Games World of Puzzles February 2021

Welcome to the February issue of GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES! It’s been an eventful couple of months leading up to press time. The lingering pandemic, plus a contentious presidential election, dominated the news. Then, just about 24 hours after the AP called the race in Joe Biden’s favor, we learned that Alex Trebek, the beloved longtime host of Jeopardy!, had passed away. The loss of Trebek, who fought pancreatic cancer while continuing to host the show, had a tremendous impact on both loyal viewers and the larger world of games and puzzles. To learn more about Trebek and his illustrious life, turn to page 33 to read our tribute to him, written by editor Raymond Simon. As many of you know, Trebek hailed from Canada, as does Andrew Parr, our “unofficial historian”…

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 Playing tiles 2 What a raging river might cause 3 Drake’s cry 4 Certain social media message 5 Introductory texts 6 Brownie, e.g. 7 Doesn’t hit, in…

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. ANSWERS…

See if you can beat our score by packing this grid with words using only the 10 letters provided at the foot of the page. You may use any letter as often as you like, but don’t use the same word twice in the grid. This includes singular and plural versions of the same word, inflected versions of a word (such as LOVE and LOVED), and variant spellings of the same word. Use any word in a standard dictionary, including slang, but don’t use capitalized or foreign words, contractions, abbreviations, acronyms, prefixes, or suffixes. After completing the grid, calculate your score by adding up each Across row; our high score was 331…but we were a little off that day. ANSWERS…

Each clue below can be answered by a single word or name containing the letters OK, in that order. For example, the clue “Mischievous Norse god” would lead to LOKI, while “Home of Gonzaga University” would be SPOKANE. So go for broke, but don’t choke, okey doke? 1. Castle on a chessboard ________________________________________________________________ 2. Ol’ Blue Eyes’ hometown ________________________________________________________________ 3. Giraffe’s relative ________________________________________________________________ 4. Veggie with a heart ________________________________________________________________ 5. Snack for a Sesame Street monster ________________________________________________________________ 6. Peter Pan pirate ________________________________________________________________ 7. Sing-along entertainment ________________________________________________________________ 8. 2019 Joaquin Phoenix role ________________________________________________________________ 9. “Lost Colony” of North Carolina ________________________________________________________________ 10. Incite to anger ________________________________________________________________ 11. Robinson who fronted the Miracles ________________________________________________________________ 12. Gumby’s equine pal ________________________________________________________________ 13. State with a panhandle ________________________________________________________________ 14. Hotel in The Shining, with “The” ________________________________________________________________ ANSWERS 1. Rook 2. Hoboken 3. Okapi 4. Artichoke 5. Cookie 6. Hook 7. Karaoke 8. Joker 9. Roanoke 10. Provoke 11. Smokey 12. Pokey 13. Oklahoma 14. Overlook…

ACROSS 1 Instruct 6 California cop group: Abbr. 10 Grew older 14 Monster’s Ball actress Berry 15 Toast topper 16 So long, in Salerno 17 Broadway performer 18 Shake ___ (hurry): 2 wds. 19 Covet 20 Famous Abbott and Costello routine: 3 wds. 23 Mousse alternative 24 Brian of Roxy Music 25 Blue-eyed feline 27 Physique, slangily 30 Persian ruler 33 Skier’s lift: Hyph. 34 Crew’s control? 36 Fortune-teller’s phrase: 2 wds. 38 Cornhusker State city 41 Doctor’s query: 3 wds. 44 12 Angry Men director Sidney 45 Falco of The Sopranos 46 Dynamic beginning? 47 Shows on television 49 Picket line crosser 51 Brillo rival 52 Short snoozes 55 Unruly crowd 57 Yale student 58 Popular kids’ book: 2 wds. 64 Stupor 66 List-shortening abbr.: 2 wds. 67 Site of the 2016 British Open 68 Sermon ender 69 Floor coverings 70 Port-a-john sign: 2 wds. 71 Took a cab 72 Fencing sword 73 ___ Park, CO DOWN 1 Melt 2 “To ___ his own” 3 Female choir member 4 Nearby 5 Marsh waders 6 Bread…