Stuck on a crossword puzzle? See the answer to ‘___ expected …’

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Max who loved spending hours solving crossword puzzles. He would often sit at his family’s kitchen table, a pencil in hand, furiously filling in each square with the correct letter. However, there was one clue that always stumped him: “___ expected …”

No matter how hard Max tried, he couldn’t figure out the answer. One day, while walking through the park with his grandpa, Max confided in him about his crossword puzzle struggles. His grandpa smiled and told him a story about his own childhood.

Back when his grandpa was a young boy, he used to play with a group of children from the neighboring village. One day, the weather grew dark and it began to rain heavily. Everyone scattered, running for cover, except for one boy named Asi. He stood in the middle of the field, arms outstretched, face turned up to the sky, as if he was basking in the rain.

His grandpa explained that this moment had stuck in his mind as an unexpected display of joy and wonder. And Asi’s name, therefore, remained imprinted in his memory even to this day. “Asi,” his grandpa said, “is the answer to your crossword puzzle clue. ‘___ expected…‘ because Asi’s behavior that rainy day was totally unexpected!”

With newfound inspiration and clarity, Max went back home and filled in the squares with ‘ASI‘. He was overjoyed by his success and excited to share his new knowledge with his family. And from that day on, he always remembered that sometimes the most unexpected things can hold the key to solving life’s little puzzles.