Zach Lombardo

Tracing paper over a vintage postcard. The tracing paper has a modern streetscape with a traffic light. The words read “Naming the problem is just the beginning. You must act on it.”

Every new pipe, road, and sidewalk isn’t just an investment; it’s an intergenerational promise and obligation. And in so many places, from the U.S. to New Zealand, we’ve made too many of them.

Talking the talk is just the start. It’s time to walk the walk.

Nestor

Today’s solitaire: Nestor. Solitaire win rates says chances of winning are 22% for humans, 59% for machines, solitairewinrates.com/Nestor.html. Hoyle’s puts it at 10%. Lots of look ahead required. This is a good one to practice planning.

Did you know?
The term「 Grand Slam 」originated in the early 1800s in the card game of whist (forerunner of contract bridge), where it refers to the taking of all thirteen tricks. ♠️♦️♣️ It later was extended to various sports. 🎾🏌️⚾

Adaman

Today’s solitaire: Adaman. Another one using the Decktet. Rules here: wiki.decktet.com/game:adaman. Either I have not figured out the trick to this, or it is quite difficult.

The more I play this one the more this becomes one of my favorites.

Accordion

Today’s solitaire (another one): Accordion. Hoyle’s says 1 in 100 chance in solving, but solitaire win rates says it’s 100% solvable: solitairewinrates.com/Accordion.html, every time. The difference seems to be Hoyle’s didn’t contemplate dealing the entire deck before beginning to move cards.

Jacynth

Jacynth

Today’s Solitaire: Jacynth. This uses the Decktet and I am not sure the chances/difficulty. Rules here: wiki.decktet.com/game:jacynth. Plenty of challenge with what feels like well balanced risk.

Clock solitaire

Today’s Solitaire: Clock. Hoyle’s says chances are 1 in 100. Solitairewinrates.com says 1 in 13. Regardless, much like time, you are not control. Good for mediation, not so much for solving anything. Not sure I would recommend.

Housing-Ready Cities These six policies will help you make your town housing-ready.

4. Eliminate minimum lot size requirements in existing neighborhoods.
5. Repeal parking mandates for housing.
6. Streamline the approval process.

Is your town doing all six? Add it to the map on strongtowns.org/housingready!📍

Those six policies are:

1. Allow single-family home conversion to duplex or triplex, by right.
2. Permit backyard cottages in all residential zones.
3. Legalize starter homes in all residential zones.

Share this with your city council to make sure your place is housing ready.

Six policies will make your town housing-ready, and can be implemented on a local level. That means your place doesn’t have to wait for help from above to fight back against the housing crisis.

On a scale of replicating the real world, this does a better job that golf solitaire does is replicating its namesake.

Bowling Solitaire

Today’s Solitaire: Bowling Solitaire from Sid Sackson’s book: A Gamut of Games. This solitaire plays great and can be expanded to multiple players in the same way bowling can. I highly recommend this creative implementation of the physics of bowling with cards.

Baker’s Dozen

Today’s Solitaire: Baker’s Dozen. First published in 1883, Hoyle’s puts the win rate at 2/3. Building up and down off the tableaus regardless of suit or color certainly makes for many possible solutions. The large amount of tableaus also benefits from smaller cards. Overall, a little too simple.

Thoughts on updating the ultimate GIPF board for this?

Poker Solitaire

Today’s Solitaire: Poker Solitaire. This one is distinct in that it is not an attempt to solve, it is an attempt to get the most points. I definitely recommend, despite the low amount of points I scored in my initial attempts.

Fortress

Today’s solitaire: Fortress and its variant Chessboard. Hoyle’s puts the win rate of Fortress at 10%, Solvitaire says 20% solitairewinrates.com/Fortress.html, Chessboard is 73%. These are the most difficult games yet. Chessboard is great practice for finding a path forward, definitely recommend.

After a few plays, my initial uncertainty about recommending this has faded. I did not appreciate the nuance of filling the empty tableaus. There is more to this one than meets the eye, or at least that met my eye.

Aces Up

Todays’s Solitaire: Aces Up (Other names: Aces High). First recorded in 1900, Wikipedia says 1/43 win rate, Hoyle’s Rules of Games says 1/10, Solvitaire appears to have a win rate close to Hoyle’s. solitairewinrates.com/AcesUp.html. Felt very luck based, not sure I would recommend

After several games: the game-to-game foundation changes keeps each game fresh, definitely hard to win, but rewarding when it happens.

Canfield

Today’s solitaire: Canfield (other names: Demon). First recorded in 1891, Wikipedia says low probability of winning, Hoyle’s Rules of Games says 1/30, but Solvitaire appears to have a win rate of over 60%. solitairewinrates.com/Canfield.html Classic structure, seemed hard to win, would recommend