There’s a lot going on in the intertwined worlds of puzzles and games, so let’s skip the intro and get to the good stuff!
Happy Birthday Puzzmo!
After celebrating 1,000 days of Puzzmo back in July, this puzzle app has another milestone to celebrate tomorrow.
There has been a countdown running on the app for a while now, and it’s counting down to the three-year anniversary of Puzzmo!
I don’t know what they have in store on Tuesday, but considering how much care and attention goes into each day’s puzzles and games, I’m sure they’ve got something up their sleeves.
Club Drosselmeyer Tickets Are On Sale Now!
I did a full post about all the Club Drosselmeyer events last week before tickets went live, but a little reminder never hurts.
Their flagship “Interactive Nutcracker in Swingtime” Club Drosselmeyer event has performances set for December 4th, 5th, & 6th AND December 10th, 11th, 12th, & 13th.
As the organizers themselves say, “Prepare yourself for another season of magic and mayhem, romance and revelry, champagne and sugarplums.”
Click here to grab tickets and get more information about everything Club Drosselmeyer has to offer!
MyCrossword’s Forum Now Open!
It’s always worth celebrating when a new public space opens up for chatting about puzzles.
MyCrossword is a website allowing cryptic crossword solvers and setters to share their work and sample puzzles. It is a hub of creative expression and puzzly fun.
And they’ve just opened their new forum feature to further encourage community and communication.
Raider at MyCrossword has written a welcoming post, and I hope the forums soon fill up with excited solvers and engaging discourse about the world of cryptics.
Click here to check out MyCrossword and their forum!
(Oh, and thank you to Tom at MyCrossword for providing the feature image for this part of the post.)
Two Puzzle Game Sites to Try Out!
One of the coolest things about running PuzzCulture is getting to learn about new puzzles and creators in the puzzle space. Several enterprising constructors have reached out to me recently, and I’m pleased to help spread the word about their puzzly endeavors.
The first is Andres Echenique’s crossword-inspired deduction puzzle, CrossEights Daily.
This free daily puzzle challenges solvers to figure out the eight crossing 8-letter words, four across and four down.
You can get hints Wheel of Fortune-style and place certain letters in order to help you figure out the words.
But since only some of the letters are overlapping, it’s up to you to puzzle out starting and ending letters (which can be difficult if you’re not if you need an -ED, -ER, or -ES).
There’s a running leaderboard for speed and efficiency of solving, and I found the combination of deduction and letter-picking luck really fun.
CrossEights Daily is a relative newcomer to the puzzle world, so I thought for my other recommendation today, I’d discuss a puzzle website that has been around since 2006!
Yes, LiveSudoku.com has been sharing free Sudoku puzzles for two decades now, allowing for head-to-head play worldwide, printable booklets, and solving assistance.
I spoke to Maya at LiveSudoku and learned some very cool facts about the site.
The site has more than 10,000 daily players, and there are 14 different languages available for players (including Turkish and Greek, which were just added this summer).
The community aspect of this site really appeals to me, and I’m happy to help spread the word to other Sudoku fans in the audience.
Click here to check out the site and their forums for liveplay.
Florida’s “Crossword Bandit” Busted After Peculiar Crime Spree
Let’s wrap up today’s post with some truly ridiculous criminality.
Have you heard about the “Crossword Bandit”?
Ronald Wladich, a prolific dine-and-dasher in Southwest Florida, left a calling card for some of his crimes by leaving a crossword puzzle book behind instead of paying his tab.
(You know, it’s never a good sign when a thief patterns himself after the Wet Bandits from Home Alone.)
A total of five restaurants reported being part of this cruciverbalist crime spree, which is part of how he got caught.
Restaurant employees began trading stories about this crossword-loving crook and they recognized a familiar blue sweatshirt, drink order, and of course, a love of puzzles.
He was also charged with DUI for riding his bicycle into a Wendy’s parking lot while intoxicated.
No one has yet reported on what crossword books were preferred by this thief. (Why don’t people ask the truly important questions!)
Did I miss any puzzly news or fun board game stories from the last few weeks? Let me know in the comments section below! I’d love to hear from you.
