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Games and Competition

Play the Smithsonian Magazine Crossword: September 2020 Issue

Test your mettle with this puzzle created exclusively for ‘Smithsonian’ readers

A double-crested cormorant dives into blue-green water.

See Birds Dive, Splash and Play in These Prize-Winning Photos

Stunning images by amateurs and professionals took center stage in the 2020 Audubon Photography Awards

Archaeologist Ben Edwards and his daughter Bella recreated the Bryn Celli Ddu landscape in the computer game "Minecraft."

Explore a 5,000-Year-Old Welsh Tomb Recreated in Minecraft

The virtual world now boasts a cube-based recreation of Bryn Celli Ddu in its heyday

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Word Puzzles

Play the Smithsonian Magazine Crossword: For ‘Seasoned’ Solvers

Test your mettle with this puzzle created exclusively for our readers

The four sides of a dice, as well as the front and back sides of several other game pieces found in western Norway

Cool Finds

Ancient Roman Board Game Found in Norwegian Burial Mound

Researchers unearthed a four-sided dice and 18 circular tokens

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Word Puzzles

Play the Smithsonian Magazine Crossword: Maryland state birds: 10 letters

Test your mettle with this puzzle created exclusively for ‘Smithsonian’ readers

The Smithsonian Magazine Monthly Crossword: May 2020

Solve the clues based on articles from this month’s print edition

Word Puzzles

Play the Smithsonian Magazine Weekly Word Search: State Capitals

Find the capital cities, working from a list of state names

The game's art dealer, a cunning fox named Redd, sells Arnold Böcklin's Island of the Dead under the name Mysterious Painting.

Education During Coronavirus

Can You Spot Animal Crossing’s Art Forgeries?

Gamers are brushing up on their art history knowledge to spot Redd’s counterfeit creations

A virtual tour isn't the same as an in-person experience, but it can still afford some great views.

Nostalgic for the North? Take a Virtual Dogsled Ride in Fairbanks, Alaska

Armchair travelers can also enjoy 360-degree views of the city’s famed Northern Lights

Stonehenge, as recreated by Alexandra McNamara of Tappan, New York, with cheese, a rock, granola and bread

Education During Coronavirus

See ‘Cheesehenge’ and Other Historical Homages Created for Archaeology Competition

The Archaeological Institute of America launched its Build Your Own Monument challenge early to inspire families quarantining at home

"Occupy White Walls" features hundreds of architectural elements. Users are represented by avatars resembling common reference mannequins.

Education During Coronavirus

This Free Game Lets Users Build Their Own Virtual Art Museums

“Occupy White Walls” allows players to design their own art galleries—and explore others’ out-of-the-box creations

The list includes Sagrada, Pandemic, Settlers of Catan, Wingspan and Dune.

Education During Coronavirus

Twelve Board Games You Can Play With Friends From Afar

These virtual versions of classic and lesser-known games are ideal for social distancing

An Etlatongo ballplayer figurine unearthed at the site

Cool Finds

Newly Unearthed Mesoamerican Ball Court Offers Insights on Game’s Origins

“This could be the oldest and longest-lived team ball game in the world,” says one archaeologist

A piece of worked glass unearthed from the English island of Lindisfarne that researchers suspect may have once been a Viking game piece

Cool Finds

This Glass Gaming Piece May Hail From First Viking Raids in England

Discovered on the island of Lindisfarne, the artifact was likely once part of a Hnefatafl board game set

A Ludus Latrunculorum board found in Roman Britain

The Best Board Games of the Ancient World

Thousands of years before Monopoly, people were playing games like Senet, Patolli and Chaturanga

Kryptos, displayed in a courtyard of the CIA’s Langley, Virginia, headquarters, has long puzzled codebreakers.

New Clue May Be the Key to Cracking CIA Sculpture’s Final Puzzling Passage

“Northeast” joins “Berlin” and “clock” as hints for deciphering a 97-character section of Kryptos’ code

The list includes Wingspan, Letter, Jam, Parks and Dune.

Holiday Gift Guide

The Best Board Games of 2019

Take to the skies, the national parks and to the streets of Tokyo in these offerings perfect for family gatherings

The rook in question certainly wasn't the first chess piece ever created, but it may be the oldest found to date.

Cool Finds

Is This Chess Piece Unearthed in Jordan the World’s Oldest?

The two-pronged rook, found in a seventh-century trading post, shows how quickly the game spread across the Islamic world

Nirmal Purja smashed the speed record for summiting the world's 14 highest peaks, racing up all "8000ers" in just six months and six days

Trending Today

Nepalese Mountaineer Smashes Speed Record for Climbing World’s 14 Tallest Peaks

Former special forces soldier Nirmal Purja summited Everest, K2 and a dozen other 8,000-meter peaks in just six months

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