Category Archives: Games

The ACPT Returns This Weekend!

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The 41st edition of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is this weekend!

Puzzlers from all over are sharpening their pencils and their wits as they gear up for what is affectionately known as the Nerd Olympics, and we here at PuzzleNation wish all of the competitors the best of luck!

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Here’s hoping Puzzle #5 isn’t as diabolical as it has been in previous years!

There is a topnotch lineup of constructors to challenge this year’s competitors. Not only do we have Patrick Berry and Mike Shenk — perennial contributors to the tournament — as well as the prolific Zhouqin Burnikel and other ACPT stalwarts like Lynn Lempel, Sam Ezersky, Joel Fagliano, and Damon Gulczynski. Only Tracy Gray is a newcomer to crafting tournament puzzles. I can’t wait to see what they’ve concocted for this year’s tournament!

Good luck to everyone competing! And hey, if you need a pencil sharpener — or you’d like some terrific puzzly freebies and contests — we’ll be hanging out with our pals at the Penny Dell Puzzles table again this year! Be sure to stop by!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!

PuzzleNation Product Review: Chessplus

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Chess is one of the all-time classic games. Alongside Checkers, Go, Tic-Tac-Toe, and mah-jongg, chess is one of the cornerstones of the genre, one of the first games we’re introduced to, and one of the formative games upon which we build concepts of strategy, timing, and opportunity.

Over the centuries, there have been numerous attempts to reinvent chess or find new ways to play. We’ve talked about puzzly variations on chess in the past, all of which can be played with a standard chess set. (Except for that guillotine set we featured last year.) But if you’re looking for a truly unique chess experience, the team at Chessplus have a simple, elegant game for you.

Chessplus is played under standard chess rules, but with one crucial difference: you can combine your pieces into more powerful ones.

Do you want a pawn that can make less-expected moves, or a knight that can play conservatively? Combine a knight and pawn into a single piece with the abilities of both. Do you need to keep your queen where it is, but still want a versatile piece that can command the board? Easy. Combine a rook and a bishop, and you’ve got a new piece that works just like a queen.

[Only the king is a solid piece. Every other piece can be combined with others.]

Merging pieces not only allows you to take advantage of each component’s abilities, but it can also allow you to more swiftly transport pieces across the board. Instead of a pawn crawling across the board one square at a time, combine it with a rook who can send it straight across the board, where it is then promoted to a queen! Or combine two pawns so you only have to escort one piece across the board safely, then split them again and voila! Two pawns promoted into new queens.

Oh yes, merging the pieces doesn’t link them forever. You can split them at any time. That feature adds another layer to your gameplay, since putting one merged piece into play deep in your opponent’s territory can suddenly become two separated pieces again.

Now, this piece-combining mechanic is a double-edged sword. Yes, you have a more powerful, mobile game piece. (I was very excited to try out combining a knight and a queen, just to make the queen even more dangerous.) But if someone takes a merged piece, you lose BOTH halves, making them as vulnerable as they are valuable. Imagine an opponent capturing my merged knight/queen, so I lose a knight AND a queen in one turn. That could be a devastating loss.

As you’d expect, it took a little while to grow accustomed to these new variant pieces. With so much to keep track of during a normal chess game, pieces with greater mobility make strategy — both offensive and defense — a bit more complicated.

But it was also great fun. Early Chessplus games tend to be faster, more aggressive, because of the greater mobility allowed by some of the merged piece combinations. But once you’ve played a few games, your more traditional chess mindset settles in, and gameplay tends to become more measured and tactical.

Just imagine. A single change that offers a world of new possibilities and challenges. That’s brilliant, in my estimation. Chessplus is a wonderful way to reinvigorate chess if the game has lost its luster for you. And if you are a dedicated player, I think Chessplus will prove to be a welcome change of piece from the traditional game.

[Chessplus sets start at $35.95 (for just the pieces) and are available from the shop on Chessplus.com.]

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!

It’s Hashtag Game-Mania! Let’s Get Ready to Raaaamble!

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Oh yes, it’s that time again! It’s time to unleash our puzzly and punny imaginations and engage in a bit of sparkling wordplay!

You may be familiar with the board game Schmovie, hashtag games on Twitter, or @midnight’s Hashtag Wars segment on Comedy Central.

For years now, we’ve been collaborating on puzzle-themed hashtag games with our pals at Penny Dell Puzzles, and this month’s hook was #PennyDellPuzzleSlogans, mashing up Penny Dell puzzles with advertising slogans, jingles, catchphrases, and more!

Examples include: Here and There’s the Beef, The Quicker Picker Upper, and A Diamond Rings is Forever.

So, without further ado, check out what the puzzlers at PuzzleNation and Penny Dell Puzzles came up with!

