The more things change… (Tariffs and the Board Game Industry)

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Well, this is the worst kind of deja vu.

Five years ago, in February of 2020, I wrote a blog post about how the pandemic was affecting the board game industry, particularly regarding production and shipping from China and how it was hurting (sometimes crippling) board game companies.

And now, half a decade hence, I’m writing a blog post about another global disaster affecting the board game industry:

Donald Trump.

You see, the president’s “genius” plan to enact large tariffs against the US’s trade partners, forcing the American public to pay more for goods from China, Mexico, and Canada, is guaranteed to hurt many MANY industries, and the board game industry is one of them.

Already, game companies are reaching out to their customers with mailing list entries and blog posts and warning them of potential price hikes being forced upon them by this half-witted political stunt.

Atlas Games, for instance, issued a post this week about the current, frustrating, entirely-avoidable situation:

Unfortunately, there’s confusion and a distinct lack of clear guidance at this point. While Canada’s announcement of tariffs they’re levying in response clearly states that goods already en route to Canada aren’t subject to them, the Trump Administration has been contradictory on how and when US tariffs will actually be applied.

For example, two 40-foot shipping containers filled with our new game Vicious Gardens arrived in Seattle on Saturday. These games are on US soil, but they haven’t yet cleared customs. We don’t know if, when they do, we may be handed a tax bill equal to 10% of their value…

We also need to place orders NOW to reprint some of our popular titles. The Pops & Bejou game CULTivate is now published by Atlas Games. It’s out of stock, but we’ve had to delay the reprint because of the lack of clarity about these import taxes. During the election campaign, Trump threatened that tariffs on Chinese-made goods could be as high as 60% to 100%.

Unlike the president and his poor explanation of the current constantly-evolving tariff agenda, these game companies are striving to be as transparent about their circumstances as possible.

That kind of honesty goes a long way with customers, and while both the companies and customers will be feeling the squeeze of these new tariff-induced costs, hopefully the companies can still remain profitable and board game fans can still enjoy these wonderful play experiences.

Sadly, this is no surprise to industry insiders. Steve Jackson Games wrote about the consequences of the tariffs back in early November, and Stonemeier Games soon followed in early December.

A few days ago, CBS8 did a report about a local game shop in San Diego that expects to take a big hit when the tariffs land.

Some companies, like Monte Cook Games, are doing limited time discounts and sales to offset the upcoming tariff pricing. Some tabletop roleplaying game companies are already considering retreating from the physical game market entirely and focusing on PDF and downloadable products to remain profitable.

Much like the ripple effect of COVID in 2020, I suspect the effect of Trump’s tariffs will be felt for years to come.

But, unfortunately, like so many things these days, we’ll have to wait and see… and hope for the best… but expect the worst.

What’s a Shortz Number?

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While I was researching Salomon Numbers for last week’s post, I discovered another crossword-centric number system with an S-name attached.

The Shortz Number.

Actually, I found several of them.

Allow me to elucidate.

XWordInfo lists a constructor’s Shortz Number as a reflection of when that constructor was first published in a daily puzzle during the Shortz Era of The New York Times crossword.

For instance, Jacob Reed debuts in today’s puzzle, and his Shortz Number is 1373.

Peter Gordon is 1. Merl Reagle is 26. Bernice Gordon is 77. Matt Gaffney is 97. Nancy Salomon is 143. Patrick Berry is 257. Deb Amlen is 378. Doug Peterson is 431. Patti Varol is 1000.

It’s an incredible insight into an ever-evolving roster of constructors.

According to a cursory Google Search, this seems to be the most legitimate definition of a Shortz Number.

But there are others.

The second and most specious definition seems to be a Shortzian take on the Salomon Number, connecting constructors to Shortz through a Kevin Bacon-like system of collaborations.

I only found a few references to this interpretation, so it seems more like a coincidence than actual cultural permeation.

But that still leaves one more version of a Shortz Number, and it’s my favorite one.

This version is actually referenced on Wikipedia under Humorous Units of Measurement and apparently originated as a Reddit post.

