Tag Archives: Wordplay

Deb Amlen, the Whimsical Wordnik of “Wordplay,” Announces Retirement

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This morning, loyal readers of the Wordplay column in The New York Times were greeted by the news that Deb Amlen is retiring on January 2nd, 2026.

In case you somehow didn’t know, Deb is a talented crossword constructor, but these days, she’s better known for her role as the head writer and senior editor of Wordplay, the crossword blog and educational/humor column associated with The New York Times crossword puzzle.

You can read her thoughts in today’s Wordplay column, but please allow me to share a snippet of her thoughts from an accompanying Facebook post:

After more than 4,400 bylines and millions of words, mostly in the right order, I can honestly say that this has been the best job I’ve ever had. I’ve had the honor of working with some of the greatest journalists and editors in the business. It has been a wild ride, and as the great David Carr once advised, I have enjoyed every caper I’ve ever pulled at the company: the Trans-Atlantic cruise, the curling adventure, the rogue Crosswords Live. All of it.

…

Hopefully, after an extended period of drooling on myself to get over the deadlines, I can also continue to be part of the puzzle community in some way, because you all are the kindest, most generous, most funny people I know. Also extremely attractive.

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As an ambassador into the world of puzzles, Deb’s warmth and playfulness have been the perfect counterbalance for new and inexperienced solvers to the sometimes daunting prospect of tackling a New York Times crossword. Her columns are always funny, more than a little self-deprecating, and very complimentary to each day’s constructor.

I’ve interacted with Deb a few times over the years. I interviewed her for the blog back in 2020, and we had several friendly conversations at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Her enthusiasm for not just puzzles, but for meeting other puzzle fans, is unmatched, and even during a quick “gotta run!” visit, you come away with a smile.

I’m sad to see her go, but I’m glad to know that she’ll be working on new passion projects, traveling, and leaving the Wordplay column in the very capable hands of Sam Corbin and Caitlin Lovinger.

As one of the public faces of The New York Times Crossword, Deb often found herself the recipient of public feeling toward the crossword. Over the years, she has become rather infamous for reminding people that SHE just writes about the puzzles. “I didn’t do it” has become a catchphrase.

Well, Deb, it was true the vast majority of the time, but allow me to say, when it comes to making puzzles more welcoming and accessible to solvers, you absolutely DID do it.

Thank you for everything, Deb.

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 Secret Wordplay of Spellcasting

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We love a bit of wordplay around here. We get it in riddles, crossword clues, brain teasers, and the simple shameless joy of a well-executed pun.

I’m sure plenty of roleplaying game enthusiasts have encountered puns and wordplay in their travels. Sometimes it’s a funny reference or an offhand remark or even a character’s name that inspires groans or chuckles.

But some folks are unaware that there are puns lurking not just at the D&D table… but in the very mechanics of the game Dungeons & Dragons itself.

One of the interesting aspects of spellcasting in D&D is the inclusion of spell components. These are actual physical materials the character must carry on them and use in order to properly perform a given spell. When combined with verbal cues or physical actions, the material components help the spellcaster summon the magic to life.

Some material components are quite thematically appropriate. You need bat guano and sulfur — two ingredients in gunpowder — to produce Fireball. To cast Lightning Bolt requires either a glass rod or a piece of amber, plus a piece of fur to rub it with… just as you would in a science lab to make static electricity.

A pinch of sand for Sleep, a drop of molasses for Slow, a bit of copper wire for Message.

Looks like another tragic instance of out-sorcery…

But if you look at the material components used for some spells, you can’t help but notice a jokey recurring theme.

For instance, the material component for the spell Detect Thoughts is a copper piece, a coin of small denomination. The spell literally requires a penny for one’s thoughts.

To cast Confusion, it requires three nutshells. You know, like the ones you’d use in a shell game to make them lose track of the pea they’d just bet on.

All sorts of illusion spells require a bit of fleece or wool. Like the wool you pull over someone’s eyes.

To cast Feeblemind, you need a handful of clay, crystal, or glass spheres. Like the marbles you want your target to lose.

Levitate has several options, but one of them is a simple loop of leather. Like the bootstraps you’re expected to pull yourself up by. (Reinforcing the original meaning of that phrase by proving IT’S TOTAL FANTASY TO ACTUALLY DO SO.)

To cast Tongues, you have to smash a small clay tower or ziggurat. You need to symbolically smash the Tower of Babel.

Passwall requires sesame seeds. Open Sesame, anyone?

Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer gives you the ability to retain additional spells. Its material component is an ivory plaque… because elephants never forget!

