On a lay level, people think I'm a genius because I can finish their unfinished crossword puzzles. But they never see me when I fail to do a crossword puzzle from scratch myself.
I used to be amazed that my dad could finish crosswords when I was a kid until one time as an adult I was sitting across from him at the table and realized that I knew several of the answers that he hadn't figured out yet. I suspect a lot of it is generational too, where the questions get updated for more current events and that makes them more approachable for working aged adults vs the children or the retired class.
