Earlier quoted context omitted.
but i don't know if 10em is too much or too small. that's the point. i don't want a specific width defined
Try min-content, fit-content, or max-content instead of auto.
I also have issue of letting go and fully accepting the way of the flex. Instead of feeling comfortable just throwing elements inside the grid element, by brain needs each row to have a wrapper element like a tr and nested td instead of just tossing td elements in tbody (sticking to the table mentality). It took a minute for me to get that to click in my head for whatever reason