Are You a Puzzle Master?
Written: May 02 '03 (Updated Jun 19 '04)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Great puzzle variety, entertaining, portable, grab a friend as two brains are better than one!
Cons: Difficulty level might be too challenging for some.
The Bottom Line: Challenging puzzles for the puzzle enthusiast.
|
|
|
| dlstewart's Full Review: Master's Variety Puzzles Plus Magazine |
I’ve purchased PennyPress puzzle magazines for years. Once again, PennyPress offers a fun mix of puzzles in their Master’s Variety Puzzles edition. PennyPress states that the Master’s edition offers their toughest puzzles ... and I agree. These puzzles will surely test your deductive powers.
I thought it interesting to compare three of the different types of “Variety Puzzle” magazines published by PennyPress (the “Tournament”, “Master’s”, and “Approved” editions). You can find links to the other two reviews at the bottom of this page.
Overall View of the Magazine
Each issue is 114 pages and measures 7 1/2 inches across by 10 3/4 inches high and is about a 1/4 inch thick. A “Jumbo Edition” of 194 pages is offered once a year. The paper is reminiscent of newspaper, and the puzzles are printed in black ink. Sometimes when holding the book or if rubbing the fingers over the pages, the black ink might transfer to the fingers. I currently own only one edition of Master’s Variety Puzzles. I don’t want to give my head a permanent brain cramp! As I said, these puzzles are more difficult than in the other Variety issues. Open the cover to view the Table of Contents, which first lists the featured puzzle of choice (in this issue the featured puzzle is Syllacrostics) and then the other variety puzzles are grouped alphabetically. The Table of Contents lists the name of the puzzle and the page number where the puzzle is located. At the back of the magazine are solutions to every puzzle.
Each puzzle comes with an explanation of how to solve it. The explanations, for the most part, are easy to understand. Some of them require a couple of readings if the puzzles are more complicated. The letters and numbers in the puzzles are large and bold for easy reading. Each puzzle page lists the page where the puzzle solution is located.
What types of puzzles will I see in the magazine?
In this edition there are 74 different types of puzzles and 179 total puzzles. I don’t have room in the review to describe every puzzle; but here are some of them. These are listed in order from the Table of Contents.
Syllacrostics -- the featured puzzle in this issue
There are 20 Syllacrostics in this issue. A list of word clues is provided with dashes indicating how many letters are in the answer and a number in parenthesis telling how many syllables the answer has in it. The answer is then deducted from a random list of syllables at the top of the page. For example: The clue might read: “Two-wheeler” with the number 3 in parenthesis and seven dashes indicating the answer has seven letters. Going to the top of the page to the list of syllables, you might find these syllables: AB, BI, CAS, CLE, CY, DER, NE, TRI. The object is to combine three syllables to form the 7-letter answer, which is “Bicycle”.
Brick by Brick
There are two Brick by Brick puzzles in this edition. A diagram of 15x15 empty squares is provided with a list of Across and Down clues (like a crossword puzzle). Also included is a selection of “bricks”. The bricks are 3 squares across by 2 squares down, forming a rectangle of 6 letters or some letters with black squares. The clues will help you to position the bricks into their proper place in the diagram.
Chess Words
There is one Chess Word puzzle in this edition. A game board of 8x8 squares (each square containing a letter of the alphabet) is provided. Just like a chess game, black chess pieces are positioned on one side of the board, and white chess pieces are at the other side of the board. There is a column titled “Black” and a column named “White” with spaces for 4-letter words listed beneath each of the eight playing pieces (no pawns are used in this game; for example for each color, there is a Queen’s Rook, Queen’s Knight, Queen’s Bishop, Queen, King, King’s Bishop, King’s Knight, King’s Rook). The object is to unscramble the words in the 8x8 grid by using standard chess moves for each piece. For instance, a Bishop can move diagonally any number of squares. Letters in the grid can only be used once in a word. It’s an interesting game, and a definite challenge!
Codewords
There are five Codeword puzzles in this edition. My favorite game! There is a crossword puzzle diagram, and each square has a number in it. Each number (1-26) corresponds to a letter of the alphabet. The challenge is you don’t know which number goes to which letter. Don’t panic. Each puzzle has two or three letters already filled in. There are no word clues in this puzzle. It’s a code ... and your challenge is to break it.
Cryptic Crosswords
There are two Cryptic Crossword puzzles in this edition. These are ornery crossword puzzles. The grid is setup like a crossword puzzle. It’s the clues and answers that are tricky. Each clue can either provide a definition, or can supply a reference to the answer, or it can be a play on words. For instance, the clue might read “Good walker is one who takes chances (7 letter answer)” – the answer would be “gambler”. Not easy!
Cryptograms
There are 24 different Cryptogram puzzles on three pages in this edition. These puzzles are based on letter substitution. Each letter of the alphabet has been swapped for another letter. For example, the letter A may now be called the letter M, the letter B may now be called the letter Z. There are 24 messages that need decoding, and each message uses a different substitution code.
Escalators
There are five Escalator puzzles on two pages in this edition. The puzzles vary in size, starting with small puzzles and working toward larger ones. Each puzzle works the same way, though. Clues are provided, solve them and fit the answers into a puzzle grid. The grid is always three words across. Place the answer to the first clue in the first box. Then, dropping one letter from that answer, use the letters in that answer to form the second clue answer. Take the second answer, drop a letter from it, and use the remaining letters to find the answer to the third clue. The dropped letters are inserted into two columns and will form two mystery words when the puzzle is correctly solved.
Framework
There are six Framework puzzles on four pages in this edition. The object is to insert words from the word list into squares to form interlocking words. This somewhat reminds me of Scrabble ... only the words are already formed. You just have to find out where to place them. The word list is sorted by the length of the words: all the 3-letter words are together, the 4-letter words are listed together, etc.
Some of the Other Puzzles
Alphabet Plus – (1 puzzle) – Add a letter of the alphabet to a 5-letter word to form a 6-letter word
Crostics – (6 puzzles) – Like a crossword, solve clues and fill in a puzzle that reveals a quote
Crypto-Families – (6 puzzles) – Lists of related words in code; use letter substitution to solve
Diagramless – (2 puzzles) – A crossword; fit the answers into an unnumbered diagram
Double Trouble – (2 puzzles) – A crossword puzzle; split the answers into syllables and determine which syllables go in which squares
Fill-Ins – (2 puzzles) – Fill the given words into a crossword-style diagram
Flower Power – (1 puzzle) – Answers to clues go both clockwise and counterclockwise in a flower pattern
Logic Problems – (4 puzzles) – Read the mini-story and clues; find out who, what, where, when
Match-Up – (1 puzzle) – Find the two identical pictures
Quotefalls – (4 puzzles) – Choose the letters in each vertical column to go into the squares beneath that column to form a quotation
Sum Totals – (3 puzzles) – A mathematical crossword puzzle
Word Seeks – (4 puzzles) – Find the words amid the mix of letters; no traditional word seeks here, fun!
What does the magazine cost?
You can subscribe to Master’s Variety Puzzles by visiting their website at www.pennypress.com or by purchasing the magazine and mailing in a subscription form. There are six issues a year; five regular issues and one jumbo issue. Six issues a year in the United States cost $21.97 (or $39.97 for two years). Six issues a year at the international rate cost $26.97 (or 44.97 for two years). Purchasing this puzzle magazine in a store costs $3.50 U.S. /$4.99 Canadian per issue. I buy my puzzle magazines at the store. The cost savings via mail is negligible, and in my experience, unless specially packaged, magazines of this sort usually arrived ripped if sent through the mail.
Summary
The puzzles in Master’s Variety Puzzles are definitely a challenge and will offer days of fun. Some of these puzzles take real brain-power. This is a puzzle magazine I keep at home so that I can take days to solve each puzzle ... not a magazine to take on vacation unless you are a Puzzle Master. I enjoy solving puzzles in ink. For some reason I’m not happy using pencils in a puzzle book. I’m glad my EraserMate pen has an eraser!
I hope you have found this review useful.
Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
Please read my other reviews:
EraserMate Pen with erasable ink
PennyPress Tournament Variety Puzzles
PennyPress Approved Variety Puzzles
Mighty Bright Light
Stanley Contemporary Electric Pencil Sharpener
HON Metal Bookcase
Hoyle Table Games 2004 (software)
Hoyle Card Games 2003 (software)
Gateway 500X Desktop Computer
Dazzle 6-in-1 Card Reader
Belkin Home/Office Emergency Battery Backup
Copyright 2003 Dawn L. Stewart
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.