NaBloPoMo Day 13: Games

I'm a huge fan of word games. If I have people around to play with (does not happen often), then Codenames and Scrabble are my favorites. But typically it is solitary word games that keep me engaged on a daily basis. Every so often, a new game comes on the scene and one that really created a splash during the pandemic was Wordle, now with its umpteen versions like Quordle and Octordle. 

I found yet another game NYTimes recently and now have gotten into the habit of doing it with my first cup of coffee in the morning. It is called Connections, and here is an example. You get 16 words and you have to create 4 groups of four.

Connections Game in the NYTimes

I did it but my results were not particularly great. The hollow cylinders category tripped me up as I thought it was about skinny long things and included words like rope and cigarette in it. It is a fun game and can be quite tricky, especially if you're not well versed in the names of bands and sports teams and other obscure (to me) categories.

Of course my favorite solitary word game of all time is the Crossword puzzle. We think they have been around forever but apparently the first puzzle only appeared in 1913. I do (try to do) the ones at the back of the New Yorker- they cycle through puzzles that are beginner level, lightly challenging, moderately challenging, and very challenging. 

I read an interesting chapter on crossword puzzles in the book The Puzzler by A.J. Jacobs and maybe it was a coincidence or maybe I was just inspired to try harder, but I finished a very challenging puzzle for the first time ever. (Usually, the magazines are littered with my half-done and abandoned puzzles.) The clue for 33 Across- "Hollow, deep-fried bread" was the first one I filled in- Puri :) 

Cryptic clues are the ones that are most satisfying to crack, but they are not as popular in American puzzles, and also I am terrible at them ha ha. 

Words are such fun!