I Ruined a Children's Game Using Graphs and I am Not Sorry

There’s a very popular children’s game in the states of former Yugoslavia. It’s called Kaladont (or Kalodont) Named after a brand of tooth paste popular in Yugoslavia. Named after a brand of tooth paste popular in Yugoslavia. . You can play with as many players as possible, but the gist of the game is this: one player says a word. The next player then has to say a word that begins with the last two letters of the previous word. Words that have been said cannot be repeated, and this goes on until a player cannot come up with a new word. ...

June 1, 2026 · 16 min · 3242 words · Edvin Teskeredzic

NYT Spelling Bee: Dissected, Optimized, and Overthought

During lunch breaks (or any breaks for that matter), it’s usually not enough to discuss nerd stuff with my colleagues. Oh no, we have to take it up a notch, so naturally we play puzzle games while on our break. One of our all-time favorites is the daily New York Times (NYT) Spelling Bee https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/spelling-bee https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/spelling-bee . It’s a game with simple rules: Every day, you get presented with an assortment of 7 distinct letters, arranged in a honeycomb-like pattern (one letter in the middle, and 6 surrounding it). The goal of the game is to come up with as many words using the 7 letters, with some additional limitations: ...

May 9, 2026 · 13 min · 2762 words · Edvin Teskeredzic