Hot Puzz(le): The Hashtag Game Returns!

hashtaggameheader

You may be familiar with the board game Schmovie, hashtag games on Twitter, or @midnight’s Hashtag Wars segment on Comedy Central.

For years now, we’ve been collaborating on puzzle-themed hashtag games with our pals at Penny Dell Puzzles, and this month’s hook was #PennyDellPuzzleQuotes, mashing up Penny Dell puzzles with quotes from famous movies!

Examples include: “Go ahead, make my Daisy” or “You’re a wizard words, Harry!” or “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your Blips together and blow.”

So, without further ado, check out what the puzzlers at PuzzleNation and Penny Dell Puzzles came up with!


“Son, what we got here is a failure to Make the Connection.” (Cool Hand Luke)

“You’re gonna need a bigger Quotefind.” / “You’re gonna need a bigger Bowl Game.” (Jaws)

“I ate his liver with fava beans and a nice Keyword.” (The Silence of the Lambs)

“Wheels before Zod!” (Superman 2)

“We’ll always have Pairs.” (Casablanca)

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do Word-A-Mat.” (2001: A Space Odyssey)

“All work and no Word Play makes Jack a dull boy.” / “All work and no play makes Crackerjacks a dull boy.” (The Shining)

“I’m not gonna hurt ya. I’m just gonna bash your Brain Boosters in.” (The Shining)

“Here and There‘s Johnny!” (The Shining)

“Don’t you worry! Never fear! Robin Hood will soon be Here and There!” (Looney Tunes: Rabbit Hood)

“E.T Text Message home.” (E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial)

“Nobody puts Baby in the Four Corners!” (Dirty Dancing)

“Don’t Kriss Kross the streams” (Ghostbusters)

“You’re a daisy if you do” / “You’re no daisy. No daisy at all.” (Tombstone)

“Crackers and Frameworks! That’s what Penny does!” (Wedding Crashers)

“Whatever. Make me a Blockbuilders, clown.” (Wedding Crashers)

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t Give and Take a damn.” (Gone With the Wind)

“Seek thee out, the Diamond Mine in the rough.” (Aladdin)

“I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna Take It from There anymore!” (Network)

“If you Build-a-Quote, he will come.” (Field of Dreams)

“Fredo, you’re my brother and I love you. But don’t ever takes sides with anyone against the Crypto-Family again. Ever.” (The Godfather)

“Leave the gun, take the Chips.” (The Godfather)

“I’m not sure that I agree with you a hundred percent on your Framework there, Lou.” (Fargo)

“Places, Please sir, may I have another?” (Animal House)

“I’m a friend of Sarah Connor. I was told she was here. Could I see her Places, Please?” (The Terminator)

Morpheus believes he is The One and Only. (The Matrix)

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my One and Only hope. (Star Wars)

“May the Foursomes be with you.” (Star Wars)

“I find your lack of Frameworks disturbing.” (Star Wars)

“I love puzzles.”
“I know.” (The Empire Strikes Back)

“Follow the yellow Brick By Brick road.” (The Wizard of Oz)

“There’s no place like Home Runs, there’s no place like Home Runs.” (The Wizard of Oz)

“Nothing goes over my Headings! My reflexes are too fast, I would catch it.” (Guardians of the Galaxy)

“I am Groot.” (Guardians of the Galaxy)

“‘We gotta do somethin’.’ I don’t know why ‘we’ always has to be me every damn time. We, we, we. What do I look like, an expert in Bookworms?” (Tremors)

“There’s no crying in Bingo.” (A League of Their Own)

“Love means never having to Say That Again?” (Love Story)

“Go Fish, make my day.” (Sudden Impact)

“That’s a lot of Go Fish.” (Godzilla)

“Right Angles turn, Clyde.” (Any Which Way But Loose)

“Me and Jenny was like Places, Please and carrots.” (Forrest Gump)

“One time Abacus said you never really knew a man until you stood in his shoes and walked around in them…” (To Kill a Mockingbird)

“I am big, it’s the Picture Pairs that got small.” (Sunset Boulevard)

“Now, go away, or I shall taunt you a second Halftime!” (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)


Several intrepid puzzlers went above and beyond in their efforts as well!

The first recreated a classic conversation from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

“Stoplines! Guess Who would Crisscross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions Three from Nine, ere the other side he see!”
“Ask me the questions, Bridge-Keep On Moving-er. I’m not afraid!”
“What is your By Any Other Name?”
”My Crypto-Name is Sir Lancelot of Camelot!”
”What is your Word Quest?”
”To Triangle Seek the Holy Grail!”
”What is your favorite Color By Numbers?”
“Blue!”
”Fine! Pair Off you go!”

The second contributor went more contemporary, reworking one of Liam Neeson’s most chilling moments from the film Taken:

I don’t know “Who’s Calling.” I don’t know “What’s Next.” If you’re looking for “A Perfect Ten,” I can tell you I don’t have “Buried Treasure” but what I do have are a very particular set of “Split Personalities.” “Split Personalities” I have acquired over a very long career. “Split Personalities” that make me a “Dilemma” for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the “End of the Line.” I will not “Crossblock” you, I will not “Pathfinder” you. But if you don’t, I will “Crossblock” you, I will “Pathfinder” you and I will “Samurai Sudoku” you.


