Fun Stop

The Extra Smile

I know you’re jolly, Santa. But ask yourself, are you truly happy?

Kevin Beckstrom

Well, that was a particularly peaceful and soothing musical number.

Summer Bird

Proverbs 21:23: “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”

Val Chadwick Bagley

Game within a Game

Merry Christmas! Here’s a little bonus gift to fill your days with constant wonder and merriment—or at least to pass the time on those long drives to Grandma’s house.

The rules for “Layered Tic-Tac-Toe” are simple. Like regular tic-tac-toe (or noughts and crosses, if you prefer), you’re trying to connect three X’s or O’s in a row—vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

When you connect three, write a large X or O to claim one of the nine boards. Then, like the classic game, you win by connecting three boards vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

But here’s a delicious twist that adds all manner of strategic options: your move within a board dictates which board your opponent must play in during their next turn. If you place an X in a bottom left square, the other player must now play within the bottom left board. Opportunities for strategy truly abound with this approach.

In other words, holiday road trips will never be the same!

Rules Summary

1. Draw a large tic-tac-toe grid with thick lines.

2. Draw individual tic-tac-toe grids inside each of the nine larger boards. Use thinner lines.

3. First player places an X anywhere on the global board.

4. Beginning with the second move, whichever small square on the local board the previous player chose becomes the corresponding global board the next player must play in.

5. Three marks in a row lets a player claim a board. Three boards in a row—vertically, horizontally, or diagonally—wins the game.