January 17, 2018 Name a popular shopping website. Shift two of the letters forward in the alphabet by the same amount, and the result will be another
Aretax Frain Hi again! Puzzler Take the full name of a famous singer. Remove a letter, and add a letter, to the first name to get
December 27, 2017 Take the full name of a famous singer. Remove a letter, and add a letter, to the first name to get a kind of
Lolfred Tennyson Puzzler Name a famous European figure from the 19th century, whose name contains three words. Remove 3 consecutive letters, and you’ll end up
November 21, 2017 Name a famous European figure from the 19th century, whose name contains three words. Remove 3 consecutive letters, and you’ll end up with
September 27, 2017 Think of a female celebrity, eight letters total in her name. Change two of them, anagram it, and you’ll get another female celebrity.
Starring… Antiwar Hyena 🐉 Creatures in Seattle! We’re running Creatures on the Loose on October 3rd, at Optimism Brewery. 🎟 Tickets are here. We may also run it
Mystery League ✈️ Seattle From October 3 - 6, I’ll be in Seattle. I’m there to put on 🦄 Creatures for a client, but I’ve got plenty
September 20, 2017 Name a 20th century author and a 21st century actress, both born in Eastern Europe. Their first names start with the same first four
Vivant Bong It’s data science week on the Dispatch! Puzzler Think of a two-word English phrase that’s been anglicized from its French origins.
September 12, 2017 Think of a two-word English phrase that’s been anglicized from its French origins. Reverse the order of the words, add a letter
No Rye for the Waster This week's Puzzler is apparently an oldie, but I stumbled across it across it on my own, so I’m gonna include
August 31, 2017 Think of a word in 9 letters. Rearrange the letters to get two nouns that are both part of a common proverb. What words
The Caves of Cragdeboofy Puzzler Name a place on Earth in eleven letters. Seven of these letters appear chronologically in the alphabet. What place is this? Hunt for
July 31, 2017 Name a place on Earth in eleven letters. Seven of these letters appear chronologically in the alphabet. What place is this?
She's a secret criminal Still plenty of tickets available for our Boulder, CO event on July 25. Please tell your friends in Boulder and Denver! Puzzler Name an
July 13, 2017 Name an actress. Remove a letter in her last name to get a crime. Change one letter and rearrange the letters of her first
July 06, 2017 Name two words that are the same part of speech, and mean the same thing, but are different cases. Put the two words together
Off With Her Head Puzzler Take the first name of a famous woman. Remove the first letter to get a noun, phonetically. This woman is arguably both the
May 12, 2017 Take the first name of a famous woman. Remove the first letter to get a noun, phonetically. This woman is arguably both the most
April 26, 2017 Think of a pair of five-letters words are used frequently around Christmas. They’re not synonyms, but they’re close. You can rot-
Have you seen Terra Green? Attention Washington, D.C. friends! I’d like to bring Creatures on the Loose to your town on the evening of May 4th. But
I'd Deny Inland Orca Memorial Puzzler What 20th century figure’s last name is made up of three consecutive U.S. state abbreviations? DASH 9 tickets are for sale.
March 14, 2017 What 20th century figure’s last name is made up of three consecutive U.S. state abbreviations?
I Abhor Billowy Chintz Puzzler The TV show LOST has all its letters in alphabetical order. Name two Oscar-winning movies — both five letters long — that also have
March 01, 2017 The TV show LOST has all its letters in alphabetical order. Name two Oscar-winning movies — both five letters long — that also have this
A Mountain, But Not a River We continue to add more Chicago dates for our popular escape-room-in-a-box, Creatures on the Loose!. Currently there are three events
Creatures game in Chicago Puzzler Name a food in 7 letters. Change one letter, anagram it, and you’ll have an activity that this food will allow you
January 20, 2017 Name a food in 7 letters. Change one letter, anagram it, and you’ll have an activity that this food will allow you to
🗝 Puzzle in a building 🏢 Escape with Zelda Happy 2017, the first prime year since 2011, and the last until 2027. MIT Mystery Hunt is just a few days away, and for
January 09, 2017 Take a famous 20th century author. Combine a common nickname for his first name with the first letter of his last name, and the
🗝 Dec 28 puzzle event 🦄 Speaking about Holiday Bullshit Chicagoans! We’d love to see you at our first public puzzle event, Creatures on the Loose!, next week on the 28th, at the
December 19, 2016 Name something that you might walk on in the forest. Replace one of the letters with something you might walk on at the beach.
🗝 Brainteasers // ARG update // Other games 🦃 Hello, again. Happy Thanksgiving, for those of you celebrating. If you’re looking for dinner table topics beyond the US election, I hope these
November 24, 2016 Name a famous 20th century musician. Change one letter in his first name to get the first name of a 20th century TV character.
🗝 Brain busters from Bletchley 🤔 (A poem ( in ) a Venn) Thanks for sending all the great ideas about where I should hold hunts. Still going through them and getting back to people. Please keep
October 20, 2016 Name a professional baseball team. Swap the first two letters and — phonetically — you’ll end up with the name of a different pro baseball
🗝 Curse of Peg Leg Sullivan 👻 Decemberists board game Question for you: Where should I host my next puzzle hunt? Could be a museum, a park, neighborhood, gathering space, restaurant, underground bunker, hotel
October 12, 2016 Think of someone who has won multiple Oscars. Change one letter in their first name, anagram it, and you’ll end up with the
🗝 Hunt a killer in the Maryland woods 👻 The nutso Voynich Manuscript Thank you for taking the time to read these. If you find something online that you think I’d like, please hit “reply” and
September 30, 2016 Name a noun in four letters. Like most nouns, you can turn this noun into its adjective form by adding a Y, but in
George R. R. Martin's New Mexico multiverse 🔎 Agatha Christie, in stamp form Happy fall. Here is some stuff I enjoyed this week. Puzzler Name two actors who played father and son in a recent movie. One
September 22, 2016 Name two actors who played father and son in a recent movie. One actor shares his last name with a popular brand. The other’
Ada Lovelace, puzzlemaker 👏🏼 Online and real puzzle hunts 👏🏼 Snarky C418 I just got back from the XOXO Festival in Portland, which is always a whirlwind of inspiration and friendship. Got to do one puzzle
September 14, 2016 Name something you find in nature, in six letters. Take the first syllable, say it twice, and you’ll end up with the name
Looking for playtesters // Indie crosswords on the rise // Escape Room Top 10 Fall is here. Apparently that means it’s team-building season. To that end, I need your help — I’m building a few puzzle
September 06, 2016 Name a titular character from 20th century American fiction, first and last name, nine letters total. Rotate one letter 180°, then anagram to get
Master Theorem returns // Ron Swanson, jigsawer // Escape from the Playa This Saturday sees the launch of Mark Halpin’s annual Labor Day Puzzle Extravaganza. I was introduced to Halpin’s work two years ago,