•CONTENTS•
IN THIS ISSUE PENCILWISE
The “Art” of Asking Questions 34 Alpha Bet 29
Meet Art Chung, Ask Me Another’s Art on the Square 26
trivia expert Battleships 23
Everybody Loves Bertha May 36 Camoulage 3
Code Crosswords 55
A logical challenge involving Cryptic Crossword 1 60
four would-be suitors Cryptic Crossword 2 61
Disappearing Ink 15
PLUS... Don’t Just Stand There 6
What's Happening 33 Double Cross 52
Previews of upcoming events Eager Weaver 6
Your Word Against Mine: Scrabble Familiarity Breeds Contempt 14
Happenings, Puzzles, and Tips Family Reunions 66
Tools to improve your game
Galaxies 54
This Old Game 40 Get a Clue! 50
Vintage board games
from the collector’s closet Kid Stuff 8
Mixed Doubles 4
Sole Survivor
A challenging chess puzzle Mixed Triples 22
Wild Cards: A potpourri of amusing One, Two, Three 32
little puzzles for your solving pleasure
Order, Please 62
Contest: Flustered Again Paint by Numbers 56
Contest Results:
Pencil Pointers 1 5
Electronic Game Reviews 46 Pencil Pointers 2 18
Dominion, Steam: Rails to Riches
Quote Boxes 12
Traditional Game Reviews 47 Sextet 31
Harbour, No Thanks!
Game On! Shelf Help 20
Showtime 21
Siamese Twins 53
Slitherlink 13
Snake Charmer 30
Solitaire Hangman 16
Some Assembly Required 64
Sound Mix 67
Strikeouts 63
Test Your Trivia I.Q. 24
The Spiral 19
To the Nines 7
Two-For-One 10
Will Sudoku 49
Word Hexes 28
World’s Most Ornery Crossword 67
april 2016 | GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES 1
...FROM
THE EDITOR
Editor in Chief Janis Weiner
Senior Editor Jennifer Orehowsky
Editor Raymond Simon
Contributing Editors Scott Appel, Thomas L. McDonald
A s you lip through this issue of GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES, you’ll Supporting Players Jocelyn Mathis,
notice features on Scrabble, chess, and vintage board games—some Joel Nanni, Karen Powell
by authors relatively new to these pages. We’re excited that a whole
new crop of clever puzzle mavens wants to contribute to the magazine and Email Address [email protected]
we’re delighted to share their work with you.
Senior Artist Kevin Boone
Let’s start with “Your Word Against Mine: Scrabble Happenings, Puzzles, Supporting Artists Julia L. Tran, Julia I. Wolfrom
and Tips” by top-ranked player Scott Appel. According to the results of our
December 2014 survey, many of you love Scrabble. If you’d like to improve Production Manager Bethany Lawler
your game and have fun at the same time, Scott is the go-to-guy. As the
title suggests, he offers tips and exercises that will teach you to think like a GAMES PUBLICATIONS
Scrabble pro. President Despina McNulty
Newsstand Circulation Director Dave Tyler
If you enjoy chess, try “Sole Survivor,” a game played on a chessboard
and following the rules of chess, by Dennis Shasha. Dennis’s long and NATIONAL ADVERTISING SALES
distinguished resumé includes writing puzzle columns for Scienti c
American and Dr. Dobb’s Journal. We are thrilled that he is now 6198 Butler Pike, Suite 200
contributing his iendishly fun brainteasers to GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES. Blue Bell, PA 19422-2600
215-643-6385
Regular contributor Jonathan Schmalzbach returns with a nostalgic
piece called “This Old Game.” Jonathan took a deep dive into his personal Subscription Rate: $44.91 for 9 issues in the U.S. and pos-
collection of vintage board games and came up with The Crosby Derby, a sessions, $61.56 in Canada and all other countries (payable in
1947 horse-racing game capitalizing on both the popularity of horse racing U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank).
and of Bing Crosby, the biggest star of the era.
Editorial Correspondence: The Editor, GAMES-WORLD
We’d also like to remind all of you crossword lovers that the 2016 OF PUZZLES, P.O. Box 184, Fort Washington, PA 19034. All
American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is fast approaching. Directed by manuscripts, photographs, and artwork must be accompanied
Will Shortz and held from April 1 to 3, the 39th annual tournament offers a by return postage and are submitted at the sender’s risk.
chance for the crossword community to gather in a relaxed and congenial Material sent in response to any invitation in this issue becomes
atmosphere. This year’s tournament will feature a ilm tribute to beloved the sole property of GAMES-WORLD OF PUZZLES and may be
constructor and ACPT regular Merl Reagle, who passed away last August. published or otherwise disposed of at GAMES-WORLD OF
Other important members of the crossword community whom we lost PUZZLES’s discretion without further notice. Contests are void
during the past year—Henry Hook, Leslie Billig, and six-time ACPT champion where prohibited or restricted by law and are closed to regular
Doug Hoylman—will also be honored. For more information about the contributors and to employees of Kappa Publishing Group,
ACPT, go to www.crosswordtournament.com. Inc. and their families. It is not necessary to buy GAMES
-WORLD OF PUZZLES to enter its contests. For a copy of the
And inally, a correction: Regrettably, our overzealous editing introduced contests in this issue, send a stamped return envelope to
some errors into David Kwong’s clever crossword puzzle “Numbers Game,” GAMES-WORLD OF PUZZLES, c/o Contest Copies. The
which appeared on page 52 of the January issue. These errors related to the decision of the judges is final in all contests. Taxes on prizes
theme and detracted from David’s crossword constructing, which we think is are the sole responsibility of the winners. GAMES-WORLD OF
great. We won’t give away too much in case you’d like to try the corrected PUZZLES and its designees reserve the right to use winners’
puzzle. It can be found on our website, www.gamesmagazine-online.com, names for promotion and advertising.
or you may email us at [email protected] to request a print copy
of the corrected puzzle. Advertising: Publisher is not responsible for the accuracy or
content of any advertisements appearing in this magazine, nor
Now dig in and start solving! the delivery or quality of merchandise or services offered. No
endorsement of any such advertisement is intended or
Jennifer Orehowsky implied. Advertisers and agencies assume liability for claims
Senior Editor arising from the content of their advertisements.
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2 GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES | april 2016
CAMOUFLAGE FROM THE GAMES LIBRARY
Place each of the 26 letters of the alphabet once in the grid below to form a common word of five or more letters reading
across in each line. Not all the letters in each line will be used; it’s up to you to determine which ones are needed. Some letters
may fit in more than one of the empty squares to form familiar words; however, only one arrangement of all the letters of the
alphabet will complete a word in each row. Hyphenated words, proper nouns, and plurals are not used. ANSWER, PAGE 70
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
CON T RA T I OND P
G L OUAD AC ENTG
I MA T R I RCHS E L
CHA S AG BRUSHE
M I NDE T D B I T RM
L OUR S E U I BBLE
FACUL T MN D A R Y
S EMB L A ONGRN E
TWE ND I F I CUL T
VERF LA POL EGY
ME A L L O DRNG L E
REC I RP MP K I NR
UR CON T AR Y L ON
MA R G P A I F YNDE
P L E FAS I ONARD
AP RANC OBB I NT
CON T R I E P L S YN
GROU P E POS UR E
P RB LOC ESTR IA
CHREA I F I E L DG
S C OM P O E L DMB Y
D I MW I N Y L OAC E
S E L OUR R I P L EW
PASUPR AR BAC E
S E COLU NDE RAT
MG N E R E I ANC EN
april 2016 | GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES 3
MIXED DOUBLES BY MIKE NOTHNAGEL
Each answer word in this crossword variation has two clues leading to it, using different meanings of the word. The clues are
separated into Across and Down, but are otherwise ordered randomly.
When you find two Across clues or two Down clues that seem to have the same answer, add up their clue numbers to
determine the place in the grid where the answer should be entered. For example, if the clue for 1-Across were “Metallic
element“ and the clue for 17-Across read “Starring role,“ the answer would be “lead,“ which would go in the box labeled
18 (1 + 17). Note: Tags such as “Hyph.“ and “2 wds.“ have been omitted. ANSWER, PAGE 70
29 28 18
19 27
21
30 13 20
16
17 31
26 39 23 37
22 25 24
15 35
14
ACROSS 15 Tortoise’s asset, in 8 Baseballer Cecil or his
1 Wee Aesop’s fable son Prince
2 Permanently fixed, as a memory
3 Reality show whose 31st season 16 Impressionist Rich 9 Evenly distributes weight
17 Maintain a low temperature 10 Veins’ counterparts
takes place in Cambodia 18 Used acid to create art 11 Card game played with dummies?
4 Uncomplicated 19 British daily newspaper 12 Drill sergeant’s directives
5 Hold one’s emotions in check 20 Dangerous obstacle on a road 13 Particular sequences
6 Use as a tax deduction, perhaps 21 Goes too fast 14 Dasher’s sleigh team partner
7 Lemon-scented furniture polish 22 Directly ahead 15 Full-size Chevrolet sedans
8 Give money to a radio station, say 16 Half the diameter of a circle
9 Nervously walking back and forth DOWN 17 Trickster’s shout
10 Attempt, as a guess 1 “Ohhh…I see” 18 You might pay a toll to cross it
11 One who makes it through a 2 Completed, as a form 19 Fly ball catcher, e.g.
3 Major roadways 20 Postponement of punishment
harrowing situation 4 Excuse 21 Substituted (for)
12 Person legally responsible 5 Bone in the forearm 22 Potency
6 What spinach gives Popeye 23 Misty Copeland, for one
for another 7 Checking account figures 24 African antelopes
13 Dismiss as a lost cause
14 Applies to be a new sorority sister
4 GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES | april 2016
PENCIL POINTERS 1 BY FRANK LONGO
In this crossword puzzle, the clues appear in the grid itself. Enter the answers in the direction of the pointers.
ANSWER, PAGE 70
Systems Big car- Guitar Chicago Behave Coop up 1800s Java cup H.S. Data Equation Briefed Road or
of parts cousins, costar veep Burr Chicken dropout's Debtor's plotter's on the railway
protocol chain for short Richard part option slip sheets latest slopes
Feeling
really It
comfy follows
Begin to Mar.
manage
Camera- Trio School
lens minus org.
opening one
The ``B''
of AFB Modest The Snowy Media Having
Perceive __ fault Hawkeye downhill mogul on
State run Turner footwear
Jewish
grieving Rock- Water- Actress Demands 23rd
period derived storing Longoria Scrapes Greek
Is able to fuel tanks letter
try for roughly
Thaw
Puff Urging Mimic
More (on) Fruity
frothy soda
Close, as More
a wound than just
ajar
Salute
Actor
Morales
Veggie Church Thinks
in a pod oficials of (as)
