December 2023

Games World of Puzzles

The Magazine for Creative Minds at Play

Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Cover Puzzle Instructions
In this maze, you’ll be making your way through the sprawling royal palace shown in the diagram on the cover. Start in the pantry (marked with an ivory star), then move from room to room through the doors (indicated by lettered squares), and exit at
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Difficulty Rating
Easy Medium Hard Mixed COVER PUZZLE | ADAM FROMM ■
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Games World of Puzzles
Editorial Director Lia Brown Editor in Chief Jennifer Orehowsky Editor Raymond Simon Contributing Editors Scott Appel, Thomas L. McDonald, Andrew Parr, Jonathan Schmalzbach Supporting Players Rachel Garland, Catherine Keeney, Julie Snider, Madison St
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Mixed Doubles
Each answer 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 or two Down clues that seem to have
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
52-skiddoo
There is one place for each letter of the alphabet in the 26 empty squares of each blank column in the diagram below. Fill in each letter so that a word of at least five letters is formed reading across only. Not all of the letters to the left and ri
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Pencil Pointers 1
In this crossword puzzle, the clues appear in the grid itself. Enter the answers in the direction of the pointers. ANSWER, PAGE 70 ■
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Fiddle-faddle
1 Worms, to an angler 5 Howls at the moon 9 Grimm bad guy 13 Radius neighbor 14 Father of Beau and Jeff 16 Prejudice 17 Nonsense 19 Passing notice? 20 Marshy ground 21 Da Vinci’s ___ Lisa 22 Human weakness 24 Former: Hyph. 26 Actress Glenn 27 Part of
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Branching Out
Place the words from the list into the boxes so that any pair connected by a line will form a compound word or familiar two-word phrase. Use each word only once. ANSWER, PAGE 71 ARREST BOOK CALL CENTER CLUB COACH COMPANY COUNTER DOOR EATEN FIELD FOUN
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Sleigh Bells Ring…
Are you listening? Once again, the holiday season is upon us, and, indeed, bells will be ringing. In fact, each clue below leads to a word or phrase containing the word BELL. For example, the clue “Class period ender” leads to SCHOOL BELL. Get all 14
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Funny Business
Can you ID these brands? ANSWERS, PAGE 70
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Kid Stuff
By Raymond Simon How many of these 12 words starting with BE can you identify? Write one letter in each blank. ANSWERS, PAGE 70 1. Where you sleep B E ____ 2. Bird’s bill B E ____ ____ 3. Grizzly, for example B E ____ ____ 4. Seashore B E ____ ____ _
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Quote Boxes
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 th
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Slitherlink
Your goal in these puzzles is to fence off a part of the grid with a closed circuit. Just draw a line from dot to dot (horizontally or vertically—never diagonally), continuing until you return to your starting dot. Each digit indicates the number of
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Four Important Letters
Fit all of the words and phrases listed below into the grid so that they interlock in standard crossword fashion. Each word should be used exactly once. When you are done, the grid will contain four particular letters that appear five times each in a
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
In And Out
No matter what styles are currently in or out, it’s all the same to us. All of the words and phrases listed below contain the consecutive letters I-N or O-U-T. They are hidden in the grid horizontally, vertically, and diagonally (always in a straight
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Boxing Match
The object of this solitaire challenge is to guess a word before making six incorrect guesses, as in a familiar childhood game. To begin, choose any letter of the alphabet that you think might appear in word I below. Suppose you pick E. Go to the Let
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Pencil Pointers 2
In this crossword puzzle, the clues appear in the grid itself. Enter the answers in the direction of the pointers. ANSWER, PAGE 73 ■
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
The Spiral
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. Keep track of
Games World of Puzzles2 min readSecurity
Dszquphsbnt!
