BUZZWORDS– bang * splat! by Leigh Lundin From my eMail: "… of the inspirational magickal leprechaun prayer chain. Forward this to 122 people in the next 15 seconds or you’ll be subject to liver spots, gout, a goiter the size of an iPad, Windows Vista, the collapse of the national economy, and the heartbreak of psoriasis." […]

GUNS and ROSES by Leigh Lundin This week I focus on two unrelated stories, the latter peculiar in a mysterious sense and the first peculiar in a What-the-hell-were-they-thinking? sense. Jesus Rifles Last year, one of our readers mentioned he was so disgusted by the unChristian-like behavior of the Christian Ultra-Right, he couldn’t bring himself to […]

The DINNER GAME, part 2 by Leigh Lundin Last week, I described a dinner in which we invite our favorite personalities, mostly authors, mostly mystery writers. This week, I propose a dinner in which we invite our favorite fictional characters. The exercise has a point: How real are the characters? And how engaging? What can […]

The DINNER GAME, part 1 by Leigh Lundin Last month, I wrestled with a character who writes dark poetry, which left me in a spot since I wanted her to read her poetry and it not be too awful. I’m not a poet but I have a lot of respect for the power of poetry […]

CHRISTMAS PUZZLE– THE SOLVERS by Leigh Lundin with CJ Dowse Taking first place in our Christmas contest, CJ Dowse of South Africa submitted the first winning entry. I became aware of her after she submitted a puzzle to Criminal Brief, which tipped me she liked words and puzzles. For the game, my colleagues and I provided […]

CHRISTMAS CONTEST FINISH LINE by Leigh Lundin Except for announcements of finalists and post-game analysis, our Christmas contest concluded at midnight GMT. In two parts, this Sunday and next, I’ll explain how the contest came to be created and how it was solved. The Seed The idea for the puzzle derived from two sources. In […]

CHRISTMAS CONTEST… NEXT STEP by Leigh Lundin Today, as Chanukah ends, so does Phase I of our Christmas contest. Each CB story contains hints and suggestions, noteworthy being Sunday’s, Monday’s, Tuesday’s, and Friday’s which are peppered with hints, cues, and intimations. If you are encountering snags, check for anything common– or uncommon– between pieces. If any […]