Games World of Puzzles September 2025

WHAT’S NEW? I am a longtime subscriber and I have really enjoyed some of the new variations on old puzzles that have been featured over the past couple of years. These include ColorCode, I’d Like to Solve the Puzzle, Crypto-Madness, Cryptordle, and the Crypto-Doubles contest. I especially like Crypto-Madness and would like to see that as a semi-regular feature. Matt Overkamp Via email Thanks for the feedback, Matt! We are thrilled that you enjoy these new puzzles—we will encourage their creators to follow up with new versions! —Eds. LAUNDRY If a reader finds a significant error or a mistake that affects the play of a game or puzzle, and we agree that the slip needs laundering, we’ll acknowledge the first or most entertaining letter and send the writer a GAMES…

ACROSS 1 Hallmark product 5 “Shucks!” 9 Junk email 13 Score-calling phrase used late in a tennis match 15 Nobel Prize winner Wiesel 16 Floor square 17 V-shaped cut 18 Ocean’s ups and downs 19 Buffalo-to-Boston direction 20 1999 hit for George Strait: 3 wds. 23 Dusk, in poems 24 Neither’s mate 25 Artist Yoko 26 Formula __ 29 Instantly: 4 wds. 33 Nicholas Gage memoir 34 Brainy 35 Farm-related prefix 38 Blue-and-white Dutch pottery 41 Black-and-white whale 42 Shreds 44 Choose by ballot 46 Orville and Wilbur of aviation: 2 wds. 51 __ Aviv, Israel 52 Gold, in Guatemala 53 Lead-in to calculus or fab 54 Armed strife 56 Life-changing challenge: 3 wds. 60 Prince Harry’s prep school 62 Big name in boom boxes, once 63 Hard-bodied 64 Faucet…

Each clue below leads to a name or word that ends with a double “O.” Be advised that the answers include several proper nouns. If you don’t get them all, no need to boohoo. But if you do, go ahead and yell “Yahoo!” Toodle-oo! ANSWERS, PAGE 72 1. Canine pal of Shaggy and Velma 2. Strictly verboten 3. Bit of skin art 4. Yogi Bear’s sidekick 5. Large parrot 6. Bird that pops out of a clock 7. Annual four-day music festival in Tennessee 8. Chocolatey soft drink 9. Bear in The Jungle Book 10. Snowmobile brand 11. Arctic abode 12. Panda grub 13. Home of Western Michigan University 14. Outback hopper…

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 70…

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. ANSWER, PAGE 71 ACROSS 1 Dramatic soccer shots 2 Boosted a car battery 3 Word on a bottle of OJ 4 Guitar features 5 Select part of the market 6 Give it a ___ (try something) 7 Board gaming surface 8 Tilt in one direction 9 Place for a picnic 10 Rockers’ gear 11 Got off to a promising beginning 12 Worries 13 Low…

This puzzle has two parts. First, complete each common phrase below by filling in the last word. To help you, we’ve provided illustrations of each word. Use these pictures as clues to find the correct word. Second, after completing each phrase, match the phrase to its definition. Can you get them all? We think you can! ANSWERS, PAGE 76 Phrases 1. Beat around the ________________ 2. Cat got your ________________? 3. Just a drop in the ________________ 4. Piece of ________________ 5. Roll out the red ________________ 6. Cool as a ________________ 7. Hold your ________________ 8. Once in a blue ________________ 9. The world is your ________________ 10. Cost an arm and a ________________ 11. Bark up the wrong ________________ 12. Lend a ________________ 13. Raining cats and ________________…