Low Identical Z __ Conform- Site with Like
grade “zebra” ing to a nice direct
Bacon or Equate view contests
ham
__ Tin Duel in
Tin (TV the Sun
dog) actress
D.C. Care and
insiders caution,
Caveat __ legally
Loved by
Perturb Roads Class for Carpet Gave rise Ellen
mentally tots, cleaner, to actress
Bit of briely for short Lewis
deceit
Mag Ricky Submit, Baseball Spinning Guns, as Outer
VIPs' Martin's as a test great copter an fruit
glosses old band paper Mel parts engine coating
Lads
with Crisp Army
dads ginger division
cookie Pesters
Rich and Cube Jose of
profuse inventor '80s-'90s
Rubik baseball
Thick, Trumpet
sticky effect
stuff Had food
“Little Great
Rascals” anger
series
Caddy
drink
Drove African
off, as a country
ly
april 2016 | GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES 5
DON’T JUST STAND THERE BY NORMA STEINBERG
ACROSS 58 Alarm clock, e.g. 1 234 567 8 9 10 11 12
1 Frozen heroine 60 Trudge
5 Head over heels 61 Johnny Rotten, 13 14 15
9 Barbecue rod
13 Minnesota’s for one: 2 wds. 16 17 18
63 Lotion additive
state bird 64 Take pleasure in 19 20 21
14 Obama’s vice 65 VIP’s wheels
66 Wire measures 22 23 24 25
president 67 Uttered
15 Head of Paris? 68 Once again 26 27 28 29
16 Local “capital”:
DOWN 30 31 32 33 34 35
2 wds. 1 National hero of
18 Diner sign 36 37 38 39 40
19 Haifa’s nation Spain: 2 wds.
20 Glitches 2 Baggy 41 42 43 44 45
22 ___ Moines 3 Goes bad,
23 Final 46 47 48 49
25 Manicurist’s target as milk
26 Mr. Gingrich 4 Paquin 50 51 52 53 54
27 Hearth residue
30 Feed the kitty or Pavlova 55 56 57 58 59
33 Western brawl 5 U.S. soldiers,
60 61 62 ANSWER, PAGE 70
setting, often briefly
35 Get-up-and-go 6 Skilled 63 64 65
36 Plunders 7 Equipment
38 Neither’s partner 8 Actor Banderas 66 67 68
39 Piece of 9 Impassive
10 Cartoon skunk: 27 Ranch enclosure 40 Word with lily 53 “…and ___ in the
asparagus 28 Raise, as a child or launch morning”:
41 Zsa Zsa’s sister 3 wds. 29 Nimble 2 wds.
42 Hollywood 11 Dating couple 30 Sir Guinness 43 Brushes with
12 Change for a 31 PBS science series the law 54 It’s in a quiver
status symbols 32 Leprechaun’s 55 Unwanted
45 Out of kilter twenty 44 Make haste
46 Rhythmic flow 14 Local perch 47 Piano practice e-mail
48 Scored 100% on 34 Mauna ___ 56 “That’s ___ need
50 Night light regulations pieces
51 Indistinct image 17 Prefix for scope (Hawaiian 49 Suffix to know”: 2 wds.
52 Fit ___ fiddle: volcano) 57 Albacore, e.g.
or vision 37 Submarine for switch 59 Home of the
2 wds. 21 Notice of an detector 51 Movie pooch
55 Drench 52 Invite to enter: Bruins, for short
intended marriage 62 Floored, briefly
24 Batter’s position 2 wds.
26 Take-home pay
EAGER WEAVER BY MARGERY ALBIS
Here’s a simple weaving task that requires neither loom nor thread: Just distribute the five letters accompanying each set to form
a common 10-letter word. ANSWERS, PAGE 70
1.M P S T U __ O __ A __ S I __ __ 6. A H O R T __ __ C __ E S __ R __
2. G H I P T S __ A __ __ E __ T __ 7. C L N O T B __ __ A __ I __ A __
3. A D K M R T __ __ __ E __ A R __ 8. E I T V W __ N __ E R __ I __ __
4. B D R U V __ O __ L E __ A __ __ 9. D F H O S __ A L __ E __ __ O __
5. D E O P V __ A __ E S __ R __ __ 10.A D L M O __ R __ A __ I __ L __
6 GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES | april 2016
TO THE NINES BY SHAWN KENNEDY
The answer to each clue below is a nine-letter word built from three side-by-side triplets culled from the list at right.
Cross off each triplet as you use it, and write each answer word in the blank. When all the triplets have been used, it’s
time to fill in the grid.
Transfer four letters from each answer into the grid as indicated by the numbers. In Puzzle 1, for example, Answer 1’s
third, sixth, seventh, and first letters belong in the top row of squares, in that order. When the grid is filled, read down
the columns in order from left to right to reveal a quotation by the given author. Most of the clues are misleading, so
prepare yourself for some heavy-duty groaning! ANSWERS, PAGE 70
PUZZLE 1
JOHN OSBORNE TRIPLETS
3 671
1. It’s a little off _____________________________________________ ACY HER ORE
5 417
2. Class-conscious kid ________________________________________ ARD ICA PLI
2 864
3. Place to find hot chicks ____________________________________ BIV INC RTY
7 165
4. Greens giant _____________________________________________ BOY ION SCH
5 693
5. Game for singles __________________________________________ COU IRE SOL
1 849
6. Piazza place ______________________________________________ DED ITA STO
4 192
7. Foreign delicacy___________________________________________ DIP LOM TOR
2 756
8. Blow it onstage ___________________________________________ GHT MON UBA
4 957
9. Braking point _____________________________________________ HAR OOL UCT
PUZZLE 2 TRIPLETS
JONATHAN SWIFT ARD ICE PEN
1 346 ARK INT PER
1. Flat on the top____________________________________________ ARM ISC REC
8 971 BOU ISM ROI
2. Sunset in Hollywood_______________________________________ DEM IST ROW
7 839 DER LEV SCA
3. Sub director ______________________________________________ EMB MAC THO
2 613 EUP OPE TRA
4. Leave in stitches __________________________________________ HEM OSH USE
7 932
5. Strikebreaker _____________________________________________
1 638
6. Straw boss _______________________________________________
5 249
7. Symbol of your rights ______________________________________
8 215
8. PC term _________________________________________________
2 865
9. Non-PC term _____________________________________________
april 2016 | GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES 7
KID STUFF: FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE
In this maze you may travel one box at a time up, down, left, or right, but not diagonally. Here’s the catch: You may only move
between boxes if the words in those boxes can be joined together, in order, to form a compound word. For example, you could
move from a box with the word PAPER to a neighboring box with the word WEIGHT, since PAPERWEIGHT is a word. (But you
could not move from WEIGHT to PAPER, because WEIGHTPAPER is not a word.)
Using these rules, can you find your way from the HOUSE in the upper left to the HOUSE in the lower right?
ANSWER, PAGE 71
HOUSE WORK BOOK WORM SIDE KICK OFF SET
FLY PAPER BACK HOLE WAY WORK HAND BAG
LIFT WEIGHT GROUND WATER PARK BRIDGE SPRING PIPE
OUT WASH HOG SHED BALL FOOT STEP LINE
DOOR HORSE SAW DUST POINT TENDER SISTER UP
STOP OVER SEE PAN HANDLE BAR COACH STAGE
WATCH OFF SIDE CAKE WOOD WIND MAN POWER
BAND STAND WALK OUT BOX MILL MAD HOUSE
8 GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES | april 2016
CLASSROOM CAPER FROM THE GAMES LIBRARY
Can you find 10 or more things wrong with this schoolroom scene? ANSWERS, PAGE 71
PUZZLE BY KAREN RICHARDS/ILLUSTRATION BY TED ENIK
april 2016 | GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES 9
TWO-FOR-ONE FROM THE GAMES LIBRARY
At irst glance, these pictures seem to have nothing in common. However, they can be grouped into sets of three. Here’s how
to form a trio: Identify two of the pictures, remove one letter from each of their names, and combine the two to make the third
item. For example, if you take a MOUSE and remove the O, pair it with an UMP and remove the P, you get MUSE + UM, or
MUSEUM. Once you’ve identiied the items and formed eight trios, you’ll ind that there are two pictures left over. Remove one
letter from each of them and put them together to spell out a special message. ANSWERS, PAGE 71
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JODY JOBE
10 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 11
QUOTE BOXES BY JENNIFER OREHOWSKY
To solve Quote Boxes, drop the letters from each vertical column—not necessarily in the order in which they appear—into the
empty squares below them to spell a quotation reading from left to right, line by line. Words may continue from one line to
the next; black squares indicate ends of words. The author of each quote is given above its grid. ANSWERS, PAGE 71
1. Honoré de Balzac
L AE S GHA S S S T I DATHHT I S T T
L RWO N P RWG E C N C T U G E E L G F
H I OU A S E H I AHD E H EWB B I T
LE S E PR
2. Mark Zuckerberg
NN I GO L OA L D L NHAUY C F AA L A
I S N GWR E N L I T G Q R I S K H C T T
I G AUT R TAT RY T E TO I T L YH
I E NNAYRAK EAD G I K S I
HS O ST E T S
3. Sheila Murray Bethel
E O E S O D HWN N F U T A O G N A NWT G
KNUY I F L NA I E YYORACDH L AE
OO S WB T E I E V S MO N T E OO E A H O
R I U OUH I HGO I OUUC S URD
Y E O E T T E T Y RW F
N WO Y S
12 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
SLITHERLINK BY CONCEPTIS LTD.
www.conceptispuzzles.com
Your goal in this puzzle is to fence off a part of the grid with a closed circuit. Just draw a line from dot 22 10
03
to dot (horizontally or vertically—never diagonally), continuing until you return to your starting dot. Each
33 1
digit indicates the number of fence segments you must draw along the sides of that numbered square. 31
0
The example at right shows a solved puzzle. ANSWERS, PAGE 71
02 2 3
PUZZLE 1 PUZZLE 2
0 100 0 3 0 1 00
3 21
2 11
3233
3 30 0 1 23
13 2 22 03
1 30 21 21
12 1 32 2 2
2330
33 2 02 3
3 213 1 01 3 3 0
PUZZLE 3 PUZZLE 4
2 2 33 3 31 00 33 22
2 23
212 3 13 31 1 3 1
33 31 2 232
2302 02 32 12
2 21 3
12 3 223 23 1 3 10
13 2 3 3 22
2 1 33 13 3
132 2 13 23 2 3 33
3 3 22
13 21 2231 23
23 33 212 3
1 313 2 2 3 13 22
3 30
11 0 11 1 3 02 13 22
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 13
FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT BY RAYMOND YOUNG
Just as close proximity between people can lead to friction, two identical letters may need separating. All of the words and
phrases listed below have a double letter, believe it or not. We just put another letter between them. So you won’t see a word
like PEER, but you may see PETER instead. Fill all of the words into the grid in standard crossword fashion so that all of the
letters get along. STARTING HINT, PAGE 75 ANSWER, PAGE 71
6 LETTERS 7 LETTERS
DNA LAB
ALEXEI EVEN SO ICE TEA AS A GIFT GO TO SEA SCHEMED
A LOT OF LA-DE-DA
A MAJOR ELIXIR NEVADA AWKWARD ICE COLD SUZUKIS
CANINE FIZGIG PLUG UP
CUMULI HOBOED USES UP BIKINIS JAI ALAI TATSUMI
8 LETTERS
BAD STATE ON SAFARI DADAISM MARSALA THE POPE
CIPHERED RENT-A-CAR
EARDRUMS SUM TOTAL ENGAGED POP-TART TINY TOT
LIMITING
MEN OF OLD TAHITIAN 9 LETTERS
MR. MISTER WHITENER
WHITE TIE CRYBABIES HIYA THERE
DERELICTS MY OPINION
DODGE CITY SHRUG AWAY
DOTS THE I’S ST. STEPHEN
EARN A NAME TELEFAXED
ENERGY BAR UN MOMENTO
14 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
DISAPPEARING INK BY MARK DANNA
In many an old cloak-and-dagger story, someone writes a message in disappearing ink, and soon after it’s been read,
the message disappears. Well, in this puzzle, it’s not the message but the consecutive letters I-N-K that disappear from
every word and phrase in the grid. For example, CLINKETY-CLANK in the list will appear only as CLETYCLANK in the grid.
(The grid’s shape is an old-fashioned quill pen dipped into a bottle of ink.) See if you can spy all 48 items, which are
hidden in the grid either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, but always in a straight line. The answer, not the INK,
appears on page 72.
CTR
BLINKER PINKERTON B L E R EW
BOBOLINK PINKEYE AMS TOL E
BULLWINKLE PINK PANTHER L UPSR L YS
CLINKER PINK SLIP SHT EM I K
CLINKETY-CLANK PINKY RING UT L TNAT
CRINKLY RATFINK SCBT J P
DINKIEST RIP VAN WINKLE HH L OBOB
DOWNLINK SHRINK-WRAP RAU LMK
DRINKABLE SINKHOLE WN H B I B
GINKGO TREE SLINKED RS L ED
HANS BRINKER SPRINKLER SYSTEM A BRH FW
HELSINKI STINK BOMB PRAT I
HIJINKS TIDDLYWINKS YEAN
IBM THINKPAD TINKER BELL RRGO
INDIA INK TINKERTOYS
INKBLOT TEST TRINKETS
INKLINGS TWINKLE TWINKLE
INKWELL
IT’S SINK OR SWIM LITTLE STAR
KINKAJOU WINKING
KINKIER WRINKLE
LINKIN PARK
LINKUPS IBI
METHINKS
MINK STOLE NN
MINKE WHALE
OINKING G
ON THE BLINK
PAINKILLER G
E L ESYOTRET I
E LOHS TD I ES T
THACDRAB L EA
HLEPE
RWE H P
I I TETEP
P TWN T MY E A
PS L I PVHREEDBEC L NOTREP
TG I RA T S E L T T I L E LWT E LWT
T N L NWO D T L H A N A I C A L H L WA
M I WS ROS S T I DD L YWS N L E R S
L L E B R E T NO J T L I N P A R K U RW
EUNSME T SYSRE L RPSAB L BE
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 15
SOLITAIRE HANGMAN
As in the two-player version of Hangman, the object of this solitaire challenge is to guess a word before being
“hanged.” To begin, choose any letter that you think might appear in word I below. Suppose you pick E. Go to the Letter
Chart on the facing page and find the number listed in row E of Column I (because you are working on word I). The
number is 15; you now look in box number 15 in the Position Chart (to the right of the Letter Chart) and locate the
number 2. This means the letter E occurs in the second position (and nowhere else) in word I. If a letter occurs more
than once in a word, the Position Chart will show all its locations.
