Table of contents for December 2025 in Games World of Puzzles

COVER PUZZLE INSTRUCTIONS In this puzzle, the penguin must travel from the bottom entrance to the top exit by following certain rules. At any time, he must be in one of three states: only able to turn left at intersections with green fish, only able to turn right at green fish intersections, or only able to go straight at green fish intersections. The penguin begins only being able to go straight, but whenever he crosses a red fish he must switch to a different state. At intersections with no green fish, the penguin can go whichever direction he wants. He may retread his path, but U-turns are not allowed. Good luck! COVER PUZZLE ANSWER, PAGE 76 EDITOR’S NOTE “Cryptic Crossword 2” on page 57 of the October issue was erroneously…

Ever wished you could join the legions of solvers who confidently navigate the mysterious language of cryptic crosswords? “Unlocking Cryptics” was designed just for you. This mini puzzle follows the same solving principles as the full-size cryptic crosswords featured later in this issue. Full instructions can be found on pages 60 and 61. This puzzle has two added supports: The type(s) of wordplay involved is listed after each clue, and the definition portion of each clue is underlined. Use these hints to build your skills, and enjoy those ‟aha” moments! ANSWERS, PAGE 79 ACROSS 1 Santa’s sleigh team picked up mom but lost energy. What’s left? (9) (container/deletion) 5 New York speed limit units evoke forest spirit (5) (charade) 8 Mineral spring sap is off (3) (anagram) 9 Upset three wise men…

Look for all the words and phrases listed below in the flower-shaped grid. In the five large gray areas, choose and write in two letters each. When a word passes through the gray area, it will use those two letters consecutively, no matter which direction it passes through. Note: Some answers may start or end in a gray area, and some may pass through multiple gray areas. The five gray areas, read row by row, will spell an appropriate phrase. ANSWER, PAGE 77 ABHOR ADD-ONS AIRLINE ALEPH ARDOR ARUBAN BUBBLES CALICO CAULK CHUBBY CLINT DEBONE DEFECT DOG FLEA DO-RAGS DOUX EFFECT ENDOWED FROGS GLENDA GRUBBY HOLIER HUBBARD IAN FLEMING INDOOR INFIELD LIFE SIGN MAGIC NO FEES NOVEL NUDGE OFFEND OGLING OLIVE ORGAN PEDDLE PHLOX PLEADING RAVEN REUBEN SAFE BET SCARE…

Below are four lists of related words and phrases that have been translated into simple cipher alphabets. The letter substitutions remain constant within any one group of words (for instance, if V represents G in one word, it will represent G in all the words in that list), but change from one list to the next. A tip to new solvers: Start by thinking of answers that might fit one of the categories; then see if any enciphered words in the list have the same letter pattern. The fourth list has been left untitled. Solve the code to determine what the items have in common. ANSWERS, PAGE 72 1. OUT-OF-THE-ORDINARY OREO FLAVORS Ex.: Red Velvet 2. MOVIES ABOUT DOGS Ex.: Benji 3. BELOVED KID-LIT CHARACTERS Ex.: Stuart Little 4. MYSTERY…

Solve this puzzle as you would a regular crossword, except that each space may hold one, two, or three letters. The number of letters in a space is for you to determine, using logic and the crossing of words. The answer to 1-Across, M-AN-TRA, has been filled in as an example. ANSWER, PAGE 79 ACROSS 1 Chanted formula 4 Forbids 8 Nabs, as a criminal 12 Privy to, as a joke: 2 wds. 13 Diagrams with x and y axes 14 Draw with a stencil  15 Shafts of light 16 Hams it up onstage 17 Trail guide user 18 Proverb implying that messy people are immoral: 5 wds. 21 Meringue-based, sandwich-like confection 22 “Come to My Window” singer Melissa 23 Bird building a home 24 Book introduction 27 Extremely long…

Follow the directions below and solve a series of puzzles that will help you identify a secret, well-known place somewhere on Earth. This secret location is the contest solution. To enter, send the contest solution, along with your name and address, to: The 2025 Globetrotter Challenge Contest, GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES, P.O. Box 184, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Entries may be sent in an envelope or written on the back of a postcard or envelope. You may send as many entries as you wish, but each entry must be mailed separately. Entries must be received by December 31, 2025. Winners will be chosen by random draw from among the correct entries. Introduction “Hello, everyone—I am Reed Atlas. Welcome back to a brand-new edition of ‘The Globetrotter Challengeʼ—the game show that…

