Tag Archives: Wordplay

Patriarchy, Hanks Thanks, and a Brain Teaser to boot!

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It’s the holiday season, a time for giving. So, what better way is there to celebrate the holidays than to link you to some great puzzles and give you a chance to keep your brain busy?

Master constructor Brendan Emmett Quigley has cooked up quite possibly the most condescending crossword you’ve ever seen! This Buzzfeed-featured tongue-in-cheek take on the patriarchy is great fun but still offers some challenging entries. Check it out!

And while I’m recommending timely crosswords to solve, there’s also a terrific holiday-fueled crossword from constructor George Barany and friends titled “Giving T.Hanks for the Holidays!”

But if crosswords aren’t your puzzly cup of tea, how about a brain teaser?

Give me the next letter in this pattern: D, D, P, V, C, C, D, ?

I borrowed this puzzle from our Thursday post, but there’s nothing wrong with Christmas Eve coming a little early, is there? =)

Enjoy, fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers!

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It’s Follow-Up Friday: Star Wars edition!

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Welcome to Follow-Up Friday!

By this time, you know the drill. Follow-Up Friday is a chance for us to revisit the subjects of previous posts and bring the PuzzleNation audience up to speed on all things puzzly.

And today, we’re returning to the subject of Star Wars!

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens hits theaters this week, and I thought I’d offer up a few links and some puzzly fun in the spirit of this much-beloved franchise.

#1: Google

Do yourself a favor and go to Google right now and type “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away” into the search bar. You will not be disappointed.

#2: A Star Wars StearsWords!

Crossword constructor and friend of the blog Robin Stears created this great Star Wars-fueled puzzle last year, and it’s a perfect way to celebrate Star Wars in a puzzly way. The loose grid construction allows for a lot more themed fun to be had!

#3: Holiday Special Trivia!

Our friends at Puzzopallo noted that it’s only appropriate for a new Star Wars film to open during the holidays, since Star Wars has something of a tradition with holiday releases.

They’re referring, of course, to the much-maligned Star Wars Holiday Special from 1978, which infamously featured a Wookiee holiday called Life Day, some hit ’70s musical acts, and some dubious comedy from Harvey Korman.

And they’ve come up with some Holiday Special trivia for ambitious Star Wars fans!

#4: Star Wars Riddles!

Naturally, I couldn’t resist throwing out some Star Wars-themed brain teasers for you to unravel. Can you puzzle out the answers to the four riddles and poem below?

1. Why do doctors make the best Jedi?

2. What do Gungans put things in?

3. What do you call the website Chewbacca started that gives out Imperial secrets?

4. What side of an Ewok has the most hair?

5. (written in Yoda-speak, it appears)

Atop my head, a crown I bear,
Nearby my crown, two guards uphold,
Life I devour, metals I dissect,
When seen I am, all life trembles,
If opposed I am, a thousand spears rain,
When cornered I am, hornets I unleash,
Yet controlled by thousands I am.
What am I?

Hopefully, you’ll enjoy one or all of these puzzly Star Wars treats! May the Force be with you, fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!

It’s Follow-Up Friday: Holiday Wordplay edition!

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Welcome to Follow-Up Friday!

By this time, you know the drill. Follow-Up Friday is a chance for us to revisit the subjects of previous posts and bring the PuzzleNation audience up to speed on all things puzzly.

And today, I’m posting the results of our #PennyDellHolidayPuzzles hashtag game!

You may be familiar with the board game Schmovie, hashtag games on Twitter, or @midnight’s Hashtag Wars segment on Comedy Central.

For the last few months, we’ve been collaborating on puzzle-themed hashtag games with our pals at Penny Dell Puzzles, and this month’s hook was Penny Dell Holiday Puzzles, mashing up Penny Dell puzzles and anything and everything having to do with winter, Christmas, the holiday season, festive songs, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Voodoo Day…whatever you celebrate in December!

Examples include: Oh Little Puzzler of Bethlehem, ChristMasterwords, or HoliDaisy!

So, without further ado, check out what the puzzlers at PuzzleNation and Penny Dell Puzzles came up with!

Come they told me, pa-rum-pa-Home-Runs, the Diamond Rings to see, pa-rum-pa-Home Runs…

Deck the Halls With Bricks and Mortar, fa la la la la…

We’ll frolic and play, the Eskimo Right of Way, Walking in a winter wonderland.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Simon Says

Chess Words Roasting on an Open Fire

Here We Come A-Puzzling

Anagramma Got Run Over By a Reindeer

Do You Hear What I Here and There? / Do You Hear What’s Left?

Places, Please Come Home for Christmas

Ups and Downs on the Housetop / Up on the Housetop to Bottom

All I Want for Christmas Is My Two-for-One Teeth / All I Want for Christmas Is My Two by Two

Take a Letter to Santa / Writing a Letterboxes (or Letter Tiles) to Santa

The Little Drummerman / The Little Puzzler Boy

The Three Wise Men of a Kind / These Three Wise Men

Merry Christmas to All Fours, and to All a Good Night!

