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puzzle
1 Peach stone4 Container for gratuities10 Dough dispensers14 Period of time15 Single-celled organism16 ___ row (stretch in many a college town)17 Scoring partner?19 Piece in a mosaic20 Looking down on21 They become wind instruments when “f” is added23 In the manner of24 Alaskan city on the Bering Sea25 The ___ Moines Register26 Faith with Five Pillars28 Got going30 “My deepest apologies"32 Khaki color33 Use a needle and thread34 Wet dirt35 Libertarians' 2020 presidential candidate38 Small island39 Skin pic40 Long period of time41 1992 Stacey Dash rom-com featuring a credit card con43 Antagonist in “Coco"47 Suffuse48 E.R. employees49 Real comedian50 Jacuzzi product51 Come to a point54 Stave off55 Trivia host’s clue57 Like a straight shooter59 Gucci of fashion fame60 “The Answer Is …” memoirist Alex61 Word paired with “neither"62 Roach or rat63 Jousting horses64 Donkey1 Nuts in some pies2 Sci-fi collection first published in 19503 Site of a University of Washington satellite campus4 Far from feral5 Unruly kid6 Combined, as assets7 Nativity scene figure8 Illegally assist9 Doneness option for a burger10 Toward the stern11 Testing phase12 Common duck13 Hot and humid18 News anchor’s hand-off line22 Khloe, to Kim, informally25 Signify27 “What gall!“29 ___ Mahal30 “Get it?“31 Deeds list them33 Drill instructor’s rank, often: Abbr.35 Groups that improvise songs36 Bit of hope, metaphorically37 Daughter’s sibling, perhaps38 Put together, like an anthology41 Unfortunate occurrence42 Need for catching butterflies43 Coat, as with chocolate44 Raw or burnt color45 Statues' midsections46 Frolicking marine mammals48 Zellweger with two Oscars52 Tunneling insects53 Strong wine54 Inquires56 Day care enrollee58 Benedict’s nickname, maybe
solution
When Voodoo grew too-too so-so
Required reading when there’s disorder. That was a clue from mid-year, and the message felt on point. Fires, plague, The Very Excellent Mr Dundee – 2020 has been a lavish shemozzle, and this clue knew it.
Cryptic crosswords, my own required reading, can occasionally deliver that eerie topicality. Because RIOT ACT, the answer, pales to the clue’s prescience. The surface narrative leaves a deeper impression than the answer itself. Same for a second pun I met in August: Stay-at-home worker? Baseball is the allusion, the gag alluding to UMPIRE, yet the clue’s scenario packed the stronger swat. Four short words had evoked a city of employees banished to their kitchen tables, the junk rooms, the virtual synods of videochat, as if the mystery setter had glimpsed our future.
Crossword voodoo is the slang, when wordplay somehow skewers the solver’s reality. Like the week I was bedridden with genuine man-flu, lifting an eyelid to read: Ultimately feeble with cold and still delirious. ECSTATIC was the solution: E+C+STATIC. A neat charade, but compare that to the clue’s clairvoyance, making me suspect some nameless Londoner had foreseen how non-delirious I’d be feeling come publication. Or the day I read of dwindling icecaps, resorting to the puzzle page for comfort, only to meet this deletion formula: Pitch from film director cutting a lot of ice (5). The answer? Melt berg off Spielberg and SPIEL remains. Once more, random clue and real life had rhymed.
Psychologists would ascribe such flukes to zeitgeist. Or solipsism. Or emphasise how many irrelevant clues occur in the interim. Take this cool reversal clue from Punk: Bird hiding upside-down? (6) Unless I spy on LINNET as a pastime, or just happen to be lamenting my lacrosse team losing ten-nil (a hiding), then the clue is voodoo-free, as most clues should be. Until 2020 shortened the odds. Pandemics can do that. Thanks to a deadly bug, glaciologists and birdwatchers now live in parallel. Umpires and Hollywood types huddle under one umbrella.
In 2020, some 7 billion people became one entity, that synchronicity rife in the wordplay. Look no further than Paul’s deception in The Guardian: Stupefied, practising social distancing? Hardly voodoo if the world is SPACED OUT as a virtual flash mob. Ditto for Bluth – alias comedian Dave Gorman – who concocted this clue: Saw a team keeping two metres apart (5) The secret lies in saw, a synonym of adage. When a soccer team (A XI) divides two metres, you’re left with MAXIM. Just as Skinny, another Indy setter, had fun with scavengers and variant spellings: Flesh-eating virus racoon develops (11). If you think the solution is CORONAVIRUS, you’re close. Try its spooky anagram: CARNIVOROUS.