Have you come up with any Penny Dell Puzzle Quotes entries of your own? Let us know! We’d love to see them!

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It’s Follow-Up Friday: Funding and Fright edition!

Welcome to Follow-Up Friday!

By this time, you know the drill. Follow-Up Friday is a chance for us to revisit the subjects of previous posts and bring the PuzzleNation audience up to speed on all things puzzly.

And today, I’ve got some updates and answers for you!

First off, I want to say congratulations to Patrick Blindauer, whose Piece of Cake Crosswords Kickstarter campaign was funded by solvers hungry for quality puzzles without the obscurities and crosswordese!

It was down to the wire, but the campaign raised the final $10,000 in just seven days to pass the funding goal and ensure that 52 terrific puzzles will be wending their way to solvers all over the world!

In fact, the first one has already arrived in solvers’ inboxes! I can’t wait to see what Patrick has up his sleeve for the next 51 weeks!


And now, on to the answers!

On Monday, I posted a video by musician, comedian, and pun-enthusiast Ali Spagnola where she assembled twenty Halloween themed (or just generally spooky) songs and challenged you to name them all.

How did you do?

1. “Thriller” — Michael Jackson
2. Ghostbusters theme — Ray Parker Jr.
3. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” — Eurythmics
4. “Time Warp” — The Rocky Horror Picture Show
5. “The Monster” — Eminem ft. Rihanna
6. “Monster Mash” — Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers
7. “The Phantom of the Opera” — Andrew Lloyd Webber
8. The Addams Family theme
9. “This Is Halloween” — The Nightmare Before Christmas
10. The Twilight Zone theme
11. Little Shop of Horrors theme
12. “Crazy Train” — Ozzy Osbourne
13. Scooby Doo, Where Are You? theme
14. “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” — Backstreet Boys
15. “Enter Sandman” — Metallica
16. “Somebody’s Watching Me” — Rockwell
17. “Disturbia” — Rihanna
18. “Heads Will Roll” — Yeah Yeah Yeahs
19. “Hungry Like the Wolf” — Duran Duran
20. “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” — The Charlie Daniels Band

Admittedly, I didn’t get all of them — the Ghostbusters theme eluded me, and I don’t think I’d ever heard Rihanna’s “Disturbia” — but I got all of the others! Not too shabby!


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PuzzleNation Product Review: LEGO Maze

For years, one of the most marketable things about LEGO sets has been that you can use their pieces in your own ingenious creations. They’ve taken it a step further over the last few years, and now fan creations have the chance to become actual sets!

The Ecto-1 from GhostBusters, the set of The Big Bang Theory, a collection of noteworthy female scientists… these are some of the awesome sets that were designed by amateur builders, voted on by LEGO fans, and approved to become marketed LEGO sets.

And the latest edition to that fan-created line of specialty sets is one of the puzzliest products they’ve ever sold: the LEGO Maze.

Jason Allemann of JK Brickworks created the original design, which was voted on by fans, approved by LEGO, and then improved upon by professional LEGO model designer Steen Sig Andersen.

It’s based on classic wooden marble mazes; the goal is to tilt the board with the two dials on the sides of the maze in order to navigate your marble from one end of the maze to the other without dropping the marble through one of the many treacherously placed holes.

In the LEGO maze, those holes are replaced by black depressions in the maze that trap your marble without dropping it out of sight. (Though I’m sure amateur builders are already designing their own maze layouts that incorporate actual holes just to up the challenge factor.)

[The medieval layout included in the instructions.]

Oh yes, there’s not just one layout. As you can see, the set includes all sorts of pieces with which to create numerous possible layouts from basic ones to advanced. (I’m currently working on one of my own design. Maybe it’ll pop up on Instagram soon!)

The adaptability of the maze layout is one of the highlights of this set, encouraging the same entrepreneurial building spirit that inspired the set in the first place.

And speaking of the set, the design is pretty impressive. It cleverly allows you to lock the tilting maze in place by using the storage box for the marbles as a stabilizer, and you can remove it just as easily. (Remove one piece — and the travel lock under the opposite corner, and you’re ready to play!)

Replicating the full range of motion cannot have been an easy task for either Allemann or Andersen, and that leads to the only negative aspect of the set. I was a little underwhelmed by the control offered by the two dials. Each tilts more toward one direction than the other, so you don’t have the full range of traditional marble mazes. (I suspect this could be remedied by a slightly shorter rod connecting each dial to the two frames allowing you to tilt the maze more in the opposite direction.)

That being said, it’s a minor quibble. On a perfectly flat surface, a steady hand will lead you to victory, if you’re patient enough.

[The build in progress…]

As a long-time fan and builder, I enjoyed both the simple and complex aspects of the building process, and I was surprised that they didn’t number each bag of pieces, as they’ve recently started to do with their higher-end, more complicated sets. That might put off a casual builder, but as someone who enjoys the additional challenge of digging through a pile of pieces looking for that one particular piece, I didn’t mind at all.

LEGO has really been pushing the boundaries of what you can accomplish with these classic interlocking bricks, and the LEGO Maze is one of the most inventive and impressive designs I’ve ever seen.

[The LEGO Maze is available from LEGO.com for $69.99.]


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You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on TwitterPinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!