What could be more smileworthy than a canine crossword puzzle?

By Strider the Dog

Dear Strider,

Not to get into details, but a lot of sad things have been happening in my family lately, and my wife has completely stopped smiling.

No matter what I do, I can’t get her to crack one of her beautiful beaming smiles.

I know this will pass, and eventually she’ll go back to smiling again. But I wondered if you had any advice for how I might be able to cheer her up a little in the meantime? I love her. I’m sad too, but I think maybe if we could smile together it might take some of the sting out of the sadness.

— Looking for a Smile

Dear Looking,

I’m so sorry for any sadness you and your family are feeling. And I totally get how you’d like to find a path back to smiling. We dogs get really anxious when our humans are sad; we do all sorts of crazy stunts to get them to smile again. Sometimes these hijinks get us into trouble instead of bringing smiles! Showing we can open the refrigerator door to steal a couple of thawing steaks, for example, not that I would know anything about that.

I figured the Old Cedar Tree might have some words of wisdom for you, since they usually do. They gave a big sigh and had this to say:

“Sometimes sadness just has to run its course. There really isn’t any way to force yourself or anyone else to be cheerful until the person is ready for it. In the meantime, it helps to go for walks, to smell some flowers, to pet a sympathetic animal, to read a book, to sip a cup of tea, or just to sit in silence with someone you love.”

I get that the Old Cedar Tree is wiser than I am, but I still wasn’t happy that they didn’t completely answer the question. That answer didn’t satisfy this dog. I mean, I’m supposed to give advice! So what I came up with is in the next letter. Our super fantastic crossword puzzle editor Steve has created a crossword puzzle just for me! Don’t you think solving a crossword puzzle together, especially one about dogs, should help bring a smile to your wife’s face? I mean, what could be more smileworthy?

If that doesn’t work, maybe you could put a couple of steaks to thaw in your refrigerator and invite me over. Not that I would know how to  . . . well. You know.

Meanwhile, check out Steve’s letter below.

Dear Strider,

Since last year’s puzzles about the dog park, meanings of “hot dog” and doggerel sounds, you probably assumed that there would soon be more crosswords about canine culture. You may have been disappointed to see crosswords about other creatures, i.e., deer, turkeys, bear and crabs, along with less interesting stuff like theater, restaurants, transportation, geography, science and human holidays.

This unfortunate situation — lack of new canine crosswords — should never happen to a dog.

I appreciate your patience, encouragement and doggedness to learn new tricks for solving crosswords. Rest assured that I have been working like a dog to remedy this situation.

This past week the Canine Capers series has resumed, with a new crossword about dogs and music. If you’re not familiar with some of the songs or artists, ask Tod to explain and play them for you.

Over coming months, expect to see more canine crosswords that include not only more music (for both adults and children) but also Shakespeare quotes, politics, people, film/TV and many general idioms — can you spot a few of those in this letter?

With these treats, I hope I am no longer in the doghouse.

— Steve, the Ashland.news Crossword Editor

Dear Steve,

Oh, wow, bow wow, I love when you put your super brilliant brain to make up a crossword puzzle with a doggone great theme. I even got 24 across without asking Tod for a hint! It’s the name of our editor Bert Etling’s dog, who I’m super pals with, so how could I miss that one?

Wagging my tail hard in advance of your next spectacular canine puzzle!

Feeling cross? Having a hard time cracking a smile? Why not lay it all on our advice columnist? Just email [email protected].