Do Let the Sun Go Down on Me
A light crossword-themed puzzle game; Sandy in Block Club Chicago; New Kickstarter from PostCurious; Box Two
Murder Across Downing Square
Last month, Wil Zambole and I ran a game for all the participants at the Midwest Grid Fest in Chicago. I've written up the game here, and included all the puzzles so you can solve it yourself:
Sandy Weisz
Feel free to reach out with any questions, and please let me know how you enjoy it!
October Puzzler
Every month I offer a new bite-sized puzzle. Here's the latest one:
Think of a hit song from 1992. Remove all of the first word except the first two letters and the result will be a hit song from 1993. Both were released by bands, and both bands have the same number of letters in their names. Which songs are these?
Submit your answer here 🗳Mystery League profile in Block Club Chicago
Thanks to Web Behrens at Block Club Chicago for this lovely profile on me and this weird business I've built for myself.
Web Behrens
I know what you're thinking. Is “Web Behrens” really the author's name, or is it secretly an anagram of a clue that tells you how to decode the seven images in the article to get a phone number that you need to call to find a secret location where I’ve stashed a lockbox filled with jewels? The answer is: definitely no. Does that sound like something I would do?! 😏
Ministry of Lost Things
PostCurious is back with another boxed puzzle game:
According to the just-launched Kickstarter, Ministry of Lost Things is a new tabletop puzzle adventure series from award-winning game publisher PostCurious. Blending escape rooms, board games, and interactive fiction, Lint Condition is the first case in an episodic exploration of the Elusiverse: a realm where every lost item has a story.
PostCurious has such a strong track record of great games and puzzles, so I'm excited to see what they've put together for this one.
Box Two
Neil Patrick Harris' Box One was an exemplar of what could be done with a box full of puzzles (and a huge budget). The pieces had high production value, and the story was fun, weird, and much deeper than it first seemed. And on top of that, the game was non-destructive, so you could repack it back in its original form and give it to a friend. Now the same company that made Box One, Theory11, is out with the sequel, and it's currently on the shelves and available to buy at Target. I only heard about this yesterday, so I truly have no idea what's inside. If you play it, please send me your review.
A Very Long Integer
The Enchanted Castle puzzle hunt just ended, and while our small team struggled to get through the later rounds, I want to highlight one really, really fun puzzle from round 2, A Very Long Integer:
This is a very specific kind of puzzle made for a very specific kind of puzzle nerd, so if you're like me — i.e. you like to build out spreadsheet formulae and/or write scripts to parse out number patterns — then you will really enjoy pulling this one apart.
The Promptmanteaustmaster is back
After many months away from the promptmanteau mines (the promptmineteaus?), I'm back posting them on my Instagram Stories. Here's the first new one:
To recap, this is a mashup of two names or phrases, where the end of one sounds like the beginning of another. For example, previous promptmanteaus have included Barbeetlejuice, The King and Iron Giant, The Wizard oFozzie Bear, and Hyrulette. If you think you know the above, head over to the Mystery League Instagram, click on the logo to get to the Story, and submit your answer!
Or if you miss the window, tap the Comment link at the bottom of this email and comment on the post.
Solution to the September Puzzler
Take the name of a caffeinated drink. Remove a letter, then add a letter, and you’ll get the last name of an actor whose first name is also a caffeinated drink. Who is this?