Perhaps the silliest is Gust of Wind. It was later changed to require a “tiny leather bellows,” but in different editions of the game, all it requires is a legume seed.

A bean. A bean to give you wind.

I told you earlier that many puns are shameless.

Still, it’s fun to find these little easter eggs tucked away in the D&D rulebook. It shows the playfulness and the level of attention to detail that helps make roleplaying games an immersive escape like none other.

Have you found any wordplay lurking unexpectedly in your games, fellow puzzler? Let me know in the comments section below, I’d love to hear from you!

Farewell, Tom Lehrer.

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The world of puzzles and games is larger than constructors and game designers. There are artists, writers, editors, wordsmiths, hosts, musicians, and influences that help shape puzzles and games in so many different ways. Their efforts enrich and popularize these beloved pastimes, contributing to the world by celebrating wordplay, creativity, and nerdy pursuits.

And sadly, the world grew a little less witty, a little less clever, and a lot less bold and outspoken about so many important topics when Tom Lehrer passed away a few days ago.

It’s hard to know where to begin.

How do you describe the cultural influence of a man whose songs still delight, inform, and push boundaries today, even though he wrote most of them over sixty years ago?

How do you describe a successful musician who walked away from public performance after three brilliant albums — thirty-seven songs, each an intricately-crafted dissection of some aspect of culture, science, or current events, often as poignant and sharp-tongued as they were hilarious — and spent the bulk of his life as a teacher and college professor instead?

How do you describe the genius of a man for whom wordplay flowed as easily as scientific lingo or political commentary, a man who could make you laugh (and think, really think) about nuclear annihilation, questionable post-war government programs, or even the Catholic Church itself?

His influence on pop culture can’t be overestimated. Across generations, his songs educated and inspired, and his legacy is bulletproof. He created songs for The Electric Company, Square One TV, and That Was The Week That Was. (Those shows were decades apart!)

He inspired performers like “Weird Al” Yankovic, and I think his fingerprints are unmistakable on other hilarious and educational projects, like the songs of Randy Rogel for Animaniacs. (Trust me, you can’t listen to “the Multiplication song” from Animaniacs and NOT think of Lehrer’s “New Math”.)

Tom retired from live performance in the late 1960s, having felt like he’d said everything he wanted to say with his music. (Plus, as he famously pointed out, “political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize.”)

But his songs wouldn’t be denied.

Dr. Demento’s radio show brought Lehrer’s work to new ears in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, and Honest2Betsy has brought him to yet another generation’s attention with her videos over the last few years.

His songs are timeless. “The Elements” alone has appeared in Better Call Saul, NCIS, Gilmore Girls, and The Big Bang Theory. (Not to mention Daniel Radcliffe’s famous rendition of the song on The Graham Norton Show, where he called Lehrer his hero. This actually led to Radcliffe starring in the film Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.)

Speaking of “Weird Al,” his New York Times crossword puzzle with constructor Eric Berlin namedropped Tom as part of the grid fill in this pun-heavy collaboration:

And it is a love of wordplay that sparked this tribute today.

Lehrer’s work is absolutely riddled with clever puns, comedic craftsmanship, and playing with the listener’s expectations: all things that great crossword cluing employs.

You can’t listen to songs like “Silent E” or “Without an S” and NOT imagine clues or themes that Lehrer’s linguistic legerdemain could inspire.

Not to mention this gem:

There’s a playfulness there, paired with technique, creativity, and an absolute willingness to bend conventions to their breaking point in order to make something new. How can you not love it?

But wordplay, commentary, and scientific and mathematical literacy weren’t Lehrer’s only gifts to the world.

He claimed to have invented the jello shot while in the military (to skirt rules about alcohol consumption). He wrote the song “Don’t Major in Physics,” which would have been good advice to me in freshman year of college, had I cared to listen.

Image courtesy of warhistoryonline.

And he also made the incredible gesture in 2022 of transferring the music and lyrics for all the songs he had ever written into the public domain. He relinquished the copyright and performing/recording rights for his songs as well, making his music and lyrics free for anyone to use. Downloadable lyric and music files are available on his website.

His statement releasing all his works into the public domain concluded with this note: “This website will be shut down at some date in the not too distant future, so if you want to download anything, don’t wait too long.”

For now, at least, the website remains online.

And it seems so apropos that the man who walked away from music decades ago to share his love of mathematics, science, and teaching with others is also the man who would happily sign away the rights to his music to enrich the lives of others once again.

The humanities and the STEM fields both owe Tom Lehrer a debt that can never be repaid.

The world was blessed with his presence for 97 years, and I have no doubt that his words, his music, and the forceful spirit that infused both will be around for many many years to come.