If you find from the Position Chart that a letter appears in position 0, then that letter does not appear in the word.
As a penalty for an incorrect guess, you must draw part of a stick figure below the scaffold beside the blanks. On your
first incorrect guess, draw the head; on the second, the body; and on the next four, the arms and legs. If
you complete the figure (that is, make six incorrect guesses) before identifying the word, you are
“hanged.”
If you can identify 8 of the 12 words before being hanged, either you’re psychic or you have a
remarkable gift for words. ANSWERS, PAGE 71
Words To Be Guessed Letters Missed
I.
1234567
II.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
III.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
IV.
12345678
V.
1234567
VI.
123456789
VII.
1234567
VIII.
12345678
IX.
123456789
X.
12345678
XI.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
XII.
123456789
16 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
BY JENNIFER OREHOWSKY
Letter Chart Position Chart
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII
A 99 68 3 97 5 22 24 51 45 34 26 48 A 12345
B 69 75 25 49 20 4 44 57 35 21 66 58 B 0 4 2,6 0 2
C 7 50 56 16 98 61 86 20 69 46 31 60 C
D 10 31 35 31 4 6 69 46 38 33 57 1 D 6 7 8 9 10
E 15 9 77 4 57 74 67 4 39 60 6 42 E 03251
F 49 99 58 57 31 23 91 39 58 42 44 14 F
G 14 22 63 79 46 20 6 24 1 84 58 30 G 11 12 13 14 15
H 6 42 91 14 71 58 20 16 77 39 2 69 H 1 2 10 0 2
I 58 12 54 91 47 45 70 62 60 100 52 66 I
J 16 6 22 35 33 35 39 54 14 72 46 49 J 16 17 18 19 20
K 54 44 65 11 99 77 46 44 16 20 24 16 K 08530
L 31 73 45 39 55 81 99 59 92 18 45 39 L
M 28 72 43 60 76 84 57 23 42 75 83 27 M 21 22 23 24 25
N 4 94 13 55 35 17 33 89 64 30 4 96 N 30001
O 2 23 32 29 75 16 80 37 53 4 68 23 O
P 23 16 42 45 42 71 77 25 22 71 19 85 P 26 27 28 29 30
Q 46 60 6 1 49 54 75 99 23 49 84 91 Q 1 5 7 7,8 7
R 18 69 69 41 58 5 22 33 63 77 33 78 R
S 71 19 16 44 44 60 87 6 31 99 13 24 S 31 32 33 34 35
T 39 14 60 99 45 93 76 63 54 82 54 90 T 09060
U 81 84 84 69 41 88 84 31 86 8 94 71 U
V 24 24 71 58 24 1 23 75 91 44 16 45 V 36 37 38 39 40
W 1 57 1 33 1 31 49 69 36 6 23 77 W 3 2 7 0 10
X 33 46 23 54 77 42 61 91 99 57 35 35 X
Y 77 40 14 22 91 49 35 2 95 54 20 44 Y 41 42 43 44 45
Z 20 71 75 84 14 14 45 71 71 22 75 31 Z 6 0 7,8 0 0
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII
46 47 48 49 50
0 5 3,8 0 4
51 52 53 54 55
6 5,7 4 0 3
56 57 58 59 60
30080
61 62 63 64 65
47524
66 67 68 69 70
63805
71 72 73 74 75
0 1 6,7 7 0
76 77 78 79 80
70442
81 82 83 84 85
68201
86 87 88 89 90
1 6 3,5 3 2
91 92 93 94 95
0 6,8 1,9 9 9
96 97 98 99 100
9 2,5 1,4 0 4
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 17
PENCIL POINTERS 2 BY COREY KOSAK
In this crossword puzzle, the clues appear in the grid itself. Enter the answers in the direction of the pointers.
ANSWER, PAGE 72
Calm Slide Pave, Phone Enemies Hearth Low-cost Expert Rubber Volcano Soccer Rival of Sounded
and rule gild, or company residue carrier Craft for toy for of Hawaii star Glamour like a
relaxed replacer carpet workers Battling of ETs Ernie Chastain or Vogue lion
Malaysia
Manage Robber Hustler Back in Monte
OK Dr. __ in The style __
Singer/ and Mr. Hustler (Monaco
actor Hyde resort)
Burl __
Scoff Lumpur,
Malaysia
Big gun
gp. Villain in Put a Private,
Tyke Aladdin new as
label on thoughts
Elephant
tusk stuff David Novelist
Wild, as Lynch Gogol
an cult ilm
animal
Mouse's Locale Stir to Big-
Michelle larger action hearted
Obama's cousin
title
Phnom Steak __ Get Calm
Penh (raw bloated and
native dish) assured
Opera
house Help out Paddle Inquires
solo Brewer's Make a
More fungus choice
slender
Chevy Yucky Misery
pony car stuff Mouth
Exhaust- Silly trick parts
ing the
supply of Zones Home of Fruit Creative Coax a
Pleading the sold in thought buyer to
tyke's Dolphins bunches buy more
question
Work NYC hrs. 11th- Toss, as
Passenger unit, in Casino cen. king a coin
train physics game of
workers Norway
Short Warm-
play or blooded
opera class
Emu,
kiwi, or Apple Adds a Charges Zone Backing-
ostrich CEO rising with an between up car
Cook agent to offense biomes gear
Nez __ Tools to
(Idaho measure
tribe) diameter
Maestro Hazards
Solti
Jazz Rhyme Knee's 1995
singer Pays place ilm or
Simone rapper Faction 2011
sitcom
Dried up Pilots a
Chiang plane
__-shek
Very
acute
Lawn
grower's
planting
18 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
THE SPIRAL BY STEPHEN SNIDERMAN
This puzzle turns in two directions. The Spiral’s Inward clues yield a sequence of words to be entered counterclockwise
in the spaces from 1 to 100. The Outward clues yield a different set of words to be entered clockwise from 100 to 1.
Fill in the answers, one letter per space, according to the numbers beside the clues. Keep track of which way you’re
going, and have many happy returns. ANSWER, PAGE 72
21
3
4 32 31 30 29
5 33 55 28
54
56
57 76 75 27
34 91 90 53
6 58
96 100 74 26
35 77 83 89 52 51 25
73
7 59 50 24
36 78 72 49 23
92 88 48 22
8 60 71
79 87
93
99 70
37 86
61 98 69
9 80 94
97
38 62 81 95 85
10
39 63 82
11
84 68 47 21
40 64
12 65 66 67 46 20
41
13 42 45 19
43 44
14 18
15
16 17
INWARD OUTWARD
1-6 Sign up 100-97 Depend (on)
7-11 Correct
12-15 Column crossers 96-94 Royal flush card
16-21 Ready to sleep 93-86 Lahiri novel, with The
22-25 Swiss range 85-82 Fey or Turner
26-30 Poem about rustic life 81-77 Graze
31-35 Bouquet 76-72 TV or radio spot
36-39 Was the jockey 71-67 Red Sea peninsula
40-47 Appendages on bacteria 66-61 Telemundo viewer, maybe
48-51 God, in Guatemala 60-57 Daffy Duck has one
52-55 Disagreeable person 56-46 Like the Earth, geometrically
56-62 Delta follower 45-41 Conforming to the rules
63-69 Type of dressing 40-35 Felt hat
70-78 Organisms that look alike but have different ancestry 34-28 Virtuously
79-86 City dweller 27-20 Shows off
87-91 Casey of American Top 40 fame 19-10 “Tintern Abbey” poet
92-100 Author of The Amateur Marriage: 2 wds.
9-6 Woman of tomorrow?
5-1 Greene or Michaels
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 19
SHELF HELP BY MARGERY ALBIS
A few weeks ago, Andrea and four of her friends decided to spiff up their closets by covering the shelves with decorative
paper. No two people used the same design, and each person covered the closet shelves in a different room (one person
covered the shelves in a utility-room closet). Determine each person’s full name, paper design, and the room in which he or
she covered shelves. ANSWER, PAGE 72
CLUES Carmichael
1. The five people are: Patrick, the Garner
Kirby
person whose last name is Garner, Lynch
the person who used the “Line Schweitzer
Designs” paper, the person who “Autumn Leaves”
covered bedroom shelves, and the “By the Sea”
person whose last name is Lynch. “Cherry Blossoms”
“Cuddly Critters”
2. The person whose last name is “Line Designs”
Kirby (who isn’t Maude) and the Bathroom
person who used the “Autumn Bedroom
Leaves” design (which wasn’t used Den
on the bathroom closet shelves) Kitchen
both bought their paper at Cover Utility room
Your World.
Andrea
3. The person whose last name is Doug
Schweitzer and the person who
used the “Line Designs” paper Maude
both recently moved into their Patrick
homes. Rosanna
Bathroom
4. The person whose last name is Bedroom
Carmichael (who isn’t Rosanna)
and the person who covered the Den
shelves in the bedroom (which Kitchen
weren’t covered with “Cuddly Utility room
Critters” paper) both listened to a ”Autumn Leaves”
radio talk show while they worked. ”By the Sea”
“Cherry Blossoms”
“Cuddly Critters”
”Line Designs”
5. Neither Lynch nor the person who
used the “Cherry Blossoms” paper
covered shelves in the den.
6. Neither Rosanna (who didn’t use
the “By the Sea” paper) nor Garner
covered shelves in the bathroom.
7. Neither the person who covered
the bedroom shelves nor
Schweitzer used the “Cherry
Blossoms” paper.
8. The person who covered the
kitchen shelves (which weren’t
covered with “Autumn Leaves”
paper) and Maude both enjoy
working around the house.
9. Patrick didn’t cover shelves in
the den.
10. Doug didn’t use the “Cherry
Blossoms” paper.
20 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
SHOWTIME BY CATHY MARKER
1234 5678 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18
19 20 21
22 23 24
25 26 27 28
29 30 31 32 33 34 35
36 37 38 39
40 41 42
43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51
52 53 54 55 56
57 58 59 60
61 62 63 64 65
66 67 68 69 70 71
72 73 74 75
76 77 78 79 80 ANSWER, PAGE 73
81 82 83
84 85 86
ACROSS 48 Sticky stuff DOWN 34 Crisp cookie
1 Reckless 52 Farm butter 1 Country address abbr. 37 Aquarium favorite
5 Winter bugs 54 Decisive defeat 2 Famed fighter 38 Seize, as power
9 Come up with 56 Knock about 3 Many Winslow 39 Wacky Bewitched aunt
15 Dog’s bane 57 Small job for a big 44 Candied tubers
17 Jaunty rhythm Homer paintings 46 Info
18 Wields, as influence name: 2 wds. 4 Asian capital 47 Egyptian port
19 Vreeland of the 61 Extinct 5 Envelope part 49 Certain relatives by
6 Waiter’s place
publishing world flightless bird 7 Beyond marriage: Hyph.
20 Not pro 63 Like milled wood 50 Implied
21 Clumsy chap 64 Biblical scribe the norm 51 Abrasive mineral
22 Paul McCartney’s 65 Round Table title 8 Held in check 53 Most granular
66 Clearasil target 9 Put down 55 Fortuneteller’s deck
“Yesterday,” notably: 68 Angular 10 Midterm, e.g. 57 Baseless rumors
2 wds. 70 Curious thing 11 Like speech sounds 58 WWI poet Wilfred
25 Spa offering 72 Reason for multiple 59 “Eleven plus two” for
27 Mrs. Colin Powell produced with
28 Gather leaves curtain calls: the back of the “twelve plus one,” e.g.
29 ___ Khan 2 wds. tongue 60 Tire type
30 Not too hot 76 Sandwich, informally 12 Prehistoric period: 61 Congregated
33 They may be split 77 Lion’s sound 2 wds. 62 Gasoline rating
35 Phys ed 78 Permit 13 Thickset 67 Jaded feeling
36 Group of listeners— 81 Invests with 14 Admiration 69 Nary a soul: 2 wds.
willing or not: 2 wds. a quality 16 Deli dangler 71 Metes (out)
40 Fencing tool 82 Part of a.m. 23 Oily fruit 73 Fizzles out
41 Hearing aids 83 Take off 24 Prefix meaning “all” 74 Brewing tanks
42 Spicy Indian stew 84 Lay off 25 Diamond side 75 Environs
43 Easily annoyed 85 City in the Salt 26 Wide open 79 Eggs
45 Ongoing quarrels River valley 31 Table insert 80 Fly catcher
86 Clean the deck 32 Challenge
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 21
MIXED TRIPLES BY MIKE NOTHNAGEL
Each answer word in this crossword variation has three clues leading to it, using different meanings of the word. The clues are
separated into Across and Down, but are otherwise ordered randomly.
