Water down, say

When faced with the clue ‘Water down, say’ in a crossword puzzle, my first instinct was to think of synonyms for ‘water down’. Dilute and weaken came to mind, but neither fit in the space provided. After a bit of brainstorming, I turned my attention to the word ‘say’ which suggested that the answer might be a verb. As I searched for verbs synonymous with ‘water down’, I realized that the word ‘thin’ could be used as a verb and its meaning fit perfectly into the context of the clue. To make sure it was the correct solution, I thought of examples where ‘thin’ could be used to indicate the act of watering down. I thought of adding water to soup, and how doing so would make it thinner. With a smile, I confidently penciled in the answer: THIN. It was a satisfying feeling to solve the puzzle using a combination of logical deduction and creative thinking.