Tag Archives: Puzzlin’ fool

A Mysterious Halloween Music Mashup!

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This month, I’m trying to do one Halloween-themed post every week.

Last week was the 31 Games of October countdown, offering a different scary, eerie, or horror-fueled board game or tabletop roleplaying game to try out.

And for this week’s festive endeavor, I’m resurrecting a spooky musical trivia challenge from almost a decade ago!

This video is the brainchild of musician, artist, and comedian Ali Spagnola. Ali created a masterful mashup of 20 tunes loaded with Halloween spirit! Can you name all 20 songs?

I confess, I’m a little disappointed that Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” didn’t make the cut, but otherwise, this is awesome.

And while we’re enjoying Halloween tunes, here’s another delightful musical offering. This one comes from D&D player, DM, singer, and content creator Ginny Di:

Did any of your Halloween favorites appear among the unnamed 20 songs in Ali’s mashup? Let us know in the comments below! We’d love to hear from you.

Donate to a Worthy Cause with Power Word Meal!

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There are always worthwhile charitable efforts going on in the world of puzzles and games, and that’s true in the roleplaying game community as well.

Will of DnD Shorts is partnering with the United Nations’ Share the Meal program for a charity promotion called Power Word Meal, a charity venture with a simple, yet very important edict: no child should go hungry.

Every 85 cents donated means 1 meal given to someone in need. A $40 donation is FIFTY meals.

Tabletop game designers from all over the world are helping amplify the reach of this project, spreading the word across social media and contributing to a special gift for donors.

And there is a bonus for any RPG enthusiasts who donate:

Everyone who donates to this campaign can receive a free PDF bundle including an epic one-shot adventure and a new playable species for Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons, letting you and those you love play the heroes in your games that you are in real life. You are saving real lives while forging bonds and memories across the game table.

Please click this link for more information, and if you’re an RPG fan, just use your email to sign up for alerts, follow the instructions, and share the PDF receipt of your donation to receive your free PDF bundle.

And for those unfamiliar with the world of tabletop RPGs, you might be wondering about the origins of the name Power Word Meal.

There are a series of spells in Dungeons & Dragons based on the idea that you’ve learned a word of power, and that by speaking that single word, you can cause a magical effect. Power Word Stun, Power Word Blind, and most famously, Power Word Kill, are terribly dangerous, terribly effective spells.

Which makes it genuinely lovely to see that idea turned on its head with Power Word Meal, spreading the idea that we DO have the power to help others. Not with a magic word of eldritch might, but with a few clicks, a few screen taps, a few dollars, a few moments of our time.

So please cast Power Word Meal with us and make the lives of some deserving strangers better.

Thank you, and happy spellcasting, everyone!

PuzzCulture Book Review: Words Apart by Aimee Lucido

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Welcome to PuzzCulture Book Reviews!

All of the books discussed and/or reviewed in PCBR articles are either directly or indirectly related to the world of puzzling, and hopefully you’ll find something to tickle your literary fancy in this entry or the entries to come.

Let’s get started!

The subject of today’s book review is Words Apart by Aimee Lucido, illustrated by Phillippa Corcutt and Rachael Corcutt, intended for ages 8-12.

Olive and Mattie are sisters, two years apart, but in the same grade. While Olive expresses herself with an impressive vocabulary and a love of wordplay, Mattie struggles with reading but finds comfort expressing herself through cartoons, sketches, and comic strips.

But this once-inseparable duo soon find themselves at a crossroads, as family dynamics, crushes, the pressures of schoolwork, and Mattie’s distrust after years of bullying drive a wedge between them. Is this sisterly friendship broken, or can they find a way to bridge their differences again?

Words Apart manages to encompass so much of the school experience without feeling like Lucido is working her way down a checklist. Each conflict feels natural, each misunderstanding and misstep feels realistic, and the snowballing effect of all these changes adds real drama to the story.

And yet, despite heavy topics and sad moments, this book is so fun.

Using the twin narrative styles of comic book art for Mattie and poetic layouts dappled with linguistic playfulness for Olive tells the reader so much about each character so quickly, they feel like long-time acquaintances, not brand-new characters.

As a dyed-in-the-wool word nerd myself, Olive’s penchant for wild vocabulary and linguistic invention was a delight.

The inclusion of three of Olive’s crosswords revealed her preoccupations and state of mind in a unique way, making them an integral part of the ongoing story and not just a puzzly gimmick. (Sadly, mere gimmickry is often the case with novels that involve puzzle elements, so this was a welcome change of pace.)

I also found Mattie’s desire to express herself in other ways really compelling, and her distrust of the world and outcast outlook resonated with me. Who can’t empathize with feeling alone and misunderstood at that age?

The sisters manage to be so very similar in their passions and desire for expression, and so wonderfully different in believable, meaningful ways. Their fights — both small and big — felt so REAL, it captured the sibling experience, that energy where you can be at odds one minute, but then united the next.

Even when I was younger, I rarely felt seen by literature, YA or otherwise. I could enjoy the stories, and sympathize or empathize with protagonists my age, but I never felt represented. So for Words Apart to come barreling out of nowhere and knock me over was both a treat and something to be savored. It would have been a joy to read this when I was young.

This is a family drama, a coming-of-age story, a wordplay lover’s delight, and a young artist’s inspiration all in one. Words Apart is something quite special.

The book will be released on October 7th, but you are welcome to preorder it now through Aimee’s website or various online booksellers.

But that’s not all!

To coincide with the book’s release date, Aimee will be hosting two launch events, one on each coast!