In this variation on traditional Battleships (see page 23), your goal is to place all of the given words into the grid. These rules must be followed: • Place every word horizontally or vertically. • Words cannot touch, not even diagonally. • No crossings or overlaps are allowed. • Use every word exactly once. • The numbers outside the grid indicate the number of cellscontaining a letter in the corresponding row or column. • Some letters are given as hints. ANSWERS, PAGE 79 EXAMPLE PUZZLE 1:  ASTEROID, COMET, GALAXY, NEBULA, PLANET, ORBIT PUZZLE 2: CHISEL, DRILL, HAMMER, PLIERS, SAW, WRENCH PUZZLE 3: APPLE, BANANA, LEMON, ORANGE, PEAR, PLUM PUZZLE 4: ELEPHANT, HORSE, MONKEY, PANDA, TIGER, ZEBRA PUZZLE 5: DESERT, FOREST, ISLAND, MOUNTAIN, RIVER, VALLEY PUZZLE 6: BLUE, GREEN, INDIGO, ORANGE,…

Each clue in the cryptic crossword below contains two parts: a definition of the answer and a second description of it through wordplay. Finding the dividing point between parts is the key to solving. Forms of wordplay you may encounter in the non-definition half of a clue include: anagrams (“changing times” = ITEMS); homophones (“listen to church singers” = QUIRE); hidden words (“parts of the arts” = HEART); charades of two or more words (“auto animal” = CARPET); reversals (“returning stag” = REED); and containers (“bovine holds everything” = CALLOW). Some clues will contain a combination of two or more of these devices. Of course, a definition of the answer will also appear in every clue, either at the beginning or the end (as “Changing Times articles (5)” for ITEMS).…

Instead of the usual cryptic crossword, we’ve assembled for you the special director’s cut, which meant putting all the parts back in that we couldn’t include earlier. Answer lengths have been withheld (sorry about that), but just know that 13 answers need some extra material added in order to fit, creating a new word in the process. You’ll find the liner notes at the unclued entry at 24-Across, which will both tell you the nature of the added material and hint at why it was removed in the first place. ANSWERS, PAGE 78 ACROSS 1 Mars mission’s primary goals 7 Don’t start, just drop a hint 10 Topless Madame of note’s source for eggs 11 Yes, I must have Boxing Day 12 White wild field owl with red prairie blossom…

5 | PENCIL POINTERS 1 18 | PENCIL POINTERS 2 4 | 52-SKIDDOO 12 | QUOTE BOXES 1. Play in general is the practice of seeking and causing mutually desirable sorts of trouble —Bret Rothstein 2. We must allow the past to speak on its own terms, even when asking questions that are pertinent to the present. —Magda Teter 3. Although there are real hazards in saying yes to life, they are inconsequential when compared to the regrets that come with saying “no.” —Eda LeShan 16 | BOXING MATCH I. SUBLIME II. BELABOR III. UNKNOWN IV. NORTHBOUND V. WEREWOLF VI. CRYPTOGRAM VII. SQUALID VIII. DRUMSTICK IX. PROTRACTOR X. UPBRAID XI. RUBIDIUM XII. FOXGLOVE 51 | DOUBLE CROSS A. HABITATS B. ABRACADABRA C. USERNAMES D. SWINGS E. CARTHAGE F. HAGGARD G.…

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 Not shiny 2 Stops functioning 3 Ends a game of chess 4 Glossary’s neighbor 5 Take on, as an identity 6 Buddies, in Brisbane 7 Take for granted 8 Make a larger copy 9 Covered with tattoos 10 Toddler’s demand 11 Chart-topper 12 Action film star Diesel 13 Traffic circle 14 Three-inch putt, say 15 Distributes 16 Turns on…

