Old College Try
A medium-difficult puzzle; a beginning; a thank you.
Welcome to Paradox Puzzles! This newsletter has been in the making since 2006 (when I first fell in love with logic puzzles), 2012 (when I first started making my own), or 2020 (when I released a PDF booklet of some of my puzzles), depending on how you look at it. Math has always had an enormous place in my heart; to lose oneself inside a process is its own form of magic, and I’ve never been an extraordinary athlete or chef or musician, so math is where I have always found solace and escapism.
Today’s puzzle is “Old College Try.” To solve, either print out the PDF or use this online solving service. If this is your very first logic puzzle, please check out the FAQ and How To tabs for help! This is a puzzle that has been in the mix since my original batch in high school, so if you are a longtime fan, you may remember this one, but you have my word — brand new puzzles will be coming as soon as next week.
Please enjoy! If you encounter any issues or have any feedback, please leave that here — anything at all is helpful. This puzzle’s answers will be included in next week’s newsletter. Finally, check out the end of this newsletter for some art I’ve been loving lately!
Things I’ve been loving recently:
“Sadness As A Gift” by Adrianne Lenker. I’m of the belief that Lenker is the greatest lyricist of our time, and this song exemplifies that. She communicates universes through raw simplicity, and this song has crumbled me to bits every time I’ve heard it.
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey. My first read of the year! For lovers of: House of Leaves, Tár, Pale Fire, Abbas Kiarostami films, Infinite Jest, the mutability of identity, and artists who are assholes but still magnetic.
Red Apple Falls by Smog. I am an album lover. Once upon a time, I listened to 2-6 new albums a day as I did my work. My brain chemistry has shifted a bit, such that I now find it slightly difficult to work to new-to-me music, but this snuck through and is my favorite album I’ve heard so far this year. Bill Callahan has a melancholy that soars.
Phantom Thread (2017). Rewatched this on a plane recently. There were probably better plane options, but I love this film, and so this was the decision. Few films are so quietly seductive, at once alluring and anxiety-inducing and romantic and depraved and elegant. It has everything! Fun for the whole family!
“Shedding Skin” by Harryette Mullen. This is a poem for the new year. A poem for beginnings. A poem for any time. It will move you miles in so few words.