Every envelope tells a story. Every parcel holds a promise. What is it like to be a letter? Does the messenger have empathy? (Shout out to my friend Kevin Berry, who wrote a whole novel about shooting messengers.) Puzzles can be enriched with themes and embellishments. It works very well
Word puzzles, wordplay, word games. Collectively, an infinite world of diversions awaits, whether you prefer paper or pixels. Do you remember an arcade video game called Break-out? I stumbled upon a version that uses colorful words instead of bricks. The concept and gameplay are the same. My reflexes aren'
Do you remember the Doublemint chewing gum commercials? Over the years, many twins have appeared in them. Some were famous, depending on how plugged in you were to your TV. Apparently, I wasn't, because I never saw Tia and Tamara Mowry in those commercials. For those of you
When I wrote Prompt Engineering For Puzzle Book Designers, prompt craft was a genuine skill gap for creators working with AI. Getting useful output required careful construction, specific syntax, and a lot of trial and error. The book addressed that directly. That gap has closed. Modern AI models—particularly the
Not too many people know this, but I write poetry. I love making rhymes that tell a story. I also enjoy "constructing" poems. This creative endeavor is not unlike constructing a puzzle. Both poetry and puzzles have goals. Poems seek to evoke emotion; puzzles seek to challenge reason.
I have to give a shout-out to actor Rob Lowe, whose character on Parks and Rec was infamous for saying, "Literally..." (video) This issue revisits some of my favorite wordplay topics: idioms. Idioms are fun to use in puzzles because many of them are so recognizable. If the
Here is the latest issue, one day early. Because we need more love in the world. As always, puns and silliness abound. Fill your day with puzzles and your evening with, well, whatever you usually do on Feb. 14th. Cheers, Mitch Valentine's Day MascaraValentine's Day Mascara.
Puns, mondegreens, Tom Swifties, limericks, solage and dad jokes. I love them all. Each is a playful form of expression that hits the ha-ha center of my brain in just the right spot. But here's what I've noticed after years of playing with these forms: they&
"Look before you leap." "He who hesitates is lost." Quaint aphorisms aside, my fascination with opposites has provided many inspirational puzzle ideas. Sometimes, the ideas become a bit too esoteric. Here is one that never made it out of the oven: Wet and Wild Antonyms are
Happy New Year! Resolutions are like car keys. We think we can't get anywhere without them, but that's just a limiting belief. It's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: There are no keys. Then you'll see that it is not
This is what you get when you build a Laz-y-Boy recliner out of Yule logs! Wooden you love to sit in this for a bit of a slumber? Did you know that the word "slumber" is not a portmanteau of "saw" and "lumber"? I
One of the puzzles in this issue revolves around words ending in OTTO. How many of them can you think of before looking at the puzzle? Hint, there are more than a dozen! Scrabble players will have the advantage here. This holiday season, give yourself the gift of free online