If you’re on the East Coast, you’re welcome to join Aimee on Sunday, October 5th at 5 PM at Books of Wonder, 42 West 17th Street in New York, New York to commemorate the book’s release.

And if you’re on the West Coast, be sure to visit Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California on Saturday, October 11th from 4 PM to 5:30 PM!

I wish Aimee, Phillippa, and Rachael great success with this story. It was a pleasure to experience it early.

Happy reading AND puzzling, everybody!

The National Toy Hall of Fame Finalists Are Here! Still Time to Vote!

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This year’s contenders for the National Toy Hall of Fame Class of 2025 have been whittled down to 12 finalists, and the competition is fierce.

You’ve got classic toys from across the decades (Furby, spirograph, Star Wars lightsaber, Tickle Me Elmo), representatives from more physical activities (scooter, cornhole), board games (Battleship, Catan, Connect Four, and Trivial Pursuit), and even materials kids play with (slime, snow).

The idea of “play” is represented in so many different ways across these 12 finalists, and it really encompasses just how vast and varied play is, how much imagination and expression and creativity are reflected in all sorts of different childhood experiences.

Personally, I’m rooting for the lightsaber, Trivial Pursuit, and snow to make the cut. I’ve been a Star Wars fan since I was 2. Trivial Pursuit was the first trivia game I can remember playing (even if it was an edition intended for players way older than I was at the time). And snow is so fundamental to winter play — sledding, snowmen, snowball fights, DAYS OFF FROM SCHOOL TO PLAY — that it’s surprising it hasn’t already been inducted.

(Though I suspect Catan, Connect Four, and Tickle Me Elmo will make the cut instead of some of my faves.)

And voting is still open for another day.

Yes, while the final determinations are made by the National Toy Hall of Fame’s National Selection Advisory Committee — ooh, so formal! — the three toys that receive the most public votes will be submitted for consideration alongside the top three submissions from the Selection Committee.

Which of these twelve contenders would you like to see join such playtime luminaries as Lite-Brite, My Little Pony, the stick, the Atari 2600, and the Rubik’s Cube? Let me know in the comments section below! I’d love to hear from you.

And while you’re at it, tell me what toys you think should be in the National Toy Hall of Fame!

Overlaps: TV/Book Edition

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One of my favorite go-to trivia games is Overlaps. Basically, the answer to the trivia question is a combination of two titles. You can use movies, celebrity names, anything really.

And I thought I’d share one of my Overlaps games with you today, fellow puzzler.

Here’s an example to get you started:

A hardworking midwestern mom is mistaken for an 11 year old orphan girl and goes to Avonlea.

And the answer is: Roseanne of Green Gables

Can you unravel these descriptions that overlap a TV show title and a book title?

Let’s find out!

A look at the day-to-day work lives of Thought Police working for Big Apple Brother.

A love quadrangle and an amateur play performance cross paths with a popular shape-named game show involving getting a partner to say the right word.

A talking horse says one thing and means his mother in this curious tale of trying to avoid fate.

Firemen, police, and EMTs in Los Angeles find themselves in a mental institution under the thumb of a tyrannical nurse.

Time and relative dimensions in space are bent by a curious visitor to a disfunctional middle-aged couple’s home after a university faculty party.

456 players compete for a grand prize as the political climate of Westeros changes forever.

With a sword and chakram in hand, a former marauder shares her story of balancing life in high school and her new royal duties.

Wacky hijinks ensue as a man shares the story of courting a famous author of fairy tales and nursery rhymes.

A high schooler with grand ambitions and a habit of stopping time to talk to the camera endures struggles with mental health after her aspiring post-college writing career fails to materialize.

Piloting giant mechanical battle suits to battle angels, the Pevensie children liberate a magical land from the White Witch.

A programming startup company deals with funding issues and a dependence on drugs to navigate turbulent personal and professional relationships in New York City after World War II.

A video diary to a newborn baby from her older sibling serves as the golden ticket to a peculiar candymaker’s legacy.

The misadventures of a young man and his scuffling siblings in a fictional Midlands town in the 1800s as issues of women’s rights, marriage, and political reform are explored.

Two secret service agents seek dangerous magical artifacts while listening to audio tapes recorded by a young woman who committed suicide.

Travel to a curious locale where dreams can come true, particularly for the one woman who lives there, waiting for her people to return for her.

A sharp-tongued and satirical look at the news is presented by a two-inch boy who looks just like a mouse.

How many did you unravel? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you.

Create Puzzly Art Line by Line!

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You’ve heard of Logic Art, but let me ask you, fellow puzzler… have you heard of Word Seek Art?

Please allow me to introduce you to the world of LexaPics.

LexaPics are the creation of Vasiliki Papadopoulou, who designs specially curated word seek grids and sorted word lists to create works of art when solved!

The grid is divided into different cells, and you get a word list for each cell, with different parts of the word list organized by color.

And as you find your words, the work of art slowly emerges line by line.

As you can see, Vasiliki has created grids inspired by Vermeer and Magritte, as well as grids inspired by iconic celebrities like Marilyn Monroe.

From Vasiliki’s post on Reddit:

Lexa comes from Greek word Lexis λέξη (since i am from Greece) that means word and Pics as pictures, but also a playful nod to “pixels” — the building blocks of modern digital art.

Not only does he have a Kickstarter campaign for LexaPics launching soon, but he’s actually created an Instructables page for anyone who would like to make their own LexaPic!

I love seeing the creative ways people put new spins on classic puzzles, and this is both beautiful and so cleverly accessible.

You can click this link to check out his Kickstarter, as well as the homepage for LexaPics here.

I look forward to seeing what sort of wonderful imagery emerges from his word seeks next!