The best crossword, KenKen, and sudoku books.
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I blame public transportation for my sudoku addiction. When I moved to Beijing after college, I had to adapt to getting myself from point A to point B by bus or subway rather than by car. A public transport novice, I found it hard to focus on books or articles, for fear I’d miss my stop. But sudoku allowed my mind to easily toggle back and forth between the puzzle page and the subway map. Filling in those little numerical squares was also soothing; every correctly completed line of numbers suffused me with satisfaction. I took to working on puzzles anytime I had a few minutes to kill—standing in line for coffee, sitting on hold with a customer service representative, waiting for my bread to toast.
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Sudoku puzzles led me to crossword puzzles. I loved the mix of trivia and wordplay, and the challenge of trying to complete a puzzle entirely in pen (with only a correction or two!). Over the past few years, these puzzles have become regular travel companions. I’ve used them to occupy the hours during long layovers and lazy weekend afternoons.
I also appreciate crosswords for the opportunity they’ve given me to bond over words. When the COVID-19 lockdowns began, my grandmother’s nursing home also locked down. My parents moved her into their house so tthey could better look after her well-being. She suffers from short-term memory loss, so adjusting to the abrupt change of setting proved difficult. We had never been that close, and, sitting with her day after day in my parents’ living room, I didn’t know what to say to her.
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I realized, though, she could still do crossword puzzles. Here was something we could connect over, even if just for the time it takes to get through all the DOWN and ACROSS clues. We’ve now completed hundreds of puzzles together, and over time, I’ve figured out our respective strengths: I cover pop culture questions, and she knows all the names of old politicians and actors; we both struggle with sports references. Whenever we finish a puzzle and I ask her if she wants to do another one, whether it’s the first or fifth one of the day, she always says, “Oh, I think I could do one more.”
This holiday season will be like none we’ve ever experienced before—some of us will be pent up at our parents’ house, the movie theaters and malls off-limits. Many of us will be alone, looking to fill our quiet space. As we all try to muddle our way through this, we can still find comfort in some simple pleasures, like curling up with a book and figuring out the four-letter answer for “elusive legend” (answer: YETI). I’ve curated a list of some of my favorite books that all puzzlers, from young beginners to experienced pros, can enjoy. Whether you need a break from family, are holed up at home, or are in desperate need of something that’s not a screen to occupy your kids this winter break, there’s something here for everyone.
Puzzles to Cozy Up With
Whether you give them out as gifts or keep them for yourself, these books, with their warm and fuzzy themes, are perfect for lounging by the fire, a mug of hot cocoa in one hand and a pencil (or pen!) in the other.
For Easy Reading and Writing
Books with large print, big letter squares, and spiral binding, which make them easier to read and write in, are great for sharing with an older or vision-impaired friend or family member. These are some of the books my grandmother and I enjoyed working on together; I’ve loved listening to her explain all the retro references.
Not Your Average Puzzle Book
Puzzling is not limited to sudoku, KenKen, or crosswords. From bunches of Bananagrams-themed puzzles to a collection of Sherlock Holmes–inspired brain teasers, there is nothing typical about these books. Between their pages you’ll find enough anagrams to unscramble, codes to crack, and wordplay riddles to resolve to satisfy the most discerning of puzzle aficionados.
By the Numbers
Here are a few books to interest and challenge those less interested in word games and more numerically inclined, whether beginner or an expert. Sudoku and KenKen are logic-based puzzles that involve filling out a grid with a sequence of numbers without repeating the same number within a line or section; KenKen, however, involves some additional math problem-solving. Let me add that even if math isn’t your thing, don’t be intimated! Once you get started, you might find these puzzles strangely addictive—I sure did! These books would also be great for students working on their math and logic skills.
Specially for Kids
Given how much school, socialization, and activities have moved online, some screen detox will be even more imperative than usual this holiday season. Puzzle books are a fantastic diversion—no charging cables or Wi-Fi necessary. These books are as great for road trips as they are for kitchen tables. Dole them out at opportune times, stick them in a stocking, or leave one on your loved one’s pillow. Whether you work on them together or solo, they can turn an hour of cranky boredom into an hour of delightful, focused quiet.
Stocking Stuffers
These fun little gems are great for anyone who’s new to crossword or sudoku puzzles and needs some daily inspiration to get started. Once they get started on one a day, they’ll soon be craving more.