Chum

As a diligent detective, my first step was to identify the possible meanings of the term “Chum.” My insights led me to think that it could mean a friend, pal or buddy. As I started to brainstorm synonyms for these terms, a few words that came to my mind were associate, companion, and mate.

However, knowing that a crossword puzzle is a word game that follows strict rules, I eliminated the options that didn’t fit the letter count and word positioning. Once I had a few options left, I started to evaluate each of them in the context of the additional clues provided in the puzzle.

As I continued to fill in additional squares, it became clearer that “mate” was the most logical option. Not only did it fit the letter count, but it also made the cross-words and additional clues fit together seamlessly. In the end, through strategic thinking and analysis, the answer ‘mate’ presented itself as the only possible word that made sense.