But in this instance, a Shortz is a unit of measurement for fame. More specifically, it’s the number of times a person’s name has appeared in The New York Times crossword as either a clue or a solution.

The brief post then goes on to state that Shortz himself is 1 Shortz famous. (I was unable to verify this through XWordInfo, either through SHORTZ, WILLSHORTZ, or WILL as grid entries.)

But as someone who enjoys weird statistics, I was definitely intrigued by this one. What’s the Shortz Number for common crosswordese and frequent fill?

I mean, RIPTORN only has a 6, but that’s an impressive number of times to get your first AND last name in a crossword.

So let’s dig in.

First things first, I’m jettisoning the clue aspect of the definition. Let’s stick to grid entries.

I’m also doing my best to eliminate shared names or ones with multiple definitions. ETTA has 241 uses in the Shortz Era, but I don’t want to parse between James and Jones. Same for ELLA (249), ANA (342), and ALOU (150).

Second, let’s stick to real people. It’s cool that SMEE has 114, ODIE 145, and ASTA a staggering 183. But the Bacon, Erdos, and Salomon Numbers rely on real people, so our Shortz Number will too.

So allow me to present the people with the 8 highest Shortz Numbers I could find:

#8 ENYA – 149
#7 ALDA – 152
#6 UMA – 162
#5 OTT – 188
#4 ONO – 196 (minus a half-dozen or so fish references)
#3 ESAU – 226 (hard to stat out other biblical figures like Adam, Eve, Enos, because of other uses)
#2 ASHE – 264

and, as you might expect…

#1 ENO – 268!

It’s certainly a close race, and one that could easily change in the future!

Let’s add one more wrinkle before we go.

Because it’s interesting to track all the Shortz Era uses… but there are decades of puzzles before that, and XWordInfo has stats on them too.

So do the rankings change when you factor those puzzles in?

Absolutely.

Let’s call these Farrar Numbers and see how things shake out.

I mentioned ETTA earlier. The pre-Shortz puzzles cause their Farrar Number to be more than double, vaulting up to 516. Similarly, ELLA leaps to 688 and ANA to 758!

Some of our fictional friends also prosper, with SMEE moving from 114 to 332 and ASTA rocketing from 183 to 533! But ODIE only adds a handful more, moving from 145 to 156.

So how did our top 8 do?

ENYA (149) stayed in the exact same place. There were NO pre-Shortzian references.

UMA (167) drops from 6th to 7th, only gaining 5 more references. She swaps places with ALDA (270), who adds a lot of references (discounting the hundred or so mentioning his father or opera star Frances Alda).

Sadly, ENO (280) plummets from the #1 spot all the way to 5th, only adding another dozen or so references to make his Farrar Number.

ONO (390) stays in 4th despite nearly doubling the number of references, while OTT (432) leapfrogs over ONO, going from 5th to 3rd with an impressive pre-Shortzian showing.

ASHE (560) stays in 2nd despite more than doubling his references (and obviously disappearing from the pre-Shortzian rankings in the early 1960s).

This means ESAU (609) goes from 3rd to 1st in the Farrar Number rankings!

So, whether you prefer your Shortz Number to be chronological, Baconian, or grid-centric, you’ve got plenty of options.

But personally, I think the Farrar Number is gonna take the world by storm!

Okay… maybe not. But it’s certainly fun to think about.

Happy puzzling, everyone!

Help Out Game Designer Owen K.C. Stephens!

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I love using this blog as a place to explore puzzly topics, to promote games and creators and share the love of puzzles with the world.

But I also love using this blog to spread the word about worthy causes.

And today I’d like to talk about the GoFundMe campaign for Owen K.C. Stephens’ medical bills.

If you’ve been a roleplaying game fan over the last two decades, you’ve probably played a game that Owen has shaped in some way.

He has been an influential game writer and designer for years, contributing to the Star Wars Roleplaying Game (both the d20 and Saga editions), Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Starfinder, Everyday Heroes, The Wheel of Time RPG, and so many other games. Wizards of the Coast, Super Genius Games, Rogue Genius Games, Evil Genius Games (sensing a theme?), Paizo, and Green Ronin have all been homes for him over the years.

