“May I sit here?”

As a detective, my first instinct when reading the crossword clue “‘May I sit here?’” is to think of a polite phrase used to ask permission to occupy a seat. The phrase “Do you mind?” instantly comes to mind as a possible answer. This phrase is commonly used in situations where one needs to ask permission to do something without causing offense. However, the crossword puzzle requires a single word to fit the answer, so now I need to think of a word that embodies this polite request.

As I ponder further, I realize that the answer needs to be a verb, an action word. ‘Minding‘ would be the verb that corresponds to the question. Therefore, ‘Do you mind?‘ translates to ‘Would you be able to mind if I sat here?’

Through deduction and logical thinking, I eventually come up with the answer ‘DOYOUMIND‘ which perfectly fits the crossword clue. This seemingly simple crossword puzzle is a perfect example of how language can be used to convey multiple meanings and how the right word can evoke the right response.