When you find three Across or three Down clues that seem to have the same answer, add up their clue numbers to
determine the place in the grid at which the answer should be entered. For example, if the clue for 1-Across were “Metallic
element,” the clue for 17-Across read “Starring role,” and the clue for 20-Across were “News story intro,” the answer would
be “lead,” which would go in 38-Across (1 + 17 + 20). Note: Tags such as “Hyph.” and “2 wds.” have been omitted.
ANSWER, PAGE 73
ACROSS
1 Spaced to fill out a column, as text
2 Remained valid under scrutiny
3 “You can’t be serious!”
4 Assortment
5 Specific type, as of a fruit
6 Philadelphia university whose 33 24
sports teams are the Owls
7 Back side of a coin
8 Rose 23 40
9 Chose from a menu, say
10 Done with good reason
11 Transpose
12 In a particular sequence
13 The R in PRNDL 31
14 Magazine credited with
popularizing the term “boffo” 41
15 Admonishment to a slowpoke
16 FX series starring Timothy
Olyphant as a U.S. marshal 37
17 Place for Saturday worship
18 Failed to keep a date with 34
19 Pick-up line, perhaps
20 Author/activist Grandin
21 Gave cadets a directive 27 51
DOWN 43 32 45
1 39.37 inches, approximately 28
2 Falls spectacularly 42
3 Business executives, pejoratively
4 Small sample of food
5 Totally exhausts
6 Some measuring devices
7 Some measuring devices
8 Anaheim ballplayer
9 Rolls of cellophane
10 Spades and clubs, e.g.
11 Figure with a halo
12 Poem’s rhythmic pattern
13 Subscribed to a feed on Twitter
14 Came after
15 Wears the crown
16 Sweet or sour, e.g.
17 Obliterates
18 Records on a cassette
19 Taxi ticker
20 Personal preference
21 They may be class-action
22 Well-behaved child
23 Game regulations
24 Obeyed, as regulations
22 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
BATTLESHIPS BY CONCEPTIS LTD.
WWW.CONCEPTISPUZZLES.COM
The six puzzles on this page are solitaire versions of the classic paper-and-pencil game of Battleships. Each grid represents
a section of ocean in which a fleet is hiding. This fleet consists of one battleship (four grid cells in length), two cruisers
(three cells each), three destroyers (two cells each), and four submarines (one cell each). The ships may be oriented either
horizontally or vertically, and no two ships can occupy adjacent grid cells, not even diagonally. The digits along the grid’s
perimeter indicate the number of cells in the corresponding rows and columns that are occupied by vessels.
You’ll notice that some “shots” have been taken to start you off. These may show water (indicated by wavy lines),
a complete sub (a circle), the bow or stern of a ship (a rounded-off square), or a midsection of a battleship or cruiser (a
square). The puzzles get harder as you go. Can you reach the rank of admiral by locating all six fleets? ANSWERS, PAGE 73
Water End of ship (will continue in the direction of the lat side)
Submarine Middle of a ship (will continue either left and right or up and down)
1–SEAMAN 2–PETTY OFFICER 3–ENSIGN
1 1 4
6 1 1
0 1 1
2 0 2
0 1 2
1 1 3
1 4 3
3 3 2
5 5 2
1 3 0
1221413141 3141304022 2303034023
Battleship Battleship Battleship
Cruisers Cruisers Cruisers
Destroyers Destroyers Destroyers
Submarines Submarines Submarines
4–CAPTAIN 5–COMMODORE 6–ADMIRAL
5 0 4
3 6 1
4 2 2
0 2 0
3 0 3
0 0 2
0 1 0
1 5 1
2 3 5
2 1 2
3121232312 4040223140 4001222234
Battleship Battleship Battleship
Cruisers Cruisers Cruisers
Destroyers Destroyers Destroyers
Submarines Submarines Submarines
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 23
TEST YOUR TRIVIA I.Q. BY R. WAYNE SCHMITTBERGER
This quiz features three types of questions: true-false, worth 1 point for each correct answer; multiple choice with three
choices, worth 2 points per correct answer; and multiple choice with four choices, worth 3 points each. Incorrect answers for
all three types of questions lose 1 point each. Skipping a question is allowed, and scores no points. Following the quiz is a
ratings chart. ANSWERS, PAGE 73
TRUE-FALSE (1 POINT EACH) 6. A regulation soccer ball outweighs a
regulation basketball.
1. No character referred to by name in the title of
any play by William Shakespeare is alive at the 7. Two of the greatest artists of all time, Leonardo
end of the play. da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti, were both
alive in the year 1500.
2. If it’s Tuesday just before you cross the
International Date Line heading from west to east, 8. In 1911, British explorers became the first to reach
your day is about to become Monday. the South Pole.
3. A person with the name Leslie Lynch King Jr. was 9. Although their name means “100-legged,” most
once president of the United States. centipedes have fewer than 50 legs.
4. The zodiac sign Sagittarius is represented by 10. A string quartet employs four musicians, but only
the Goat. three kinds of instruments.
5. In area, Russia is larger than Antarctica.
MULTIPLE CHOICE (2 POINTS EACH) 16. For what film did Julie Andrews win the Academy
Award for Best Actress?
11. What is the British name for the pencil-and-paper a. Mary Poppins
game known in the U.S. as “tic-tac-toe”? b. The Sound of Music
a. niminy-piminy c. Victor/Victoria
b. noughts and crosses
c. three bobbies
12. Which two states became states on the same day? 17. Bonnie Bennett is the name of a witch who is a
a. North and South Carolina major character in which vampire-themed
b. North and South Dakota television series?
c. Virginia and West Virginia a. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
b. The Originals
13. When did the Liberty Bell get its name? c. The Vampire Diaries
a. when it was made, in 1701
b. when it rang on July 4, 1776 18. Brother and sister Derek and Julianne Hough have
c. in the 19th century, when it won what combined total of Dancing With the
became a symbol for the Stars seasons?
abolition of slavery a. 4
b. 6
14. Which was not one of the parts of Quentin c. 8
Tarantino’s horror film double feature
Grindhouse? 19. One pound of butter is equivalent to how many
a. Death Proof cups of butter?
b. Kill Bill a. 1
c. Planet Terror b. 2
c. 3
15. In passing through the Panama Canal from the
Atlantic (via the Caribbean Sea) to the Pacific, 20. Which Harry Potter book was made into two films
what is the approximate direction a ship travels? instead of one?
a. northwest a. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
b. southeast b. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
c. southwest c. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
24 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
MULTIPLE CHOICE (3 POINTS EACH)
21. Prior to the 2008 presidential 24. Who composed The Sorcerer’s 28. During this century (2001–2015),
election between Barack
Obama and John McCain, Apprentice, music made famous which MLB team won all three
what was the most recent year
in which neither major party by the Disney film Fantasia? World Series that it played in?
candidate was either an
incumbent president or a. Paul Dukas a. Boston Red Sox
vice president?
a. 1972 b. Wolfgang b. New York Yankees
b. 1952
c. 1932 Amadeus Mozart c. St. Louis Cardinals
d. 1912
c. Maurice Ravel d. San Francisco Giants
22. In Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poem
“Jabberwocky,” all but which of d. Camille Saint-Saens
the following creatures are
mentioned? 29. On the sitcom The Big Bang
a. bandersnatch
b. jabberwock 25. What kind of nut is used to make Theory, which of the four main
c. jubjub bird
d. snark marzipan? male characters does not have a
23. By the end of 1900, a. almond PhD in physics?
approximately how many cars
were on the road in the b. cashew a. Howard
United States?
a. 138 c. pecan b. Leonard
b. 1,380
c. 13,800 d. walnut c. Raj
d. 138,000
d. Sheldon
26. In which century were the most
chemical elements discovered? 30. According to computer analysis,
a. 17th what is the most often landed-
b. 18th on space in the game of
c. 19th Monopoly?
d. 20th a. Boardwalk
b. Go
27. Which of these films did not win c. Illinois Avenue
the Academy award for Best d. Reading Railroad
Picture?
a. Argo Rate Your Trivia Game
b. Hugo
c. Million Dollar Baby (Remember to deduct 1 point for each
d. Slumdog Millionaire incorrect answer.)
below 0: Worst guesser ever.
0–14: You get an A for effort.
15–20: Not bad.
21–30: Quite good.
31–40: Really excellent.
41–50: No one plays Trivial Pursuit
with you anymore, do they?
51–60: Admit it, you used Wikipedia!
R. Wayne Schmittberger is the former editor in chief of GAMES. Additional trivia questions, as well as articles
on games and other subjects, can be found at wayneschmittberger.com.
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 25
ART ON THE SQUARE
This is the easiest way we know of to create art without the benefit of formal training. All you have to do is copy each square
in the proper place in the empty grid, following the coordinates. The square marked A3, for example, should be drawn in the
box where Row A intersects with Column 3. The more carefully you work, the better the result will be—certainly as good as
the finished product found on page 74.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
AA
BB
CC
DD
EE
FF
GG
HH
II
JJ
KK
LL
MM
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
26 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
BY MARGOT SEIDES
D2 F4 D8 F8 K3 E1 H4 L7 F5 J8
B5 K1 L6 G9 K6 L10 J6 C8 E2 A9
D3 A4 D9 A2 C6 L3 E4 A8 H1 K9
D7 A3 E8 K7 B10 I4 B4 A10 D6 D1
M8 H7 M1 L2 B1 L1 L4 J3 I1 I10
F6 J7 H8 M7 G7 K4 E10 H10 H5 C2
I5 I8 A6 I9 M3 K2 F3 D10 B9 F10
J10 G8 G3 F7 G10 M4 L8 A1 M2 D5
I2 I7 C7 B6 J5 E9 K5 J4 F9 G2
C5 I3 H6 C4 C9 I6 C10 F2 E6 A7
B2 G5 D4 K10 B7 J2 H2 B3 G6 K8
E5 J9 E7 F1 E3 H9 C3 L9 A5 M5
M9 H3 L5 C1 M6 B8 G1 M10 G4 J1
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 27
WORD HEXES BY ERICH FRIEDMAN
To solve these puzzles, start at some letter and spell out an 11-letter word by moving to adjacent letters. Each letter in the
hexagon will be used at least once, but no letter will be used twice in a row. ANSWERS, PAGE 74
EY TY IB EO PR
P RO GIB OT R CNL I EC
AT EL NA HA NT ND
UO E
GR
CE BH TO LC
I TL LIP ANC YAT
NE MI I G SM
RY EO ACR RFH
MO ET
EW HS IT
I LT ON E
GID
GH AL
O R NM T P GR
AED
CND OA R
TS
EA SU
AE TM ON
EAL CUS
H NM
DG IP
TP CT IO TN
S EO
I OR DER
IX
SN MB
AR AN EP
LYC
DEH R NM
TI
SP IR NT T I IT
NEH I EW NOA
CO VR VC
28 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
ALPHA BET BY DON HENDERSON
In this puzzle, the “alpha” part is quite simple: Enter the clue answers into the crisscross-style grid, but hop over the pink
boxes—that is, leave them empty. The clues are ordered by word length of the answers, then alphabetically within each group.
When the white boxes are filled, put all the letters of the alphabet in the pink boxes so that 26 new words or phrases are created.
