Tag Archives: puzzly event

The World Cryptic Crossword Championship Is Almost Here!

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Are you a fan of cryptic crosswords and looking for a challenge that suits your skill set and tricky puzzle of choice?

Then you should consider testing your puzzly mettle in this year’s World Cryptic Crossword Championship!

Debuting on the weekend of June 28th and 29th, the WCCC is composed of two events: an individual online championship on the 28th (which is open to any and all competitors) and a World Cup-style offline team championship format on the 29th.

The individual championship involves two cryptic grids, each of which must be solved within 30 minutes. Click here to register!

But please be aware that you’re competing in IST — Indian Standard Time — so you’ll have to adjust your schedule accordingly to have a chance at the cash prize for the top three solvers!

The World Cup Final is being held in person in London on the 29th, and consists of two rounds. The first puzzle will whittle down the field of competitors to the four top contestants from four different countries, who will then compete onstage to solve the final puzzle.

Some of the World Cup competitors have been invited for their past puzzly achievements, but there is an offline preliminary for anyone seeking to try their hand (and can be in London on the day in question to compete).

This looks like my scribblings while solving a cryptic… minus the wedding ring, that is.

I’m definitely not the fastest cryptic crossword solver, so I’m not sure I’ll try my hand at this competition… this year. But if it returns next year, I might just shoot my shot.

Cryptic crossword solving involves many of the same skills as American-style crosswords, but there’s also the wordplay element that makes it quite a different experience for those unaccustomed to that puzzly style.

For a good primer on getting into cryptic crosswords, check out this breakdown of cryptic-style cluing from our friends at Penny Dell Puzzles.

Will you be trying your hand at competitive cryptic crossword solving, fellow puzzlers? Let us know in the comments section below, we’d love to hear from you!

A Puzzle Party for Reproductive Justice!

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There’s a long history of activism and advocacy through puzzles. Women of Letters, Grids for Good, Queer Qrosswords, These Puzzles Fund Abortion… these are just a few prominent examples of constructors and creators donating their time and puzzly efforts to benefit the world at large.

And the wonderful team at Frontera Fund are using puzzles to help raise awareness next Thursday, May 8th with their Puzzle Party event!

Cactus Valley Art in Harlingen, Texas, will be hosting the event.

There will be puzzles, community support, and discussions of the modern abortion access landscape and the challenges involved in ensuring that women and those assigned-female-at-birth have the support and resources they need.

This is a wonderful way to help get the word out. I hope that you’ll participate in the event, either by attending in person, by following through social media, or by donating to the cause!

I’d also like to take the opportunity to shout out These Puzzles Fund Abortion 5 . This year marks the fifth edition of the project, collecting 23 puzzles centered around social and reproductive justice themes, all for a minimum donation of $25.

If you donate $50 or more, you will also receive the puzzle packs for the previous four years of TPFA.

Whether you support Frontera Fund or the five important charities involved in These Puzzles Fund Abortion, I thank you for your time, your donations, and your participation in helping protect and provide healthcare for others.

Together, puzzlers can change the world.

The 2024 GCHQ Christmas Challenge Launches Tomorrow!

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One government agency in England celebrates Christmas a little bit differently than most.

The GCHQ — or Government Communications Headquarters — provides security and intelligence services for the British government. Back when they were known as GC&CS — Government Code and Cypher School — they were responsible for funding Bletchley Park and its successes cracking the German “Enigma” code during World War II.

And now, they provide one of the coolest and puzzliest challenges of the year, designed for solvers aged eleven to eighteen to test their skills, hoping to inspire the next generation of puzzle solvers.

Yes, it’s time once again for the GCHQ Christmas card.

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A look at 2021’s GCHQ Christmas Card.

We provided detailed breakdowns of their Christmas cards in 2016 and 2021, and if you’d like a sample of the GCHQ Christmas Challenge, they have an archive of the last three years ready for you to solve!

The 2024 edition of the GCHQ Christmas Challenge launches tomorrow, Wednesday December 11th for the general public. (Schools were able to register for early access to the puzzles, complete with lesson-planning materials, which is very cool.)

