Last year I created a fun and unusual puzzle event for my local library’s annual fundraiser. The theme of their gala in 2017 was “Enchanted Forest,” so I decided to send the partygoers on a series of magical quests. You can explore the enchanted forest yourself — and try to complete those same quests — by clicking here.
“Catch That Ghost,” my puzzle event (not scavenger hunt, thank you) at the National Museum of Mathematics gets a nice write-up from Laurel Graeber in the New York Times.
One small correction: Yes, the MoMath Web site currently says the deadline for registration is Friday at noon. Ignore this. If we’re not full, you’ll be allowed to join.
Coming here from that article, but your family doesn’t live near New York City? No worries. I’ve got some puzzles for your kids nonetheless.
In a “Double or Nothing,” each square in the grid gets either two letters or no letters at all. At least half the squares in every row or column will have letters in them.
ACROSS
1 Mufasa’s brother and enemy
2 Inclined plane next to a staircase
3 Samwise Gangee, for one
4 List of choices
5 Certain farm machines
6 Spots
DOWN
1 Safe area in certain playground games (2 words)
2 Board game owned by Hasbro in the U.S. and Canada and by Mattel in the rest of the world
3 Some hospital employees
4 Secret target?
A printable version can be found here.
Coming in 2019: Three different books of word searches, made just for kids! The first, Word Search Puzzles for the Weekend, drops on January 1, 2019. The other two will follow in the spring and summer. Some of the puzzles are perfectly straightforward, but get ready, because other puzzles have twisty little curveballs to keep you on your toes!
RES __ ING
Can you fill that blank with 1 letter, with 2 letters, and with 3 letters to make three common words… so that 1 + 2 + 3 is also a common word?
Update: The answer is in the comments.
In a “Double or Nothing,” each square in the grid gets either two letters or no letters at all. At least half the squares in every row or column will have letters in them.
ACROSS
1 Strong and vigorous
2 Central part
3 Fit together neatly, as the teeth of gearwheels
4 Dutch cheese
5 Place where you might buy cheese, Dutch or otherwise
6 Recite in a singsong manner
DOWN
1 Arrived on a horse (2 words)
2 Wake up again after being unconscious (2 words)
3 Tired out
4 Make more aerodynamic
Update: Here’s a printable version.
That’s the subject of my upcoming talk and demonstration at the Connecticut Science Center for their Adult Coffee Club, on Tuesday, November 6, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Join us as we explore the fun and challenging world of puzzles. Who makes the crosswords that appear in the New York Times? Hundreds of people around the country, all of whom share a love of wordplay and puzzles. Take a look behind the scenes with Eric Berlin, a professional puzzle constructor who has contributed dozens of crosswords to the New York Times. He’ll demonstrate what goes into the creation of a successful crossword puzzle — from coming up with a theme, to making the grid, to devising the clues.
Admission is $15 for non-members, $5 for members.
For more information or to register for the event, contact Brit Montmeat: bmontmeat@ctsciencecenter.org, 860-520-2112.
I’m working with the National Museum of Mathematics on an exciting family-friendly puzzle event! Kids 9 and up are invited to grab their grownups and come down to MoMath on Sunday, October 21, between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Nine ghosts are haunting the Flatiron District of New York City. Work together with your team to solve each ghost’s puzzle, and you might just catch them all!
For more information about this event, click here.
Eric Berlin is the author of the Winston Breen series of mysteries for children: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen, The Potato Chip Puzzles, and The Puzzler’s Mansion. He has had dozens of crosswords and other puzzles published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and many other places. He has created puzzle events for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, the Connecticut Library Association, the Trivia Championships of North America, and New York City’s Museum of Mathematics. In 2015, Eric founded Puzzle Your Kids, which provides a weekly pencil puzzle to thousands of students around the world.