It’s the most wonderful time of the year—so it’s time again to wonder over a set of local riddles.
Solving this Christmas list of head-scratchers will test your knowledge of the city, your knack for deciphering enigmatic phrasing and, probably, your Googling skills—and it could result in an extra present under your tree.
Every correct solution, submitted to this form by 6 p.m. Wednesday, December 18, will earn you an entry into the prize drawing, where each of three entrants will be randomly selected to win a $50 gift card to a local restaurant of their choice. Correctly answering all eight riddles will give you eight chances to win, but even if you get just one answer right, you’ll still be in the running. (In fact, even if you get zero answers correctly, you'll still get one entry. Call it an A for effort.) And if you don’t win, don’t despair. There’ll be more chances to play—and win—in the new year.
Here we go:
1. Shopping nearby at Christmastime? For toys, one store in city lines.
2. Rephrasing the scribe of a classic Carol, “This road is America’s best-appareled.”
3. Artfully placed ’neath well-trimmed trees, this courtyard’s gifts are shown to please.
4. Of three big shrines to crust and toppings, just one fills dough like Christmas stockings.
5. Traveled ode to three kings’ Third? Or hail to the chief who drove our birth?
6. Like Yuletide tree with beacon star, this ’house once steered through deep and dark.
7. Imbibe this bracing season’s herb, by lapping ’round its minty curb.
8. In red and white, his sleigh in flight, he cries out thrice: “Ho, ho, ho!” For red and white—and esp. late-night—words too come sliced, with three in row.
That’s it. Remember: You have until 6 p.m. Wednesday, the 18th, to submit your solutions. Take your time, think things through and, most of all, have fun. Happy puzzling—
Written by Dan Mims. Photo by Svetlana Vorontsova.