Here’s what the GCHQ has to say about the event:

At GCHQ, we love creating puzzles and breaking codes. That’s why every year we create the GCHQ Christmas Challenge, a series of fiendish brainteasers and puzzles, designed by our very own team of codebreakers. It encourages children aged 11-18 to think laterally and work as a team, as well as showcasing some of the skills they might need to become a spy.

The puzzles are not designed to be solved alone, and each student will bring something different to the challenge. At GCHQ, we believe the right mix of minds enables us to solve seemingly impossible problems.

I’ve always been impressed with what festive puzzly efforts GCHQ brings each year, and I can’t wait to see what the 2024 edition has in store for solvers.

So, fellow puzzlers, do you accept this year’s Christmas Challenge? Let us know in the comments section below!

Answers to the Punderful Halloween Costume Game!

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Halloween has come and gone, but the glorious puns remain.

That’s right, today we’ve got the answers to our latest edition of the Punderful Halloween Costume Game!

Let’s take a look at those punny answers!

#1

She’s the travel bug!

[Image courtesy of Haley Dodds/weregoingtomakeit.]

 

#2

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They’re party animals!

 

#3

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She’s Card-E Bee (aka Cardi B)!

[Image courtesy of Samara/silly_samy.]

 

#4

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It’s The Devil Wears Prada!

[Image courtesy of Angela Jeanneau.]

 

#5

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They’re candy rappers!

 

#6

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She’s Judy Garland!

[Image courtesy of Hannah Madeleine Goodman/hannahsopranah.]

 

#7

puncostume2021 07

She’s a bear-ista!

[Image courtesy of MILI/milibabes.]

 

#8

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She’s Space Jam!

[Image courtesy of Soriah Sobbizadeh/sobbi.insurance.]

 

#9

puncostume2021 09

Meat and Greet!

[Image courtesy of Sarah Pearce/sarahcrowe27.]

 

#10

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She’s spoiled milk!

[Image courtesy of MILI/milibabes.]

How many did you get? Have you seen any great punny costumes we missed? Let us know!

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Trick or treating is over, but there’s no trick here. Treat yourself to some delightful deals on puzzles. You can find them on the Home Screen for Daily POP Crosswords and Daily POP Word Search! Check them out!

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Tomorrow Is Free RPG Day!

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Whenever I write about roleplaying games or Dungeons & Dragons in the blog — which isn’t all that often, given that it’s a niche activity, even in puzzle and gaming circles — I’m always encouraged by the fact that each post seems to inspire one or two people to reach out and ask for more details.

How does it work, exactly? How do you play a game with no game board? Does it have to be dungeons? Does it have to be dragons? How do I get started?

And there’s no better time to get started than right now, because tomorrow, October 16th, is Free RPG Day.

[Image courtesy of Lewis Brown.]

The concept behind Free RPG Day is simple. All over the world (but mostly in the United States), local game shops, hobby shops, and other outlets team up with RPG publishers to distribute new, fresh, and most importantly, free material for all sorts of different roleplaying games, systems, and settings.

Not only can you receive a wealth of new ideas and playing options in one fell swoop, but it serves as a terrific way to meet fellow roleplayers and build a community of game enthusiasts.

You can click this helpful link to find local spots near you that are participating in Free RPG Day, and I would highly recommend searching online for local game shops, game cafes, and even community centers like your local public library to see who is participating.

These shops will often be running demonstrations of games, tutorials on how to play, hosting raffles and contests, and offering terrific sale prices to encourage you to find the game that fits you best.

Every year, dozens of companies get involved, not only to encourage the growth of the game world, but to promote their own products. And what better way is there to get people hooked than with free exclusive materials begging them to try out this brand new world of play?

If you’re a Facebook or Twitter user, Free RPG Day has accounts on both platforms, and there are hashtags you can search to get more details on participating companies AND locations.

The world of roleplaying games is so much deeper than just the medieval hack-and-slash that is depicted on TV. Sure, there are swords to wield, monsters to fight, zombies to elude, but there are also gorgeous, peaceful games.

