It started innocently enough Oct. 24, 2021.

Prior to that date, I sporadically did the New York Times puzzle, but I hadn’t been focused on completing it the same day. In fact, according to my archives, I had only earned the proverbial “gold star” for completing it without help on the same day four times the week before Oct. 24 and four other times in total in the previous three weeks. And that was it.  Most of the time, I just did it when it was convenient and if I didn’t get it, I just hit “solve puzzle” and curse a bad pun or rebus.

Maybe it was a COVID thing, but for some reason on Oct. 24, 2021 it just became a part of my daily routine. After  a couple of weeks, I realized I had a streak going. So I kept it up. That was until this past Friday, while sitting at the airport in the middle of airport-aggendon waiting to get on a flight, when I put in the last answer and my gold star popped up. My 1,000 straight gold star.

I would like to tell you that it was “no big deal.” But I would be lying. In fact, in the weeks prior, it became somewhat of an obsession. My son, who with his partner had achieved the same streak a year earlier, told me he was the same way. I mean, who wants to get to 993 and suddenly break the streak. I didn’t start going for the streak, but in the end I really wanted to make it.

Now I need to be honest. I can’t say I haven’t looked up answers of the “gimme” questions. The editor of the Times puzzle, Will Shortz, says that’s OK. I mean, I can’t be up on all the names of every rapper and their songs, though I know a whole lot more now then I did three years ago. I’ve also  looked for clues at Word Play, the Times column on the Crossword, or searched for answers on the internet when I can’t get them. And yes, after screaming in frustration when I’ve scoured it for 15 minutes but can’t find my mistake, I have also looked at the key to find what I need to get it right and get the gold star. (It’s usually my bad spelling or a tense I missed.)

I have also relied on Duncan and Karen, who currently have a streak of about 1,400, to do it when I’m traveling and can’t rely on the internet. Whenever I go to Uganda, they simply do it because I know I can’t, but I want to keep my streak alive.

One day, there was some sort of a glitch and it looked like my streak was broke, and after first having my heart fall, I spent the day accepting the fact that I must have simply not completed it one day and I forgot. But by the end of the day, my streak was alive again, amazingly. And once, I had to email them because I KNOW I had done it and it wasn’t marked as complete. The lovely person who got my email responded immediately and guided me through how to correct it, and the streak continued.

Over time, I got better — steadily. When I started, I rarely could get through a puzzle at the end of the week without a lot of help. But now, it’s the exception, not the rule. And I know that doing the puzzle was therapy for me during dark days when my self-esteem was low. When it felt like whatever I touched was falling apart, I at least could tell myself I was keeping one thing together. It’s weird to think about it, but it helped. Besides, as the saying goes, you can’t think about your problems and do a crossword puzzle at the same time.

So day in and day out, I keep at it. I think maybe doing the puzzle is is my metaphor for defining success in life. Get help when you need it, rely on friends and family, sometimes let out a primal scream and do whatever you can to keep going forward. And when things aren’t fair, stand up for yourself, but accept that life isn’t always fair and try to live by grace.

But above all, be persistent and don’t quit. You don’t have to be perfect. You just need to show up, keep at it and find the right answers for you. Or In this case, The NY Times Puzzle Makers.