Games World of Puzzles April 2019

Welcome to the April issue of GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES! Now that the dreary winter weather has begun to give way to milder temperatures, perhaps you’re looking for things to do. One option sure to appeal to game fans is visiting a board game café. Back in our June 2015 issue, we profiled Across the Board, a bustling game café in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since then, the number of such establishments in the U.S. and Canada has increased greatly. So when Contributing Editor Jonathan Schmalzbach heard that a board game café would be opening in nearby Philadelphia, he jumped in his car to check it out.

Thirsty Dice is Philadelphia’s first ever board game café. Schmalzbach spent some time with owner Matt Hendricks and learned all about this new venture. You’ll find the story on page 34. If you’re in the area, we hope it inspires you to make a trip!

The lighthearted fun continues with the sixth installment of Andrew Parr’s “Moving Forward, Looking Back” series. In it, he travels back in time to revisit several GAMES contests that asked participants to predict the future. The results of the various contests are mixed when it comes to accuracy, but they are very entertaining nonetheless. Turn to page 38 and judge for yourself.

If you tire of reading and want to regroup with a puzzle, try “Emoji Books” on page 40. This simple but clever puzzle by Erich Friedman challenges you to identify titles of well-known books as represented by emojis. And don’t miss R. Wayne Schmittberger’s “QWERTY” contest on page 44. Not too easy, not too hard—we found this one quite fun to solve. If you get lucky you might win $100!

As always, our Pencilwise section is packed with a great selection of puzzles. There’s even a small April Fool’s joke, should you happen upon it. Especially recommended for word puzzle fans are “Eight-Tracks” by Patrick Berry (page 22) and, for cryptic lovers, “(Word)Play It Again” by Bob Stigger (page 62). On the logic side, “Paint by Pairs” (page 54) is back by popular demand, followed by perennial favorite “Paint by Numbers” (page 56).

Finally, don’t miss Schmittberger’s coverage of the 2018 World Chess Championship on pages 64 and 65. Defending champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway prevailed in the end, but not before he and opponent Fabiano Caruana drew the first 12 games. Exciting stuff! In addition, Schmittberger also reviews the book The Grandmaster: Magnus Carlsen and the Match That Made Chess Great Again, by Brin-Jonathan Butler.

That’s enough from us. Sharpen your pencil and start solving!