ACROSS 1 Savage beast soother, so the saying goes 6 Light wood 11 Gangsterʼs gun, in mob-talk 14 Foolish 15 Elite group of employees: 2 wds. 16 Poem of praise 17 It may be granted by a judge after divorce proceedings: 2 wds. 19 McEwan who wrote Atonement 20 Opposed (to) 21 Ballroom dance 23 Expressed, as a farewell 25 Tonto’s partner: 2 wds. 28 Fall zodiac sign 30 Tony Shalhoub TV role 31 Angsty music genre 32 Awesome, slangily: 2 wds. 36 Start of a play: 2 wds. 40 Just released, as a product 41 1955 Platters hit: 2 wds. 43 Sweetie 44 Turkey and Swiss purveyor 46 Inn customers 47 "Vive le ____!" 48 Innocent sort 50 Checking out 52 How students often line up: 2 wds. 58…

The object of this solitaire challenge is to guess a word before making six incorrect guesses, as in a familiar childhood game. To begin, choose any letter of the alphabet that you think might appear in word I below. Suppose you pick E. Go to the Letter Chart on the facing page and find the number listed in row E of column I (because you are working on word I). The number is 70; you now look at box number 70 in the Position Chart (to the right of the Letter Chart) and find the number 7. This means that the letter E occurs in the seventh position (and nowhere else) in word I. If a letter occurs more than once in a word, the Position Chart will show all…

This puzzle gives you two grids for the price of one. And two sets of clues to go with them, so you can work both crosswords at the same time. What’s the catch? Each clue number is followed by two different clues to two different answers. The puzzle is to figure out which answer goes with which grid. 1-Across has been filled in for you. ANSWERS, PAGE 72 ACROSS 1 Violin and Candlestick painter… …and the genre he is associated with 7 ___ v. Ferguson (1896 landmark case) Koran’s language 13 Prophecy giver Say “no” to 14 Detest Affectedly refined: Hyph. 15 The Pianist star Brody Get there: 2 wds. 16 Concurs “That’s untrue about me!”: 3 wds. 17 Fad jewelry of the 1970s: 2 wds. Overnight stays at campsites, perhaps: Hyph…

Helter-Skelter is a crossword variation in which the answers interlock in any of eight different directions. To solve, write the answer to each clue starting in its numbered square and proceed in a straight line toward—and if necessary beyond—the next consecutive number. The first answer, SAFARI, has been entered in Helter-Skelter #1 as an example. ANSWERS, PAGE 77 HELTER-SKELTER #1 1 Animal-watching excursion 2 Inclined characters 3 Member of an Andean herd 4 Sprayed substance 5 Roundup necessity 6 Catamaran, e.g. 7 Gear for gondolas 8 Song on Jeff Buckley’s Grace album: 2 wds. 9 Eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet 10 College freshman’s new digs 11 Quite a few 12 British Beefeater, for one 13 Applied, as force 14 Official ban on trade 15 Common hotel room item 16…

Need a holiday gift for a crossword fan? Then consider one of these three recent books of puzzles. You can even try one before buying! PUZZLE ANSWERS, PAGE 80 Morning Brew’s Book of Crosswords, Vol. 1 Jack Murtagh & Mary Tobler 101 puzzles, including 15×15s & playfully shaped grids $25.00 shop.morningbrew.com Pleasing puzzles from two constructors conversant with business, technology, and current events. Part of the fun is seeing how the clues and fill reveal their individual personalities. Brew Mini: Teeter ACROSS 1. Not quite closed 5. Hard pass 6. Opposite of exo- 7. Gimlet base 8. Baton-passing event, perhaps 9. Amazon Handmade rival 10. O-Cedar product 11. "As ___ saying…" 13. Giraffe feature 14. Eins + zwei DOWN 1. Alaska or Hawaii, in DC 2. Building-game structure that may…

These eight puzzles feature a unique blend of logic and art. The numbers are all you need to determine which squares should be filled in to form a picture. Here’s how it’s done: The numbers outside each row and column tell you how many groups of black squares there are in that line and, in order, how many consecutive black squares there are in each group. For example, 4 5 9 2 tells you that there will be four groups that will contain, in order, 4, 5, 9, and 2 consecutive black squares. The fact that the numbers are separated tells you that there is at least one empty square between them. (There may also be empty squares at the ends of lines.) The trick is to figure out how…