After an 18-month battle with colon cancer, he is still feeling the effects of his treatment and continuing the long, hard road to better health. And sadly, he is still buried under medical bills for his treatment and convalescence.

You can contribute to the GoFundMe campaign for him here.

And if you’re interested in learning more about Owen and his wonderful work in games, you can check out his website and his Patreon.

Normally, that’s how I would close out a post like this, but in this case, I hope you will indulge me with a personal anecdote.

Back in the year 2000, I discovered tabletop roleplaying.

A friend had just bought the new Star Wars Roleplaying Game (the d20 edition released around the same time as Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition), and knowing I was a huge Star Wars fan, he invited me to play.

After a short adventure he ran for us as Game Master, he asked if I’d be interested in learning to be a Game Master myself. (I later realized he did this not only because he thought I would be good at it, but because HE wanted to play and needed someone to run for him. My friend was and is a diabolical genius.)

I ran that game on and off for nearly seven years. It gave me the confidence to explore other roleplaying games, like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, Ninja Burger, and many many more, kickstarting a hobby that now spans more than two decades.

It also gave me confidence as a storyteller, pushing me to take writing more seriously (both fiction and nonfiction).

And all of that started with the d20 Star Wars Roleplaying Game.

Owen contributed to some of my favorite sourcebooks for that game (and several brilliant mini-adventures), helping make the galaxy a bigger and more interesting place for my players to explore. He is part of the fabric that helped shape me as a Game Master / Dungeon Master / Storyteller.

And I hope you’ll take a second to read about his story and help him out.

Best of luck to you, Owen, and happy puzzling, friends.

The ORCAS: The Oscars of the Crossword World!

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Constructors are doing incredible things with crosswords, so it’s fitting that there’s an award show dedicated to the hardworking cruciverbalists of the world and their marvelously devious creations.

Originally called The Oryx Awards or the Oryxes, The ORCAS (an anagram of OSCAR) celebrate crossword excellence. For the 13th edition of the event, the team at Diary of a Crossword Fiend have lined up some seriously impressive puzzles and puzzlers.

Be sure to check out the full list of nominees and cast your votes! Here are the categories:

  • Best Easy Crossword
  • Best Themed Crossword
  • Best Themeless Crossword
  • Best Sunday-Sized Crossword
  • Best Clue
  • Best Tournament Crossword
  • Best Contest Crossword
  • Best Variety Crossword
  • Best Midi Crossword
  • Constructor of the Year

Voting closes at midnight ET on Monday, February 17 (President’s Day).

Image courtesy of the World Wildlife Fund.

I was very pleased to see a few favorite puzzles of mine make the cut (as well as a clue for CHARLIE BUCKET that melted my brain with its cleverness).

I also enjoyed checking out many of the nominees that hadn’t crossed my path. (Here’s a link to the publicly available puzzles nominated.)

Oh, and if you’d like to make sure YOUR favorites get included next year, here’s a link for 2025 nominations for next year’s edition of the ORCAS.

Good luck to all the creative contenders and happy solving to everyone checking out the nominees!

Constructors, What’s Your Salomon Number?

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I’m a nerd.

I know that probably comes as a huge shock to you, fellow puzzler. Positively astonishing that a guy who has spent over twenty years making puzzles — more than ten writing about them here — and even more years running D&D games, LARPs, escape rooms, and murder mystery dinners is a nerd.

But that’s the truth.

And as a nerd, I love watching people quantify things in strange ways. Weird units of measurement like smoots, or how FEMA uses whether local Waffle Houses are open to determine the severity of natural disasters, or the Muta Scale used by wrestling fans to determine how bloody a wrestling bout is.

So when a recent Puzzmo crossword namedropped the Salomon number, I immediately wanted to know more.

Created by crossword constructor and super cool website owner Quiara Vasquez, the Salomon Number is named in honor of Nancy Salomon, a prolific and influential crossword constructor whose generosity, mentorship, and creativity still shapes the world of crosswords today.

