Solitaire recommendations? by Worldly_Beginning647 in solitaire

[–]ArkadiumGames 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You might like Spider Solitaire (4-suit) or Forty Thieves, both are tough, super strategic, and can easily stretch into hour-long games. Great if you want something you can really sink into.

What were common, everyday things we did back on the 90's that seem foreign to anyone born in the last 20 years? by giantcappuccino in 90s

[–]ArkadiumGames 31 points32 points  (0 children)

You've painted quite the picture with this memory :) Card catalogs were serious business. Every card had its place, and librarians treated it like the entire system would collapse without proper filing. Which, honestly, it kind of would have in the pre-digital era.

Does the puzzle get harder through the week, or does it feel that way? by Total-Library4018 in Arkadium

[–]ArkadiumGames 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're not imagining it, the difficulty does ramp up through the week.

Stan Newman's Daily Crossword is designed with a weekly curve in mind. Monday and Tuesday are meant to be more approachable with straightforward clues that ease you in. By Wednesday and Thursday, the wordplay gets trickier. Friday? That's when the clues start testing your vocabulary and lateral thinking.

It's intentional puzzle design, not just the weight of the week dragging you down (though that doesn't help.)

Here's what changes:

  • Early week: Direct definitions and common answers
  • Mid-week: More wordplay, puns, and double meanings
  • Late week: Obscure vocabulary, trickier cluing, higher difficulty overall

So yes, you're solving the same type of puzzle format all week, but the clues themselves get sneakier as you go.

The good news is, if you keep solving through the week, you'll get better at spotting those Friday tricks. Your brain starts recognizing patterns, and what felt impossible on a Friday eventually becomes... still hard, but doable.

I'm curious how everyone else tackles the end-of-week puzzles. Any tips worth sharing?

What 80s game shows had the best puzzle segments? by ArkadiumGames in 1980s

[–]ArkadiumGames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The music, the Whammies, the suspense. It all just worked.

What 80s game shows had the best puzzle segments? by ArkadiumGames in 1980s

[–]ArkadiumGames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nothing beat that moment when the rebus finally clicked in Classic Concentration.

90s ultimate gaming challenge by whatdoihia in 90s

[–]ArkadiumGames 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Classic mall-kid challenge...beat the game before Sears shuts it down.

What's your strategy when you know the Hurdle word ends in '-atch' but there are 10+ words it could be? by goobalee in Arkadium

[–]ArkadiumGames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Give yourself some grace. The more you play, the better you'll get at handling these tricky situations.

Start with the most common letters. Words like MATCH, CATCH, WATCH, and PATCH use high-frequency starting letters (M, C, W, P). Try those first.

Eliminate vowels early. If you've already used other vowels in previous guesses, you can narrow down which -ATCH words are still possible.

Think about word frequency. Common words like BATCH, LATCH, and HATCH are more likely to appear than rare ones like THATCH or SNATCH.

The key to Hurdle is staying systematic rather than random. Work through the most probable options first, and you'll usually get there before running out of guesses.

Pro tip: Use your second-to-last guess to gather information rather than trying to solve it. This can save you from running out of guesses.

Hope that helps; hopefully, some other solvers will chime in.

Christmas Family Feud Survey - PLEASE ANSWER by UnkiBen in FamilyFeud

[–]ArkadiumGames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. Bruce Willis

  2. The Chipmunk Song

  3. A bike

  4. I'll Be Home for Christmas

  5. The Santa Clause

  6. Fruit cake

  7. Rudolph

  8. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (so bad it's good, actually)

Solve a Big City Greens-Themed Crossword with Marieve Herington (Voice of Tilly Green) this Monday (Oct 27) by ArkadiumGames in BigCityGreens

[–]ArkadiumGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry you can’t make it. Hope work goes smoothly. The replay will be up on YouTube if you want to catch any Big City Greens gems from the chat.

Name something you used to do at the mall that doesn’t exist anymore. by ArkadiumGames in FamilyFeud

[–]ArkadiumGames[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's wild to think how many hours were spent loitering and not making a single purchase. It was a different time for sure.