Games World of Puzzles December 2021

Believe it or not, the winter holidays are upon us once more! To help you get in the spirit of the season, we bring you this December issue full of gifts for the mind. Our holiday-themed offerings include Annie Fillenwarth’s “Call Our Bluff: Holiday Edition” (page 34), which presents you with a dozen stories describing winter holiday traditions the world over; your job is to pick out the three fake ones. Be forewarned: This may be tougher than you think! For more festive fun, turn to Donald Kerr’s “Happy Holidays” (page 40), a quiz that will test your knowledge of seasonal trivia. Finally, check out Jonathan Schmalzbach’s “This Old Game” (page 48). In this column, Schmalzbach reviews the How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Game, which is based on the classic Christmas tale…

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 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 Faneuil Hall’s city 2 Adds up to 3 Use a water gun 4 DC rival, in the world of comics 5 Like a sauna 6 Tugs sharply 7 Did a 180 8 Angrily…

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…

Morning, noon, and night. Hop, skip, and a jump. Good things come in threes—at least they do in this three-in-one word search. Hidden below are 22 five-letter words that each have (at least) two anagrams. One of each set of anagrams is hidden in each grid. Your goal is to find all of the anagrams, reading vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, and always in a straight line. One set has been circled to get you started. If you need some help, the word lists appear on page 77. TRIFECTA TRIFECTA WORD LIST GRID 1 FEARS PLANE PEARS IDEAS ELBOW CLAPS ALERT SCARE TRADE SMITE STEAM SPOTS REACT PLATE EARTH ARGON NOTES EARLY BAKER BEGIN STALE ROPES GRID 2 FARES PENAL SPARE AIDES BOWEL CLASP ALTER ACRES TREAD TIMES TEAMS STOPS CATER PETAL HEART GROAN STONE LAYER BRAKE BEING LEAST PROSE GRID 3 SAFER PANEL SPEAR ASIDE BELOW SCALP LATER RACES RATED ITEMS MATES POSTS CRATE LEAPT HATER ORGAN ONSET RELAY BREAK BINGE SLATE PORES…

ACROSS 1 Primary course of action: 2 wds. 6 Oil cartel acronym 10 911 responders, for short 14 Allow to enter: 2 wds. 15 Hiker’s route 16 Mystical glow 17 Garlicky condiment: 2 wds. 19 Russia’s ___ Mountains 20 Orange tuber 21 ___ Flanders (Defoe novel) 22 Remove sensitive information from 24 Satisfied sighs 25 New York Tribune founder Horace 26 Get clobbered by: 2 wds. 29 Cricket sound 30 Dome-shaped home 31 Oxford or loafer 32 Utah ski resort 36 Israeli airline: 2 wds. 37 Tumbler, e.g. 38 Castro of Cuba 39 Teamster’s rig 40 Hang in there 41 Engulfed in flames 42 Up and about 44 Blue toons 45 Popular takeout cuisine 48 More than just injure 49 Rock growth 50 Kate of The Martian 51 Prefix with caching 54 Diva’s chance to shine 55 Séance prop: 2 wds. 58 Crystal ball user 59 Normandy battle site: Hyph. 60 One of the Florida Keys 61 One in handcuffs, informally 62 Symbol of sadness 63 Typo, e.g. DOWN 1 Broadway…

Now, for a limited time only, you can try this quiz—yes, this entire quiz—at absolutely no cost! The answer to each clue below is a word, name, or phrase beginning with the word FREE. For example, the clue “Secret society member” would lead to the answer FREEMASON, while “Parachute jump start!” would be FREE FALL. If you can’t get all the answers, feel free to check the answers on page 71. 1. Major limited-access road 2. Drawn without a ruler or compass 3. Athlete not signed with a team 4. Unrestricted ability to do what you want 5. He sponges off others 6. Non-salaried writer 7. Corner opposite GO in Monopoly 8. Loose poetry style 9. ‘90s movie about an orphan and an orca 10. City in the Bahamas 11. Southern rock anthem by Lynyrd Skynyrd 12. Result of a foul in…