Carv's Thinky Blog I'm an author with a focus on satirical science fiction.

The Game Is Afoot!

It was important to me to publicize the play I'm directing in as many unusual ways as I could, so I'm trying my hand at puzzle construction. Our show is called Sherlock's Last Case, and it's a non-canonical adventure from the annals of Sherlock Holmes. It occurred to me that what Mr Holmes did best was solve puzzles.

Now, I've been a cruciverbalist for as long as I can remember, meaning I love crossword puzzles. When I was a kid I created crosswords for fun, but they were never the symmetric square variety so familiar from your daily newspaper--because it turns out those are really, really hard to devise. Perhaps my adult brain would be up for the challenge? When the idea for a puzzle contest grew in my noggin, I resloved to start it off with a real, honest to Will Shortz, legitimate crossword puzzle, then progress through a series of word games, once per week till opening week. John Munn, the artistic manager of Lakewood Playhouse (and Dr Watson in our production), thought this was a marvelous idea, and he signed on immediately. The winner gets free tickets to opening night, plus a laurel and hearty handshake. Or something like that. Anyway, here's the contest:

Baker Street Irregulars Conundrum of Clues

Solve each week's puzzle, and it'll generate a one-word clue related to Sherlock Holmes. Once you have all the weekly clues, the final puzzle will show you how to use them to generate the single-word solution to the contest. Give it a shot! It's my first time attempting such a thing, so I'm curious what word puzzle fans like myself will make of it.

Best of luck!

Update: The second week's puzzle has been posted. It's a wordoku!

Have fun!