Below are seven messages—pithy sayings, fascinating facts, and a cartoon gag—that have been translated into simple cipher alphabets. Letter substitutions remain constant throughout any one cipher, but change from one cipher to the next; the level of
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Themeless Special
ANSWER, PAGE 75 1 Declaration of independence? 8 Place on ’90s TV 15 Jazz highlight by John Coltrane 16 Names, officially 17 Plants native to mountaintops 18 Coal container 19 Earth Day mo. 20 Poseidon’s home 21 “___ say …” (“Alas …”) 22 “Yakety Axe”
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Battleships
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 cruise
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Siamese Twins
This puzzle gives you two grids for the price of one. And two sets of clues to go with them, so you can work both crosswords at the same time. What’s the catch? Each clue number is followed by two different clues to two different answers. The puzzle
Games World of Puzzles1 min readMathematics
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 th
Games World of Puzzles4 min read
• Wild Cards •
SOCCER IN ATLANTIS According to legend, the lost continent of Atlantis held soccer tournaments with a similar format to today’s World Cup. Teams are initially divided into groups of four, and within each group every team plays each of the others once
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Code Crosswords
In the puzzles below, the numbers in the grid squares stand for letters of the alphabet; your task is to crack the code. Once you’ve figured out the letter that matches a certain number, place that letter in every square containing the same number an
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Tectonic
In these puzzles, each square must contain a digit. A one-square block contains only a 1, a two-square block contains 1 and 2, a three-square block contains 1, 2, and 3, and so forth. The same digit cannot appear in neighboring squares—even diagonall
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Word Finder
In each of these puzzles, you are given a word and a grid of letters. Starting at any letter, move one square horizontally or vertically to the next letter. Then move two squares to the next letter, then 3 squares to the next, and so on until you fin
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
One, Two, Three
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-LA-ZON, has bee
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Nekkuresu
In this ninth instalment of Discovering Japanese Logic Puzzles, I’d like to present an original creation. It’s a loop-type puzzle that combines elements of two other puzzles, Paint by Numbers and Tapa. Nekkuresu translates to “necklace,” which is wha
Games World of Puzzles5 min read
The Game Of Battleship
Now one of America’s most iconic games, Battleship first captured the attention of board game enthusiasts in the early 1930s. The appeal of this classic naval combat game is timeless; it puts you at the center of a battle where you search for your op
Games World of Puzzles3 min read
Game Information
Object of the Game: Be the first to sink all 5 of your opponent’s ships by guessing where on a grid his or her ships are located. · Game boards are selected by each player. Players sit facing each other with the game unit lids raised so your opponent
Games World of Puzzles6 min read
Child’s Play
OUR LOVE OF GAMES is born at an early age. From the time we start fitting brightly colored cubes and stars into the corresponding holes of our Playskool shape sorter, it’s instilled in us that puzzle-solving—coupled with the thrill of victory—is a gr
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Adventures In Adventing
'Tis the night before Christmas, and Santa is on his way. You have only one door still to open on your advent calendar, which features a different chocolatey animal on each day leading up to Christmas. Because there is a certain logic at play in this
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Printer Issues
FROM APRIL In this contest, you were presented with a crossword puzzle made by your grandpa—who, unfortunately, had some issues with his printer: His space bar was broken and there were lines of print missing from the clues. Your job was to use logic
Games World of Puzzles4 min read
• Electronic Game Reviews •
WORD GAME PAPERBACK ADVENTURES FOWERS GAMES PC/MAC: $15 AGE RANGE: 12+ PLAY TIME: 2–3 HOURS PLAYERS: 1 Tim Fowers makes immensely appealing titles, with a great combination of clever gameplay and eye-catching design. Paperback and its sequel Hardback
Games World of Puzzles4 min read
• Tabletop Game Reviews •
TILE-LAYING PYRAMIDO SYNAPSES GAMES, $35 AGE RANGE: 8+ PLAY TIME: 30 MIN. PLAYERS: 2–4 Pyramido is a light game that unfolds in a very satisfying way. A pharaoh has asked architects to compete to make the most splendid pyramid to usher him into etern
Games World of Puzzles3 min readFinance & Money Management
• This Old Game •
Who doesn’t love a bargain? Looks like a lot of us, judging from the million-plus results that the phrase “bargain hunter” returns on a Google search. Less well-known is that bargain hunting may be genetically rooted. A 2021 Forbes article by Alison
