.com andsubscribe to our PLAY newsletter to get more content like this in your inbox every week.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The clue from today's PLAY crossword that stumped an expert solver
