Conundrum: Pic Tac Toe

I grew up reading Games magazine, so I was delighted when Ken Jennings posted a good old “Pic Tac Toe” on his blog. But when he recently posted a plea for others to do likewise, I thought it would be a good time to bring Conundrum out of its summer hibernation.

In a “Pic Tac Toe” puzzle, there are nine pictures in a three-by-three grid, like Tic-Tac-Toe. In each row, column, and diagonal, there is a common theme that unites the three pictures. The challenge is to find the eight themes.

You can click on each image to see a larger version:



I don’t have a message board like Ken has, so just post whatever you come up with in the comments section.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Correct themes provided by Annalisa (4) and DeLisa (2). Alternate theme suggested by DeLisa (1). See comments for all answers.

10 Responses to “Conundrum: Pic Tac Toe”

  1. Annalisa Says:

    Fun!

    Row 1 Jordans
    Row 3 Presidents
    Column 1 Stuarts/Stewarts (?)
    Column 3 Richards

  2. Bill Says:

    Annalisa’s on border patrol!

    All four are correct. Four to go.

  3. DeLisa Says:

    Column 2 – Exits?

  4. DeLisa Says:

    Row 2 – Threes? (Richard 3, Stuart 3, Lion King 3)

  5. DeLisa Says:

    Left to right diagonal – fake news? :-)

  6. DeLisa Says:

    I mean bottom to top diagonal…. :-(

  7. DeLisa Says:

    Top to bottom diagonal – duos?

  8. Bill Says:

    Exits and News are correct. Way to go, DeLisa!

    Duos works, but there’s a better one. And I’m not seeing the “3” connection at all.

    So we’re still playing for the center row and the down diagonal.

  9. Bill Says:

    Answers:

    Top Row: JORDAN (Michael Jordan, Jordan St., Queen of Jordan)

    Center Row: KING (King James I, Lion King, King Richard III)

    Bottom Row: US PRESIDENT (Clinton, Bush, Nixon)

    Left Column: STUART/STEWART (Stuart Smalley, House of Stewart, Jon Stewart)

    Center Column: EXIT (Exit Ramp, Exit Sign, Exit Strategy)

    Right Column: RICHARD (Richard Gere, Richard III, Richard Nixon)

    Up Diagonal: NEWS (Fake News, Newspaper, News anchor Cokie Roberts)

    Down Diagonal: AIR (“Air” Jordan, Airplane, Air Force One)

  10. Bill Says:

    Picture Credits:

    Picture 1
    Picture 2
    Picture 3
    Picture 4
    Picture 5
    Picture 6
    Picture 7
    Picture 8
    Picture 9

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