puzzlinks.com http://puzzlinks.com An all-purpose puzzle blog. Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:30:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Puzzlinks Roundup (weekly) http://puzzlinks.com/2012/04/08/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-11/ http://puzzlinks.com/2012/04/08/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-11/#comments Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:30:08 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=631

  • DASH4

    Dash 4 is a puzzle hunt that takes place in different cities around the country on the same day, April 28th.  Click through to see if it’s coming to your city and maybe sign up a team.

  • Sterling Publishing: Catalog

    Here’s a new book from Ben Tausig featuring crossword puzzles that were published in alternative newspapers.

    tags: crossword puzzle book

  • Crossword Puzzle Theme Park | The Nation

    Cruciverbalists take note.  The Nation is adding themes to their cryptic crossword puzzles.

    tags: crossword puzzle

    Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]> http://puzzlinks.com/2012/04/08/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-11/feed/ 0 Puzzlinks Roundup (weekly) http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/25/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-10/ http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/25/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-10/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 13:30:08 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=629

  • ‘Quantum Conundrum’: ‘Portal’ designer shares next project

    For video game fans.  A sneak peek at what’s next from the creator of Portal.

    tags: game portal

    Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]> http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/25/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-10/feed/ 0 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament 2012 http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/19/american-crossword-puzzle-tournament-2012/ http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/19/american-crossword-puzzle-tournament-2012/#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:59:32 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=624 An American-style crossword with a 15 15 grid ...

    An American-style crossword with a 15 15 grid layout. (Photo credit: Wikipedi

    The 35th Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament was held this weekend in Brooklyn.  Congratulations to Dan Feyer for his third straight win.  For those, like me, who couldn’t attend, here’s some coverage of the event that includes a video and a look at what it’s like to be a judge in a crossword puzzle tournament from the NYT Wordplay blog.  Oh yeah, and there was also this thing about a computer program competing in the tournament.  It turns out that computer have yet to top human beings in crossword puzzles, as they have with chess and Jeopardy.  Dr. Fill would have come in 141st, had it been an official participant.  Apparently the program was tripped up by one puzzle that required clues to be filled in backwards and another that had diagonal clues in the puzzle.

    ]]>     http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/19/american-crossword-puzzle-tournament-2012/feed/ 0     Puzzlinks Roundup (weekly) http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/18/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-9/ http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/18/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-9/#comments Sun, 18 Mar 2012 13:30:09 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=621

  • Human gamers outdo computers in genomics puzzle | SmartPlanet

    This is an interesting look at how human gamers can outperform computers at some tasks.

  • Guardian Crosswords – Android Apps on Google Play

    This free Android app allows you to play daily Guardian crosswords.  Great for fans of the cryptic crossword.

    tags: crosswords apps

  • Core Dump: Puzzle Games | GeekDad | Wired.com

    This Wired article provides a rundown on some of the best puzzle games available now for your mobile device.

    tags: games puzzle

    Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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  • AMAZED – Free Addicting Game

    And last… a flash, point and click. puzzle game.

  • Circadia: A Simple Yet Devilishly Tricky Puzzle Game That You Must Have — AppAdvice

    Another iOS puzzle game with a unique premise.

  • Tapbounce is Bouncy Ball Puzzle Fun

    Here’s an iOS game.

  • Puzzle Treasure offers brain-teasing tangram fun

    The theme of this weeks links is puzzle games.  Starting off, we have a puzzle game for Facebook.

    Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]> http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/11/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-8/feed/ 0 Puzzlinks Roundup (weekly) http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/04/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-7/ http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/04/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-7/#comments Sun, 04 Mar 2012 13:30:31 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=617

  • CultureLab: The secrets of solving mathematical puzzles

    A review of the book The Puzzler’s Dilemma by Derrick Niederman.

    Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]> http://puzzlinks.com/2012/03/04/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-7/feed/ 0 Puzzlinks Roundup (weekly) http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/26/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-6/ http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/26/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-6/#comments Sun, 26 Feb 2012 13:30:22 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=615

  • Sudoku Party Review » 148Apps » iPhone and iPod Touch Application Reviews and News

    Sudoku Party allows you to compete against your friends with the same sudoku puzzle.

    tags: sudoku apps

    Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]> http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/26/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-6/feed/ 0 Making Puzzles With Legos http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/22/making-puzzles-with-legos/ http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/22/making-puzzles-with-legos/#comments Thu, 23 Feb 2012 02:05:19 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=613 Instructables has a nice article about how to create your own interlocking puzzle using legos.  First you build the pieces of the puzzle with legos and then you try to solve the puzzle.  It’s nice.  Particularly for those who have a lot of legos sitting around and don’t want to pay for mechanical puzzles that might not be much fun after the first time they’re solved.

    I also notice that there are quite a few lego puzzles on Instructables that are worth checking out.

    ]]>     http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/22/making-puzzles-with-legos/feed/ 0     Puzzlinks Roundup (weekly) http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/19/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-5/ http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/19/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-5/#comments Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:30:26 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=610

  • Puzzle play helps boost learning math-related skills

    It’s never too early to start doing puzzles.

