Puzzling over a decision

american-crossword-puzzle-tournament

This weekend’s going to be a quiet one for me, but it didn’t have to be. For most of the winter I pondered over the thought of participating in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament this year, led by New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz (who also has a pair of excellent magazine titles available through Penny Press). Those who read the blog have seen my previous posts about how I love solving puzzle books, and this would be a fun extension of that hobby. I didn’t even have travel as an excuse: The event is taking place this weekend at the Stamford Marriott. I walked by it on my way home from the train station last night. I could have easily been there right now. Continue reading

A logical extension to puzzle apps

egghead-logic-problems

I’ve written here previously about my puzzle solving during my work commute. In the past few months I’ve reconnected with Penny Press and Dell puzzle magazines, which is how I got my start in puzzle solving at the age of 10 when my dad bought me a Dell puzzle magazine to keep me occupied during a flight. Continue reading

A three-year puzzle-solving journey is complete

nikoli-books

Last year I wrote here on the blog about my return to regular puzzle book solving, a habit that’s been part of my life since I was in middle school, as the end result of determining what to do on my commute. One of the things I mentioned in passing is that I was slowly working my way through the challenging Nikoli series of logic puzzle books. This week, a bit of a milestone: I completed the last of the 14 books that they have released. Continue reading

Puzzling through the commute

puzzle-book

I recently wrote about commuting for my company’s blog, some light fare revolving around things one can do during a daily commute to keep busy. It’s actually a process that’s evolved in the almost three years since I said yes to working in the city, something that was not even top of mind prior to this job. Continue reading