Games World of Puzzles Holiday 2023

This special super-sized Holiday issue is bursting at the seams with cerebral challenges to make the season merry and bright. First, you might notice the cover, which features a brand-new holiday-themed Cartoon Rebus. If you’re one of the many readers who have been eagerly awaiting their return, jump right in! New puzzles abound in this issue. Elizabeth Gorski, a veteran crossword constructor whose work appears frequently in the New York Times, returns to our magazine with “’Tis the Seasons” (page 23). For those who prefer cryptic crosswords, we have original puzzles by Stella Zawistowski, Richard Lee Clark, Bob Stigger, and Adam Fromm. This issue also marks the debut of Andrew Parr’s column, “Discovering Japanese Logic Puzzles” (page 42). In the first installment, Parr focuses on Yajilin, a lesser-known Japanese logic puzzle that he…

Each answer 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 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). Tags such as “Hyph.” and “2 wds.” have been omitted. ANSWER, PAGE 84 ACROSS 1 Return after being away 2 Slides on a slippery road 3 Deconstruct, as a ball of string 4 Song that sells 5 Newspaper piece 6 Stop between…

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. Proper names are not allowed. ANSWER, PAGE 85 52-SKIDDOO…

The answer to each of the riddles below is a nine-letter word. Can you find all of the words? ANSWERS, PAGE 85 PUZZLE 1 My first is in MINCE but it’s not found in PIE, My second’s in RIBBON and also in TIE, My third is in PRESENTS as well as in CARDS, My fourth is in PARTY but not in CHARADES, My fifth is in TINSEL and also in HOLLY, My sixth is in YULE but it’s missing from JOLLY, My seventh’s in CHRISTMAS but isn’t in ROSE, My eighth is in RUDOLPH and also in NOSE, My ninth is in SHERRY as well as in BEER, My whole is seen often at this time of year. Answer: PUZZLE 2 My first is in PARTY and also in PUB, My second’s in CIRCUS but isn’t in CLUB, My third is in LARK and it’s also in…

ACROSS 1 Japanese martial art 5 Put on Instagram, say 9 Anwar with a Nobel Peace Prize 14 “If I could get a word in…” 15 Result of overexertion, often 16 Emmy or Tony 17 NYC gallery 18 Polo player’s strap 19 Cops with sniffer dogs, for short 20 Touch football sides, maybe: 3 wds. 23 Took the title 24 Morsel in a Quaker box 25 Enters: 2 wds. 29 Skillet 31 Short drive 35 Splits violently 36 Foundation 38 Early afternoon hour 39 Circuit board items: 2 wds. 42 Stein or Stiller 43 Wise people 44 Back-to-zero button 45 Russian-born Art Deco designer 47 Call for help 48 White sale buys 49 Subway scurrier 51 Sticky stuff 52 Some cocktail garnishes: 2 wds. 60 Gem surface 61 Computer menu option 62 Track down 63 Delete 64 Cause of beach erosion 65 Triple-decker cookie 66 Fender dings 67 Plant starter 68 Chick’s chirp DOWN 1 Sits in with the band 2 “That’s not good!”: Hyph. 3 Singer-actress Lovato 4 Actor Epps of…

Each clue below leads to a phrase or title containing the word SQUARE. For example, the clue “It won’t fit in a round hole” leads to SQUARE PEG. If you can guess all 14 answers, you’ve solved the puzzle fair and square. ANSWERS, PAGE 84 1. Draftperson’s device 2. Old “celebrity tic-tac-toe” game show 3. 1986 hit by Huey Lewis and the News 4. Common measure for space in an apartment 5. Hoedown activity 6. It’s 3 for 9, and 10 for 100 7. Rope-tying option 8. Moscow’s central plaza 9. Teddy Roosevelt’s domestic program 11. Prepare to fight 12. At the beginning again 13. Suit jacket accompaniment, perhaps 14. Animated character from Bikini Bottom ALL SQUARE 1. T square 2. Hollywood Squares 3. “Hip to Be Square” 4. Square feet 5. Square dance 6. Square root 7. Square knot 8. Red Square 9. Square Deal 10. Times Square 11. Square off 12. Back to square one 13.…