A paper-and-pencil puzzle
Hex Rugs and Rock 'n' Roll by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick)
Has there ever been a more iconic pairing than rock music and floor coverings?
Showing posts with label Rick Rubenstein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rick Rubenstein. Show all posts
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Saturday, September 9, 2023
Two Sides to Every Story
A puzzle suite (a.k.a. “megagame” in Equinox parlance) by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick) and Joshua Kosman (Trazom).
Intro (PDF) and Meta (PDF) are each a single page; obviously don't look at the meta until you've solved the puzzles.
Puzzles (PDF) must be printed double-sided, with page 1&2 on opposite sides, likewise 3&4 and 5&6. If your printer doesn't do double-sided automatically and you have to feed the same sheet through twice, make sure the opposite sides have the same orientation (so that the title on page 2 sits behind the title on page 1, etc).
For the meta, you'll need scotch tape, though a stapler might work in a pinch. Also, before you start the meta, make sure you've circled all your answer letters, as mentioned in the puzzle instructions.
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Make it ...
Mixer from Equinox 71: "Make it ..." by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick)
Each attendee is given a random strip. The right-hand side features a query spoken by a Star Trek: The Next Generation character that can be paired up with a reply by Captain Picard on the left side of someone else's strip. All of Picard's replies are of the form "Make it [X]", where X rhymes with "so".
When all questions are paired up with appropriate replies, it forms a loop. Everyone then flips over their strip, revealing a single word on the back. These words spell out a message from the crew, which can be answered with one final line from Picard.
Make sure to print the Backs (PDF) so that the (upside-down) "Captain" on the first page sits behind the strip on the first page of Fronts (PDF) with "Make it Moe" on the left. Also note that the printouts are in the solution order, so after printing and cutting, you'll need to shuffle before distributing strips.
Saturday, October 1, 2022
Retrospective
Megagame from Equinox 70: Retrospective, by Rick Rubenstein and Joshua Kosman (Rubrick and Trazom)
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Monday, March 11, 2019
Turn on, tune in, drop out
A whole-room game from Equinox 68: Turn on, tune in, drop out by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick) based on a famous quote by Berkeley’s own non-dropout Timothy Leary.
This game might involve psychedelic drugs… or anything else. It’s a guessing game similar to 20 questions.
You’ll need a piece of paper for writing down guesses and questions and keeping track of points.
I will have some thing written down on this piece of paper. Everyone else turns on by writing down a (wild) guess as to what I might have written down.
We’ll then go around the room. The first person gets to ask one yes/no question about my target thing. For example, “is it bigger than a breadbox?” If it is, then everyone whose guess (the thing they’ve written down) is also bigger than a breadbox gets 1 point. If it’s not, then everyone whose guess isn’t bigger than a breadbox gets 1 point. Essentially, you score points for your thing being similar to the one I have in mind. (If the question doesn’t really apply, or is only kinda sorta true, then no one gets any points.)
I recommend you keep track of the previous questions and whether they were Yes or No.
After this, everyone will have a few seconds to write down a new guess (if they choose), and cross off their old one. This is tuning in. Only your most recent guess is relevant (but you keep the points from all your previous guesses).
This continues around the room until some bold person (who can be anyone, not necessarily person whose turn it is to ask a question) thinks they know what the target thing is. They raise their hand, and then get to make a guess. If they’re right, the round ends, and they get a 10 point bonus. Everyone else who also had the target thing written down (but wasn’t brave or quick enough to raise their hand) gets 5 points. Then the round ends.
If the guesser was wrong, they drop out. They can no longer ask questions or score any points. And the round continues.
We’ll do as many rounds as we have time for (or until we stop having fun).
This game might involve psychedelic drugs… or anything else. It’s a guessing game similar to 20 questions.
You’ll need a piece of paper for writing down guesses and questions and keeping track of points.
I will have some thing written down on this piece of paper. Everyone else turns on by writing down a (wild) guess as to what I might have written down.
We’ll then go around the room. The first person gets to ask one yes/no question about my target thing. For example, “is it bigger than a breadbox?” If it is, then everyone whose guess (the thing they’ve written down) is also bigger than a breadbox gets 1 point. If it’s not, then everyone whose guess isn’t bigger than a breadbox gets 1 point. Essentially, you score points for your thing being similar to the one I have in mind. (If the question doesn’t really apply, or is only kinda sorta true, then no one gets any points.)
I recommend you keep track of the previous questions and whether they were Yes or No.
After this, everyone will have a few seconds to write down a new guess (if they choose), and cross off their old one. This is tuning in. Only your most recent guess is relevant (but you keep the points from all your previous guesses).
