I’m almost shaking with frustration.
I’m standing there with a newspaper in my hand, staring at … a crossword puzzle.
Hayley, sitting across the kitchen table from me, flashes me a wry smile.
“I can’t believe the great Daniel Throssell is struggling with something,” she laughs.
“Are you trying to BAIT me?!?” I snap at her.
She throws up her hands, feigning innocence:
“Oh, it’s just that, you know … you’re so good at everything else. I’m surprised there’s something that’s … beaten you.”
(I swear there’s an evil glint in her eye as she says this.)
Then she smirks at me, and goes back to eating her cereal.
I sit there, fuming at this stupid puzzle.
I don’t think I’ve done a crossword since I was 15. I forgot newspapers even had them! But I just happened to open the page to this one today. And it’s one of those cursed “cryptic” crossword puzzles, with clues that make absolutely NO sense.
Oh, what’s that?
You think crosswords are simple?
Well, if you want to try working some out, be my guest:
- Gold-plated cube is so long (5)
- Damaging fall in account I empty (4,4)
- Saddle decorator over chasing source of plaster in tin (9)
- Diner wolfing last of rucola? Never bolt down rocket here (8)
😳
Ugh … rucola and rocket … something to do with … salad?
GAH!!! What do these even mean?
I glance at last week’s puzzle solutions to get an idea of how simple the answers are.
The words include “VALETUDINARIAN”, “MANGANESE”, “FIELDFARE”, “ENTRAIN” and “CATAMARAN”.
Ooooh … kaaaay.
Eventually, my pragmatism wins out against my stubbornness … and I give up. But not before spending a good 20 minutes agonising over these things.
Such is the almighty persuasive power of … curiosity.
It makes people do things they wouldn’t normally do.
Which makes it a powerful weapon in your sales copy, too.
(Note that I relied on it for today’s subject line …)
So with that tasty tip tucked under your belt, let me give you one more clue to much on:
- Place where you should click if you want Daniel Throssell to write sales copy for you (8)
Ooh … a toughie, right?
Well, I’ll spoil it for ya.
The answer is ‘waitlist’ and you can join it here
(Note: that one is my copywriting services waitlist. It’s NOT for Inbox Detonator, my coaching program. The Inbox Detonator waitlist is only available via my email list.)
Daniel Throssell
P.S. It bugs me that I did today’s copywriting tip on curiosity … which is pretty much the #1 favoured tip of rookie copywriters trying to give copywriting tips in their emails.
So let me take it one step further and point out that the kind of curiosity I’m talking about that drove me to try the crossword puzzle … wasn’t the curiosity of knowing what the answers were.
That kind of curiosity alone wouldn’t be enough to keep me interested for more than a few minutes.
If you think you’re dialled into human psychology, see if you can guess what it was …