God Bless Us Every One and Only!

It’s the Most Wonderful Timed Framework of the Year

We Need A Little Chinese Christmas / Yes, we need a little Pine Cone

So You Say This is Christmas

Try-Angles We Have Heard on High

March of the Wooden Quotefalls

‘Tis the season for Flower Power

Santa Classified Ads is coming to town / Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Spelldown

Away in a Double Occupancy

Good Time Wenceslaus

Baby, It’s Codeword Outside

Two-Step into Xmas

Guest Star of Bethlehem

Guess Whoville

I’ll Have a Blue Christmas Without You Know the Odds

Feliz NavidOdds & Evens

Fairy Heads & Tails of New York

There’ll Be No More Matchmakers to the King

Hark! The Sum Triangles Sing!

Blackout! Friday

Reindeer Word Games

Mannheim Steam Roll of the Dice

Crackerjacks Frost

The First and Last Noel

Shadowboxing Day

We’re on the Island of Four-Fit Toys . . .

The Scoreboard in hand bear I, bedecked with Sunrays and Syllability . . .

Salvation Army Ringers

The Polar Exploraword

Home Alone: Who’s Calling?

Home Alone: Step by Step, Brick by Brick—Battle!

A Christmas Story: Everything’s Relative

You’ll shoot your eye Out of Place!

I dedicate this house to the Griswold Family Christmas: You Know the Odds.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: Loose Tiles and Marbles

And, of course, no one could resist trying to do the Twelve Days of Christmas with puzzles:

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Twelve Crypto-Riddles
Eleven Logic Problems
Ten Rapid Readers
Nine Picker-Uppers
Eight Build-a-Pyramids
Seven List-a-Crostics
Six Mini-Crosswords
Five Diamond Rings!
Four (Who’s Calling?) Birds
Three Perfect Tens
Two Turnabouts
And a Partners in a Pairs tree!

OR…

FIVE BY FIVE golden rings.
FOUR SCORE calling birds,
TRIPLETS French hens,
TWO FOR ONE turtledoves,
And a partridge IN A BIND tree!

OR…

…and a Partridge in a Picture Pairs Tree!

Have you come up with any Penny Dell Holiday Puzzles of your own? Let us know! We’d love to see them!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!

One Puzzle Set to Rule Them All!

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Last week, we released our December Deluxe collection for the Penny Dell Crosswords App, offering 35 terrific themed puzzles. Not only do you get 30 easy, medium, and hard puzzles, but there are 5 bonus puzzles you can unlock as you solve!

The December Deluxe was the last of the twelve seasonal deluxe puzzle sets we released in 2015, each of them chock full of terrific content. And you might be saying to yourself, “Self, is there a way I could download every deluxe puzzle set in one fell swoop, as any delightful brilliant puzzler would certainly desire?”

Yes you can! We’re overjoyed to announce our 2015 Deluxe Combo, a collection of every deluxe puzzle set from throughout the year!

That’s right, we’re talking 420 puzzles delivered right to your mobile device with ease! It’s the perfect year-end gift for any crossword lover on the go! Simply check out the App Store for this and all things PuzzleNation!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!

It’s Follow-Up Friday: Thanksgiving Answers edition!

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Welcome to Follow-Up Friday!

By this time, you know the drill. Follow-Up Friday is a chance for us to revisit the subjects of previous posts and bring the PuzzleNation audience up to speed on all things puzzly.

And today, I’m posting the answers to last week’s Thanksgiving Slide-O-Gram puzzle!

Here’s the grid and puzzle to jog your memory:

Using the given letters, place the eleven Thanksgiving words and phrases below into the diagram above, one per row. When all the words and phrases are entered properly, one of the columns reading down will spell out an 11-letter word that is related to Thanksgiving.

Casserole
Corn
Cornucopia
Cranberry sauce
Giblets
Pumpkin pie
Rolls
Stuffing
Sweet potato
Turkey
Turnip

So let’s take a look at the completed grid!

Our bonus answer tying the word list together was, appropriately enough, CENTERPIECE.

(If you had trouble with the puzzle, the anchor words that would’ve gotten you going were Corn, Cornucopia, Giblets, Pumpkin pie, and Cranberry sauce.)

How did you do? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!

A brand new puzzle set for the Penny Dell Crosswords App!

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Oh yes, we’ve got a special bonus post for you this week, because we’re celebrating a new puzzle set for the Penny Dell Crosswords App.

Just in time for the holidays, we’re overjoyed to announce our newest downloadable content for the Penny Dell Crosswords app, the December 2015 Deluxe set, is now available! Just open the App, then tap Puzzle Store on the home screen.

Our December Deluxe set offers 35 terrific themed puzzles, and that’s certainly some great puzzle content to help celebrate the season! Not only do you get 30 easy, medium, and hard puzzles, but there are 5 bonus puzzles you can unlock as you solve!

With this new deluxe set of puzzles, we’ve continued our proud tradition of publishing the best crosswords available to the mobile audience. Terrific crosswords right in your stocking (or your pocket)! What more could you ask for?

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!