This continues around the room until some bold person (who can be anyone, not necessarily person whose turn it is to ask a question) thinks they know what the target thing is. They raise their hand, and then get to make a guess. If they’re right, the round ends, and they get a 10 point bonus. Everyone else who also had the target thing written down (but wasn’t brave or quick enough to raise their hand) gets 5 points. Then the round ends.
If the guesser was wrong, they drop out. They can no longer ask questions or score any points. And the round continues.
We’ll do as many rounds as we have time for (or until we stop having fun).
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Hitchin' a Ride
Megagame from Equinox 66: Hitchin' a Ride, by Rick Rubenstein and Joshua Kosman (Rubrick and Trazom)
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Chessboxing
Chessboxing, a megagame from Equinox 64, by Joshua Kosman and Rick Rubenstein (Trazom and Rubrick)
Monday, March 14, 2016
Customer Support
Megagame from Equinox 62: Customer Support by Rick Rubenstein and Joshua Kosman (Rubrick and Trazom)
Sunday, September 13, 2015
The Answer, My Friend...
"The Answer, My Friend", a paper-pencil puzzle from Equinox 61, by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick).
Suppose I were to ask “Where is your American flag?”. You might reply, “Blowin’ in the wind” — which just happens to be the title of a Bob Dylan song.
An open-book quiz:
In this PDF are 61 (natch) questions, the answer to each of which is the title of a song written by Bob Dylan. For those who aren’t familiar with all 518 or so titles in Dylan’s oeuvre, an alphebetized list has been provided. The number in parentheses after the question indicates the column in which the answer can be found.
Suppose I were to ask “Where is your American flag?”. You might reply, “Blowin’ in the wind” — which just happens to be the title of a Bob Dylan song.
An open-book quiz:
In this PDF are 61 (natch) questions, the answer to each of which is the title of a song written by Bob Dylan. For those who aren’t familiar with all 518 or so titles in Dylan’s oeuvre, an alphebetized list has been provided. The number in parentheses after the question indicates the column in which the answer can be found.
Friday, March 13, 2015
The Treasure of Triple-Sixty
The Treasure of Triple-Sixty, a megagame from Equinox 60 by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick) and Joshua Kosman (Trazom)
Sunday, March 16, 2014
I come to bury Caesar
Paper-pencil puzzle from Equinox 58 -- "I come to bury Caesar", another WordGrid puzzle by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick)
Instructions
Grid
Instructions
Grid
Monday, September 23, 2013
Once More With Relish
Once More With Relish, a performance game from Equinox 57, by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick)
Familiar phrases were charaded by a team of volunteers, with each actor receiving only *one* word of the phrase. The charaders lined up on the stage in the correct order (as seen by the audience). On cue, each began simultaneously acting out their single word as best they could, over and over, until most audience members (by show of hands) had figured out the phrase.
The phrases were chosen randomly from this list:
SHE SELLS SEASHELLS BY THE SEASHORE
HAPPY BIRTH DAY TO YOU
FLY ME TO THE MOON
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST
ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
BABY YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR
TO BE OR NOT TO BE
DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
Familiar phrases were charaded by a team of volunteers, with each actor receiving only *one* word of the phrase. The charaders lined up on the stage in the correct order (as seen by the audience). On cue, each began simultaneously acting out their single word as best they could, over and over, until most audience members (by show of hands) had figured out the phrase.
The phrases were chosen randomly from this list:
SHE SELLS SEASHELLS BY THE SEASHORE
HAPPY BIRTH DAY TO YOU
FLY ME TO THE MOON
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST
ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
BABY YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR
TO BE OR NOT TO BE
DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Elvis Is Leaving the Building
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Separated at Birth
A creative game from Equinox 55: Separated at Birth by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick).
A pass-and-fold guessing game. Players started with a well-known quote or proverb, then applied a randomly-chosen transformation (such as "Change a letter in up to three words" or "Replace two words with words that rhyme with them") and passed the resulting new phrase along. After seven modifications, the remaining player(s) tried to guess the original phrase.
The transformations are listed in this file. They were cut out and enclosed in an envelope. One player in each group was responsible for drawing a transformation from the envelope for each turn.
A pass-and-fold guessing game. Players started with a well-known quote or proverb, then applied a randomly-chosen transformation (such as "Change a letter in up to three words" or "Replace two words with words that rhyme with them") and passed the resulting new phrase along. After seven modifications, the remaining player(s) tried to guess the original phrase.
The transformations are listed in this file. They were cut out and enclosed in an envelope. One player in each group was responsible for drawing a transformation from the envelope for each turn.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Emerald Isle
A paper-and-pencil puzzle, Emerald Isle, from Equinox 54, by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick).
Grid
Instructions
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
A Suitable Diversion
A Suitable Diversion, mini-megagame from Equinox 52, by Rick Rubenstein (Rubrick)
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