Each of these letters is used only once; we’ve provided an alphabet so that you can cross them off as you place them. If you
need help, check out the hint on page 77, which lists the answers to the clues. ANSWER, PAGE 74
A B C D E F G H I J K L MNO P Q R S T U VWX Y Z
1 Injure 14 Gave the okay
2 Remove from office 15 Showgirl of the 1920s
3 Disparaging remark 16 Love or hate
4 Helpful pointers 17 Anderson of The X-Files
5 ___ célèbre 18 Most viscous
6 Supporter of fine art? 19 Offensive backfield play: Hyph.
7 Like helium or krypton 20 NASA operation
8 Snoops 21 Excess supply
9 Part of ASAP: 2 wds. 22 Cause of a mangled muffler, maybe
10 Golden Gate, e.g. 23 Escorted in courtly fashion
11 Diplomat stationed abroad 24 More bold and blaring
12 Failed to notice 25 Dies down
13 Moped around 26 In dress blues, perhaps
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 29
SNAKE CHARMER BY PATRICK BERRY
The charm of this puzzle is that each letter in the grid is used in exactly two words. To solve, enter the answer to each clue
(one letter per space) beginning in the correspondingly numbered space and proceeding clockwise around the S, ending in
the space before the next consecutive number. The chain of 25 answer words will snake its way around the grid twice.
ANSWER, PAGE 75
15 1 16
25
14
17 3 2
13 4 5
24 18
12
23 22 6
19
11
21 10
9
7
8 20
1 Company that trademarked Teflon 11 Oldsmobile model introduced 18 Caretaker or gardener’s digs,maybe
2 Leander’s lover in 1999 19 Capital of a European kingdom
3 Turnpike egress: Hyph.
4 Feline hygiene tools 12 Ingredient in Tone soap: 2 wds. about twice the size of New Jersey
5 Commandment lead-off 13 Poke fun at 20 More than mere remorse: Hyph.
6 Tailor, in other words 14 The Bridget Rileys at the Tate 21 National park site within Lake
7 Fairy-tale lass
8 Ballcock, for example Modern, for example: 2 wds. Superior: 2 wds.
9 “Swiss Miss” of professional tennis 15 Hardly Mr. Cool 22 Charmingly ornate
10 Quo Vadis? director Mervyn 16 Top-10 Drifters hit of 1963: 4 wds. 23 Lie adjacent to
17 Peter, Rolling Stone’s 1976 Artist 24 Flooring of embedded marble chips
25 Law firm bigwig
of the Year
30 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
SEXTET BY STEPHEN SNIDERMAN
Your challenge in each of the six puzzles below is to find six words or names that fit the clues given and consist of various
combinations of six specific letters. Any letter listed at the top of a puzzle may be used any number of times or not at
all in forming an answer word in that puzzle. For example, the letters E, I, N, S, T, and X could spell EISENSTEIN,
EXISTENCE, INSISTENT, NINETEEN, SEXTET, and TEENIEST, among many other words and names. In each case, you will
be shown where all the instances of one letter appear. Thus, for SEXTET, you might be shown where each of the two
E’s appear ( __ E __ __ E __) or where the X goes ( __ __ X __ __ __ ) . In addition, the shaded spaces indicate where
all occurrences of a second letter are placed. When the shaded letters are read from top to bottom (one per word), they
will spell another word made of some or all of the same six letters. ANSWERS, PAGE 74
AC EHOT E F LOPR
1. Pain in 1. Infallible R
the mouth
OO 2. Feature of
some ships
2. Kind of case TT LL
3. Chopping 3. Put forward FF
tool
H H 4. Act of
scolding
4. Big cat EE OO
5. Protective A A 5. Will who
overlay impersonated
Bush
6. Harpsichord E E
piece
CC 6. Favor P
C E LMT U AE LOR T
1. Kelly the MM 1. Non-drinker EE E
clown A
T 2. Endure R
2. Joe Dirt’s
hairstyle EE 3. Stool pigeon A
C
3. Gulliver’s 4. Certain T
first name U football pass
L
4. Salad base 5. Coldwell L
Banker
5. Oft-breaded employee
food item
6. Actress O
6. Fortitude Young
GHOR T U E F NOR T
1. During the H H 1. More F
entire time frequently R
2. Had more 2. Vanguard R
ideas than
U U 3. Chewy
candy
3. Exhaustive R O
4. Deluge E
4. Nevertheless O
5. East Coast
5. Region of capital T T
low pressure T N
6. Main course
6. Small cavern G
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 31
ONE, TWO, THREE BY FRANK LONGO
Solve this puzzle as you would a regular crossword, except that each space may hold one, two, or three letters. The number
of letters in a space is for you to determine, using logic and the crossing of words. The answer to 1-Across, B-IM-MER, has
been filled in as an example. ANSWER, PAGE 75
1 B 2IM M3 ER 4567 8 9 10 11
13 14
12
15 16 17
18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31 32 33
34 35 36
37 38 39
40 41 42 43
44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55
56 57 58
59 60 61
ACROSS 47 Most mannerly 20 Aimed ambitiously
1 Upscale car, to aficionados 51 Have second thoughts about 22 Clock sound: Hyph.
4 Sends by telegraph 54 American Kennel Club breed with a 24 Peer through a keyhole, e.g.:
8 Hazard in an old building: 2 wds.
12 Impending, as a deadline European name: 3 wds. 2 wds.
13 Fix deeply and firmly 56 Dense growth on boggy 25 Members of the weasel family
14 Port city near Houston 26 Temporary guardians
15 American Kennel Club breed with a ground: 2 wds. 27 Some weather map
57 Illustrate via gestures: 2 wds.
European name: 3 wds. 58 Pioneering PC networking temperatures
17 Acted in opposition to 28 Passing into every part of
18 Port city near Naples company 29 Alternative to Subway
19 New ___ (port city near 59 Rich Italian ice cream 31 Racket-raising Arthur
60 Conception-to-birth span 32 Dominican Republic neighbor
Baton Rouge) 61 Hang around 35 Quaint animal-powered tram
21 Concerning the meaning of words 36 One lunching on a lawn
23 Many bee contestants DOWN 41 She played Nelle Porter on
27 Having a wide haunch 1 Weakly hit fly balls
30 Whole-grain cereal company 2 Undying Ally McBeal: 3 wds.
33 Forget to include 3 Frothy pastry topping 43 Mixture of diverse ingredients
34 American Kennel Club breed with a 4 Prudent lady: 2 wds. 45 Employ or occupy again
5 Unappreciative type 46 Widows, old-style
European name: 3 wds. 6 Back entrance: 2 wds. 48 Language spoken by señores
37 Radiator, e.g. 7 Dollar bill 49 Whining tearfully
38 Light bulb holder 8 Attorneys conducting a case: 2 wds. 50 Part of ATM
39 Really gross quality 9 Arrival 51 Do over again
40 Country south of Malaysia 10 Collagist applying sticky stuff, say 52 Twist out of shape
42 Clickable screen symbol 11 Performed Gregorian chant 53 Cowell of The X Factor
44 Wayne’s World actress: 2 wds. 16 Some dairy cows 55 Berate loudly: 2 wds.
32 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
BY KAREN POWELL •WHAT'S HAPPENING•
What’s Happening: What’s Happening: This con also features a game lounge and
GAMING HOOPLA MAG CON 8 open library.
When: April 2–3, 2016 For more info: www.kingdom-con.com
When: April 1–3, 2016 Where: NCISD
Where: Holiday Inn Gurnee Convention Annex; New What’s Happening:
Center; Gurnee, IL Caney, TX STAVE PUZZLE CHALLENGE WEEKEND
Details: For those who like to game for Details: Some perks
a good cause, Gaming Hoopla benefits of this con include When: April 28–May 2, 2016
the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation, free parking, door Where: Triple Creek Ranch; Darby, MT
which promotes cancer research and prizes, auction, Details: Fans of Stave’s jigsaw puzzles
care in clinics throughout eastern flea market, and a huge game library. will have an opportunity to get together
Wisconsin. Come to play, trade, or learn Numerous events will be held for board for a weekend at a luxury ranch resort
a new game. games, card games, RPGs, LARPs, and in the Bitterroot Mountain Range of
For more info: www.gaminghoopla.com miniatures. the Montana Rockies. Activities include
For more info: www.magcon.org puzzles, contests, and prizes.
What’s Happening: For more info: www.triplecreekranch.com/
WHO’S YER CON 2016 What’s Happening: event/stave-puzzle-challenge-weekend
When: April 1–3, 2016 DASH 8
Where: Wyndham Indianapolis West What’s Happening:
Hotel; Indianapolis, IN When: April 30, 2016 ALBANY TOY SHOW 2016
Details: This gaming con is run by Who’s Where: Various cities
Yer Gamers, a group dedicated to Details: Multiple cities collaborate to When: April 3, 2016
promoting hobby gaming by providing create a puzzle adventure called DASH Where: Radisson Hotel; Albany, NY
free or low-cost events. This particular (Different Area, Same Hunt). Teams of Details: The Albany Toy Show features
con is the former: free! Come play board players race to find and solve creative toys, comic books, and collectibles
games, card games, and role-playing puzzles hidden in different locations. including Star Wars, GI Joe, Transformers,
games. The clues could require code-breaking or Barbie, and much more. Along with an
For more info: www.whosyergamers.org solving word, number, or visual puzzles. impressive lineup of vendors, the show
For more info: playdash.org also hosts professional sculptors and
What’s Happening: artists that work on toys and comic books.
LEXICON 2016 What’s Happening: This affordable ($5 general admission)
CONCLAVE show is for anyone of any age who loves
When: April 22–24, 2016 OF GAMERS toys or memorabilia.
Where: Clarion Convention Center; When: April For more info:
Lexington, KY 21–24, 2016 toyshow.albanycomicbookshow.com
Details: This tabletop gaming convention Where: DIA
will feature National Qualifying Crowne Plaza; What’s Happening:
Tournaments in Carcassonne, Settlers of Denver, CO HAVENCON
Catan, King of New York, and Pandemic Details: This
Survival. Role-playing games, miniatures, tabletop gaming When: April 22–24, 2016
and even live-action role-playing will also convention has Where: Holiday Inn Midtown; Austin, TX
be played. Whovians note: There will be a no seat fees and encourages anyone to Details: HavenCon, which bills itself
Doctor Who LARP open to all ages. join in a game where there’s a spot. The as “the First LGBT geek and gaming
For more info: idea is to keep things flexible so that convention of Texas,” offers a safe place
www.lexicongaming.com/2016 participants can get in as much gaming for people from all over to come and
as they can throughout the weekend. enjoy their favorite fandom. There will
Games include AquaSphere, Scoville, City be panels, presentations, and guests of
Hall, and Captains of Industry. honor, as well as special offerings like the
For more info: Indie Arcade and TableTop Retreat. The
www.conclaveofgamers.org majority of convention activities are for
all ages, but the “After Hours” segments
What’s Happening: are for adults only.
KINGDOM-CON For more info: www.havencontx.com
When: April 28–May 1, 2016
Where: Crowne Plaza Mission Valley; San What’s Happening:
Diego, CA BOBBY STUART ATLANTA
Details: Celebrate International TableTop
Day on April 30 at Kingdom-Con with CLASSIC CRIBBAGE TOURNAMENT
tons of games, tournaments, and events!
When: April 15–17, 2016
Where:La Quinta Inn & Suites; Atlanta, GA
Details: This tournament kicks off with a
Friday night warmup and continues with
competitive cribbage play throughout
the weekend. The Main Event will be held
on Saturday and followed by playoffs,
while the Consolation Tournament will
take place on Sunday.
For more info: www.cribbage.org/
sched/2016_04_15_Bobby.pdf
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 33
THE “ART” OF ASKING QUESTIONS
By Raymond Simon
I f you haven’t tuned in to National Public Radio lately, you’re A key ingredient of the show’s popularity is the way it
missing an enjoyable new show called Ask Me Another, playfully mixes pop culture and more substantive subjects.
an amusing blend of trivia, word games and musical “We’re very highbrow and lowbrow at the same time, and I
tomfoolery. think that’s one of the great things about the show,” Chung
Comedian Ophira Eisenberg hosts Ask Me Another, aided says. “We can talk about Gilbert and Sullivan or science or
by all-around musician Jonathan Coulton. The program literature in one instant and then talk video games and Internet
debuted in 2012 and can now be heard on more than 250 memes in the other.”
