some games and puzzles i enjoy:
xws
i'm very fond of solving crosswords—my current pr for a nyt monday is 2m40s. i also enjoy constructing them; i hope to get one published in the nyt some day. below you can find a sample midi (7x7) of mine (i recommend squares.io to open .puz files); i have other irons in the fire but they're not ready yet. i hope to add more here. i'd also like to get into constructing cryptics but i am not smart enough for that right now.
chess
pre covid, i played otb chess somewhat seriously (didn't we all?). nowadays i mostly play bughouse and solve puzzles (nabokov has a nice line about how "[p]roblems are the poetry of chess" with which i agree), though i still play some bullet occasionally. my peak elo on lichess was 2292 but i am nowhere near there now. as white i play the ponziani and as black i play the slav against d4 and the sicilian kan against e4. you can send me an invite here !
poker
i play lots of fun cash games with my friends back in new york, but here in chicago i mostly play boring mtts with no monetary prizes (gambling is bad, et cetera). this year i made final tables in the citsec invitational and the hrt satellite. my 6max pfr/vpip is 19/26.
other
wrt video games, right now i'm really enjoying slay the spire 2. i have a ~40% win rate for a10 defect and my favorite ancient is orobas, obviously. on my phone, setwithfriends is my go-to timekiller. my best time is 1m16s.