The Signal

Aug 25, 2020 Mission San Juan Kubo Fall is around the corner, and with it comes a bunch of juicy puzzle events. Mark Halpin publishes his annual Labor Day puzzle set on Saturday, Sep 5th. 3 min read Jul 6, 2020 Odenminator This month we’re welcoming a lot of new subscribers from the Pilcrow Bar hunt. Hello! Welcome to the place where I send you interesting puzzle things I 3 min read Jun 3, 2020 Onthusi Astix Hello. It seems silly and trivial to tell you about puzzles and games while there are much more important struggles going on around us. But I’ve heard 3 min read May 7, 2020 DanQuil I hope everyone is staying safe and staying healthy in these trying times. If you’re working on the front lines of this pandemic, or know folks who 9 min read Apr 16, 2020 Oshlo Hello from the new reality. Over the last few weeks, I’ve seen a lot — like, a lot — of offerings for things to play while stuck at home: 4 min read Mar 11, 2020 Moronavitus The Mystery League’s main business is putting on team-building events. With the encroaching global pandemic, companies are cancelling the plans they have and putting future events 2 min read Feb 24, 2020 Olive Viola Is there a podcast out there that you think I should guest on? Hit reply on this email and let me know. My spots on Hey Riddle Riddle 2 min read Dec 18, 2019 Ryekoms The Bear Today’s issue is dedicated to puzzles-by-mail, which make great last-minute gift ideas, since you can tell your giftee that their present is being sent 3 min read Nov 27, 2019 Jaws Swam Mars Puzzler Think of a movie title in 4 letters. Change one letter and anagram it to get the title of another movie that came out 20 years later. 2 min read Nov 7, 2019 Reco rider Puzzler Think of a word in 8 letters that means “to review or change”. Swap out two letters for one new letter, and you’ll have a two- 2 min read Oct 2, 2019 Mystery League ✈️ New York City I’ll be in New York City on October 24-27. I’ve got a few slots open for anyone interested in a puzzle event. Just reply to 2 min read Sep 13, 2019 ForTe It’s finally Fall, which means I’m back from my Twitter puzzle hiatus. I’m trying out a new schedule: original puzzles Mon - Wed, a rerun on 3 min read Sep 3, 2019 Unmew Hello! I’m back from Summer break and ready to do get back into the puzzle-making swing of things. Puzzler Think of a word for something that 3 min read Jun 26, 2019 Noana Regular reminder that you should follow us on Twitter, where we post a new puzzle every day. Puzzler Take a 2016 movie in five letters. Change the first 2 min read Jun 11, 2019 Resolver Hi, I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. No, seriously. 4+ years after starting this dang business, I’ve finally set up a 2 min read May 14, 2019 Captain Marvee Seeking playtesters. We’re building a new tabletop puzzle game, and it’s almost done, which means we need to observe people playing it. If you’re in 2 min read Apr 8, 2019 Crookshanks Puzzler Take a word that can mean “criminals,” as well as a word for a kind of crime. Merge the two words together to get a single word 3 min read Mar 19, 2019 Tallahassee Taureses 2 min read Feb 25, 2019 Mystery League ✈️ San Francisco Next Tuesday, on March 5, we’ll be in San Francisco at the Barrel Head Brewhouse to put on our game The Unknown Islands. It’s a two- 2 min read Feb 12, 2019 Calli Handset Mystery League is heading to San Francisco! I’ll be in town March 3 - 6. If you’d like me to put one of my games for you 5 min read Jan 30, 2019 Caroline Savory Puzzler Take a woman’s first name. If you follow it with a certain five-letter word, you get someone famous. On the other hand, if you precede 2 min read Jan 15, 2019 Tulsa, the Alright City Puzzler What state’s abbreviation, when spoken aloud, sounds like an example of the nickname of the state’s largest city? How the Digital Era Has Changed the 2 min read Jan 7, 2019 Hella Good Puzzler Name a word you might use as a first word in a conversation. Change one letter and you’ll end up with a word that means, in 2 min read Nov 28, 2018 The Clandestine Mystery Hunt 1 min read Nov 14, 2018 Oh el el Chicagoans: I’m putting on my tabletop puzzle game The Unknown Islands Thursday night (November 15) at Empirical Brewery. In it, you and your team are secret agents 2 min read Oct 19, 2018 This or that 2 min read Oct 8, 2018 Dice Less, Julianne Moore 2 min read Sep 27, 2018 Cat Power & Snoop Dogg, happy again Here’s a creative challenge. Yesterday’s twitter puzzle combined a fantastical musical duo along with a song they should cover: * Brian May & The Decemberists, “A Thousand 3 min read Sep 13, 2018 Fo' Paw 2 min read Aug 23, 2018 Lady! Ladi! Ladé! The autumn is rich will puzzle hunts: DASH [https://playdash.org/DASH10/], Puzzle Boat [http://www.pandamagazine.com/island5/], Mark Halpin’s Labor Day set [http://www.markhalpin. 2 min read Aug 15, 2018 Phalanges that Intersect Metacarpal and Resemble Thüringers I’m continuing to publish daily Twitter puzzles at @pzlr [https://twitter.com/pzlr]. Each tweet offers five items that share a quality and asks you to reply 2 min read Aug 8, 2018 What's the connection? Over the last week, I’ve been publishing daily Twitter puzzles. I was inspired by — and using the same format as — P&A Magazine, who’s been 2 min read Jul 31, 2018 Reespiecer Puzzler Name a product found in a supermarket checkout line, in two words. Remove the space and 2 adjacent letters, and change the last letter, and you’ll 9 min read Jul 17, 2018 National Puzzlers League I just returned from the 179th National Puzzlers League Convention, known informally as the Con, in Milwaukee, a brilliant three days of meeting fellow puzzle mavens, solving puzzles, 4 min read Jul 2, 2018 Wuts up, Bull? 2 min read Jun 25, 2018 Mystery League ✈️ Denver On July 11, I’ll be in Denver at the Crooked Stave to put on my newest puzzle game, Mystery in the Galleries. It’s a 90-120 2 min read Jun 5, 2018 Omegalopolis Puzzler What world capital sounds like two Greek letters? How To Make a Word Search My friend Eric Berlin, maker of Puzzle Your Kids (my kids are huge 2 min read May 21, 2018 Lady Dermaptera Puzzler Take the last name of a young movie director. Remove one letter, and what remains will be, phonetically, a synonym for a word in the title of 2 min read Mar 29, 2018 Mt. Sneaky In honor of Opening Day, here’s a baseball puzzle for you. Puzzler Take the name of a mountain. Change one letter, anagram it, and the result will 2 min read Feb 6, 2018 Crossfit Wights Puzzler Name two activities done at a gym, one word each. Remove a single letter from one of the words. The resulting two-word phrase will describe something 2 min read Jan 30, 2018 What's mentioned in all these books? NEW GAME. I’m putting the finishing touches on my new table-based puzzle game, The Unknown Islands, and I’m running a couple final playtests this Thursday 3 min read Jan 17, 2018 Ugazon I’m recovering from the 55-hour puzzle marathon that is the MIT Mystery Hunt. My team, Palindrome, placed 3rd, just an hour or so out of first 2 min read Dec 27, 2017 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 a kind of business. 2 min read Nov 21, 2017 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 with a famous American 2 min read Sep 26, 2017 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 October 5th, if get 1 min read Sep 20, 2017 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 of time to put 2 min read Sep 12, 2017 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. Reverse the order of 2 min read Aug 31, 2017 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 it anyway. Take that, 2 min read Jul 31, 2017 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 Justice Puzzle Hunt I’ 1 min read