NPR stations nationwide, as well as on podcast. Home base is Chung gets to join in on the fun, too. He frequently appears
The Bell House in Brooklyn, but the cast and crew occasionally on-air as the “Puzzle Guru.” In that guise, he quizzes
take the show on the road. contestants and keeps track of who’s winning. The opportunity
A typical episode of Ask Me Another includes a handful of to share the spotlight with Eisenberg and Coulton, even
games where contestants get to display their knowledge—or momentarily, is a blast, but the bulk of Chung’s work is done
lack of it. On a recent broadcast, contestants played a game behind the scenes.
called Fictional Full Names. They were given the “real” names As the show’s Senior Supervising Producer, Chung edits trivia
of famous fictional characters and asked to identify their questions, reviews the games proposed for each episode, and
nicknames. Do you know, for example, who Norville Rogers ensures that bits written for the show’s celebrity guests are a
is? Don’t worry; it took the contestant more than a few seconds good fit.
to recognize that this character Chung refers to this as
is commonly known as “stacking the show,” and the
“Shaggy” in the Scooby-Doo whole process takes about a
franchise. “It’s a lot easier week. That’s amazing when
when I’m in my car and not you consider that Eisenberg
looking at people, and I’m like and Coulton need time to
‘I know all these answers!’” review the scripts and
the momentarily muddled rehearse. Of course, there are
contestant admitted. always last-minute changes,
Each show also features a and Chung handles all of that
V.I.P., also known as a “Very writing himself.
Important Puzzler.” These Although Chung is a puzzle
celebrity guests help to lead PHOTO BY STEVE PETRUCELLI maven who can brainstorm
contestants in a game or trivia questions like nobody’s
actually participate in one business, he doesn’t go it
themselves. Ask Me Another alone. In fact, he has a stable
has had all sorts of folks on, of regular contributors that
including comedian Jim includes formidable puzzlers
Gaffigan and Uzo Aduba, who ART CHUNG, A.K.A. THE “PUZZLE GURU” like Trip Payne, a three-time
plays “Crazy Eyes” on Orange Is the New Black. Sir Patrick winner of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, and
Stewart, of Star Trek fame, even got in on the fun. John Chaneski, a former contributor to GAMES and, like Chung,
As those cultural reference points suggest, Ask Me Another an erstwhile writer for Millionaire.
appeals to a younger generation than the one that made Car These writers not only come up with trivia questions and
Talk and A Prairie Home Companion perennial NPR favorites. games suitable for use on just about any show, what Chung
On a recent broadcast, Eisenberg jokingly described Ask Me calls “evergreens,” they also tailor puzzles for specific
Another’s typical audience as “nerdy Millennials.” occasions, depending on the celebrity guest and the location
Entertaining people weaned on indie rock and the Internet of the broadcast.
is no small challenge. Fortunately, Ask Me Another draws on Chung’s overall goal is to keep things fresh and relevant.
the considerable expertise of Art Chung, a veteran game He doesn’t want contestants and listeners to feel as if they’re
show writer whose resume includes stints writing puzzles for taking a test, and he has to make sure that the subjects of trivia
Cash Cab and VH1’s World Series of Pop Culture. He also had quizzes aren’t so obscure that no one will recognize them.
a decade-long tenure at a little show called Who Wants to “We try not to have just straightforward ‘This is a history
Be a Millionaire. quiz’ or ‘This is a quiz about presidents,’” Chung said. “We
Ask Me Another might not have the enormous production like to have a comedic take on it or funny things that
budget of Millionaire, but it’s no less fun. According to Chung, contestants can do to it.”
“Our general pitch is that we are the world’s best version of Chung’s apprenticeship in the game show business began
your pub trivia night or your game night. We’re here to have in the early days of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. After
fun and to learn a few things and to sort of use our brain in graduating from New York University School of Law, he
interesting ways.” practiced law briefly but quickly bowed out in order to return
34 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
to his true love: writing. When an ad seeking PHOTO BY DAN DION
writers for a game show set in New York City
popped up, he applied and was taken on. PHOTO BY JOSH ROGOSIN PHOTO BY STEVE McFARLAND
At that point, Chung remarks, there hadn’t PHOTO BY MIKE KATZIF
been a prime-time game show in roughly 30
years, let alone one being produced in
Manhattan, circumstances that worked to his
advantage. He signed a five-week contract to
begin with and ended up staying with Millionaire
almost 10 years.
While taping early episodes, it became clear
to ABC that the show was good, but no one had
any idea it would become a cultural phenomenon.
“None of us expected that they would bring it
back three times a week every week for a year
and a half. I think some weeks we were on four
nights a week and it just became this juggernaut,”
Chung says.
Landing on a number-one television show was
an incredible experience. Of course, it required
lots of work. Chung and his fellow writers, many
of them also former lawyers, were writing trivia
questions all the time.
The daily practice of proposing topics,
considering whether those topics are actually
trivia-worthy, and double-checking that questions
and subjects aren’t repeated, gave Chung
thorough preparation for his current gig on NPR.
Eisenberg certainly regards Chung as an
invaluable resource. When asked if she’s ever
been able to stump him on any topic, she replies
without hesitation: “That’s like asking have you
ever been able to out-meditate Buddha? Out-act
Meryl Streep? Outrun Usain Bolt? No, you can’t
stump a puzzle guru. That’s why he gets paid
the big public radio bucks!”
To learn more about Ask Me Another, and to
see if you can answer Art’s tricky questions, visit
www.npr.org/askmeanother. Q
TOP: HOST OPHIRA EISENBERG LIES DOWN ON THE
JOB.
CENTER: V.I.P.S SUTTON FOSTER & B.J. NOVAK.
BOTTOM: SIR PATRICK STEWART “MAKES IT SO”
DURING A GAME.
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 35
EVERYBODY LOVES What’re you
BERTHA MAY looking at, Carl?
A Logic Puzzle by Joe Dean A picture of my
With Crab Cove on the horizon, the four fisher- girl, Starkey. The
men smiled and slapped one another heartily on prettiest girl in all
the back. It had been a long 12 days at sea and
each one looked forward to a quiet night’s sleep of Crab Cove.
and a kiss from his sweetheart. The catch had been
modest, but they didn’t mind. The four were the Oh yeah?
closest of friends…that is, until one of them pulled
out a small picture from his wallet. Well, my girl
has golden
Pretty, eh? hair and
Not as pretty the prettiest
as my girl. When my girl green eyes.
smiles, the birds start
to sing, I tell ya.
Second only
to mine, Danny,
I gotta say.
Merle overheard the conversa- Mine, too. Mine’s favorite
tion, but didn’t say anything. number is 10
His girl’s face was etched into and she loves
his mind so vividly he didn’t searching…
need a photo. He just stood
on the bow of the ship looking …for seashells
into the clouds, longing to see on the beach.
her again.
The only Bertha May No! She’s
sounds were is MY girl! mine!
the lapping
waves and No! She’s No!
the call of a my girl! Mine!
seagull over-
head. Each man
stared at the
others for a
few moments,
not entirely
sure what to
do next.
36 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
Why don’t we After they docked, each of
let her decide? the fishermen hurried to
clean himself up and buy
Once we return to some flowers for what he
shore, she can choose thought would be his victory
reunion. Each man chose a
who she wants. different type of flowers.
Less than an hour later, they arrived
on the corner near Bertha May’s
home, each holding their chosen
flowers. As they waited, the man
holding the irises began to get fidgety.
The one holding the Some of these guys might You do realize that I won’t be giving
petunias kept quiet, have more flowers than 13 is an unlucky Bertha May the
knowing that although me, but I have her favorite number, right? most flowers, but
he had fewer than a number of flowers. No Bertha May is at least I could
dozen... one else thought of that. very superstitious.
afford more
than a dozen.
The scent of ...he had more flow-
those guys’ roses ers than the man
holding the daisies.
and daisies is
starting to give
me a headache.
Cab Wilkes,
the local
soda jerk
Let’s head to the dance hall. Assuming that one of the men held
The night is young and perhaps 9 flowers and another held 15, can
we have a new sweetheart awaiting you determine what kind and how
many flowers each planned to give
us and our fresh flowers.
Bertha May? ANSWER, PAGE 77
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 37
• YOUR WORD AGAINST MINE: SCRABBLE HAPPENINGS, PUZZLES, AND TIPS•
FIRST THINGS FIRST…
Y ou and a friend have just sat down for a game of vowels next to the double letter scores (if possible), unless you
Scrabble, and you’re going irst. What should you aim score extra points by doing so. For example, if WAGER was
to do? your opening play, reading across, then for example a word
You know you need to make a play that touches the star in like HAW could go on top of WAGER (also forming HA, AG,
the center of the board. While considering what word to play, and WE), scoring 30 points.
you should, in order: 4. Keep in mind that the letters you don’t play this turn will
1. Check to see if a bingo (a play that uses all seven tiles) is be with you next turn, so try to carry forward some
possible. In expert tournament play, it happens over 10 balance. ERT is likely to be a better core for your next rack
percent of the time. than AIU.
2. If a bingo is not playable, try to form a 5- or 6-letter word 5. If your opening rack is terrible, don’t be afraid to trade
that places your highest point-value tile on the double letter away the ugly tiles. Of course, this scores zero points, but
premium square. A word like WAGER, with W on the double playing IT for 4 points to keep AIIOU is likely going to haunt
letter and R on the star, goes for 26 points—a fine start. you for several turns.
3. Regardless of what word you play, it’s better to not place ANSWERS, PAGE 74
SOME FIRST-TURN PUZZLERS
Imagine it’s your first turn of a game; the
board is empty in each case, and these are
your tiles. What play would you make?
1. ABCDHMP A B C D E F GH I J K L MNO
2. INORTUY
3. ADEEIOU 1 TRIPLE DOUBLE TRIPLE DOUBLE TRIPLE
4. AEIIMRT WORD LETTER WORD LETTER WORD
5. ILMOOPU
2 DOUBLE TRIPLE TRIPLE DOUBLE
WORD LETTER LETTER WORD
3 DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE
WORD LETTER LETTER WORD
4 DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE
LETTER WORD LETTER WORD LETTER
5 DOUBLE DOUBLE
WORD WORD
6 TRIPLE TRIPLE TRIPLE TRIPLE
LETTER LETTER LETTER LETTER
7 DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE
LETTER LETTER LETTER LETTER
8 TRIPLE DOUBLE TRIPLE DOUBLE TRIPLE
WORD LETTER WORD LETTER WORD
9 DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE
LETTER LETTER LETTER LETTER
10 TRIPLE TRIPLE TRIPLE TRIPLE
LETTER LETTER LETTER LETTER
11 DOUBLE DOUBLE
WORD WORD
12 DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE
LETTER WORD LETTER WORD LETTER
13 DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE DOUBLE
WORD LETTER LETTER WORD
14 DOUBLE TRIPLE TRIPLE DOUBLE
WORD LETTER LETTER WORD
15 TRIPLE DOUBLE TRIPLE DOUBLE TRIPLE
WORD LETTER WORD LETTER WORD
38 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
BY SCOTT APPEL
MOSTLY DEAD/SLIGHTLY ALIVE
In a tournament game, Kate is losing by 125 points. The game is almost over, but she has the rack of AEMORT? (the
question mark represents a blank), while her opponent only has 1 tile left (a blank). In order to win, she’s going to need
what’s known as a triple-triple (an eight-letter word that uses all of her tiles and spans two triple word scores—this
means the value of her word is multiplied by nine and she scores the 50-point bonus too). Can you find a winning
play? How many winning plays are there? Which scores the most?
Note: You may find it helpful to consult the list of acceptable two-letter words, which can be found at:
http://crosstables.com/download/CHEAT_HOME_2014.pdf .
A B C D E F GH I J K L MNO
1 TRIPLE WDOUBLE TRIPLE N DOUBLE TRIPLE
WORD WORD LETTER WORD
LETTER
a H2 DOUBLE D DOUBLE
WORD WORD
3 I T BDOUBLE
LETTER
DOUBLE
LETTER
4 LL R LOa IE a
E
a a I D5 DOUBLE N
WORD I TRIPLE M
O
Q U a T S6 TRIPLE LETTER
LETTER R
T
7 X TDOUBLE
LETTER ?
DOUBLE DOUBLE
LETTER LETTER
8 TRIPLE W I VDOUBLE GDOUBLE TRIPLE
WORD WORD
LETTER LETTER
9 E E NDOUBLE DOUBLE DDOUBLE
LETTER LETTER
LETTER
10 TRIPLE aE FO
LETTER
11 SPUN IER O E
12 IDOUBLE LDOUBLE CYT E DOUBLE
LETTER LETTER
WORD
13
14 DOUBLE O I C DOUBLE U
LETTER
WORD
N TRIPLE aR M DOUBLE
15 TRIPLE LETTER WORD
WORD
GDOUBLE TRIPLE P DOUBLE TRIPLE
WORD LETTER WORD
LETTER
WORDS FROM WORDS
Each of the words below has two additional common-word anagrams (using the current North American Scrabble dictionary,
called OWL3). Can you find them?