Find the following words and phrases in the word search grid. Keep an open mind and employ lateral thinking, as the entries are hidden in very unconventional ways. Different techniques are used, and they become more difficult with every level. Each of the 10 hidden words or expressions also serves as a hint that describes the technique applied at that level. Important additional clues for the four toughest entries can be found on page 79. ANSWER, PAGE 75 Level 1: STAIRCASE Level 2: ZIGZAG Level 3: FROG JUMP Level 4: BACK AND FORTH Level 5: KNIGHT Level 6: TOPLESS Level 7: NEIGHBORS Level 8: OUTSIDER Level 9: GHOST Level 10: IRONIC CORNER…

Change each group of 10 words below into a “family” of different words (words or proper names that have something in common) by dropping one letter from each word and then rearranging the remaining letters. For example, given the entries HAUNT, HAIRDO, and ADVANCE, you could drop the N from HAUNT to get UTAH, drop the R from HAIRDO for IDAHO, and drop the C from ADVANCE to get NEVADA, all in the category “U.S. states.” Can you reunite each family by determining the category for each and unscrambling the 10 entries? Answers are all single words. As a hint, a list of the four categories appears on page 71. ANSWERS, PAGE 72…

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…

No kidding! Each of the words and phrases listed below contains at least one K. Fit them all into the grid so that they intersect in standard crossword fashion, using each one exactly once. If you can do it, kudos to you! STARTING HINT, PAGE 74 5 LETTERS ANOUK BRINK E-BOOK IN INK KAHLO KEENE KITED KOOKS OKIES ORECK OSAKA SKEAT SKEGS SKIRR SKOSH TAKEI TRIKE WALKS 6 LETTERS AGENT K AIKIDO ALASKA EKE OUT EUREKA EVOKER I’M LIKE INVOKE KLAXON OK BY ME ONLOOK SHTICK STOKED TAKE TO TIKTOK UNKEPT UPLINK WOKE UP 7 LETTERS BAKLAVA EEKED AT ERIKSON GO QUICK KILDARE KINDLER KNUCKLE LUCKY ME MARKKAA OAKWOOD OKE-DOKE ONE KILO PARTAKE RANSACK RYE PECK THAT’S OK TOP DECK YOU LIKE? 8 LETTERS ASKED OUT CHEROKEE DVD RACKS EYE…

This puzzle turns in two directions. The spiral’s Inward clues yield a sequence of words to be entered counterclockwise in the spaces from 1 to 100. The Outward clues yield a different set of words to be entered clockwise from 100 to 1. Keep track of which way you’re going, and have many happy returns. ANSWER, PAGE 71 INWARD 1-6 Walk a beat 7-11 In base eight 12-16 Thigh bone 17-21 Over 18, say: 2 wds. 22-26 Gillis of a 1960s teen sitcom 27-31 Panko-breaded chicken dish 32-38 Mosque feature, frequently 39-45 Saliva droplets 46-51 Game piece with pips 52-58 Horse in a harness race 59-63 Film critic Roger 64-69 Contradict 70-74 Eagle’s claw 75-79 Top-notch 80-83 Days of ___ (long ago) 84-89 Cowboy’s rope 90-93 Endure 94-97 Farm structure…

WWW.CONCEPTISPUZZLES.COM The six puzzles on this page are solitaire versions of the classic paper-and-pencil game of Battleships. Each grid represents a section of ocean in which a fleet is hiding. This fleet consists of one battleship (four grid cells in length), two cruisers (three cells each), three destroyers (two cells each), and four submarines (one cell each). The ships may be oriented either horizontally or vertically, and no two ships can occupy adjacent grid cells, not even diagonally. The digits along the grid’s perimeter indicate the number of cells in the corresponding rows and columns that are occupied by vessels. You’ll notice that some “shots” have been taken to start you off. These may show water (indicated by wavy lines), a complete sub (a circle), the bow or stern of…

