A 9-letter word for candy and costume-fueled fun.

Posted on October 31, 2012 by gmdirect

Greetings, fellow puzzle solvers and enigma enthusiasts! Happy Halloween to you and yours!

I had a lot of fun a few weeks ago scouring the Internet for pictures of puzzle-centric tattoos, and with today being the most costume-y of holidays (unless you dress up for Bastille Day or the Fourth of July or something), I thought I’d wander back out into the wilds of the Internet and see what kind of puzzly costumes are out there.

Naturally, I would be remiss if I didn’t post at least one picture of the most famous of the puzzly supervillains from pop culture, so here is your prescribed dose of Batman villain The Riddler, nabbed from deviantart.com’s Dubya87.

Now, when you’re doing any sort of puzzle-focused image searching on the Internet, you’re bound to get jigsaws as well as pen-and-paper puzzles.

There were numerous examples of couples, pairs, and groups going as interlocking jigsaw puzzle pieces, but that’s not really the sort of puzzle costume I was going for. Nonetheless, this jigsaw puzzle costume rendition of Van Gogh’s Starry Night is really impressive, so I’ll share it with the puzzle world at large anyway.

But let’s get down to business. Puzzle costume business, which I daresay is the best kind of business, outside of being paid to eat ice cream.

Astonishingly, there’s simply not a lot of crossword-themed costume play going on. I know! I was surprised too! I did, however, find these crossword grid-patterned pajamas, which could easily double as a costume, or examwear for a tardy college student.

From crosswords, it’s a quick hop to Scrabble costumes, which seem to be much more popular!

This was my favorite of the “replicating the board” costumes I found.

And, naturally, there’s an awkward mass-produced costume along the same lines, which looks both uncomfortable and a bit too pillowy for my tastes.

From there, we get into the more creative interpretations. This woman seems inordinately proud of her Scrabble board dress.

This homemade dress is absolutely adorable. I only wish I’d been able to find a better picture.

And, as above, there’s a “sassy” mass-produced version of the Scrabble dress.

(There’s a more scandalous variation on that costume as well, but for propriety’s sake, let’s ignore that and move onward.)

Sudoku! While not as popular a costume choice as Scrabble, I still had little trouble tracking down several choice examples of sudokuriffic costumes. (Though I really doubt that’s a puzzle of three-star difficulty.)

I’m not sure how racially sensitive this guy’s Sudoku accoutrements are, but it certainly adds some flair to his interactive Sudoku board.

And then there’s this guy! Kudos on finding an appropriately-scaled giant pencil for your Sudoku board. (In case you’re trying to solve his costume, as far as I can tell his forehead is 8, and his mouth 4 or 5. Good luck!)

And, as before, here’s the weird mass-produced costume version for Sudoku. I respect that they kept it to a 4×4 grid, but I still can’t imagine anyone wearing it.

Now, when it comes to puzzles and puzzly games, it’s hard to imagine a more visual one than the Rubik’s Cube. Simple shape, great colors, and instantly recognizable. Somewhere, there are photos of my oldest sister in a Rubik’s Cube costume. (Had I been able to locate them, I would absolutely have posted them here.)

But do not fear. There are plenty of marvelous Rubik’s Cube costume pics on the Internet, and I’m happy to post a few of my favorites.

This one is outstanding. Not only is the center row offset, but I’m pretty sure you can actually spin those rows!

(I imagine it’s quite difficult getting him in and out of the car. I had a similarly boxy Optimus Prime costume as a child and got wedged in the backseat for at least ten minutes.)

This one is undoubtedly an improvised dorm room costume, but it’s still terrific.

I think the young lady’s expression is what really sells this one. She’s obviously proud of getting three yellow squares on a single side.

Okay, I promise that this is the last weird mass-produced costume. But it’s so bizarre and mod that I couldn’t NOT post it. I mean, look at that hat!

I’ve saved the best two for last. The first will instantly ring bells for anyone who has played the puzzletastic Professor Layton video game series. It’s the Professor himself, alongside Luke and Flora!

And, in conclusion, here’s my favorite puzzle-themed costume, and the one that actually inspired the entry.

Yup, two Tetris pieces. Hilarious and very sweet all at once.

Happy Halloween, puzzle fiends of all ages! Keep calm, puzzle on, enjoy your candy, and I’ll catch you next time.

Your Palindromic Commentary on the News

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Eric Berlin

Wonder if Sununu’s fired now?

(via Francis Heaney)

I spy with my puzzler’s eye…

Posted on October 25, 2012 by gmdirect

You know, it occurs to me that many of the skills in the standard puzzle-solver’s arsenal would serve you well in the high-stakes cutthroat world of Hollywood-style espionage.

Now, I’m not saying that a facility with sudoku means you can avoid rockets in your Aston Martin or that mad crossword skills will help you foil a supervillain’s million-strong chocolate soldier army preparing to overwhelm Switzerland and secure their private banks for him/herself.

But there is definitely some overlap in the mental dexterity department.

Think about it. Beyond the numerous trivial bits and bobs of information that are squirreled away in the heads of puzzlers that could prove utterly essential in a pinch — the capital of Burkina Faso? Why that’s Ouagadougou! — there are plenty of spy-centric situations that call for a puzzly knack.

There’s nothing like a Rubik’s Cube to teach you patience and spatial reasoning. A facility with anagrams wordplay suggests strong alternate thinking and deduction is at work (and no doubt helps with timely quips and tension-defusing asides).

Who better than a cryptograms whiz to crack the villain’s secret code? Or a Cut the Rope/Angry Birds fan to quickly puzzle out where to throw an apple to topple a ladder that then catapults a ficus into the air that hits a nameless goon square on the noggin and who then hits the giant red release button on your cell door and sets you free?

While neutralizing a bomb with a timer steadily counting down to destruction might seem tense, it’s nothing new to the iron will and sure hand of a person who has navigated the harrowing “you’re near the top of the screen” escalation of music in a high-level game of Tetris. If your nerves can take that, you’re ready for anything.

I don’t know about you, but I’m thoroughly convinced. In fact, I might just stop the blog entry right here and start penning the whimsically thrilling adventures of Trent Puzzlington, Agent of PuzzleNation. First installment: The Rebus of Doom!

But until then, keep calm, puzzle on — the puzzle community, heck, even the world might need your services one day! — and I’ll catch you next time.