New Dork Times Bonus Puzzle: Love Story
April 8, 2025
Love Story
Happy birthday to my wife, Erin. This one’s for you, dear ❤️
Online Puzzle:
Printable Puzzle:
Crossless Words: Love Story
Minor puzzle spoilers follow.
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Legend states that I loved Erin at first sight. For once, legend isn’t far off.
I sat across from her at a conference room table. It was shaped like a big U and set in the middle of the sterile corporate meeting space. I walked in late and took the only empty chair. It was on one of the sides of the U, and right across from me was Erin with a bob haircut, sporting a shiny smile and glistening brown eyes.
I wanted her aura—light blue and clean cotton scented, like my favorite Yankee Candle, when I try to imagine it—to subsume me. I needed to be in her space. I wanted to tell her about my day, show her that I could juggle (famously a ladykiller, that one), and perhaps tell her I loved her and that we should spend our lives together.
The meeting—a simple welcome/training for the new class of interns—broke for lunch. I mistakenly took a vegetarian bean paté sandwich masquerading as meat. I joined Erin’s table of all women and made a no-doubt hilarious joke about disrupting gender norms. I powered through my disgusting sandwich as though it was nothing. Erin and I talked as though the others weren’t there. Disappointingly, they were very much there and continuously tried to participate in the conversation. Could they not see that we were two star-crossed lovers diving into the glimmering waters of destiny? How rude!
Grilled cheese. Mac and cheese. These were the first topics we discussed. I internally lassoed the burning proclamations of love and wrangled them into the depths of my mind. No sense in ruining it.
The skyline terrace of our office building overlooked the gorgeous city of Chicago, a few miles north of downtown. It glimmered in the summer sun and warmed us, a harbinger of the wonderful things to come. It was a beautiful scene.
I was ripped from it by the woes of corporate need. My boss summoned me via one of the program coordinators, in need of help with a company-wide email about a redwing blackbird attacking employees in the parking lot. I answered the call and walked away, sneaking one last glance at Erin before I flitted away.
A few years later, I proposed to Erin on that same Skyline Terrace, complete with a grilled mac and cheese sandwich.
On September 21, 2019, we tied the knot surrounded by our loved ones.
On June 10, 2024, we welcomed our baby girl Faye into the world.
We ain’t slowin’ down any time soon, either.
The days between and following have always been suffused with love and laughter. There is nobody else on the planet for me. Love you, Erin!
Thanks for reading and solving, everyone! See you for the next puzzle.
This is the sweetest thing ever