One of the satisfying things about solving a New York Times puzzle, be it a crossword or a Connections board, is that we, the solvers, control the outcome. Nothing is left to chance, except for, say, how closely your Wordle starting word lines up with the day’s solution. This craving for control represents a stark contrast to the idle games of adolescence, in which the delight seems to come from yielding to the unknown. No doubt there was regional variation, but light research suggests that my recollections from childhood were fairly common: There was a paper-and-pencil game called M.A.S.H., which involved compiling an assortment of predictions about one’s future marriage, career, pets, children and living situation (the game’s name is an acronym for Mansion, Apartment, Shack and House). We also used fortunetelling “cootie catchers” made from a series of origami folds and took turns issuing prophecies via random arrangements of colors and numbers. Some chance games left room to massage results: When twisting an apple stem or folding a pop tab back and forth to reveal the initials of a soul mate’s name, for instance, you might give a forceful yank at the desired letter. If you were pulling from a flower while chanting “He loves me, he loves me not …” you could claim not to have realized that there was an odd number of petals. One can occasionally find these games online, but I don’t particularly care to bring automation into things. After all, this conversation is between me and the cosmos. Tell me, solvers: What were your versions of chance games and fortunetelling methods growing up? Send them my way at crosswordeditors@nytimes.com, and let’s see if we can’t uncover a little Gameplay folklore.
From the Archive
Puzzle of the WeekThis week, check out the Wednesday, Oct. 7 puzzle by Ben Zimmer. In his constructor notes, he writes: “This puzzle came together from musing on the expression ‘do a double take’ and then trying to come up with the most elegant way to make it the basis for some wordplay.” Read more about this puzzle in the Wordplay column.
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