^{(See Full Puzzle Below!)}

In last week’s blog, I had you all take a stab at a home-grown Connections Puzzle. That puzzle contained a special shout-out to Rogers Park, the multi-ethnic Chicago neighborhood in which I grew up. The response was great, with many of you telling me how much you enjoyed the puzzle. Most of you solved it, sometimes after I provided a hint or two.

Rogers Park isn’t the only place I have called home. In 1978, when Barb and I first married, we lived on the second floor of a walk-up apartment building in Skokie, Illinois. The building was on a quiet street just north of Dempster and featured an in-ground backyard swimming pool that we helped the landlord paint, but never swam in.

We stayed in that building for just a year, buying our first home, a townhouse in Niles, during the height of the interest rate panic of 1979. (If you think mortgage interest rates are high now, they were over 16% then!)

I have fond memories of that year in Skokie as a newlywed. And Barb spent much of her childhood and teen years there. So in honor of those days, and the vibrant village Skokie remains, here is Connections Puzzle with a salute to Skokie.

Let’s recap how Connections Puzzles work. I am giving you a 4 x 4 grid, with each space containing one word–a total of 16 words. The object of the puzzle is to separate the 16 words into four categories with four words placed into each category.

The puzzle sounds simple but there is a catch or two. First, the categories are not given. Your first task is to figure out what those categories are. Second, some of the words can be part of more than one category. The challenge is to determine which category each word belongs to so that you finish with exactly four categories with just four words each. It’s tricky, but it’s fun.

By the way, you DON’T have to be from Skokie to solve the puzzle. Everyone should give it a try. Once you’ve solved the puzzle, let me know at chidoc@post.com. Please don’t leave the answer in the Comments section. We don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun.

So with no more delay…here is this week’s puzzle. Happy solving.

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Remember to send your solutions to chidoc@post.com

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