Snap! CRACKERS! Pop! (Rice Krispies)

Every Little Puzzler Helps (Tesco)

Betcha can’t eat just One and Only / Betcha Can’t Eat Add One (Lays)

Can you Here and There me now? (Verizon)

One for all and all four one. (Three Musketeers)

There’s no Right of Way to eat a Reese’s. (Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups)

Double Up your pleasure, Double Trouble your fun / Double Trouble Your Pleasure, Double Trouble Your Fun / Double your Delight. Double your fun. (Wrigley’s Doublemint gum)

Good to the Last Drop-Ins (Folgers)

Reach Out and Touch Sum Triangles (AT&T)

Say It With Flower Power (FTD)

The Happiest Places, Please On Earth (Disneyland)

What’s In and Around Your Wallet? / What’s Left in your wallet? (Capital One)

Don’t Leave Home Runs Without It / Easy Crossword Express: don’t leave home without it! (American Express)

Tastes Great, Less Fill-In (Miller Lite)

Calgon, Give and Take Me Away! (Calgon)

Time to Make the Connection (Dunkin Donuts)

You sank my Battleships! (Battleship)

Silly Dillies! (Bud Light)

License Plates to grill (Chili’s)

Get the Door. It’s Domino Theory / Get the Door. It’s Missing Dominoes (Dominos Pizza)

All the News That’s Four-Fit to Print (New York Times)

Because you’re wordsworth it. (L’Oreal)

Have it your Which Way Words. (Burger King)

He’s the most interesting puzzler in the world. (Dos Equis)

Once you daily pop crosswords, you can’t stoplines. (Pringles)

Take-a-break me off a piece by piece of that KitKat bar. (KitKat)

Give me a Brick by Brick. Give me a Brick by Brick. Break me off a Piece by Piece of that Kit Kat Bar. (KitKat)

Two at a Time for me. None for you. (Twix)

Good to the last Drop-Ins. (Maxwell House)

Me Want Honeycomb! (Honeycomb)

The toughest four Letter Perfect word on wheels. (Jeep)

Head for the Borderline. / Make a run for the Borderline. (Taco Bell)

Bubbles wobble but they don’t Spelldown. (Weebles)

Only you can prevent Fancy Fives. (Smokey the Bear/US Forest Service)

What happens in V-Words, stays in V-Words. (Las Vegas Tourism Board)

Like a good neighbor, Mystery State is there. (State Farm)

It takes a licking, but keeps on Tick-Tock Word Seeking. (Timex)

Quotefall into the Gap (The Gap)

We sell no End of the Line before it’s Two at a Time. (Paul Masson Wine)

You can’t win if you don’t Word Play. (Powerball)

I’ve Quotefallen and I can’t get up! (MedicAlert)

ABCs is for apple, J is for jacks, cinnamon toasty Crackerjacks (Apple Jacks cereal)

I can’t believe I AtoZ the whole thing! / I can’t believe I ate the Bowlgame thing! (Alka-seltzer)

You’ve got Ringers around the collar! (Whisk)

Who’s Calling? I just called to say I love you (Ma Bell)

Syllability rabbit, Trix are for kids (Trix)

Clap on! Clap off! Clap on clap off…the clapboard! (The Clapper)

I’m a Puzzler, you’re a Puzzler, he’s a Puzzler, she’s a Puzzler, wouldn’t you like to be a Puzzler too? (Dr. Pepper)

There were also a few submissions that deserve its their section, as several of our intrepid puzzlers went above and beyond.

When I bite into a Penny Press Patchwords, I get the PuzzleNation . . . (York Peppermint Patties)

If you have Fill-Ins Fill-Ins Fill-Ins, in the bipad bipad bipad, then you will like it like it like it on your iPad iPad iPad. (Libby’s)

My crossword has a first name, it’s P-E-N-N-Y. My crossword has a second name it’s P-R-E-S-S. I love to solve them every day. And if you ask me why say, Cuz Penny Press has a way with W-O-R-D-S! (Oscar Mayer)

Hold the Pick-ture This, hold the Lett-er Boxes, special orders don’t upset us, all we ask is that you let us have it your Word Ways (Burger King)

Have you come up with any Penny Dell Puzzle Slogan entries of your own? Let us know! We’d love to see them!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!

Wine Is Better For Your Brain Than Puzzles?

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[Image courtesy of Bevlaw.]

“It’s time to trade in your Sudoku and crossword puzzles for a glass of wine.”

That was the opening quote in an article sent to me by a friend (and wine enthusiast) who thought I’d be interested to hear just why we should be tossing aside our puzzles for a bit of vino.

That article discusses the book Neuroenology: How the Brain Creates the Taste of Wine, by Yale neuroscientist Gordon Shepherd, and Shepherd posits that the flavor of wine “engages more of our brain than any other human behavior.”

More than listening to music, solving math problems, or hitting a baseball? Apparently so. Even more than solving one of our beloved crossword grids? Shepherd certainly believes that to be the case, and he’s packing some serious science to back it up.

[Image courtesy of Amazon.]