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Dicey Decisions
In each puzzle below, 24 different letters (no J’s or Q’s are used) have been written on the faces of four six-sided dice, which we’ve labeled #1 to #4. In each case, we’ve come up with a list of 12 four-letter words that it is possible to spell out
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Split Decisions®
The only clues in this crossword are the letter pairs provided in the grid. Each answer across and down consists of two words that share the letters you’ll enter in the empty squares. In the example below, S, E, and W fill the empty squares to make S
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Double Cross
Answer the clues on the numbered dashes, one letter per dash. Then transfer the letters on the dashes to the correspondingly numbered squares in the puzzle grid to reveal a quotation reading from left to right. (Black squares separate words.) When yo
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Chain Sudoku
Chain Sudoku is a variant of sudoku in which the digits 1 through n are used for an n×n grid. So, for example, the digits 1 through 5 would be used for a 5×5 grid. The goal is to fill in the grid with missing digits such that each row, column, and gr
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Knight’s Adventure
Your job is to guide the knight from the starting point in the lower left corner to the amulet in the upper right corner, picking up six treasures along the way. (And be careful--the orange squares are lava!) Each treasure chest requires a key to ope
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Cryptic Crossword 1
Each clue in a cryptic crossword has two parts: a definition of the answer and an indication of the answer’s literal makeup via wordplay. Either half may come first; finding the dividing point between the two parts is the key to solving. On page 61,
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Paint By Numbers
These nine puzzles feature a unique blend of logic and art. The numbers are all you need to determine which squares should be filled in to form a picture. Here’s how it’s done: The numbers outside each row and column tell you how many groups of black
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Skyscraper crossword Puzzles
Your goal in these puzzles is to form familiar four-letter words (proper nouns are allowed) reading across and down in each grid. All of the letters that appear in each puzzle are provided. These puzzles also incorporate elements of the number logic
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Cryptic Crossword 2
Anagrams: The answer appears in anagrammed form, preceded or followed by a word or phrase that suggests the mixing, as in Changing times for ITEMS. Deletions: Deletions come in three varieties: beheadments, curtailments, and internal deletions. The c
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Cutting Room
In nine of the clues in this cryptic crossword there is one superfluous word that must be removed before solving. These words, when read in order, will form a humorous quote by the unclued entry at 20-Across. ANSWERS, PAGE 71 1 Twisted maniac intros
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Greater, Lesser, Equal Crossword Puzzles
In these puzzles, your goal is to fill in the grid with common crossword words reading across and down. All of the letters that appear in each puzzle are shown. In each grid, you will find three types of symbols: greater than (>), lesser than (<), an
Games World of Puzzles2 min read
Strip Tease
Warning: Content may be unsuitable for younger or more sensitive solvers. The “stars” of this cryptic crossword are fully clothed in the clues; only their enumerations are showing. They will appear in the grid in all their naked glory. Rest assured t
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Family Reunions
Change each group of 10 words below into a “family” of different words (words or proper names that have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, given the entries HAUNT, HAIRD
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Easy As 1-2-3
Spell each 6-letter answer using only the letters in one of the 3-letter words below, repeating lettersaccording to this rule: Use one letter once, another letter twice, and the last letter three times. The frequency of each letter is for you to dete
Games World of Puzzles6 min read
The World’s Most Ornery Crossword
The crossword on this and the next two pages has two independent sets of clues: “Hard” and “Easy.” First, fold this page back on the dashed line so the clues below face the solving grid on page 69. If you use only the Hard Clues (appearing below and
Games World of Puzzles7 min read
Answers
Across: 1/13, 2/9, 3/18, 4/15, 5/8, 6/19, 7/20, 8/5, 9/2, 10/14, 11/12, 12/11, 13/1, 14/10, 15/4, 16/17, 17/16, 18/3, 19/6, 20/7 Down: 1/16, 2/13, 3/19, 4/14, 5/7, 6/10, 7/5, 8/11, 9/20, 10/6, 11/8, 12/18, 13/2, 14/4, 15/17, 16/1, 17/15, 18/12, 19/3,
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
Collector’s Item!
www.kappapuzzles.com
Games World of Puzzles1 min read
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