This year I signed up for a contest called the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre". Basically, upon entering the contest (the website says it starts New Year's Day, but I received it by mail yesterday), they send you a road atlas and a set of instructions, by which you are to navigate your way across the country. It's all on paper (unless you're really crazy and want to actually drive through the course), and the contest itself is based on 80 questions that can only be answered correctly if you are able to make the correct turns based on the instructions. The contest is loaded with all sorts of puzzles and complicated rules for which way to go at each intersection, so it's quite tricky and time consuming. I think it took me over 20 hours last time I entered (which was in 1995), and I managed to win 61st place, out of at least 1000 entrants. It's a bit expensive ($44 if you're in the U.S.), but hey, you get a cool new atlas and it's a lot of fun. I'd recommend this to anyone who is really into maps/puzzle contests and who has the time to spare. They give you until sometime in March, so you can spread it comfortably over the two-month period.

--gremlinn