I realize it's been months since I composed one of these, but the well ran dry for a while. I still have some ideas (i.e. unusual themes) to try building future puzzles, but I think we all know the days of seeing these once a week are over.
For those new to this, the following 9 images are laid out in a 3x3 grid, and each row, column, and diagonal is connected by a different theme. Determine the themes and solve the puzzle.
(Click the image to enlarge. Guess in the comments.)
Probably not my best effort, but certainly doable. Good luck!
SOLVED! Frequent solver Bill of Shakespeare Teacher came to visit and figured out all 8 themes. (I hope he hasn't been coming every Wednesday for the past 2 months and leaving disappointed.)
New year, same puzzle. As always, I've arranged 9 images into a 3x3 grid so that each row, column, and diagonal can be connected by a theme. There are 8 themes total.
(Click the image to enlarge. Guess in the comments.)
While not my best effort, this puzzle emphasizes my reliance on text, and how I'll probably never be able to do a wordless edition.
SOLVED! K-Lyn was the first to act, solving 5 themes. Then Bill closed up shop with the last 3. But feel free to do a little solving yourself before checking the answers.
This will be the last Pic-Tac-Toe of 2007. By now you know that it's a puzzle of nine images arranged into a 3x3 square, Brady Bunch style. Each row, column, and diagonal has a theme. Your mission is to solve the puzzle by figuring out all 8 themes. Good luck!
(Click to enlarge, and make your guesses in the comments.)
SOLVED! K-Lyn mastered 5 themes, Billie got 2, and Bill was the closer. Speaking of, Bill's new 3-D Pic-Tac-Toe can be found here. It's really an amazing creation -- 27 images, 49 themes -- and it must be seen to be believed.
Last week I took a step back and re-evaluated my skillz as a puzzle maker. Or mad skillz, as it were. I decided to go a little less crazy with these and get back to basics. The goal was to simply construct a puzzle that worked, rather than get too caught up with obscure themes. I think I did a fair job of it below. (Better still, I've already composed next week's puzzle.)
The Pic-Tac-Toe is a picture puzzle in which 9 images are arranged in a 3x3 grid so that each row, column, and diagonal contains three images that share a common theme. Determine all 8 themes, and you solve the puzzle.
(Click the image to enlarge. Guess in the comments.)
SOLVED! Bill gets 5, K-Lyn gets 4. But feel free to solve this puzzle yourself, and then check your answers in the comments section.
We all go a little mad sometimes, and I found myself supremely frustrated trying to finish this one. So I enlisted the help of K-Lyn, who pushed this puzzle through many incarnations, allowing me to stop thinking about it for a while and then actually be productive, finishing it when the time was right. Really, this could just as easily been over at her blog. But it's my addled brain on display, so my 10th Pic-Tac-Toe (two whole feet!) is here instead.
Below are 9 images arranged in a 3x3 format. A unique theme connects the images of each row, column, and diagonal. That's a total of 8 themes. Solve the puzzle and I'll try to do it all over again. As K-Lyn will attest, that order's getting taller and taller.
(Click on the image to enlarge; guess in the comments.)
Obviously, K-Lyn is ineligible, so my thanks will have to do.
SOLVED! Bill did quite well on his own, perhaps even improving my left column. Don't know if I'll come up with an 11th puzzle in a week; the process is exhausting, even with the gracious help/control of another.
After a few weeks on the injured reserve, Pic-Tac-Toe returns with a mild flourish. As always, 9 images are arranged in a 3x3 grid so that each column, row, and diagonal are linked by a unique theme. With 3 columns, 3 rows, and 2 diagonals, there are 8 themes in all. It's your job to find them.
(Click the image to enlarge, and guess in the comments.)
SOLVED! Thanks to APL (top row), K-Lyn (bottom row, left column, right column), and Bill (middle row, middle column, and both diagonals).
Right now the creation of Pic-Tac-Toe puzzles is still a fairly new hobby, so I feel that I'm getting better at it, but I can imagine a time (soon) when it will get harder to think them up, at least on this weekly release schedule.
Pic-Tac-Toe refers to a 3x3 grid of 9 images, where each row, column, and diagonal is connected by a theme. Solve all 8 themes and you've completed the puzzle.
(Click the image to enlarge. Guess in the comments.)
A note of caution: the Google image search of the woman in the bottom center photo is a particularly cruel one. You do not need to repeat my mistake. Ever.
SOLVED! Of the eight themes, K-Lyn got five, Bill got two, and Angry Pregnant Lawyer joined the fray in time and got one.
For those who worry, I do have non-puzzle content written and ready for publication when the time is right.
Defying all boundaries of my mental abilities, Bill at Shakespeare Teacher has created a second 3-D Pic-Tac-Toe puzzle. Feel free to join me in a hair-pulling contest over there. But first, bask in the vaguely Halloween edition of Pic-Tac-Toe here.
Once again, a Pic-Tac-Toe is a puzzle in which 9 images are arranged in a 3x3 grid. Each line of images (row, column, diagonal) has a theme that unites the images somehow. Your mission, and only two of you have chosen to accept it, is to solve the 8 themes.
(Click the image to enlarge; guess in the comments section.)
SOLVED! It was a his-and-hers accomplishment, with the oft-mentioned K-Lyn and Bill getting 4 themes each.
Thinking more about the 4x4 puzzle suggestion (Pic-Tac-Toe-Nail?) I made a couple of weeks ago, and seeing K-Lyn's awesome debut of a near-wordless puzzle, I now realize there are challenging ways to create this puzzle that have nothing to do with how obscure the themes are. I could try a wordless puzzle, an all-word puzzle, or maybe one from pictures I take myself.
