Games World of Puzzles May 2020

May is such a lovely month. Sure, the kids are still in school, but the warm weather and festive events like Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby have everyone thinking of summer. If you’re already in a holiday mood, the May issue of GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES will appeal to you. It’s got a great mix of challenging puzzles and thoughtful articles. The role that games and puzzles play in lifelong learning is a discernible thread running through two of this month’s longer pieces. In “Silly Children, Bricks Are for Us” (page 34), longtime contributor Andrew Parr examines the phenomenon of grown-ups who play with Lego. Sometimes, as in the author’s case, it’s prompted by watching your children begin enjoying a toy that you loved as a kid. But there are…

Each answer word in this crossword variation has two clues leading to it, using different meanings of the word. The clues are separated into Across and Down, but are otherwise ordered randomly. When you find two Across clues or two Down clues that seem to have the same answer, add up their clue numbers to determine the place in the grid at which the answer should be entered. For example, if the clue for 1-Across were “Metallic element” and the clue for 17-Across read “Starring role,” the answer would be “lead,” which would go in 18-Across (1 + 17). Note: Tags such as “Hyph.” and “2 wds.” have been omitted. ACROSS 1 Old hand 2 Nincompoop 3 Unreliable, as a forgetful person 4 Goes the extra mile for work? 5 Tiny bit 6 Simple and bare-bones 7 Reduces a…

There is one place for each letter of the alphabet in the 26 empty squares of each blank column in the diagram below. Fill in each letter so that a word of at least five letters is formed reading across only. Not all of the letters to the left and right of the empty box are used; it’s up to you to determine which ones are needed to complete familiar words. Some letters may fit in more than one of the empty squares to complete words, but we only came up with one arrangement that would complete a word in each row. Maybe you’ll find a better solution. Proper names are not allowed.…

Each set of letters below is a familiar uncapitalized, nonhyphenated word with one letter changed. In #1, for example, if you change the M in AWOMEN to K, you get AWOKEN. Can you figure out the unique solution in each case? As a solving aid, each of the 26 letters of the alphabet is used to replace another letter exactly once, so you can cross off K in the alphabet below the first puzzle. PUZZLE 1 1. AWOMEN AWOKEN 2. MOOPIC ________________ 3. DOOTOR ________________ 4. APARICE ________________ 5. FRONGIER ________________ 6. CRUNSE ________________ 7. WINARD ________________ 8. POWOER ________________ 9. JUMILE ________________ 10. MANESTY ________________ 11. FIGERE ________________ 12. WEADTH ________________ 13. CAPRICT ________________ 14. CACAFE ________________ 15. MALIGU ________________ 16. RISHUE ________________ 17. ERCINE ________________ 18. SIGAT ________________ 19. PROUIT ________________ 20. RETINZ ________________ 21. HORLD ________________ 22. COMPLEM ________________ 23. AMPEBA ________________ 24. SKEETIC ________________ 25. EWAMI ________________ 26. PIXEON ________________ PUZZLE 1 1. MOLLUIK ________________ 2. INUIGO ________________ 3. ANTENGA ________________ 4. CLIRUE ________________ 5. SOMBONE ________________ 6. INALATE ________________ 7. CONOURE ________________ 8. BEIALF ________________ 9. EMBARO ________________ 10. RITSAL ________________ 11. SENTOY ________________ 12. DUTHOR ________________ 13. BETHEEN ________________ 14. SHOURD ________________ 15. FRIBLE ________________ 16. ELIPIR ________________ 17. ARCHAIR ________________ 18. PLACESO ________________ 19. GEBSER ________________ 20. UMOIRE ________________ 21. RADBUS ________________ 22. SWITEL ________________ 23. PRESTIDE ________________ 24. MIASEA ________________ 25. BRONIE ________________ 26. ARAISAN ________________ PUZZLE 1 1. AWOKEN…

Due to the nature of this puzzle’s theme, tags such as “2 wds.,” “Hyph.,” etc., have been omitted. ACROSS 1 Bits of work, in physics 5 From the top 10 Shrek, for one 14 Chinese zodiac animal 15 Doone of fiction 16 The Nanny star Drescher 17 Dance with wild abandon? 19 Helvetica or Times New Roman, e.g. 20 Solemn 21 Med. scan 22 Mint family herb 23 Lead-in to a big dance number? 27 Coffee mate, for one 30 Petty peeve 31 Not fake 32 Hydrant attachment 35 ___ Park, Colorado 39 “Six-pack” muscles 40 Undulated 42 Mentalist Geller 43 “We’ll see” 45 Leave port 46 “What’s ___ for me?” 47 Product pitches 49 Southern cornmeal concoction 51 Boat trip where drums provide the music? 56 Great deal 57 “We ___ Family” 58 Kitchen fixture 62 Toy on a string 63 Animator for a 2017 Disney film? 66 At any time 67 Couric or Holmes 68 Neighborhood 69 Count (on) 70 It’s a wrap 71 Shrill barks DOWN 1…

Each of the clues below can be answered by a common word containing three U’s. The length of each word and the positions of the U’s are indicated by the blanks provided. That’s all U need to know! 1. Richly extravagant ___ u ___ u ___ ___ ___ u ___ 2. Boldly assuming ___ ___ ___ ___ u ___ ___ ___ u ___ u ___ 3. Puffy cloud type ___ u ___ u ___ u ___ 4. More than necessary ___ u ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ u ___ u ___ 5. Out of the ordinary u ___ u ___ u ___ ___ 6. Sickeningly slick u ___ ___ ___ u ___ u ___ 7. Non-mainstream social group ___ u ___ ___ u ___ ___ u ___ ___ 8. Course of academic studies ___ u ___ ___ ___ ___ u ___ u ___ 9. Treatment with needles ___…