Leap Day Leap Frog - 2/29/20

Happy Leap Day, everyone!  In honor of the occasion we travel to Massachusetts for a little game of leap frog in:

Frogger - Video Game Classic Series

Tomorrow we'll ...

Ready to Leap? - 2/28/20

My little puzzle that I'm re-sharing today will be celebrating its 8th, or 2nd, birthday tomorrow ... depending on how you look at it.  This is one case where it's OK to:

Leap Before You Look - (PIE - 2.LEAP)

Tomorrow we'll ... 

Wrap It - 2/27/20

Today we travel to a brand new puzzle in California.  When my brain gets overly full of work or puzzling I seem to enjoy sacking out on the couch and binge watching goofy reality contest shows.  Lego Master, Project Runway, and any form of  "Baking Championship" are my most recent choices.  Last winter I even watched one about competitive gift wrapping.  They would give the contestants some kind of weird or large item and a limited amount of time to creatively:

Wrap It

Tomorrow we'll ...

How Cryptic - 2/26/19

Sorry for the delay!  This was all ready and I didn't push "publish." 

Lately I've been having a lot of fun with practicing cryptic crosswords on this site. Since it's Australian there is sometimes a little Aussie-speak, and I'm told that the way the clues are written doesn't always conform to the way American puzzle-makers would do them, but I've found them to be great practice and am definitely getting better at them.  If you're not ready to jump in with a whole puzzle, you can find an introduction to one type of clue found in cryptics in today's puzzle from Washington state:

Cologne

Tomorrow we'll ...

Leap of Faith - 2/25/20

Today I'm resharing a puzzle I first featured back in 2015.  Today I spent some time thinking about getting ready for Leap Day.  I'm organizing a small meet and greet for local cachers and want to put together some ready-made caches for door prizes, and I'm also thinking about putting out a  themed puzzle cache.  I have had a few different ideas bouncing around but I'm going to need to pick one soon and just hope for the best.  I'll need to take a:

Leap of Faith

Tomorrow we'll ...

Join Us - 2/24/20

Today we're paying a visit to a new puzzle in the UK.  I hope you'll:

Join Us

Tomorrow we'll ...

Pulled Over - 2/23/20

Today I'm resharing an Arizona puzzle I first featured back in 2014.  I had a surprising thing happen today. I got pulled over by the state police while driving home the two miles home from the grocery store.  I was 99% certain I hadn't been speeding or rolled through a stop sign, so I was really mystified.  I dug my license out of my purse as the officer approached but when she reached the car she apologized and said her automatic plate reader had mistakenly identified my plate as being suspended, but she had verified that it was in error.  I admit I had been a little freaked out at first, so I was very gratified that she didn't bark out:

License & Registration, Please!

Tomorrow we'll ...

One of These Things ... - 2/22/20

Today we travel back to Washington state for a brand new puzzle in which:

One of these things is not like the others......

Tomorrow we'll ...

Simply Logical - 2/21/20

Well, I'm still struggling with the logic puzzle I had hoped to share with you today, so I'm thinking maybe I won't end up sharing it after all.  We'll see how it goes when I go back to it one more time.  But since I promised you something logical, let's go to North Carolina for a puzzle I first shared back in 2012.  I hope you'll find it:

Simply Logical

Tomorrow we'll ...

Stitched Together - 2/20/20

Today's puzzle takes us to Washington state for a puzzle I shared with you back in 2016.  I just arranged to go on a quilting retreat in a couple of weeks, and am really looking forward to it.  I used to go on those retreats twice a year, like clockwork, but haven't gone in several years now.  I've finished up a couple of projects recently and am looking forward to getting some more things:

Stitched Together

Tomorrow I'm hoping to have something very logical for you.

A Cow in the Mailbox - 2/19/20

Longtime readers may remember that I have always had a soft spot for anything to do with cows. So you can imagine my delight when today's mail held a surprise package containing a precious little stuffed cow like the one below.  It's a great companion to my not-quite-life-sized one I got for Christmas a few years back. 

Naturally I wanted to share a puzzle with a cow theme today, and I knew I would need to look no farther than what I like to call the Cache Cow series in the UK that I've featured here a number of times before.  But I hadn't ever shared this one, which is perfect for today:

#12 Hereford

Tomorrow we'll ...

Honey and Darling - 2/18/20

Today's puzzle, which was passed along to me with high praise last week, almost sounds like it could have a Valentine's theme.  I wasn't familiar with the characters referenced, but when my son got a glimpse of them he knew exactly who they were and filled me in.  I'm looking forward to trying more puzzles by the CO of:

LoZ:MMs - Honey and Darling's Shop

Tomorrow we'll ...

Presidents Day - 2/17/20

Let's revisit a Colorado puzzle that I first featured way back in 2013 on:

Presidents Day

Tomorrow we'll ...

Bulmaca - 2/16/20

Today's puzzle takes us to Sweden.  Try your luck with:

Bulmaca

Tomorrow we'll ...

Don't I Know You? - 2/15/20

Today's puzzle takes us to Minnesota for a new entry from a CO whose work I have featured here several times before.  If you're ever in the mood for some really good challenging puzzles, look into some of his higher difficulty offerings.  The title of this one struck a chord with me, because I'm always trying to figure out how I recognize people.  I get an image or a name in my head and can't always place them ... former student, or someone I saw on Project Runway? Try your luck with:

Don't I Know You From Somewhere?

Tomorrow we'll ...

Be My Valentine -2/14/20

Today we travel to Oklahoma.  I hope you'll all:

Be My Valentine ❤

Tomorrow we'll ...

