The Mystery League

By Sandor Weisz

We are a company of creative puzzlemakers in Chicago. This is our weekly dispatch of puzzle news. To learn about puzzle events in Chicago, subscribe to Puzzling in Chicago: http://mysteryleague.com/pic.

Previous issues

Tulsa, the Alright City

#48 Jan 15, 2019

Hella Good

#47 Jan 7, 2019

The Clandestine Mystery Hunt

#46 Nov 28, 2018

#45

Nov 14, 2018

Oh el el – Chicagoans: I'm putting on my tabletop puzzle game The Unknown Islands Thursday night (November 15) a
#44

Oct 19, 2018

This or that – Puzzle of the WeekThink of a place where you’re often asked to make a couple of choices, one right af
#43

Oct 8, 2018

Dice Less, Julianne Moore – Challenge of the Week. I got to be a guest puzzler on one of my favorite podcasts, Hey Riddle Riddle.
#42

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
#41

Sep 13, 2018

Fo' Paw – In Issue #40, I asked folks to write a clue for a song with a number in its title, where the number o
#40

Aug 23, 2018

Lady! Ladi! Ladé! – The autumn is rich will puzzle hunts: DASH, Puzzle Boat, Mark Halpin's Labor Day set, Cryptic Puzzle
#39

Aug 15, 2018

Phalanges that Intersect Metacarpal and Resemble Thüringers – I’m continuing to publish daily Twitter puzzles at @pzlr. Each tweet offers five items that share a q
#38

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 sam
#37

Jul 31, 2018

Reespiecer – 🛒 🛒 🛒Puzzle of the Week: Name a product found in a supermarket checkout line, in two words. Remove th
#36

Jul 17, 2018

National Puzzlers League – I just returned from the 179th National Puzzlers League Convention, known informally as the Con, in M
#35

Jul 2, 2018

Wuts up, Bull? – 🎥 🎥 🎥Puzzle of the Week. No one got this last week, so here it is again, followed by a hint:Name any
#34

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 Ga
#33

Jun 5, 2018

Omegalopolis – Puzzle of the Week. What world capital sounds like two Greek letters?Submit your answers here.
#32

May 21, 2018

Lady Dermaptera – Puzzle of the Week. Take the last name of a young movie director. Remove one letter, and what remains
#31

Mar 29, 2018

Mt. Sneaky – In honor of Opening Day, here's a baseball puzzle for you.⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️Puzzle of the Week. Take the name o
#30

Feb 6, 2018

Crossfit Wights – Puzzle of the Week. Name two activities done at a gym, one word each. Remove a single letter from one
#29

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, a
#28

Jan 17, 2018

Ugazon – I'm recovering from the 55-hour puzzle marathon that is the MIT Mystery Hunt. My team, Palindrome, pl
#27

Dec 27, 2017

Aretax Frain – Hi again!Puzzle of the Week. Take the full name of a famous singer. Remove a letter, and add a letter
#26

Nov 21, 2017

Lolfred Tennyson – Puzzle of the Week. Name a famous European figure from the 19th century, whose name contains three wo
#25

Sep 26, 2017

Starring… Antiwar Hyena – 🐉 Creatures in Seattle! We're running Creatures on the Loose on October 3rd, at Optimism Brewery. 🎟 T
#24

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 p
#23

Sep 12, 2017

Vivant Bong – It's data science week on the Dispatch!Puzzle of the Week: Think of a two-word English phrase that’s
#22

Aug 31, 2017

No Rye for the Waster – Puzzle of the Week. This one is apparently an oldie, but I stumbled across it across it on my own, so
#21

Jul 31, 2017

The Caves of Cragdeboofy – Puzzle of the Week. Name a place on Earth in eleven letters. Seven of these letters appear chronologi
#20

Jul 13, 2017

She's a secret criminal – Still plenty of tickets available for our Boulder, CO event on July 25. Please tell your friends in
#19

Jul 6, 2017

Mystery League ✈️ Boulder – We’re heading to Boulder, CO! We’ll be hosting our Creatures on the Loose game at the lovely Finkel &
#18

May 12, 2017

Off With Her Head – Puzzle of the Week. Take the first name of a famous woman. Remove the first letter to get a noun, pho
#17

Apr 26, 2017

Mysterysmith goes to Washington – The Mystery League is coming to Washington, D.C.! We'll be hosting our Creatures on the Loose game at
#16

Apr 22, 2017

Have you seen Terra Green? – Attention Washington, D.C. friends! I'd like to bring Creatures on the Loose to your town on the even
#15

Mar 14, 2017

I'd Deny Inland Orca Memorial – Puzzle of the Week. What 20th century figure’s last name is made up of three consecutive U.S. state a
#14

Mar 1, 2017

I Abhor Billowy Chintz – Puzzle of the Week. The TV show LOST has all its letters in alphabetical order. Name two Oscar-winnin
#13

Feb 14, 2017

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!.
#12

Jan 20, 2017

Dispatch #12 🦄 Creatures game in Chicago – Puzzle of the week: Name a food in 7 letters. Change one letter, anagram it, and you’ll have an activ
#11

Jan 9, 2017

Dispatch #11 🗝 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
#10

Dec 19, 2016

Dispatch #10 🗝 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
#9

Nov 24, 2016

Dispatch #9 🗝 Brainteasers // ARG update // Other games 🦃 – Hello, again. Happy Thanksgiving, for those of you celebrating. If you're looking for dinner table to
#8

Oct 20, 2016

Dispatch #8 🗝 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
#7

Oct 12, 2016

Dispatch #7 🗝 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, g
#6

Sep 30, 2016

Dispatch #6 🗝 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, pl
#5

Sep 22, 2016

George R. R. Martin's New Mexico multiverse 🔎 Agatha Christie, in stamp form – Happy fall. Here is some stuff I enjoyed this week.
#4

Sep 14, 2016

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 fr
#3

Sep 6, 2016

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 bu
#2

Aug 29, 2016

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
#1

Aug 22, 2016

Mystery League in Crain's // Strange video game symbols // Potatoes in space – This is our weekly dispatch of what's happening in the world of puzzles. If you have something to inc