Josh Sevin

Celebrating all things puzzle - crosswords, jigsaws, escape rooms, #NYTGames, Sudoku, wordplay, et. al. - with healthy doses of joshing & numbers

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Happy #NationalPuzzleDay! I’m launching this new account to share my love of puzzling. Yes, I’ll post/RT some puzzles for solving … but there’s already a ton of that on this platform! Here you’ll mostly find fun facts and musings about the wonderful world of puzzling. Enjoy!🤔🧩

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today’s #SpellingBee reminds me of an unfortunate prior anagram mishap. As a 12-year-old fan of Fawlty Towers, I said “Flowery Twats” within earshot of a teacher after seeing the words on an episode of the British sitcom. He sternly asked if I knew what that meant … I did not 🤦‍♂️

[sheryl lee ralph @thesherylralph]

I am the answer.

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Puzzle humor made it into Colin Jost’s set at the #WhiteHouseCorrespondentsDinner! Doing a roll call of news outlets in attendance, Jost quipped: “Wordle is here tonight … sorry, sorry, I meant the New York Times. I forgot they do stuff in addition to puzzles.” #NerdProm

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Though the Kentucky Derby 🏇🌹 is still a week out, puzzle enthusiasts looking to bet before then can wager on Japanese racehorse Lateral Thinking, who faces good odds at the 8th race at the Niigata racecourse tomorrow ... and embodies a problem-solving mindset?

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - Two years ago, immersive journalist and puzzle-lover A.J. Jacobs published The Puzzler, an entertaining and informative tour of the wide world of puzzling in which he tries his hand at some of the toughest puzzles ever devised.
@ajjacobs @gregpliska

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - Four year ago, the @baltimoresun seriously messed with its readership when it mistakenly ran identical images in its Spot the Difference visual puzzle, causing unknown wasted hours of people staring at the pictures to no avail. #JournalisticSadism

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - HBD to Emrehan Halici (born 1956), the Turkish software developer and politician who also holds the world record for longest serving puzzles columnist. Halici has produced puzzles for scientific publications and magazines since 1978. @emrehanhalici

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - Three years ago, Matt Ginsberg's Dr. Fill crossword-solving computer program won the main event at the American Crossword Puzzle tournament for the first time. The AI debuted at the 2012 ACPT and Dr. Fill retired after taking the 2021 virtual tourney.

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - 19th century puzzlemaster Sam Loyd published a new style of number-jumping maze in the New York Journal & Advertiser on this date in 1898. Loyd's intention was to stymie those who use the Euler method of solving mazes by working backward from the end.

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - Medical TV drama House displayed surgical wordplay precision on this date in 2007 when the show's deeply conceited and misanthropic namesake physician noted that you can anagram GREGORY HOUSE to get HUGE EGO - SORRY. @hughlaurie @housetv

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - Novelist and poet Vladimir Nabokov (born 4/22/1899) translated his love of language to a passion for puzzles. He published the first Russian-language crossword and peppered his many love letters to his wife Vera with creative riddles and word puzzles.

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - Born on this date in 1926, Queen Elizabeth II was known to be an avid puzzler - in particular enjoying jigsaws and crosswords and maintaining an active membership with the British Jigsaw Puzzle Library.

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - One year ago, the Grace Foundation of New York set a Guinness record as 2,423 people gathered on Staten Island to form the world's largest human jigsaw puzzle piece to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorder. @GRACEOFNY @autismspeaks @GWR

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - Rock band The Doors sneak a self-referential anagram into their L.A. Woman album released on this date in 1971. The title song contains the repeated lyric "MR. MOJO RISIN," whose letters can be rearranged to spell the name of lead singer JIM MORRISON.

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Who says the IRS is no fun? This fiscally responsible crossword puzzle suggests otherwise. Many happy returns for your Tax Day! @IRSnews https://t.co/RMQgpKnpyW

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

@rexparker I’m picturing an excessively quirky strip mall filled with people confused as to where they are and just wanting to buy a damn OREO

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Ah, Boston ... you've given us Patriots' Day, the world's oldest annual marathon (both are today), and a cool term for a wicked hahd crossword solve. Named after a Beantown suburb and coined by @rexparker, a "Natick" is an unguessable square intersected by 2 obscure proper nouns.

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - On this date in 2011, artist and sideshow performer Paul "The Enigma" Lawrence set a Guinness world record for the most jigsaw puzzle pieces tattooed on a body with 2,123 tattoos. It took three hours to count all the pieces. @GWR @inkstainedretch

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Excellent @AdrienneRaphel piece on how Gen Z is modernizing and personalizing crossword puzzles. Tech advances that aid in constructing xwords, growth in online communities, and more publishing outlets seeking more diverse voices are helping drive change
https://t.co/K42MySE6ct

[Josh Sevin @sevinpuzzles]

Today in Puzzling History - While better known for his role in writing the Declaration of Independence and serving as the 3rd U.S. president, did you know that birthday boy Thomas Jefferson (born 1743) also dabbled in cryptography? He invented this wheel-based encryption device👇