The Daft Diary of the Crossword-Solving Cucumber

On a drizzling Tuesday evening in a niche grocery store, a
vibrant cucumber named Claude gathered quite the crowd of
astonished grimacing squashes and confused-looking radishes.
Equipped with a magnifying glass and a tiny graphite pencil, he
was perched over a half-finished crossword laid out on a
miniature wooden lectern. With a bewildered grocery store owner
standing silent in awe, Claude was absolutely engrossed in
finding the perfect fit for "6 down: Juicy summer fruit (9
letters)." He paced around, tapping the thin point of the pencil
against his green cheek. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "WATERMELON!"
and quickly scribbled it down. His landmark victory was met with
a harmonized gasp spreading through the crowd; the tomatoes
blushed deeper red, while the avocados, despite being notorious
party-poopers, trembled with astonishment. "Whoever heard of a
cucumber that adores word puzzles?" whispered a flabbergasted
aubergine to his neighbor. Claude simply picked up his diminutive
cap, tipped it to the audience, and promptly dove headfirst back
into his crossword, utterly unconcerned with the pandemonium he’d
caused amongst his peers.