A New Year of Puzzles And Socc— er...

A very happy holidays to you all, for my holiday is starting off very happy indeed. Some presents have arrived from the mystical, magical being known only as: The Givin Gifts Happy Holidays 2022 Santa. (Or just "Santa" for short.)

My first gift—oh, I've spoiled the fun surprise that there are multiple gifts. Well, I suppose that's already evident from the title and the use of "presents" in the plural earlier. Well, better roll with it now. And I won't include this part in the write-up. Yeah, I'll definitely remember not to do that.

My first gift is a daily calendar of puzzles! This is such a perfect gift. I've tried a handful of daily puzzle calendars in the past, but most didn't quite fit what I was looking for. I stumbled on this Mensa calendar a few years ago, and I'm so glad I'll be continuing to puzzle throughout all of next year. Thanks, Santa!

But that's not all! There's a second gift! (Well, knowing full well I'm going to leave the previous aside intact, this paragraph loses some luster. But that's OK. I'll just continue this internal dialog motif I've got going on.)

In addition to an array of puzzles to look forward to next year, I've got another gift I can enjoy right now: Mario Strikers Battle League! What better way to spend the holidays than gathering together with friends and family and playing soccer with the classic Mario characters.

Oh, I called it "soccer". Hmm, my apologies. I know that's a troublesome term. That's not what it's called. I know it. You know it. Let me make amends and move on. It's not "soccer":

It's "Strike".

Thank you so much to my wonderful Santa! Your gifts will bring smiles and joy to our household for the season and beyond. I hope you and yours have a great holiday as well. Merry Christmas (et al) to all!