Dog Show! - 2/13/20

I remember a time when my kids were little that a highlight of the year was the chance to watch the two nights of coverage of the annual Westminster dog show on TV.  Just the words "Dog Show!" were enough to get us all excited.  There was one very memorable year when the show ran long, and my efforts to record the big ending so the kids could watch it the next day were foiled when the show ran long and my VCR stopped when I had told it to.  Boy was I in the doghouse after that.

I did watch a bit of the coverage this year, and the happy dogs from all over the world made me smile.  Apparently 20 different countries were represented there this year.  It reminded me of this puzzle from France which I shared back in 2017:

Allo!! Dogs Of The World??






Tomorrow we'll celebrate Valentine's Day.

Primary Colors - 2/12/20

Today's puzzle takes us to California.  With caucus and primary season kicking off I thought this might be a good day for a puzzle involving:

Primary Colors

Tomorrow we'll ...

And the winner is ... - 2/11/20

So many things are going on right now, I've got no shortage of possible themes to post about. I guess before the last of the hoopla dies down I'll reshare this Washington puzzle I first featured way back in February of 2011:

And The Oscar Goes To ...

Tomorrow we'll ...

I missed it!- 2/10/20

In all of 2019 and the first few weeks of 2020 there have been two puzzle caches published within 15 miles of Ithaca, one of which was mine.  The other one, which I'm sharing with you here today, published while I was in Boston for the MIT Mystery Hunt and I didn't even notice it until one of my friends happened to point it out to me.  I have quite a few different puzzle notification e-mails set up, so I guess it had been so long since I'd seen a local one that I didn't pay close enough attention when this one came in.  I can't really talk, though.  I've had a cache hidden for months now and haven't taken the time to write a puzzle to go with it.  I've got to rectify that sometime soon!  Enjoy today's puzzle:

A B C, 1 2 ... 100

Tomorrow we'll ...

Puzzled! - 2/9/20

One night a week or so ago I picked up my son from work and he told me he'd been thinking about writing a puzzle for me.  You can't imagine how happy that made me. It was like a Christmas,  birthday, and Mother's Day gift all rolled into one.   He gave it to me the next day and I had fun figuring it out.   I'm hoping we can work together to make a cache using his idea.  It's been a long time since we wrote a puzzle together.  I thought for today I'd re-share our first effort, from way back in 2011:

Puzzled, Ithaca Edition: 3/3/11

Tomorrow we'll ...

Let it Snow - 2/8/20

Today's New York puzzle is one I first shared back in 2014.  We got a foot of snow on Friday morning so it was time to pull out the shovels and get to work.  As bad as our weather can be here in Ithaca some winters,  I know it would be much worse to be in:

Buffalo in Snow

Tomorrow we'll ...

Duty Free - 2/7/20

One of my coworkers recently returned from a trip to the Azores, so I thought it would be fun to check out some puzzles there.  There's some fasinating geology going on there, and I had fun playing with a complex puzzle with a lot of cool geology-related facts, photos, and cartoons, but I'm not sure it will be to everyone's taste since it doesn't have a geochecker.  I ended up choosing this one:

Duty Free @ Ponta Delgada [São Miguel - Açores]

Tomorrow we'll ...

Doh! - 2/6/20

Today's puzzle takes us to Maryland.  Sorry for the delay today. All I can say is:

Doh!

Tomorrow we'll ...

Alternative Therapy - 2/5/20

Today I have for you only our second-ever puzzle from Wales.  I think a lot of people are under a great deal of stress these days.  If that includes you, don't let it drive you to drink.  Allow me to suggest some:

Alternative Therapy

Tomorrow we'll ...

Pictic Tryptic - 2/4/20

Today we're in Virgina for the first in a series of visual puzzles.  If you like this one there are two more, of increasing difficulty after:

Pictic Tryptic One: Building Blocks

Tomorrow we'll ...

Palindromes Galore - 2/3/20

I didn't have a team to root for in the Super Bowl this year, but I was glad it was a close contest and can be happy for the KC fans (Vikings fans know a thing or two about a super bowl drought).  My favorite commercial was undoubtedly the Bill Murray Groundhog Day one.  (Fun fact: the antique bed he wakes up in every morning in that movie is a dead ringer for one that my parents had.)  I couldn't let the occasion of the big palindrome day pass by without a couple of thematic puzzles.  Here's a brand new one from California:

Palindrome Day - 02022020

and one from Virginia that I first shared back in 2012.  It's a bit:

yvruT yspoT

Tomorrow we'll ...

Happy Ground Hog Super Bowl Palindrome Sunday!

There are certainly a lot of things going on today.  If either of today's puzzles is familiar to you (the Pennsylvania one I shared back in 2012 and the Rhode Island one was featured in 2015) just chalk it up to a Groundhog Day moment.  If you don't feel like being a:

Super Bowl Couch Potato

you can always check out the

Puppy Bowl

Tomorrow we'll ...

Bienvenue à nouveau, Capitaine Picard! - 2/1/20

Count me as one of those who was very excited about this week's return of Captain Picard.  It's been a long time!  My husband and I were struggling to remember the various plot points of some of the TNG movies, and discussing which of the later series we've watched.  For me, it was DS9 - all of them, Voyger - most of them, Discovery - maybe one of them, and Enterprise - none of them.  I told him we were in danger of losing our "nerd cred," but he thought my concern was misplaced.  ;)

Today I have two (sort of) Picard themed puzzles:  A new puzzle from Texas:

Kirk vs Picard - Voting Open!


and from Picard's home country of France:

Mystère au Sud-Ouest du Plateau Picard

Tomorrow we'll ...