  • BBB warns consumers about puzzle contests | ksdk.com

    It’s worth noting that you should beware of some puzzle contests.

  • ThinkGeek :: Frabjous Sculpture Puzzle

    A beautiful and challenging assembly puzzle.

  • GeekDad Puzzle of the Week: Football Squares

    GeekDad turns your office Super Bowl pool into a challenging puzzle.

  • ALCATRAZ Viral Campaign Recap with Video and Images

    A recap of an ARG that promoted the new show Alcatraz.

  • Brier Dudley’s Blog | Kindle gets handwriting recognition from puzzle startup | Seattle Times Newspaper

    Puzzle books are driving innovation on the Kindle.  New TouchWrite technology helps you fill in Sudoku puzzles on your ebook reader.

    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/19/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-5/feed/ 0     Computer Program “Dr. Fill” Takes on the ACPT http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/16/computer-program-dr-fill-takes-on-the-acpt/ http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/16/computer-program-dr-fill-takes-on-the-acpt/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:32:02 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=608 Matt Ginsberg, a computer scientist in Oregon, has created a computer program, called Dr. Fill, that will be unofficially competing in this year’s American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.  Not surprisingly, Dr. Fill is being compared to Watson, the computer that beat Ken Jennings at Jeopardy.  Though, the truth is that comparing Dr. Fill to Watson is a bit like comparing a flea to an elephant.  While a whole team of scientists built Watson, Dr. Fill is the brain child of Ginsberg alone.  It makes the whole thing more interesting, in my opinion.  It could really show how far technology has come, if the computer program that could win the ACPT can we run on most laptops.  That said, Ginsburg isn’t predicting a win.  The article says he’s guessing 20th place is more likely.  It will be interesting to see what happens.

    ]]>     http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/16/computer-program-dr-fill-takes-on-the-acpt/feed/ 2     Puzzlinks Relaunches http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/12/puzzlinks-relaunches/ http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/12/puzzlinks-relaunches/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:42:25 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=604 Six years ago today, I started Puzzlinks.  Three years ago, I stopped posting here.  Today, I’m announcing the relaunch of Puzzlinks.  Changes are in the works here and more information will be coming soon.  It just felt like today was the right day to make the announcement.  More links coming soon!

    ]]>     http://puzzlinks.com/2012/02/12/puzzlinks-relaunches/feed/ 1     Puzzlinks Farewell http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/09/puzzlinks-farewell/ http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/09/puzzlinks-farewell/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:42:24 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=576 I’ve been in denial about this for quite some time, hoping that I could put some more time into this blog, imagining the ways that I could make it better.  As of this week, Puzzlinks has been in existence for three years.  It was time to do some evaluation about what the future of the site would hold and I have decided not to continue.  I just can’t put enough time into the blog to make it as good as it should be and there are plenty of other great puzzle blogs out there.  (Passion For Puzzles, SmartKit, The Griddle, and su.doku.es, to name just a few.)  I have no intention of taking down the site, I just won’t be posting to it anymore.

    I’ve had a lot of fun running puzzlinks and I think that the last three years have been great ones to run a puzzle blog.  Shortly after I started, there was the Starbucks crossword competition and then the Google Da Vinci Code puzzle competition.  We witnessed the rise and fall of Perplex City and the documentary Wordplay turned cruciverbalists into celebrities.  It’s not easy to turn away from this project, but I know that it’s the right decision for me.

    So long, everyone, and thanks for reading.

    ]]>     http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/09/puzzlinks-farewell/feed/ 11     Puzzlinks Roundup (weekly) http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/08/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-4/ http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/08/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-4/#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2009 13:30:18 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/08/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-4/

  • DailyTech – Brain Age: Not as Good for Your Brain as Claimed

    It should surprise no one that Nintendo is exaggerating in their claims about Brain Age.

    tags: brain-age, games, puzzles

  • iPhone App Solves Rubik’s Cube in 20 Moves or Better | Epicenter from Wired.com

    Can’t solve the cube? Have your iPhone solve it for you.

    tags: rubiks-cube, puzzles, iphone

  • Amusing Math Puzzles

    A new blog dedicated to puzzles.

    tags: puzzles, math

    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/08/puzzlinks-roundup-weekly-4/feed/ 0     Figure Ground http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/03/figure-ground/ http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/03/figure-ground/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:07:04 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=572 Figure Ground is a unique new puzzle game from Ian Gilman.  The concept is simple, moved colored blocks around on the right to match an image on the left.  There are a couple catches though.  When blocks of the same color are laid next to each other, they are permanently attached.  Also, moving blocks of one color reveal blocks of a different color beneath.

    ]]>     http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/03/figure-ground/feed/ 1     Rubik’s 360 http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/03/rubiks-360/ http://puzzlinks.com/2009/02/03/rubiks-360/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:59:31 +0000 Josh Kidd http://puzzlinks.com/?p=569 Erno Rubik, inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, has developed a new puzzle that is coming soon to a store near you.  The puzzle is called Rubik’s 360.  There aren’t a whole lot of details about the puzzle, but from pictures it appears to be a clear plastic ball with smaller colored balls inside.  The goal is to get each ball into the appropriately colored ring on the surface of the larger ball.

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