For instance, there’s Green Ronin Publishing’s Blue Rose AGE, set in a wild forest as full of spirits and beauty as it is potential danger. For Free RPG Day, they’re releasing a quickstart version of the game to give you a chance to sample its unique charm and play style.

The folks at 9th Level Games are publishing a collection of different indie RPGs, offering you a sampler of all sorts of play styles and settings all in one place.

[Image courtesy of GameZEnter.]

Other companies are offering sci-fi and steampunk and colorful animal adventurers, everything from Japanese anime-inspired adventure to Lovecraft-inspired World War II intrigue.

Here’s hoping you venture out this weekend and find something great. Roleplaying games offer a unique form of puzzling, gaming, and storytelling, and this could mark the start of something exciting and new. Roll the dice. Give it a shot.

And if you have any questions about roleplaying games in general or specific games and settings in particular, please let us know! We’d be happy to point you in the right direction.

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Halloween is almost here, and we have some spookily good deals for you to check out. You can find them on the Home Screen for Daily POP Crosswords and Daily POP Word Search! Check them out!

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The Boswords Themeless League Returns Soon (Plus Some Puzzle Activism!)

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boswords new

The Boswords summer crossword tournament has been a highlight of the puzzly calendar for years now, but during the pandemic, they also made a splash with their Fall and Spring Themeless Leagues.

And registration is now open for the Boswords 2021 Fall Themeless League!

If you’re unfamiliar, the Fall Themeless League is a clever weekly spin on traditional crossword tournament-style solving. Instead of cracking through a number of puzzles in a single day (or two), the Fall Themeless League consists of one themeless crossword each week, scored based on your accuracy and how fast you complete the grid.

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Each week’s puzzle only has one grid, but there are three sets of clues, each representing a different difficulty level for solvers. Smooth is the least challenging, Choppy is the middle ground, and Stormy is the most challenging. (When solvers register to participate, they’ll choose the difficulty level that suits them best.)

Sign up, and you get two months of puzzly fun running through October and November!

Plus, they’ve already announced a dynamite lineup of constructors for this season’s puzzles. Here’s the full list: Evan Birnholz, Kameron Austin Collins, Mollie Cowger, Debbie Ellerin, Leslie Rogers, Quiara Vasquez, Byron Walden, Nam Jin Yoon, and the team of Angela Olson Halsted and Doug Peterson.

There’s a terrific mix of established names and up-and-coming constructors there, and I expect the season to be a terrific exploration of the best of themeless crosswords.

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The project is once again being spearheaded by the dynamic duo of John Lieb and Andrew Kingsley, and Brad Wilber will be the puzzle editor.

It’s only $30 to enter as an individual participant ($40 for Pairs), but there’s also a student/discount level for participants who may find the $30 price tag too steep. (There are also puzzle packets from the previous Themeless Leagues available for $10 apiece.)

The Boswords Seasonal Themeless League events have not only opened my eyes to the creativity and skill required for themeless crosswords, but they’ve become some of my favorite parts of the puzzly calendar.

Be sure to click this link for more information, sample puzzles, instructional videos, and more.

And you can check out our thoughts on both the 2020 Fall Themeless League and the 2021 Spring Themeless League for more info as well!

Puzzling and charitable acts often intersect. This is true of the Boswords team with their wonderful discounted option for participants, as well as their donation to Boston-based charities from the proceeds of their summer tournament

And while we’re discussing the intersection of puzzling and doing good, it’s worth mentioning that there are numerous examples of crossword projects working hand-in-hand with social activism for the greater good.

Queer Qrosswords and Women of Letters are just a few examples. All of them provide puzzle bundles for you to enjoy if you show them that you’ve donated to worthwhile charities and other helpful groups and causes.

But there’s another one you might not have heard about: These Puzzles Fund Abortion.

This puzzle packet, originally created to raise funds for the Baltimore Abortion Fund, contains the work of over a dozen constructors, and serves as a marvelous incentive to donate to abortion funds all over the country.

Please click this link hosted by Just Gridding for more information. It’s a terrific way to do some good.

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Have you checked out our special summer deals yet? You can find them on the Home Screen for Daily POP Crosswords and Daily POP Word Search! Check them out!

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