Farewell, Tom. Thanks for warning us about Shakespeare.

Oh, and for this lovely little ditty:

Crosswords as a Spectator Sport?

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Summer is always a fun time for crossword fans who enjoy a good tournament.

Westwords wrapped up a few weeks ago, as did the first World Cryptic Crossword Championship in London. Boswords is less than a week away, Lollapuzzoola is coming up in August, and the 7th Bryant Park Crossword Tournament not long after in September!

And while discussing the Scripps National Spelling Bee with a friend recently, they asked me, as a puzzle guy, if I thought that crosswords could ever become a spectator sport like that.

While crossword tournaments aren’t currently televised, I happily informed him that crosswords are pretty much already a spectator sport.

Every year, people at the ACPT not only enjoy watching the live-solved final puzzle, but they get commentary from Greg Pliska and Ophira Eisenberg!

Tournament finals are often live-solved in front of their fellow competitors, adding some drama and showmanship to these wonderful puzzly events.

We’re even getting behind-the-scenes videos on the tournaments now, like this one for Westwords:

But in terms of crosswords as a spectator sport, the World Cryptic Crossword Championship took things a step further.

The final round of the tournament wasn’t a live-solved puzzle, it was a single cryptic-style clue. No crossing letters or grid for context. Just the clue, and the competitor only had ten seconds to solve it before the next competitor took their shot.

I’ve never had to solve a puzzle in front of an audience like all the tournament finalists, but I can imagine it’s nerve-wracking. But giving someone a cryptic-style clue with NO context letters and ten seconds to solve it in front of an audience?

Good lord, thank you for the new anxiety nightmare fuel, WCCC.

That being said, it was an entertaining watch, and another step forward for crosswords as a spectator sport:

What do you think, fellow puzzler? Will we be seeing the ACPT or another puzzle tournament on an ESPN sister channel soon? Or perhaps as an Olympic event?

Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you.

The Riddle of the Two Guards

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Hey there, fellow puzzler. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:

Ah yes, the riddle of the two guards. Also known as the two doors puzzle, the two guards/two doors puzzle, and, my personal favorite, that awful crap riddle.

It’s easily the most famous example of a Knights and Knaves logic puzzle, which all work off the idea of individuals who always lie or always tell the truth, and a solver who needs to deduce how to proceed.

I think the best and most colorful presentation of the riddle was in the film Labyrinth, thanks to Jennifer Connolly and some very lovely puppetry:

I’ve always wondered about this riddle. Is there a sign posted that explains the rules? Because otherwise, you’d assume the guard who tells the truth would have to explain the rules…

Unless the one who lies tells you the rules, which are a lie, and it’s a trap and you’re totally screwed!

Geez, this is getting complicated already.

Oh good, I’m not the only one who agonizes over this sort of thing. Image courtesy of Crabgrass Comic.

Let’s assume the rules are fair. There’s a guard who always lies and a guard who always tells the truth, and you need a single question to root out which door is the safe one to enter.

The traditional answer is to ask one guard which door the OTHER guard would say leads out.

But what if one of the guards is INVISIBLE?!

If the guard you asked is the one who lies, then he will lead you astray by telling you (falsely) that the other guard—the truthful guard—will point you towards door B. This makes door A the safe bet.

If the guard you ask is the one who tells the truth, he will tell you (honestly) that the other guard—the lying guard—will point you towards door B. This makes door A the safe bet.

In both cases, the outcome is the same: walk through the opposite door.

Naturally, people have tried to find ways around this.

Some suggest that you ask the guards to walk through their respective doors and report back what they see. I don’t know that this would work, because it’s not clear if the guards would have to follow your orders. Also, we don’t know if certain doom for US would be certain doom for the guards. If they both walk out totally fine, it probably won’t work.

For another option, you can act in typical Dungeons and Dragons-fueled fashion and use what I call the direct approach:

But unfortunately, it misses the meat of the riddle. It’s not just knowing which guard lies and which guard tells the truth, it’s about knowing which door to take as well.

Of course, if you believe the folks at XKCD, there are consequences for cleverness as well:

Although it is a riddle easily given to weasel words and pedantry, it has led to some wonderful comedy.

This joke, for instance, gives us some much-needed backstory to the guards and their current circumstances:

In a similar vein, this one lets us see one guard’s life after clocking out for the day:

I also enjoy this one, which ponders what sort of person would employ a riddle like this as a security measure in the first place:

So I put it to you, fellow puzzler: how would you tackle the riddle of the two guards? Labyrinth style? Barbarian style? Or have you conjured up a different question to ask the guards?

Let us know in the comment section below. We’d love to hear from you!