Games World of Puzzles August 2020

…from the editor

Welcome to the August issue of GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES. At press time, much of the U.S. was still under quarantine due to COVID-19. But that hasn’t stopped gamers and puzzlers from getting their fix—often in ingenious ways. A quick flip through these pages will provide you with definitive proof that although you may be stuck at home, there are still plenty of ways to play your game(s) of choice. You may notice that “What’s Happening,” our calendar of game conventions and tournaments, does not appear in this issue: While quarantine restrictions will eventually be lifted, large gatherings will most likely be prohibited for some time to come. In the meantime, check out “Games People Play…Online” by regular contributor Jonathan Schmalzbach (page 33). In this piece, Schmalzbach shares his favorite online…

mixed doubles

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 Vegas employee 2 Dinner and a movie, perhaps 3 Chutzpah 4 Tide rival 5 What some crosswords have 6 Survived on a modest income 7 Cleared the…

52-skiddoo

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. 52-SKIDDOO…

paragrams

In each of the three puzzles below, place the answer to clue 1 in its place in the diagram, one letter per square. The answer to clue 2 contains the rearranged letters of the first answer except one. Insert the dropped letter into the space at the left of box 1 in the diagram. The answer to clue 3 contains the rearranged letters of the second answer except one. Place that dropped letter into the space at the right. Solve each row in this manner. When the grid is complete, the letters in the left and right columns, reading top to bottom, will spell out either a message or some related words. 1 Flotsam and ___ 2 Domesticates 3 Pekoe et al. 4 Subsides 5 Outscores 6 Finest 7 Deserves 8 Attempts 9 Cake layer 10 Speechifies 11 Humorous tribute 12 Liberal…

going green

ACROSS 1 Bodybuilder’s pride, perhaps 5 Suitable for all audiences: 2 wds. 11 Elizabethan, e.g. 14 Part of QED 15 Brief glance 16 Jo March’s older sister 17 The city, slangily: 2 wds. 19 Chill 20 Meteor tail? 21 WWII area of activity 22 Permanent place? 24 Invalidates 27 Concert souvenir: Hyph. 28 Gullible o nes: 4 wds. 32 Milne’s joey 33 Baum heroine 34 “Now I get it!”: 2 wds. 37 Le Coq ___ (Rimsky-Korsakov opera) 38 Tinseltown trophy 42 Japanese massage technique 45 Johannesburg’s land: Abbr. 46 Lose sight of the big picture, with 59-Across: 4 wds. 51 Smoldering remains 52 Most of the earth's surface 53 Pope for 27 days in 1605: 2 wds. 54 No problem, at NASA: Hyph. 57 24-hour banker 58 ___ Salvador 59 See 46-Across: 3 wds. 64 Prospector’s discovery 65 Like Hawaiian shirt patterns 66 Pupil’s locale 67 Rapper Lil ___ X 68 Family cars 69 Feathered mimic DOWN 1 Little, in Lyon 2 Goof 3 Ship captain’s lackey: 2 wds. 4…

kid stuff

SPORTS OF ALL SORTS Listed below are 29 words and phrases that are all related to sports. Enter them into the grid so that they interlock in standard crossword fashion. Spaces between words should be ignored; for example, the entry TRACK AND FIELD should be placed in the grid as TRACKANDFIELD. When the puzzle is solved correctly, each word on the list will be used exactly once. One word has been filled in to get you started. RIDDLE SEARCH Listed below you will find 15 words related to outer space. Find all of these words in the grid of letters. Look across, back, down, up, and diagonally, and circle each word you find. The word NEPTUNE has been circled as an example. After you’ve circled all the words, write the unused letters from…