I was honored to have had an article published in last week's edition of The Magazine, the iOS-exclusive periodical by Instapaper creator Marco Arment, joining tech luminaries like Jason Snell, Gina Trapani, Guy English, Lex Friedman, and John Moltz.

I had never been compelled to write a strategy guide for a game, but after I kept beating my friends, I decided to write something to help them. I know all too well how discouraging it can be to keep losing at a game. Sooner or later, you get disgusted and quit, and if my friends were to quit playing, the game wouldn't be much fun.

Fortunately, one of my poor opponents was Glenn Fleishman, executive editor of The Magazine. Despite his Jeopardy prowess, he had a tough time with the game. I pitched the article to him on November 21, the day before Thanksgiving. On the 26th, Glenn gave it a big thumbs up, but asked if I could get it to him for the next issue, which only gave me about a week.

So of course, I began cranking away at it. At the same time, I was working on two pieces for TidBITS, so if the blog has seemed pretty sparse lately, you know why.

Fun fact, it was pitch submission #42.

At the end of the week, I was paid well to play a game I love, chat with its creator, and write about it. Thanks to Marco for providing the opportunity for me to do that, and putting me in touch with Loren Brichter. Thanks to Loren to thoroughly answering all of my questions. And special thanks to Glenn Fleishman for green-lighting the piece, and doing a fantastic job of editing. The summary of game instructions, in particular, wouldn't have been nearly as good without his input.

Most of all, thanks to my wife Hannah for encouraging me the whole time, taking care of the house while I was busy at the keyboard, and for editing my initial drafts.