Games World of Puzzles December 2020

If “Home for the Holidays” is your theme song for 2020’s festivities, this issue of GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES offers plenty of December-themed diversions. For most people, much of the year has been spent at home with family and close friends. That is no different for the GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES staff. We’ve taken advantage of this downtime to put together “Staff Picks” (page 33), a compilation of the games we played most this year. Mind you, not all of these are new games—some are classics—but they reflect the diversity of interests of our staff members. Check it out—you might get a gift idea or two!
Speaking of gift ideas, does your list include any hardcore grammar geeks or word nerds? If so, turn to page 40 to learn about Stet!, a new game created by Random House copy chief Benjamin Dreyer. Editor Raymond Simon presents a Q&A with Dreyer, in which he reveals how the game came about and other interesting tidbits about working (and playing!) with words.

Continuing the theme of words, do some “Yuletide Reading” with the quiz of the same name on page 42, Can you identify these works of classic literature from the Christmas scenes that are excerpted? Even the most voracious reader may find a few of these pretty tricky, but most folks will know at least a handful. Give it a try!

As always, our Pencilwise section is packed with puzzles, many with a holiday theme, like Raymond Young’s “Holiday Festivities” word search on page 15 and page 24’s “Art on the Square.” (Don’t worry, we won’t reveal what the finished picture is here!) As a gift to word puzzle fans, this issue contains two Patrick Berry favorites: Rows Garden (page 49) and Some Assembly Required (page 64). Logic lovers will relish “Calling All Workers” (page 30), a logic problem by Dahlia Schwartz, and Domino Theory (page 54) by Margery Albis.
The staff of GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES wishes you a safe, healthy holiday season filled with love, warmth, and many hours of happy puzzling!