This puzzle consists of nine 5×5 rooms (labeled 1 through 9) with 10 five-letter words or phrases reading across and down within each room. The clues for eight of the answers in each room are given in random order. Each room has a starting letter shown to help you place the answers. (The nine starting letters, appropriately, are an anagram of FLOOR PLAN.) When the puzzle is completed, six familiar 15-letter phrases will read through the open doors between rooms across and down. ANSWER, PAGE 71 ROOM 1 • Intense desires • Spinning • Suddenly pay attention: 2 wds. • “It matters to me”: 2 wds. • Get Out director Jordan • WNBA star Angel • Earthy pigment • Word with power or panel ROOM 2 • One footing the…

Italy has three national card games—Briscola, Scopa, and Tressette—played in short decks without 8s, 9s, or 10s, for a total of 40 cards. Rather than the familiar French suits of hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades, they use swords, cups, batons, and coins, with a knight on horseback instead of a queen. In this way, they're very similar to Spanish playing cards, with different styles for different regions of Italy. Tressette probably replaced the older Italian game Trappola, and seems to show the influence of Tarot. Its popularity, which became widespread by the 19th century, accounts for the ubiquity of the 40-card deck in Italian games. It has the unusual quality of promoting the 3 and 2 above all other cards, which places it in the family of games that also…

In this sudoku variation, your goal is to solve the puzzle on the left following standard rules: Each digit from 1 to 9 (or 1 to 6 for puzzles 1, 2, and 3) must appear exactly once in each row, column, and outlined region, with no digit repeated. You will notice that not many digits have been placed. That’s where the diagram on the right comes into play: The dots above and to the right of that diagram indicate how many cells in the corresponding column or row will contain the same digit in the solved grid on the left. ANSWERS, PAGE 76 PUZZLE ONE PUZZLE TWO PUZZLE THREE PUZZLE FOUR PUZZLE FIVE In this puzzle each number from 1 to 9 will also appear in the diagonals indicated by…

Each clue in a cryptic crossword has two parts: a definition of the answer and an indication of the answer’s literal makeup via wordplay. Either half may come first; finding the dividing point between the two parts is the key to solving. On page TK, eight common methods by which hints are given via wordplay are described; any combination of these gimmicks may be used. Expect to see references to abbreviations (doctor for DR, Hawaii for HI, or university for U), chemical symbols (iron for Fe), Roman numerals (five for V), and parts of words (end of year for R, head of cabbage for C, or heart of stone for O). A clue with an exclamation point may be what’s called an & lit. clue, in which the two halves…

All clues are standard cryptic clues, but in seven instances the surface sense can also be interpreted as a non-cryptic clue for an otherwise unclued entry. For example, “Boom box (4)” is a dou-ble-definition cryptic clue for SPAR but can also serve as a non-cryptic clue for PORTABLE RA-DIO. ANSWERS, PAGE 78 ACROSS 1 See instructions (8) 6 Cannon injured Andy (4) 9 A series of posts ripped Red Hat (6) 13 Bird’s music genre for the most part (3) 14 Groove with hot Yankee slugger (4) 15 Bart’s school bus driver circles around time and time again (4) 16 See instructions (9) 17 Florida destination with faces of Mickey indelibly adorning most items (5) 19 Author of mystery magazine’s foremost literary work (4) 22 Ones confiscating third of earnings?! (3) 25…

Mr. E., eccentric owner of the Cardinal Cinema, is a renowned film buff and puzzle fan. He likes to show movies in groups of three, all of which have two-word titles that share one word in common (for example, OUR TOWN, BOYS TOWN, GHOST TOWN). To challenge his savvy clientele, he leaves that common word off the marquee, as in the examples below. Can you determine the missing word that appears either at the front or in the back (never both) of each group? ANSWERS, PAGE 73…

DECK OF EIGHTS The crossword on this and the next two pages has two independent sets of clues: “Hard” and “Easy.” First, fold this page back on the dashed line so the clues below face the solving grid on page 69. If you use only the Hard Clues (appearing below and continuing under the grid), you’ll find the puzzle uncommonly challenging. If you want help, or prefer a less severe challenge, open to the Easy Clues (tucked in beneath your fold on page 68). HARD CLUES ACROSS 1 Improvised 9 Pressed 17 Fitting device 24 Blimp name 25 Missile part 26 Bags 27 Representative 28 Less than rarely 29 Spot for a spot 30 Not get used 31 Get on board 33 Skull bone 35 Diminutive suffix in Spanish 36…