Okay, so I saw this phrase “polite casual assent” in the NYT crossword and, I gotta admit, I was stumped. I mean, I get “polite” and “casual,” but putting them together for a crossword clue? My brain was not cooperating.
First, I tried to think of synonyms. You know, like “sure” or “okay.” But nothing was fitting in the spaces I had. I even started to second-guess myself, wondering if I had some of the crossing words wrong.

Then, I did what any self-respecting crossword puzzler does – I started Googling. I typed in “polite casual assent” and started scrolling. Honestly I didn’t find much about it, there is no explaination for it.
So there some answers on some website, but they aren’t very helpful.I went back to the puzzle.
- I stared at it.
- I filled in a few more words I was sure of.
- I paced around my kitchen.
Finally, after going at this on and off for, like, an hour, it hit me. It has to be some words, and I tried, boom, I got it. It is so simple!
It’s kind of embarrassing how long it took me, but hey, that’s the fun of crosswords, right? The feeling when you finally crack a clue that’s been bugging you is the best.