LASERED SWITHER CORNUTO LASHINGS DISENDOW
SEPALED MERCADO CORKIEST NOCTUIDS RHAMNOSE
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 39
•THIS OLD GAME• BY JONATHAN SCHMALZBACH
THE CROSBY DERBY:
An All-American Game for Children and Adults
I n 1947, horse racing was giddily popular in America. cally and mathematically correct in that the odds are accurately
That year Santa Anita Park averaged more than 35,000 determined in direct ratio to the horse’s probability of winning.”
daily fans. More than 83,000 attended the Santa Anita My kid may be a degenerate gambler…but he sure knows his
Handicap. Horse racing was truly the sport of kings. math and science!
Hoping to capitalize on the sport’s popularity, Chicago’s In every race the same legendary five steeds compete. A
H. Fishlove & Company came out with a board game called The player can choose to bet on Whirlaway, Assault, Gallant Fox,
Crosby Derby: An All-American Game for Children and Adults. Alsab, or Seabiscuit. Eight cards from a deck are placed faceup
on the eight panels of the Odds Board. The odds on each horse
At that time, Bing Crosby was America’s biggest star. The win- are computed by adding one extra to the number of like cards
some and beloved crooner ruled the airwaves with hit singles on the board. For example, if there are two Whirlaway cards on
like ``White Christmas’’ and ``Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive,” the Board, the odds on Whirlaway are 3:1; the same principle
and he starred in such classic Hollywood films as Going My applies to the other four horses. Very scientific indeed.
Way and The Bells of St. Mary’s. Crosby also loved the ponies,
buying his first racehorse in 1935. He was a founding partner
of California’s Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, a stockholder in
Santa Anita Park, and a horse breeder.
Scientifically and Mathematically Correct
Naturally, its Bing’s baby blues that grace the cover of this
family-friendly game, which promises to recreate all the “thrills
and excitement of an actual horse race.” It claims to be “scientifi-
And Off They Go
The players bet on their favorite colts and are given nifty
parimutuel tickets by a designated Banker in the amount of
their bets. After all bets are made, the Banker slowly turns up
the remaining cards from the top of the deck. Each card turned
up for the corresponding horse advances the steed one “fur-
long space.” Scrappy little iron representations of the famed
racehorses start rounding the track. The first mount to have his
card picked seven times wins the race. Then the race continues
until the place horse (second place) finishes. The Banker then
pays the winning ticket holders.
The board is beautiful, featuring Der Bingle’s red-haired
countenance surrounded by a colorful track. It’s fun to push the
natty little horses around the course, and the playing cards are
works of equestrian art.
Sadly, it would take many mint juleps to bring any excitement
to this game. The play is just not that interesting. It was however,
very much like this author’s experience at real racetracks—I
lost far more races than I won. In this way though, I emulated
Bing. Although Crosby’s stables enjoyed limited success, during
radio appearances he would often joke about his horse racing
failures. “Crosby’s horse finally came in” became a popular gag.
Win some, lose some. Q
This Old Game is a new feature by regular GAMES WORLD
OF PUZZLES contributor and vintage board game collector
Jonathan Schmalzbach. Each column will profile a game
from his collection.
40 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
BY DENNIS SHASHA •CHESS•
SOLE SURVIVOR
I n these puzzles, you are presented a chess configuration
that may or may not include kings. Each piece moves as
it normally moves in chess. It’s up to you to determine
whether White or Black moves first. Every move must
eliminate a piece of the opposing color. At the end, there
must be only one piece remaining—the sole survivor. Q
8
As a warmup, here is the puzzle from last issue. 7 ♟
At right is the initial configuration: 6
5
Here is the solution: 4
White moves first: 3
Ra5xc5, Be7xc5, Pb2xa3, Bc5xa3, Rc3xa3,
Ra1xa3, Kf5xg3, Ra3xg3.
2
1
abcde f gh
Now here is the problem for this issue.
8
7
6 Dennis Shasha is a professor
of computer science at New
5 York University’s Courant Insti-
tute. In addition to his scholarly
4 research, Dr. Shasha has written
six books of puzzles featuring a
mathematical detective, Dr. Ecco.
3 He writes the puzzle column
for CACM (Communications of
2 The Association for Computing
Machinery), and has also writ-
1 ten puzzle columns for Scientific
American and Dr. Dobb’s Journal.
abcde f gh
ANSWER, PAGE 77
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 41
• W I L D CA R D S •
WORDPLAY WORDPLAY
ANAGRAMMATIC PAIRS
COMING OR GOING Each of the 20 clues below
Can you determine what is suggests a seven-letter word
unique about the words below, whose letters can be rearranged
besides having at least two to form one of the other answer
repeated letters? words. Can you solve the
clues and find the 10 pairs of
ACIDIC POTATO anagrams?
ASSESS PREFER
BANANA REVIVE 1. 1972 musical film starring
GRAMMAR ROCOCO Liza Minnelli
IGNITING UNEVEN
MOTTO VOODOO 2. Aftermath of a close election,
sometimes
—RAYMOND LOVE
3. Chemical element in the title
TOUGH NUTS of a 1944 Frank Capra film
WEIGHTED DIAGONAL
In this cross-number puzzle, each 4. Common bank transaction
square in the diagram is to contain 5. Defeat soundly
a digit from 1 through 9; no 6. Expand
zeroes are used. 7. High-end, as a restaurant or
DIAGONAL neighborhood
1 From top to bottom, each 8. ___ Hospital (TV series airing
digit is greater than the digit since 1963)
preceding it. 9. Increase eightfold
10. Inverse trigonometric function
ACROSS 11. Pair of lines from a poem,
1 A number divisible by 11.
3 The number formed by the first often rhyming
12. Perceive
two digits is the sum of the last 13. ___ Promises (2007 David
two digits.
6 Each digit is greater than or Cronenberg film)
equal to the digit preceding it. 14. Regional form of a language
8 The last digit is odd. 15. The Importance of Being ___
9 A number divisible by 11.
(Oscar Wilde play)
DOWN 16. The ___, The Military College
1 See 4-Down.
2 The number formed by the last of South Carolina
17. University of Cincinnati mascot
two digits is twice the number 18. Upper parts of a ship
formed by the first two digits. 19. Void, as a contract
4 The sum of 1-Down and 20. Word following space or time
7-Down.
5 The number formed by the last —PADDY SMITH
two digits is twice the number
formed by the first two digits. NUMBER PLAY
7 See 4-Down. SIX MIX
Can you fill in each of the boxes
12 below with a digit from 1 to 6,
using each exactly once, to make
3 45 the multiplication work? The
solution is unique.
67
×
8
—KAREN NIMMONS
9
ANSWERS, PAGE 76
—VIRGINIA MCCARTHY
42 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
• W I L D CA R D S •
WORDPLAY
AUNT HILDEGARDE
The last time I visited my daffy Aunt Hildegarde, she was partial to
xylophones, stilts, Kleenex, and tutus—just because the first two letters
of each of those words are alphabetically adjacent. This month she’s been
hanging around Uncle Pete a lot, and she has a peculiar new set of likes
and dislikes. Can you explain the new principle behind her current tastes?
This month Hildegarde prefers MORNING to EVENING.
She’s anxious to EARN, but not to SAVE.
She’d rather have PEARS than APPLES.
She likes the TIDE, but the OCEAN itself leaves her cold.
She’s partial to TEA, but not to COFFEE.
Her fancy’s captured by a BARON or a PRINCE, never by a COUNT.
She likes SIGHT, not HEARING.
She likes ONE, TWO, and FOUR; not THREE, FIVE, and SEVEN.
She likes DAYS but not MINUTES.
She enjoys the COURSE she’s taking, but is not fond of the EXAMS.
—DAVID DIEFENDORF
TEASERS NAMEPLAY
A WHOLE LOT IN COMMON SI?
What do the following numbers Can you match each three-letter
all have in common? word beginning with SI to one of
the definitions (1–8) that follow?
0 16 40
7 18 50 SIA SIM
13 19 60 SID SIN
14 20 80 SIF SIR
15 30 90 SIL SIX
Hint: These are the only whole 1. ___ City (2005 film based on a
numbers that share this property. Frank Miller graphic novel)
—PADDY SMITH 2. ___City (1989 video game that
has spawned many sequels)
WORDPLAY
3. “Chandelier” (2014 song)
IN THE BEGINNING recording artist
What same thing can be done to
each of the words below to make 4. Character played by Michelle
12 completely different words? Williams and Natasha
No letters are rearranged. Henstridge in Species
(1995 film)
CHANGE TRACT
POSITION IT 5. Ground sloth character in all
four Ice Age films (2002, 2006,
AMPLE ACT 2009, 2012)
HALE CITATION
TENT 6. Jaimie Alexander’s character in
PLAIN PRESS the films Thor (2011) and Thor:
TEMPORARY The Dark World (2013)
—RAYMOND LOVE 7. Roger Cross’s character on Dark
Matter (2015 TV series)
8. To ___, With Love (1967 Sidney
Poitier film)
—R.H. WEI
•CONTEST•
FLUSTERED AGAIN E
T his contest is similar to the
original Flustered contest
(November 2014 GAMES
WORLD OF PUZZLES). Here’s how it
works: In the word game Fluster,
letters are randomly drawn and
placed in a 4×4 grid. Players then
try to form words by moving from
letter to touching letter—horizon-
tally, vertically, or diagonally. All
letters of a given word must be
found in different squares. Below
the grid is a list of seven words
found in a recent game. We’ve
shown you the position of one
letter, an E. Using logic, fill in the
remaining 15 letters so that all of
the listed words can be spelled fol-
lowing the rules given above.
First Prize $100
5 Runner-Up Prizes:
A ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION
TO GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES
You can use logic to whittle ABUSE DUSTMEN PLUSH
down the number of possible DRUMS LOUD SIGHT
letter grids to just two. In one of PRUDE
those two grids (but not the oth-
er), it’s possible to spell out two
additional very common seven-
letter words and one other seven-
letter word that isn’t uncommon.
None of them are related to any
words in the original list. These
three words are the solution to
the contest.
To enter, write the three seven-
letter words, along with your
name and address, on a postcard
or on the back of an envelope
and send it to: Flustered Again
Contest, GAMES WORLD OF
PUZZLES, P.O. Box 184, Fort
Washington, PA 19034. Entries
must be received by May 2, 2016.
You may enter more than once,
but each entry must be mailed
separately. The winner will be
chosen by random draw from
among the correct entries. Q
44 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
• C O N T E S T R E S U LT S •
CINEMA-CROSS
FROM SEPTEMBER
T o solve this contest, you had to enter 75
given words into the white and yellow
rectangles of the empty grid, one word
per rectangle, to form 33 movie titles, each one
reading across or down within every group of
two to six adjacent rectangles. The first letters
of the words in the 17 yellow spaces could be
rearranged to form a three-word movie title,
which was the answer to this contest.
After completing the grid, as shown below,
you could see that the first letters of the words
in the 17 yellow spaces, read from left to right
and top to bottom, were: A, W, L, T, A, F, E, R, R,
P, H, N, E, T, S, E, O. These letters could then be
rearranged to form the movie title that was the
solution to the contest: WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.
