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Recently, this is what I’ve been writing instead of Writing:

DMCrypCrossword

Since February, I’ve been a bit puzzle-mad. My awesome ex-roommate Katy threw me a treasure hunt, and since then I’ve been seeking out all the urban, outdoor, puzzling opportunities I can find. There’s something in the Bay Area called BANG (also DASH, Shinteki, and more, but I’m trying to start slow), Bay Area Night Games. These happen approximately every month, at new locations each time, and they’re 8+ hours of insane puzzling mayhem.

Each game has roughly 12 or 15 rounds, combining logic puzzles, audio clues, site-specific clues, cryptography, crossword puzzles, trivia, and pretty much anything else you can think of. DNA helixes and tongue depressors seem to be hot. Each round, when puzzled out, leads you to the next location, so you end up racing around a city like a mad scientist, clipboard in hand.

It’s so fun. And pretty freaking hard, but that’s just part of the fun. The puzzle that has been kicking my ass the hardest is the cryptic crossword. I’ve seen them before, but I never understood them. They look like regular crosswords, until you realize that the clues seem to be fucked up in some way, often resulting in what looks like gibberish.

I should rock these. I’m a puzzle girl, I’m an writing girl… Maybe it’s just because they’re new. I haven’t spent enough time practicing, figuring out their tricks and nuances.

So. That’s why I’m not writing right now. I’ve added yet another time-intensive hobby to my already impressive list. Oh, and Christmas is coming up, so the knitting needs to get broken out. Plus I wanted to knit/sew my own Halloween costume. Hmmm. I need a Time-Turner™.

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