In honor of the World Series (and as a timely response to a request for sports themes by reader Ookami Snow), below is an all-baseball puzz well, I tried. Didn't happen.
To solve the following Dane Cook promo-free puzzle, then, come up with a theme that unites any line of 3 images. Usually that means there are 8 themes: 3 rows, 3 columns, 2 diagonals. But read on...
(Click the image to enlarge. Guess the themes in the comments.)
A few notes before you get started:
1. As usual, I would consider one theme -- the backslash diagonal (\) connecting pictures 1, 5, and 9 -- more difficult than the others. Slight warning: that theme could be viewed as a little controversial, but NOT for any religious reason.
2. There are actually 10 themes to this puzzle. I've noticed that the middle column has two completely different (yet equally correct) themes. Then K-Lyn helped me discover that you could say the same for the bottom row. So: 2 themes for the middle column, 2 themes for the bottom row, and 1 theme everywhere else. (I guess there's a lot going on in that 8th picture.)
SOLVED! K-Lyn of And She Was... is something fierce, nailing 7 of the 10 themes. Then Bill of Shakespeare Teacher picked up on the aforementioned backslash diagonal, and eventually conquered the two 2nd themes. They seem tired now.
Double themes? Maybe a bad idea.
After you create a small handful of Pic-Tac-Toes, it's no longer enough to find 9 images that fit together in a 3x3 pattern. Some of the themes have to get harder and weirder, and maybe a little irritating to the puzzle solver. Don't be afraid.
To view the past puzzles, click here. (There's also a Pic-Tac-Toe link under the "Exclusive Features" section in the right column of this page.) Your goal is the same as always: determine the theme that unites each line of 3 images. There are 8 themes total: 3 rows, 3 columns, and 2 diagonals.
(Click the image to enlarge. Guess in the comments section.)
SOLVED! K-Lyn of And She Was... weighed in with 7 correct themes, leaving the middle column unsolved. Bill of Shakespeare Teacher ran through some interesting guesses before locking in on the answer. Skip the comments if you want to remain unspoiled.
I considered making this the "4x4th edition," creating a puzzle that had 16 images instead of 9, but that will take a little more time. In the meantime, I'll stick with the merely mortal 3x3 version.
Scroll down this page to see the other Pic-Tac-Toes. As always, your mission is to determine the 8 themes, each of which unites a line of images: 3 rows, 3 columns, 2 diagonals.
(Click the image to enlarge, and place your guesses in the comments. Good luck!)
SOLVED! Fresh from vacation, K-Lyn of And She Was... dominated early, with 5 of 8 themes solved correctly. Then Bill of Shakespeare Teacher got the last 3, but was particularly frustrated by the left column. I apologize. Sort of.
P.S. This is by no means an endorsement of any pro football team.
I feel a little inadequate right now. Sure, I have the following Pic-Tac-Toe to share, my third so far, and have two more on deck. But after Shakespeare Teacher unleashed his phenomenal 3-D puzzle a few days ago... I mean, how do you follow that? I did my best and only solved less than half of the dang thing.
Below you will find 9 images in a 3x3 format. Each row, column, and diagonal has a distinct theme. That's 8 themes total.
(Click to enlarge. Make your guesses in the comments.)
SOLVED! Bill of Shakespeare Teacher does it again, but it took a little longer this time. He got all 8 themes and came up with a nice alternate theme for the middle column. Check the comments for the answers.
I'm famous! Sort of. Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings gave me a shout-out for my first Pic-Tac-Toe, calling it "very elegant." Unsure of my gender, he covered his bases with a "his/her/its" pronoun. (For the record: his. But with the photo on the right, who can blame him?) He even read through the comments, and quoted Mike of I Am Prepared to Give Up at Any Time. Ah, linkage: you bring us all closer together.
Anyway, as I stated in my first post, the Pic-Tac-Toe puzzle is an arrangement of 9 images in a 3x3 grid with a unique theme for each row, column, and diagonal. I lack the talent to create these on a regular basis (translation: I'm completely stuck in a rut on a third puzzle), so enjoy them while you can.
(Click the image to enlarge. Make your guesses in the comments.)
SOLVED! Yeah, already. Bill of Shakespeare Teacher clearly takes advantage of living in the Eastern Time Zone, and figures out all 8 themes at 4:25 a.m. on my clock. If you wish to remain unspoiled and solve this puzzle yourself, then DON'T go to the comments. Save it for checking your answers.
Corrupted by the likes of Ken Jennings and Shakespeare Teacher, I discovered the puzzle called Pic-Tac-Toe. Originated in Games magazine many moons ago (and later discontinued), the idea is to compile a series of 9 pictures in a 3x3 grid so that each row, column, and diagonal holds a distinct theme.
Hard as it was solving them, creating one is even harder. Here's my virgin effort. Can you figure out all 8 themes (3 rows, 3 columns, 2 diagonals)? Leave your guesses in the comments. Good luck!
(Click the image to enlarge. Some themes are easier than others.)
SOLVED! Bow down to a pair of dominant players, who figured out the whole thing in half a day. Credit (but not answers) given below. Avoid the comments if you want the puzzle to remain unspoiled and try it yourself.
Top row: solved by Bill of Shakespeare Teacher
Middle row: solved by K-Lyn of And She Was...
Bottom row: solved by Bill
Left column: solved by K-Lyn
Middle column: solved by K-Lyn
Right column: solved by K-Lyn
159(\) diagonal: solved first by K-Lyn (by 4 minutes!)
357(/) diagonal: solved by Bill
