New Ways to Look at Time…and Fun!!

About the inventor

Bob Sandelman is one of those people who cannot resist puzzles. The Detroit native grew up playing Scrabble, Boggle, and Perquackey, and still loves the Jumble in the newspaper. He’s also a fan of escape rooms and intricate wooden puzzle boxes. Bob has always been fascinated by unique clocks and calendars and he’s built quite a collection of both.

In 2006, he took up origami. The Japanese art of folding paper requires focus and concentration—much like puzzles. Bob learned to create architectural models of the Chrysler Building, Sydney Opera House, Westminster Abbey, and other landmarks. During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, he embarked on a project he named Cranes Conquering Covid. He spent 85 hours over 17 days folding 1,000 origami cranes so that, according to Japanese legend, his wish of a rapid end to the pandemic would come true. (It did!)

By 1967, Bob had earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in business administration from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He then completed a course in computer programming while attending the Naval Supply Corps School. (Programming can be viewed as a puzzle because the challenge is to find the most efficient way to make a computer carry out tasks using logic and skill). He then served as a supply officer in the US Navy from 1968 to 1972.

During his career in marketing and advertising, he headed the Mattel Electronics account while at Ogilvy/Los Angeles and helped launch the Vectrex video game console while working for General Consumer Electronics. Bob’s marketing experience inspired him to invent products of his own. He created Metrix t-shirts when metrics were afoot, ReminDate to remind far-flung military personnel about important occasions, and suDAYku, a calendar version of Sudoku.

The first Crossword Calendar was ahead of its time

Bob created the original prototype for the Crossword Calendar in 1974. His first iteration was a silk-screened grid on acoustic cardboard. It was low-tech, using pushpins to surround the date. A later version, with the grid printed on plexiglass, was granted a U.S. patent on September 19, 1978.

With a patent under his belt, Bob decided to tackle another entry on his achievements “bucket list”: Mensa. After all, the organization’s website states: “The joy of solving puzzles is a common trait among many Mensa members.”

He passed the test in 1979 and continues to enjoy the timely articles and challenging puzzles in Mensa’s monthly magazines.

The next-generation calendar, a whole new clock, and much more

Bob founded Sandelman & Associates, Inc. in 1988 to provide chain restaurants with market intelligence about consumer attitudes and behavior. Still, he never stopped thinking about new products and product modifications. When he spotted an electronic word-based clock from an online retailer he knew it was time for a Crossword Calendar renaissance—and the launch of its companion: The Crossword Clock (now out of stock).

Both products were launched in 2022 under the Crossword TimeWorks brand. Crossword TimeWorks was a great name…until Bob started dreaming up more products and games. (OH, Bob!) The 2024 name change to InnOHvations was concurrent with the rollout of the Diamond Duo and Roman Clock XXIV (both out of stock).

When Wordle exploded in popularity in 2021, Bob was immediately captivated. Inspired, he set out to create a word game of his own. The result was Scramble—a web-based app that blends elements of Hangman, Wordle, Jumble, and Scrabble into one unique experience. Teaching himself how to code game apps from the ground up, Bob launched Scramble in 2023.

Soon after, he developed Fragments, another web-based word game that he later expanded into a comprehensive puzzle book featuring more than 100 progressively challenging Fragments puzzles. Several of these puzzles have even appeared in the national Mensa Bulletin magazine. Bob went on to create several more puzzle books, including Sequence, MathMix, Quotables, Tangles, Scramblitz, and Brain Gym—all available on Amazon.

Beyond his apps and books, Bob also created Game Break, a daily email delivered each morning to subscribers. Each edition includes links to the Scramble and Fragments web apps, along with a bonus puzzle from his books. Every puzzle is fast, fun—and free.

In Bob’s own words, here’s why he launched Game Break:
“I believe that keeping your mind active isn’t just fun—it’s essential. Puzzles are preventive medicine—powerful tools for keeping your mind strong and agile. Research suggests that puzzles can slow or even prevent cognitive issues later in life. That’s why I decided that 100% of all paid subscriber fees from my daily Game Break and my puzzle books will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association to support their efforts in finding a cure.”