Can’t Solve This Crossword Clue? Unravel the Mystery Behind ‘A Visit From St. Nicholas’

Once upon a time, in a small village nestled deep within the wintery woods, there was a little boy named Jack who loved words. He spent hours reading books and solving word puzzles, always with an insatiable curiosity for letters and their meanings.

One frosty evening, as Jack sat by the fireplace, he stumbled upon a crossword puzzle inside an old book of classic poems. Determined to solve it, he carefully scanned the clues, when suddenly, his eyes twinkled with excitement as he read: “His ___ little mouth was drawn up like a bow” (line from “A Visit From St. Nicholas”).

Jack’s mind raced, his imagination filled with images of a man whose lips curl into a bow-like shape. He pondered the clue and took a deep breath, determined to find the answer. As he mulled it over, his mother, a jolly woman with a kind smile, entered the room.

“What has captured your attention, dear Jack?” his mother asked, noticing his enthusiastic expression.

“I found this crossword clue, and I’m trying to solve it,” Jack replied, holding out the book towards his mother. “It says, ‘His ___ little mouth was drawn up like a bow.'”

His mother glanced at the clue and then her gaze fell upon Jack’s face, where a mischievous grin appeared. “Oh, dear Jack,” she chuckled, “the answer is ‘droll’.”

“Droll?” Jack repeated, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Yes, my dear. You see, ‘droll’ is a word that describes something amusing or funny, often with a twist of eccentricity,” his mother explained.

Jack’s face brightened with understanding, and his confusion melted away. “So, the clue is referring to someone whose mouth forms a comical expression, like a bow?” he asked.

“Yes, exactly!” his mother beamed, thoroughly impressed with her son’s deduction skills. “When you say someone’s mouth is ‘drawn up like a bow,’ it means they have a playful and jolly smile, just like the whimsical characters we find in traditional stories.”

Jack’s eyes sparkled with newfound knowledge as he wrote down the answer, ‘droll,’ in the crossword puzzle. He was delighted to have solved another clue and discovered a beautiful connection between words and the world around him.

From that day forward, Jack’s love for words grew even stronger, sparked by the intriguing clue he had deciphered. He continued to explore literature and share his newfound wisdom with others, reminding everyone that even the smallest clues can unveil the most enchanting secrets. And so, with his wise and droll spirit, Jack filled the village with laughter and joy, just like the playful smile depicted in the crossword clue.