Akin to the Bacon Number (how many steps it takes to link someone to Kevin Bacon through shared performances) and the Erdos Number (how many steps it takes to link someone to Paul Erdos through co-authored papers), the Salomon Number represents how many steps it takes to link someone to Nancy Salomon through collaborative puzzling.

Nancy Salomon collaborated with over forty constructors over the years, so there’s a very healthy talent pool to build a Salomon Number through.

You’re welcome to play the game mentally, but if you need a helping hand, Alex Boisvert has created an automated system for generating Salomon Numbers!

A visual graph of the Salomon Number network.

I tested it by searching for several of my very favorite puzzle people.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Los Angeles Times crossword editor and puzzle badass Patti Varol had a Salomon Number of 2, thanks to a collaboration with Matt Skoczen.

Crossword gentleman Doug Peterson had a Salomon Number of 3, linked by Joon Pahk and Brendan Emmett Quigley.

As I explored the database, it quickly became apparent how small a world crosswords can be — despite all the wonderful new voices entering the field over the last few years — so I started to wonder…

What’s the largest Salomon Number in the system?

I started with the celebrity constructors during the 75th anniversary celebration of The New York Times a few years ago.

Weird Al Yankovic’s number was 4. A good start. But this quickly petered out, as many of those celebrities were paired with veteran constructors with strong Salomon Numbers.

I pored over the list for familiar names to see their scores. Gaby Weidling’s number was 5, which was the highest I’d seen so far.

But I was surprised to find some prolific cruciverbalists in the database with no Salomon Number at all. With so many indie crossword outlets, there’s a chance there are collaborations that aren’t included in the current database, so there’s always the possibility of a successful search later.

(I also couldn’t resist doing a little sleuthing myself to see if I could uncover connections that weren’t in the database. Nothing yet, but I definitely can’t resist more digging later.)

But as constructors collaborate and innovate going forward, it’s going to be fascinating to watch this network continue to expand and complicate.

Make sure to check out Quiara’s post, which dives deeper into Salomon Numbers and even ponders Bacon-Erdos-Salomon Numbers!

Happy puzzling, everyone!

A New Medium for Optical Illusions: Quilting?

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Optical illusions are puzzles for the eye, a visual treat that tricks you into seeing things that aren’t there. These inspired bits of perceptual trickery can fool you into thinking near is far, big is small, or two dimensions are really three.

The advent of computers has helped push the boundaries of optical illusions, with eye-catching tessellations and visual effects that confuse the eye into thinking they see moving objects or impossible figures.

This makes it all the more impressive when people can accomplish the same in a purely physical medium.

Like quilting.

People accomplish some amazing designs with quilting, like this labyrinth quilt:

The dimension in this one is fantastic. (Though the puzzle nerd in me must point out that it’s not exactly solvable. Even to a minotaur.)

And then there’s this eye-popping wonder:

I can only imagine the amount of work required to get all of those squares cut and positioned the right way to create that bulging illusion in the middle of the checkerboard pattern. Talk about ambitious!

Quilts like those above are incredible efforts. But they feel doable. They feel natural when you look at them, even as they wow you with their exacting detail.

But nothing has amazed me quite as thoroughly as this glitch quilt pattern designed by Modern Groove Quilts.

The precision and color play required to create this illusion is a mathematical wonder.

It’s literally hard to look at! My eyes keep protectively sliding away from the design just to prevent my brain from struggling with it.

It feels like my computer screen is malfunctioning.

Using a rug as a backdrop is one thing, but in the wild, where nature is crisp and clear and the quilt appears blurry, it’s a baffling visual experience.

The only thing I can liken it to? This tattoo that looks blurred but isn’t:

These artistic, handmade optical illusions really show that, computer-assisted or not, it’s the ever-evolving ingenuity of creators that keeps the world full of wonder and creative achievement.

Now everyone, go stare at something boring and rest your eyes for a while.

(Oh, and check out the other patterns available from Modern Groove Quilts!)

Happy puzzling, everyone!