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fauxkloreI’ve been rather swamped with some entertainment events, planning for things to do, and (this week) with a Yiddish conference. So here is something I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. Part of my daily routine is doing a bunch of puzzles on-line. This is my current lineup.
Ten Words - This is a game that requires selecting one letter at a time to form (up to) ten words in a grid. The constraints change every day, e.g. sometimes you have to put letters only next to ones already in the grid. You need an account to play, but it’s free. You can also play in free play mode to get the hang of the game. (Disclaimer: Max, who wrote this, is a friend of mine from the National Puzzlers’ League.)
Artle - This game, from the National Gallery of Art, gives you four works of art, with the goal being to guess the artist responsible for them. One hint - once in a while, something is signed. Usually I get things in two or not at all. I am particularly weak on photographers and on 17th Century Dutch painters.
Chrono - In this puzzle, you get six events and you need to put them in chronological order. Usually, I can figure out that, say, gunpowder was used in China before the atomic clock was invented. But, sometimes, there are events that are within a few years of one another.
Toddle - This is another puzzle game from an NPL friend. The way this works is that you get a four-letter word and a category / clue. You keep guessing letters until you figure out the answer.
Worldle - In this game, you’re given a picture of the shape of a country and you get 6 guesses to figure out what country it is. Each incorrect guess gives you the distance from the correct answer and an arrow telling you what direction it’s in. If you get it right, you then get a bunch of bonus rounds: 1) identifying its neighbors, 2) naming its capital, 3) identifying its flag, and 4) guessing its population (out of a choice of 4 ranges) and its currency,
Statele - This is, essentially, the same idea as Worlde, but for U.S. states, instead of co8ntries. Guessing states flags is actually easier than country flags because a lot of them have the state name on them.
Emovi - The way this one works is that you are shown a group of emojis and have to guess what movie they refer to. They could be a hint to the actual content of the movie, but are just as likely to simply refer to the title. It’s mostly easier than it sounds.
I do various New York Times Puzzles every day. Right now, I’ve been doing both the crossword and the mini every day, as well as wordle. I’ve gone through phases of doing some of the other puzzles regularly, e.g. I find Tiles relaxing. I often print out a bunch of the Friday variety puzzles (especially cryptic, but I do some acrostics). And I do Fred Piscop’s monthly bonus crossword regularly. Note that the actual NYT crossword does require a subscription, but it’s worth it to me. (I believe the Mini and Wordle free, Some of the others may also be free, but limited in how many you can do, e.g. Tiles lets you do one a day free.)
I also do the Sunday Washington Post Puzzle and print out the Wall Street Journal crossword when I get around to it. But I am not quite as consistent about those.
Redactle - This is a weird and sometimes frustrating puzzle. Essentially, you have a wikipedia article, with most of the words redacted. You have to guess words until you figure out the title of the article. It’s usually challenging, Note that while most of the above puzzles reset at midnight Eastern time, Redactle resets at noon.
Ten Words - This is a game that requires selecting one letter at a time to form (up to) ten words in a grid. The constraints change every day, e.g. sometimes you have to put letters only next to ones already in the grid. You need an account to play, but it’s free. You can also play in free play mode to get the hang of the game. (Disclaimer: Max, who wrote this, is a friend of mine from the National Puzzlers’ League.)
Artle - This game, from the National Gallery of Art, gives you four works of art, with the goal being to guess the artist responsible for them. One hint - once in a while, something is signed. Usually I get things in two or not at all. I am particularly weak on photographers and on 17th Century Dutch painters.
Chrono - In this puzzle, you get six events and you need to put them in chronological order. Usually, I can figure out that, say, gunpowder was used in China before the atomic clock was invented. But, sometimes, there are events that are within a few years of one another.
Toddle - This is another puzzle game from an NPL friend. The way this works is that you get a four-letter word and a category / clue. You keep guessing letters until you figure out the answer.
Worldle - In this game, you’re given a picture of the shape of a country and you get 6 guesses to figure out what country it is. Each incorrect guess gives you the distance from the correct answer and an arrow telling you what direction it’s in. If you get it right, you then get a bunch of bonus rounds: 1) identifying its neighbors, 2) naming its capital, 3) identifying its flag, and 4) guessing its population (out of a choice of 4 ranges) and its currency,
Statele - This is, essentially, the same idea as Worlde, but for U.S. states, instead of co8ntries. Guessing states flags is actually easier than country flags because a lot of them have the state name on them.
Emovi - The way this one works is that you are shown a group of emojis and have to guess what movie they refer to. They could be a hint to the actual content of the movie, but are just as likely to simply refer to the title. It’s mostly easier than it sounds.
I do various New York Times Puzzles every day. Right now, I’ve been doing both the crossword and the mini every day, as well as wordle. I’ve gone through phases of doing some of the other puzzles regularly, e.g. I find Tiles relaxing. I often print out a bunch of the Friday variety puzzles (especially cryptic, but I do some acrostics). And I do Fred Piscop’s monthly bonus crossword regularly. Note that the actual NYT crossword does require a subscription, but it’s worth it to me. (I believe the Mini and Wordle free, Some of the others may also be free, but limited in how many you can do, e.g. Tiles lets you do one a day free.)
I also do the Sunday Washington Post Puzzle and print out the Wall Street Journal crossword when I get around to it. But I am not quite as consistent about those.
Redactle - This is a weird and sometimes frustrating puzzle. Essentially, you have a wikipedia article, with most of the words redacted. You have to guess words until you figure out the title of the article. It’s usually challenging, Note that while most of the above puzzles reset at midnight Eastern time, Redactle resets at noon.
