For Heather Jonker, the answer to the crossword puzzle is Johan Jonker, her Dutch husband, who turned 100 yesterday.
The couple were brought together by a passion for crossword puzzles nearly 70 years ago, in the smoko room of the Bruce Woollen Mills, in Milton.
"Doing crosswords was more or less how I taught him the English language," Mrs Jonker said.
Despite now having dementia, Mr Jonker said he was amazed he had reached 100 because he almost failed to make it past his 17th birthday.
The Dutch-born immigrant was 16 when World War 2 broke out and the Nazis invaded the Netherlands.
He was one of about 500,000 Dutch workers deported to Germany for forced labour during the occupation.
It was there that he worked in a butcher’s shop.
Not long after he arrived, the shop owner encouraged him to escape from Germany and return home.
He then embarked on a daring and death-defying journey, walking back to the Netherlands with only cured meat to survive.
It was an extremely dangerous time, knowing full well that if he was discovered by the Nazis he would be shot on sight.
He made it back safely and spent the remainder of the war hiding from the Germans.
Mrs Jonker said her husband talked about it being a "horrific time".
In the aftermath of WW2, the survivor’s mind turned to New Zealand - a land of hope and a place where he could rebuild his life.
It proved to be the best decision of his life.
Soon after immigrating to Dunedin in 1951, he got a job at the Milton woollen mill where he met his future wife, who worked there as a pay clerk.
They bonded over the daily crossword puzzles, fell in love and the rest is history.
"He can be pretty stubborn sometimes - but aren’t we all," Mrs Jonker said.
"He’s a very kind and caring person. I couldn’t have wished for a better husband."
The couple celebrated Mr Jonker’s 100th birthday at Radius Fulton rest-home in Dunedin yesterday with cake, a glass of beer and a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday.
