Games World of Puzzles August 2023

Welcome to the August issue of GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES! Whether you’ll be traveling this summer or simply enjoying a staycation, this magazine is the perfect companion for all of your leisure activities.

Informative articles and cerebral challenges alike abound in these pages. Let’s start with Todd Kresiman’s “Only a Pawn in Her Game” (page 36) an interview with chess Grandmaster, poker player, and author Jennifer Shahade. This wide-ranging Q&A session covers topics such as Shahade’s accomplishments in chess and poker; her newest book, Chess Queens; and the challenges faced by women and LGBTQ+ people in professional chess. Whether you’re a chess aficionado or you have only the most superficial knowledge of the game, check it out; it’s an interesting read.

Next, continue on to “As I Understand It,” an entertaining riff on all the different meanings of the word “stand”—as both a stand-alone word and as part of longer words, like “standard” and “upstanding.” It’s by Carl Held, whom many longtime readers may know for his series of clever, wordplay-filled “Orange Rhyme” articles in early-2000s issues of GAMES. Held hasn’t lost his touch, so flip to page 40 and give it a look!

Additionally, don’t miss Raymond Simon’s “Klaus Teuber: An Appreciation” (page 48). Teuber, the German game designer behind the immensely popular board game The Settlers of Catan (now known simply as Catan), sadly passed away in April. Learn more about the man who gave rise to the successful Catan franchise.

As always, our puzzle section is packed with challenges of all sorts. Let’s extend a warm welcome back to Shawn Kennedy’s “Dszquphsbnt!” (“Cryptograms” encoded, if you didn’t know), which returned last month and appears again on page 20 of this issue. Another favorite, also by Kennedy, is “Bull’s-Eye 20 Questions” (page 29), which tests your wordplay skills in unconventional ways. For those who prefer math and logic, try Floris Smith’s “Tectonic” (page 31), and Rodolfo Kurchan’s “Patios of Pentominoes” (page 64), which received two thumbs up from our test-solver.

Now, sharpen your pencil, put on your sunglasses, pour yourself a tall glass of lemonade, and start solving!

WISH LIST INSTRUCTIONS
Your puzzle-loving niece sent you a note telling you what she wants for her upcoming birthday. Since she knows you love riddles, she sent her message in a code. As you can see, she included some pictures she had torn out of magazines. You have a hunch the pictures are the key to cracking the code. Can you figure out what she wants for a gift?