MIGHTY JOE FOREVER FEMALE THE A WHO NEVER WAS
VERUS YOUNG FOUR MAN OF LET
THE FOR RUN ME LOST
THE LONGEST DAY ALL ALL GO RIVER
VOLCANO THE SEASONS NIGHT PARK
UNDER THE EARTH IS
THE STOOD NEW
SKIN GAME STILL JURASSIC
OF SUN WORLD
IN VENICE ENTER OF THE
DEATH THE STAND GIRL
HEAT EVIL WITH
BODY OF DEAD THE
THE
NIGHT THE DRAGON
TATTOO
EVERYBODY’S ONE UNDER THE
FINE
DAY OF THE
This was a popular contest: We received a
total of 543 entries, almost all of which gave
the correct answer. Congratulations to the
winner of the $100 first prize, Mike Reczek of
Orland Park, IL. Runner-up prizes of a year’s
subscription to GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES (or
an additional year for current subscribers) go
to: Cory Brownson of West St. Paul, Manitoba;
Helen Chao of New York, NY; Kathy Harding of
Maynard, MA; David Kelley of Hudson, NH; and
Dave Krszjzaniek of Madison, WI. Q
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 45
•ELECTRONIC GAMEVIEWS• BY THOMAS L. McDONALD
DECK-BUILDING power, or to acquire property tional card. The action cards tation of the game. A lot of
cards to add victory points. provide exceptions to these cards and information are
DOMINION But while having properties rules. At their simplest, they displayed on the screen at
is the key to victory, you allow players to perform ad- once without looking busy or
RIO GRANDE/MAKING don’t want to fill your deck ditional actions, buy more crowded. The hallmark art of
FUN; IPAD/FIRE/ANDROID/ with them too early or they’ll cards, or draw extra cards, the series is reproduced per-
BROWSER; FREEMIUM clutter up your hand. Instead, among other things. At their fectly, and the mechanics are
AGE RANGE: EVERYONE you buy action cards, which most complex, they allow very good. Solo play is decent
PLAY TIME: UNLIMITED provide more expansive ac- you to attack other players, although the AI is nothing
------------------------------------------------------------------------ tions and purchasing power steal their cards, create on- special. Multiplayer seems to
each round. going effects, and perform be pretty stable so far and al-
It’s three years late, but various offensive or defen- lows for both private games
the mobile version of Every turn, a player draws sive actions. and public matchmaking.
the hit card game Do- a new hand of five cards,
minion is finally available as and may then play one ac- The mobile version is an The base set and a narra-
a polished port with all the tion card and buy one addi- attractive but unfussy adap- tive “campaign” are available
features fans could want. for free, providing plenty of
Good choice for fans of: Ascension content with no investment,
Dominion is the mother of although some annoying ads
all deck-building games and will appear between sessions
the single most influential (never in-game.) All of the
title of the past decade. Each different sets are available
player begins with a small for purchase, but they’re
deck of cards representing pretty expensive. The full set
money and property. The is about $90, with single sets
gold allows you to buy more costing about $15 to $20.
cards from a marketplace Given the wealth of free
spread across the table. The content available, however,
property provides the points it’s hard to complain. Q
needed to win.
AOVERALL RATING
Cards do different things.
Money can either be used to
purchase more money, there-
by increasing your buying
STRATEGY/TRAINS resented by colored blocks, to locomotive level, handle in- The tutorial is decent, but
generate income. come and expenses, and then the “rules” are merely a
STEAM: RAILS TO RICHES have an auction for the next link to a PDF of the board
Each player begins with a round’s action tiles. Money game’s rules, without any-
MAYFAIR/ACRAM loan and can borrow more earned by shipping can be thing unique to the app. It
IPAD/ANDROID; $6 money each turn. Opponents used to pay down debt and shipped with only pass-and-
AGE RANGE: EVERYONE bid for the right to go first, even increase purchasing play multiplayer, but online
PLAY TIME: UNLIMITED which allows them to pick power, or allotted to victory multiplayer is promised in an
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ certain actions like expand- points, which is where the update. Strangely, the Euro-
ing a town into a city or game is won and lost. pean map, which comes with
It’s a good month for clas- increasing the locomotive the original game, requires
sic games in mobile ports. level in order to haul freight The iPad version is good an extra purchase here.
The original Steam game farther. The farther a load is but not great. It’s slow to
is a rebranding of Martin hauled and the more cities it load and lacks visual flair, The game plays very well,
Wallace’s award-winning passes through, the greater although it does offer a faith- but lacks that final polish that
board game Age of Steam. the reward. ful reproduction of the look makes a board game port re-
It’s appealing for its accessi- and feel of the board game. ally shine. Q
bility: It takes the train genre, Track is laid as hexagonal
often associated with com- tiles in various configura- BOVERALL RATING
plex 18xx games, and boils it tions, allowing players to
down into something more build a complex network of
playable. rail lines connecting cities and
towns. Although you can use
Steam is played on a board another player’s tracks, you
representing either a portion pay for the privilege, which
of the U.S. and Canada or may or may not be worth it.
Europe’s lower Rhine and
Ruhr region. The map is dot- Each turn, players per-
ted with developed cities, form their actions, build
undeveloped towns, and three or four track sections,
geographical features like move goods or improve the
mountains and rivers. The
goal is to lay rail connecting Good choice for fans of: Railways of the World
towns and move freight, rep-
46 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
BY THOMAS L. MCDONALD •TRADITIONAL GAMEVIEWS•
CATEGORY: WORKER randomly on the market tion, usually to get more good during a turn, the
PLACEMENT squares to set the price and goods. Goods are tracked good that was exchanged
quantity for each type of on the player’s wharf card. loses value. For example, if
HARBOUR good, such as two livestock When someone has enough you were stockpiling stone
for $2, for example. goods to exchange them because it’s worth $5, and
PUBLISHER: TASTY for money, he can purchase someone trades stone before
MINSTREL GAMES The buildings house his own building. Once any you, stone is now worth $2.
PRICE: $20 strange and whimsical busi- player has four buildings, the
AGES: 10+ nesses run by goblins, ogres, game ends and each player’s Although the variations
PLAYERS: 1–4 and elves, among others. point value is assigned, with for each building are huge,
PLAY TIME: 30–60 MIN. Each building has a unique high score winning. the cards are completely
------------------------------------------------------------------------ bonus. For instance, the self-explanatory and the
Clocktower allows you to Harbour is unusual (and mechanic very simple, mak-
Tasty Minstrel packs an spend one good to use a merciless) in the way it man- ing this a game that pays
amazing amount of building’s action twice. ages the value of goods. huge dividends given its ease
play into Harbour’s tiny When someone trades a of play. Q
box. A deck of cards, wooden Finally, each player gets a
markers, and a pile of small card to represent her own AOVERALL RATING
boards are used to represent piece of the wharf and build-
a bustling dockside market ings. One side of the card
in a fantasy world. It’s a lets players choose generic
compressed version of the layouts with no bonuses,
worker-placement motif while the other side depicts
with a couple of unique characters with their own
elements. advantages. For example,
the Investor gets one good
The play area uses a 4”×6” each time he buys a building.
board and four cards to de-
pict a dockside market with a Play is quite simple: Each
series of adjoining buildings, turn everyone gets a single
each with a special function. action. Each player moves
The market has four squares his token to a building and
worth $2 to $5 each. Four uses that building’s func-
markers stand for different
goods: wood, fish, livestock, Good choice for fans of: Le Havre
and stone. These are placed
CATEGORY: CARD the lowest final score after all are added together to at any time and removing
NO THANKS! the rounds are totaled. make a score of 47. If, specific cards from each
however, the player round. No Thanks! offers a
PUBLISHER: MAYFAIR Play begins with a random had also drawn a 22, good example of how simple
PRICE: $13 card faceup. Any player who only the 5 and the 19 rules and components can
AGES: 8+ does not want to take this would score for a total deliver plenty of interaction
PLAYERS: 3–7 card must put a pass token of 24. and tough choices. Q
PLAY TIME: 20 MIN on it. This continues, with
------------------------------------------------------------------------ the card accumulating pass Once the cards are BOVERALL RATING
tokens, until someone finally added, any pass tokens
Thorsten Gimmler’s 2004 decides to take it. A new card remaining in hand are
classic No Thanks! is is then turned faceup, and subtracted to reach the
back in a new edition the cycle of passing or taking final score for a round.
from Mayfair that offers a continues until the deck is Low score wins.
fresh look and some new exhausted.
variants. This is a dead simple Passing on cards
little game that’s attracted When someone takes a to allow the tokens
quite a fan base because of card, it’s placed faceup in his to build up, avoiding
its appealing play and high active play area. Each card bad cards, constructing
degree of interaction. here is worth its face value in runs, and managing
points in the final score unless tokens all factor into
Each player starts with a it’s part of a sequential run of play, as does the risk of
pile of chips that work as cards. If there is a sequential never getting the card you
“pass tokens.” The game is run, then only the first card need because it’s among the
played with a deck of cards in the sequence scores. nine not in the current deck.
numbered 3 to 35. This deck Variants include dealing out
is shuffled and nine cards are For example, a player the nine cards to players to
set aside for each round. The draws a 5, 19, 20, 21, 23, allow them to be played
game can be played for any and 25. The 5, 19, and 23
number of predetermined
rounds, with the goal being Good choice for fans of: Sushi Go
a p r i l 2 0 1 6 | G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S 47
•GAME ON!• BY RAYMOND SIMON
Off the Bookshelf: How to Talk About Videogames
The latest book by Ian Bogost, a pro- among others). In his opinion, the most
fessor of Media Studies at the Georgia interesting games are indifferent to
Institute of Technology, offers a gener- players’ expectations and also make the
ous sample of his recent articles about familiar somewhat strange. The classic
videogames. game Go is a good example.
Whether Bogost is examining old fa- Bogost’s writing ventures far beyond
vorites like Ms. Pac-Man or scrutinizing the mechanics of gameplay and user
a flash-in-the-pan app like Flappy Bird, satisfaction. He’s as likely to reference
his outlook is thoughtful, inquisitive, Wittgenstein as he is to mention Tetris,
and amused. but his tone is never pretentious. A
Noting the curious position that contributing editor at The Atlantic,
videogames inhabit—somewhere his prose invites readers to join the
between traditional art forms and elec- conversation.
tronic appliances—he compares them In his provocative discussion of sports
to toasters. And although he admits videogames, for instance, Bogost sug-
that the very idea of game criticism is gests that these profitable pastimes, in-
absurd, he persists in seeking meaning cluding the popular Madden franchise,
from the medium. don’t just simulate sports, they are liter-
Throughout, Bogost’s thinking is ally “computerized variants of sports.”
informed by his experience as a game All in all, it’s a thought-provoking
designer (he created Cow Clicker, and entertaining read. Q
His Way Maleska may have offered little encouragement to bud-
ding crossword setters and even less to inept solvers, but
The centenary of Frank Sinatra’s birth, celebrated on De- Sinatra was unintimidated.
cember 12, 2015, was a reminder of just how great Ol’ Blue
Eyes was. In a letter dated September 19, 1989, Sinatra recounted
how he began solving crossword puzzles. While commuting
Classic songs like “One for My Baby (and One More for to a summer job on Wall Street, the 15-year-old saw adults
the Road)” graced the airwaves, and movie lovers savored doing the puzzles and gave them a try himself. Thus began
his performance as Maggio the doomed soldier in From Here a lifelong infatuation. Sinatra even timed himself, telling
to Eternity. Maleska that he typically finished a Sunday puzzle in 90 to
120 minutes.
One curious fact about Sinatra was noted among puzzle
fans: The Chairman of the Board enjoyed solving crosswords. “What a wonderful way to pass the time and also learn
Yes, you read that right. new answers every day,” Sinatra wrote.
We know this thanks to a cache of personal letters Sinatra We couldn’t agree more! Q
exchanged with Eugene Maleska, who edited The New York
Times crossword puzzle from 1979 to 1993.
Think Fast! it in just 4.904 jaw-dropping seconds. PHOTO COURTESY OF DANA ETTER
If that seems incredible, we note that
Even if you haven’t picked up a Ru-
bik’s Cube since the early 1980s, you un- Etter’s feat is documented. Not only was
doubtedly recognize the maddeningly the time confirmed by a StackMat, a
amusing puzzle created by Erno Rubik, gizmo that begins ticking off the time
a Hungarian architecture professor. as soon as speed cubers lift their hands
The iconic object is actually the world’s off the touchpad, but a video of this
top-selling toy. amazing accomplishment is posted on
YouTube. Watching it is spooky. Etter’s
What you may not know is that a new digital dexterity is so mind-boggling
generation of kids is pushing this three- you might mistake it for CGI-generated
dimensional brainteaser to limits that tomfoolery.
earlier solvers could hardly imagine.
They call themselves speed cubers, and What comes next is anyone’s guess.
they solve these six-sided puzzles with According to a graph on the website
blazing quickness. FiveThirtyEight, world records in speed
cubing have been falling dramatically
Leading the pack, at least for now, is since 2003.
Lucas Etter. On November 21, 2015, the
14-year-old phenom became the first Can Etter get any faster? Only time
person in the world to solve a Rubik’s will tell. Q
Cube in less than five seconds. He did
48 G A M E S W O R L D O F P U Z Z L E S | a p r i l 2 0 1 6
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