For the brilliant detective mind of Kudo Shinichi, a crossword is a nice respite. A crossword keeps his mind sharp, working his reasoning and logic skills. Skills that he needs to be a detective. He usually does a few crosswords a day, at least one if he is inundated with work. But today is different. The crossword in front of him is the latest from the New York Times. A foreign paper yes, but it helps him hone his foreign language skills. It is not the first time he has done such a thing. But today, Today! This crossword is taking the cake. Another crumpled piece of paper of a test pattern is thrown behind him to the growing pile he is making in his library. His look of indignation and annoyance speaks for itself. The pencil he holds routinely taps against his temple in frustration. If you squinted hard enough, you could probably see smoke come out of his ears or the top of his head.

'I don't get it,' he thinks to himself, 'I have tried this 3 times, I get the same solution, but it doesn't fit!'

"What doesn't fit Shinichi?" an angelic voice asks. Shinichi looks up. Poking her head into the library is his girlfriend Mouri Ran. They've been through some tough times together. Defeating a criminal organization, apprehending thieves, defusing bombs, and plenty of other adventures to fill what would feel like nearly 30 years, yet it's only been one year… or was it two? Anyway, now firmly a couple, and living together, Ran comes into the library with a small snack and two cups of tea.

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" Shinichi asks with a surprised look.

"You've been saying a few things out loud. Some grunts and yells. I decided to make a snack for you to calm you down. It's worked before." The couple smiles at their trauma turned in joke of Conan. "What's getting you frustrated? A tough case?"

"No for once, and you'd think I be thankful. But no, this crossword is kicking my ass."

"Shinichi!" Ran exclaims at her boyfriend's casual profanity.

"Ran, sit here and look at this." Ran sets down the tray and pulls up a chair. They sometimes do crosswords together. It's an intimate thing do; charming in its own way. Ran looks forward to it, the closeness of sitting next to her boyfriend is always enjoyable. After the Conan times, they savor any and all moments together. But now Ran senses that Shinichi is in a tough spot.

"Oh, New York Times?" Wouldn't be the first American newspaper they worked on together; helps her improve her English. But now lesson time it is not.

"Yes. Some of these I got already; in fact most of them, but there are some that are driving me up the wall. Look at one, down." Shinichi places the crossword in front of Ran. The clue for one, down says Garden item frequently added to cream cheese. Ran furrows her eyebrows. She whispers the clue to herself.

"Chives?" she asks.

"Close. Think onions." Shinichi responds.

"Scallions!" Ran says.

"Correct, now fill it in." Shinichi deadpans. Ran is confused to Shinichi's reaction, but picks up a pencil and fills in the clue… to a point.

"Wait, what?" Ran's confusion leads to a cheshire grin on Shinichi's face, which couples with his angry eyebrows leading to a face that screams of fuming annoyance. "It doesn't fit"

"It doesn't fit." Shinichi echoes. "Yet, it is the only possible solution. Look at the one next to it." Ran looks at 2 down: World's fair site

"That's really broad. Which World's Fair?"

"Think simpler, like what each thing at a fair would be."
"Exhibit?"

"The buildings that house them."

"…buildings?" Now Ran's face shows annoyance. Shinichi's changes to a lopsided frown.

"Alright, that's my fault. Pavilion is the answer." He motions her to write it in. She starts to, but again,

"It doesn't fit!"

"I know! Three down is crazy!" The clue reads Great thing to feel like. "A million bucks; no way that fits in. It gets worse. Seventeen across you'd think I'd get easy." Ran looks at the clue. Genre for Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle

"Detective?" she asks.

"Close; Murder Mystery."

"Doesn't fit?"

"Doesn't fit."

"Doesn't that mean it's something else?" Ran scratches her head.

"Usually, but no! Look at 52 down!" Tums, for one

"Antacid?"

"Correct! But-"

"It doesn't fit!" they both say in exasperation.

"Here's the kicker Ran!" Shinichi says wide eyed. "32 across, One of the two sultanates in the United Nations. Answer Brunei. It's correct. 37 across, answer is Lock. 41 across; Ask. 45, Basic. See what they spell for three down?" Ran looks and discovers the work 'Bucks'. She looks at Shinichi perplexed.

"Bucks?" Shinichi nods; Ran continues. "As in 'A Million Bucks' the answer for three down?" Shinichi nods harder with his lips in a thin line of frustration. A vein starts to pulse in Ran's head in sympathy with her boyfriend. "But that's too big fit in three down?!"

"I know!" Shinichi. "51 across, Penal colony. No go! I don't get it. Another one that gets me is 54 across. Read it!" Ran looks. Water tower?

"What does that mean?"

"Make the 't-o' sound like body part in English." If Shinichi's eyebrows got any lower in annoyance, they could fall off his face at any moment. Ran takes the paper to her face to read it. As she slowly places it back on the desk, her look of anger and annoyance confirms she's Kogoro's daughter.

"Tow-er? Like tow truck? Water tow-er? A tugboat?" The couple shares the look. "Shinichi, we need to look these up to make sure we're not losing out minds." She rubs her temples. Shinichi grunts; he hates cheating and admitting defeat, especially over a piece of paper. He takes out his phone and searches the solution to the New York Times crossword. He scrolls to this passage:

"For example, a group of CROWs (17A) is called a "murder." If you swap out CROW CROW CROW for "murder," you get the MURDER MYSTERY genre for which Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle were famous.

Similarly, a group of LIONs (22A) is called a "pride," which gives us PRIDE MONTH for the terse clue "June."

After Shinichi reads it out loud he slowly looks up with a twitchy eye. Ran looks shell-shocked. They both look to the paper. Learning in the run the reveal and discover, to their horror, that yes, the entire word of 'LION' and the entire work of 'CROW' are to be put into boxes normally reserved for single letters. The both look to 51 across and see that the last three boxes are each meant to have the word 'ANT' in them. A group of 'ANT's. A colony. Which answers 51 across: Penal colony. The young couple looks at each other.

"OH COME ON!" they both yell, throwing their heads back and hands in the air. You could swear the entire neighborhood heard them.