Posts from — March 2010

Trip Payne posted a new crossword on his site today called Something Different #3 (PDF AcrossLite). Don’t let the size fool you … the answers are a lot of fun and easier to get than you might think. 50-Across is my favorite entry.

Trip has a bunch of free puzzles on his web site – check them out here.

Puzzle cupcakes … can you name all 100 puzzles, video games, and board games depicted by the artwork on these cupcakes? (Yes, you read that correctly.) Click on the image for a closer look.

Today I have a few questions for you, Gentle Reader:

1. Are you really a puzzlehead?

2. Do you have £200?

3. Do you want to win £10,000?

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, then the ISIS Platinum Pyramid Challenge is for you!

What is ISIS?

The ISIS puzzle was first made available to the public on July 7, 2006. ISIS is a spherical puzzle box made of precision-engineered anodized aluminum. The individual components of the puzzle box can be rotated or pressed.

The ISIS is not only beautiful (comes in many colors, even a custom patriotic USA theme) but also maddening – the solution to each one is unique (although the mechanism for obtaining the solution is common to all).

Unlocking the box reveals unique codes that can be redeemed for prizes (such as gold or silver coins) or to reveal further clues.

In 2008, the RAMISIS (or ISIS 2) puzzle was released. Instead of a sphere, RAMISIS is a pyramid with rotating layers – but the goal is similar. Find the right sequence for manipulating the device in order to access the codes inside.

What is the Platinum Pyramid Challenge?

On September 25, 2006, the Platinum Pyramid Challenge was announced. Solve all five ISIS puzzles, find the Platinum Pyramid, and win £10,000.

Good luck with this one, fellow puzzleheads!

I heard mention recently (on Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords) of a new quiz show on the BBC called Only Connect. The tag line is amazing: “A quiz show in which patience and lateral thinking are as vital as knowledge”. Here’s the links to the three segments published so far:

• Episode 1 Segments: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• Play Only Connect Online

At first I was a bit put off by the show’s look and feel, mostly because I was expecting the typical array of flashing lights, catchy background music, and so forth. (I think the exact opposite of Only Connect would be something along the lines of Press Your Luck.) And the teams had me spooked – Oxford collegians vs. Cambridge librarians? And they use Greek letters as names for categories? (Is that a sigma or a delta?) I have no chance of answering anything!

Or so I thought. I watched the three clips, and I was surprisingly more successful at them than I expected. There were some questions that made me feel totally inept, but a few that I answered before either of the teams did.

The show’s premise is simple – find the common thread that ties four seemingly unrelated clues together. For instance, if the clues were: Rose, Sarah Jane, Tegan, and Ace, the correct answer would be Companions of Doctor Who.

Best quote of the show: “Everyone can do S-O-S in Morse Code, I hope? If not, we’re all going to hell in a hand cart.”

Amanda Yesnowitz and Brian Cimmet wrote a wonderful little tune called “A Way With Words”, which they performed at the “Crossworders Got Talent” program during the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Here’s the video on YouTube … enjoy!