From an NPR piece about the book:

The apparently simple act of sipping Merlot involves a complex interplay of air and liquid controlled by coordinated movements of the the tongue, jaw, diaphragm and throat. Inside the mouth, molecules in wine stimulate thousands of taste and odor receptors, sending a flavor signal to the brain that triggers massive cognitive computation involving pattern recognition, memory, value judgment, emotion and of course, pleasure.

Now, of course, we’re all about engaging the brain in a positive way in this blog. We’ve spent plenty of time debunking faulty promises about “brain-training” puzzle sites and the like that make grand, unfounded promises about what puzzles can do to stave off Alzheimer’s, memory issues, dementia, and more. The science is still out on exactly how long-term puzzle-solving affects the brain, and whether there are benefits, so we’ll table that idea for now.

But savoring a sip of wine and exercising the brain? Now that’s something we can get behind.

[Image courtesy of Amazon.]

Or you could be evil, slap one of these brain teasers on the bottle, and annoy your friends.

Then again, this just makes me think you should enjoy a glass of wine WHILE solving a crossword. The best of both worlds!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!

What Can YOU Solve In Under a Second?

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Oh yes, it’s Rubik’s Cube time once again.

Every time I think I’ve seen everything someone can do with a Rubik’s Cube, a month or two later, another amazing video appears on the Internet, proving me wrong.

We’ve covered Rubik’s Cubes a lot on this blog. We’ve seen them solved underwater, while being juggled, during a skydive, and yes, we’ve seen them solved in increasing faster times.

As of last year, the record for a robot solving a Rubik’s Cube was .637 seconds. That robot, Sub1, has been the Guinness World Record holder ever since.

Until now, it seems.

That’s a right, a pair of engineers — Ben Katz and Jared Di Carlo — have nearly halved that world record with what they call their “Rubik’s Contraption.” This cube-solving bot posts a solving speed of .38 seconds.

Their machine is so fast that they had to program it to only allow one motor to move at a time. You see, in previous runs, more than one motor would try to move, and the cube would be RIPPED APART.

This lightning-fast robot is still waiting review by the team from Guinness, so, for now, Sub1’s record stands.

But for how long?

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!

A Relatively Modern Idea: Fairness in Dice Rolling

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[Image courtesy of Larsdatter.com.]

This may come as a surprise to you, fellow puzzlers, but fairness was not always a priority when it came to rolling dice.

Nowadays, whether you’re going after that elusive Yahtzee, hoping for doubles to earn another roll in Monopoly, or trying to roll sevens in a game of craps, the basic concept behind throwing dice is that every outcome of a six-sided die has an equal chance to appear. Unless you’re dealing with loaded or gimmicked dice, your odds should be 1 in 6.

But a recent study by researchers from the American Museum of Natural History and the University of California, Davis, has revealed that fairness in dice rolling didn’t really become a concern for dice users until the Renaissance. Researchers gathered dice spanning 2000 years of human history to explore why this was the case.

[Image courtesy of Wikipedia.]

From an article on Science Alert:

Roman-era dice, the researchers found, were a mess when it came to shape. They were made from a variety of materials, such as metal, bone and clay, and no two were shaped entirely alike. Many were visibly lumpy and lopsided, with the 1 and 6 on opposite sides that were more likely to roll up.

In fact, it seems like variety was the name of the game in Roman times, since the number configurations, shape, and size were inconsistent across the board, although dice were fairly common in the time period.

[Image courtesy of Pinterest.]

The Dark Ages led to a downturn in dice frequency, as they become very rare between the years 400CE and 1100CE.

The use of dice rebounds after 1100, and are most commonly found in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt in what is known as the primes configuration, meaning that opposite numbers add up to prime numbers. 1 pairs with 2, 3 pairs with 4, and 5 pairs with 6.

There was a reinvigorated focus on the mechanics of chance and calculating probability, thanks to names like Galileo and Pascal, as well as a spirit of greater scientific understanding overall. Those Renaissance influences led to both a standardized shape for dice and a change in the numbering system. At this point, most dice convert to the sevens configuration, where opposite sides add up to seven (1 pairs with 6, 2 pairs with 5, and 3 pairs with 4).

[Image courtesy of Smithsonian.com.]

And according to lead researcher Jelmer Eerkens, cheating may have been on the mind of manufacturers going forward. “Standardizing the attributes of a die, like symmetry and the arrangement of numbers, may have been one method to decrease the likelihood that an unscrupulous player had manipulated the dice to change the odds of a particular roll.”

That change from variable shapes, sizes, and designs reflects a sea change in thinking towards dice and chance. Before, the shape didn’t matter because the results were attributed to Fate or some greater outside force, but later on, an understanding of chance and probability pushed standardization of dice forward.

In the end, it’s amazing how much of our culture and worldview, both past and present, can be revealed by exploring how we solve puzzles and play games.

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!