The 'Shroom:Issue 131/Fun Stuff

Staff Notes
Written by:

Captain's Log Day 71

We've been holed up in this building for so long now-- I don't remember the last time I saw natural light-- 21 people have died thus far-- Everyone either murdered or executed, sometimes wrongly-- I haven't interacted with the outside world in months-- What will my Instashroom followers think-- I need to get out of here fast-- I don't know how much more I can take-- The final showdown is looming upon us-- There's only four of us left-- Please Poochy get me out of this hellscape-- I wish to see Mother again--

...

Damn this Killing Game...

END TRANSMISSION

Section of the Month Congratulations to all of our writers for their works!

Anagrams
Written by:

Hello again, and welcome to this month's edition of anagrams! This month, I've decided to give you a Luigi theme, which basically means the anagrams will be something related to Luigi, like a place, item, character, etc.- but don't worry, I haven't picked anything too obscure! I don't think we have any sort of theme next month, so feel free to send me any suggestions or, as per usual, any funny anagrams you come up with, and enjoy these anagrams!

How it works...

Basically, this puzzle consists of solving the anagrams. Each month has a specific theme, which will give you a clue about what sort of words or phrases the anagrams will be. I've also included the boxes that the anagrams will fit into, so you'll be able to tell how many words it will solve to be and how many letters will be in each word, which should give you a hand too. You'll also notice that within each set of boxes, one of the squares are yellow. As you solve each anagram, note down the letter which appears in the yellow squares, and if you can solve all of the anagrams, you'll also get a bonus anagram to solve from completing all of the others. I've included the letter configuration for this one at the bottom too, just to give you an extra helping hand. Best of luck!

1. SCAN IS SPIDERY

2. OTTER PLUGS

3. IRE GENE

4. STRAIGHT TROOPS

5. HERB ROT

6. PURPLE POT

7. REEF REIGN

8. IGNORE OMEN

9. AWRY ACE

10. SMELTER RAIN

11. NO MAINS

12. ALLOW LORD NOB

13. DETER MAMA

14. AIR OR MOBS

Bonus Anagram:

Picross
Written by:

What time is it? Valentimes! What time is it? Valentimes! What we gonna get? Several boys (or girls)! How we gonna get 'em? Picross. I think.

...if any of you get the reference there, I love you platonically.

Yeah, it's Picross time again; but hey, what else is new? Well, not actually a whole lot personally. It's been more of the same--the cavities were filled, but that's all that really happened. I'm kind of a lonely person if that isn't obvious, so I don't really have a girlfriend... Yet.

But that's sad and depressing and not picross, so let's just get into our puzzles! This month I wanted to get a nice theme of valentines and valentines gifts going. Our first puzzle is just a basic Mario item that symbolizes the symbols of Valentines day, but the second one... OHHH BOY THE SECOND ONE.

I rented The World's Largest Oven to make our second Picross puzzle, and WOW is it huge! So huge it didn't even fit in my browser window, so I had to stitch it together. Don't worry--I did have it resized to fit in the article itself, but I recommend opening the full image before copying the puzzle into whatever paint program you have to make sure it's full-resolution.

In addition, I decided to leave in a few sections already filled in as a bit of a hint--those parts don't have any additional black tiles within their particular 5x5 chunks, so don't worry!

Here's the rules yadda. If you want to know how to play, simply take any program you can edit images with (MS paint is... more than an option), or even print it out if you're so inclined, and you can shade in the symbols. As for the rules...
 * Each number on a given row or column (which are referred to as "hints" in Picross) Represents a line of filled-in squares (or tiles/cells, as I prefer calling them) on that particular row or column; for instance, a row starting with "3" would have a row of three filled-in squares with no white/blank squares inbetween them.
 * There can be multiple lines in a single column, however. (For example, a row of 7, then a row of 4. In this case, there'd be 7 in a row, then a gap, then a row of 4.)
 * A gap between two "rows" is defined as one white/blank square between two rows.
 * Each square is filled with either black or white. You can fill the white squares you know of with a different color, such as gray, to keep track easier.
 * It's way, was easier to start off with rows that have few gaps, and ESPECIALLY easier to start with rows with large numbers.
 * I recommend playing Pokemon Picross on the 3DS (it's free, yo!); the tutorial will explain things a lot better than I ever could.

Happy Vanlumtimes, and Happy Picross-ing!

It's aMAZEing
Written by:

Good day people, and a warm welcome to this month's It's aMAZEing!

Everyone likes cats, right? And everyone likes cubes, right? This month's maze combines the best of two worlds, as it features a Blitty from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story!

Do you have an idea for a maze you'd like to see? Leave a message on my talkpage or find me on the forums and send me a personal message, and your idea and name may be featured in a future episode!

How to play: Alternatively, print it out and use a pencil!
 * Copy the image into your favourite art program (like Paint, Photoshop, GIMP, etc.)
 * Click the line, pencil or brush tool and adjust the size as needed
 * Draw your line though the maze from start to finish
 * Zoom in and out as needed



To view the answer, click here!

Where in the Marioverse is Carmen Sandiego?
Written by:

"We've got a new development, gumshoe! Earlier today, Carmen's master of disguise, Treacherous Toad, made off with Luigi's entire collection of balloons! The younger Mario bro needs all of his ballooning supplies to help his older brother with the new DLC of Super Mario Odyssey, and without the balloons, no one will be able to have fun with the new content! It's up to you to turn that Toad in and take back the balloons!" s1EIUP8tvbE

Quiz
Written by:

Howdy 'Shroom readers, welcome to the Quiz!. As you may have figured out from the name, this is a section where I quiz your Mario knowledge.

I was stuck on what I wanted this month's quiz to be themed after, but then I managed to strike a small goldmine in my head. Last year, I introduced myself to the very first Paper Mario game, even if it was through a Let's Play, so I decided to theme this month's quiz on Paper Mario, the game not the series.

Easy
 * 1) How many Star Spirits do you have to rescue in the game?
 * 2) Which common Mario enemy is Lady Bow?
 * 3) When you level up, what are the three things that you can choose to upgrade?

Medium
 * 1) How many optional bosses are the game?
 * 2) Which Partner joins you in Flower Fields?
 * 3) How many questions does Chuck Quizmo have?

Hard
 * 1) What fish does Kolorado think the Whale is?
 * 2) Who is this shady fellow, and what does he do?
 * 3) After clearing Chapter 7, what item always appears in the Toad House in Shiver City when you sleep there?

Answers: