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18 SATURDAY - AUGUST 1973
230TH DAY - 135 DAYS TO COME

Rcd. [received] August TOYS. Stevens has ad for FUNNY BONES (a "Pic-up Stix Game").
Parker is advertising a MONOPOLY sweepstakes. First prize is a set with $15,000 of real money.
Eldon (a Leisure Dynamics subsidiary) advertises a new action game - SKILL BALL.
Rcd. letter from Jim Faulkner with NEXUS price. He'd rather have a more leisurely review after X'Mas [Christmas].
Rcd. a postcard from Eric (T. Nielsen - I am sure). He was in New York for one day and didn't have time to contact me. He has some new GAMEs, including a race game played on a board formed by PENTOMINOS as the game progresses. He'll send me the rules soon.
Rcd. a personal letter from Mike Alber inviting me and my wife to the Parker Bros. 90th anniversary at the Four Seasons - 9/24. R.S.V.P.
From Publisher's Central Bureau rcd. the following three books: MATHEMATICS, MAGIC AND MYSTERY, GEOMETRIC DISSECTIONS, 101 PUZZLES IN THOUGHT AND LOGIC. Also a note that TEST YOUR LOGIC is temporarily out of stock and will [be] sent in two months.

To the Richters in the evening. Asked Al about his progress on DON'T BLOW A FUSE. He has figured out a way of assuring a contact, and has started cutting out the plastic.
He told me about a game, TURF, that he had worked on some time ago. He looked for his model but couldn't find it. It is mainly luck with a little choice, and the object is to "grow" a perfect lawn, without crab grass, slugs, etc.
Played INVESTIGATION with him and he won. Then COMBINATIONS which I won. Finally END OF THE LINE which I won 5 out of 6 (I believe). We discovered that there are 2 spaces at each end of the 3 [3 is inside a small box] field that lead to an immediate win for the player picking them. (Later discovered that a third space at each end leads to an easily forced win.) I came up with the idea of coloring those spaces to forbid starting there. And it will also dress up the appearance. In the 5 [5 is inside a small box] field there are 6 spaces at each end that lead to an immediate win. In the 4 [4 is inside a small box] field there aren't any but I'll color some anyway for appearance.
As a variant I'll probably allow a line 1 long. Another possibility to be investigated - each player blacks out a space which can't be passed through or landed on.

(cont. from 8/17) [9/4]

to have Amy, who will be starting Columbia University, call me about setting up a date.
[Started 9/4]