Contact Info and FAQ

Contact Info:

To contact me, just send an e-mail here:


If you don't see a response within 24 hours (and you think you should), look in your junk e-mail folder. For some reason some people have found responses there...
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(This annoys me to no end when trying to sell things through craigslist... "I am very interested in buying your coffee table. When can I come look at it?" they say. "Anytime today or tomorrow is fine. Call my cell for the address and directions." I say. Then nothing. "Oh... 'very interested', are we?" I think. "Found a better coffee table somewhere else, then, have we? Mine no longer good enough for you or something?" And then the drinking starts...Makes me so mad...)
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Frequently and Not-So-Frequently Asked Questions
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How can I donate to your site, and what is done with the donation cash?
I no longer take donations.
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I don't like giving out my e-mail address. What do you do with my e-mail address if I decide to answer a puzzle or otherwise contact you? Are you going to fill my e-mail box full of spam?
I will never, ever spam anyone or sell or give any e-mail addresses to any third party. There is enough of that in the world already.
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Your logic, insight, and wit are matched only by your good looks and god-like sway over the opposite sex. How may I praise you adequately? OR I disagree with your opinion most strongly. How can I vent my bile at you over your barely coherent scrawlings, you cretin?
Either post a comment on the blog section you are pleased with (or mad at) or shoot me an e-mail. Who knows? It may even get posted.
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I was a visitor to your other site, but now it's gone. What happened?
My wife's pregnancy and the subsequent birth of our son required a lot of my time and something had to give. The good news is that this is a lower maintenance site for me. So far.
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Where do the puzzles come from?
The puzzles are 100% original and are designed and made in-house. If you have a comment or would like to have a puzzle custom-made for your business or group, send me an e-mail.

What's the story with the geocache swag?
I like to build my own swag and sometimes I put puzzles on them to make them more interesting.  It's just a signature item thing.

Puzzle for Charity Rules

• There is no cost to participate. Everyone is eligible to play except the designer(s) of the puzzle.
• All Entries shall be made via e-mail.No attachments will be accepted. Any entries with attachments will be deleted or bounced, and not considered for the prize.
• Entries must include the following:
• 1) Name and Location (Country, State, City) (this will be kept private) 2) Screen name or alias (for posting on the front page of this site in the event you win) 3) The EXACT correct guess and 4) The COMPLETE REASONING behind your guess. Many of the puzzles have several parts that need to be reasoned through to arrive at the answer, so make sure you have COMPLETELY solved the puzzle. 5) The phrase “I have read and understood the Rules of this website” Guesses without this information will be ignored!
• Only the first correct entry will win the prize. I will check the mail as often as is reasonable. In the unlikely event of a tie, the prize will be shared among the winners.
• Puzzles will stay up for as long as they need to, but may be changed out for any time and for any reason. New challenges will be put up as often as needed. This may depend on the difficulty and/or popularity of the puzzle.
• Entries must give the decoded message EXACTLY as it appears. Occasionally, the puzzles will have intentional misspellings or non-standard English grammar as part of the solutions.
• You may guess as often as you wish. There is no cost to do so. However, you will not be informed if you are “getting warm” or not. Only correct answers will get a response.
• DO NOT SEND FINANCIAL OR OTHERWISE PERSONAL DATA WITH YOUR GUESS
• The puzzle may be updated at any time for corrections in design or function. Although each of the puzzles will be tested, sometimes ambiguities or alternate answers may pop up. For example, if the puzzle asked you to unscramble this English word R A W T S, the intended correct answer may be STRAW, whereas a seemingly valid guess may be WARTS. If the letters of the puzzle were made of haystacks, however, the answer would clearly be STRAW.
• Solutions to the MOST RECENT PUZZLE will be accepted (sometimes puzzles are updated or changed) so make sure you have the correct version of the puzzle before submitting an answer.
• You MUST have an active PayPal account to claim the Prize.
• Prize claims will be handled via e-mail only. This site will contact you via e-mail if you have won with further information.
• Although the Prize amount will never go down during the course of a puzzle, I may decide to increase the amount for any reason.
• The charities will remain up until the puzzle is solved.

Puzzle 03: Quilt

This puzzle was originally on the RustyRedRock site.

Puzzle 03: Quilt
Posted: 05/18/07
Solved: 21:59:26 EST, 03/14/07
Winner: daveh
Prize: $61.00 and the quilt
Charity: Excalibur Leisure Skills Center, Inc.
Donation Made to Charity: $61.00

Spoilers Follow!

Hints:

1. (Posted 06/28/07 19:52 EST) Start with a red rook, and end with a black one.
2. (Posted 07/26/07 18:19 EST) Beethoven's 5th Symphony is also called Beethoven's V'th by some. I think that's neat.
3. (Posted 08/15/07 19:00 EST) 'V' the letter... not the Roman numeral.
   

Solution: Yvsr vf n xvaq bs purff

Method: Gur beqrevat vf onfrq hcba gur svefg pyhr: vs jr ner erdhverq gb ivfvg rnpu fdhner rknpgyl bapr, naq jr zhfg genirefr rnpu ebbx cnve va erq-gura-oynpx beqre, gura bayl n pybpxjvfr fcveny fgnegvat va gur gbc yrsg pbeare.Gur ebbx cnvef qrsvar gur fcnprf naq gur qverpgvba lbh zhfg tb.Gur snpg gung vf vg zbefr pbqr nyfb pbzrf sebz gur pyhrf…vg vf pnyyrq Orrgubira’f Igu orpnhfr gur ortvaavat bs gur cvrpr qn-qn-qn-qhz vf gur yvxr gur …- bs gur yrggre I.

To reveal the Solution and Method, copy and paste the above gibberish here.

Puzzle 02: Pool Table

This puzzle was originally on the RustyRedRock site.

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Posted: 01/12/07

Solved: 13:41:41 EST, 03/14/07

Winner: bibelot

Prize: $67.25

Charity: Project Linus

Donation Made to Charity: $67.25

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Spoilers Follow!

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Hints:

1. (Posted 01/24/07, 20:00 [EST]) Do 8-balls really look like that?
2. (Posted 02/03/07, 19:45 [EST]) If you are lost in the woods, a compass might help. If you are lost in this puzzle, you should have two.
3. (Posted 021307 20:83 EST) Not two of the same kind of compass, of course…
4. (Posted 030107 21:00 EST) Using this methodology, a 1-ball could be any letter from A to H.

Solution: Pbatenghyngvbaf

Method: Rnpu onyy bgure guna gur phr onyy ercerfragf n yrggre bs gur nycunorg. Gb qrpvcure gur yrggre, lbh zhfg pbzovar gur ahzore ba gur onyy jvgu gur qverpgvba va juvpu gur ahzore vf cbvagvat. Pbafvqre gur rvtug qverpgvbaf A, AR, R, FR, F, FJ, J, AJ. Vs na a-onyy vf cbvagvat abegu, gung vf, vs gur ahzore nccrnef evtug-fvqr hc, gur pbeerfcbaqvat yrggre vf fvzcyl gur agu yrggre bs gur nycunorg. Vs vg vf cbvagvat gb gur abegurnfg, gura vg vf gur arkg yrggre bs gur nycunorg; vs vg vf cbvagvat gb gur rnfg, vg vf gur bar nsgre gung, naq fb ba. Guhf, fnl, n 5-onyy pna ercerfrag gur yrggref R, S, …, Y, qrcraqvat ba jurgure gur 5 vf cbvagrq A, AR, …, AJ, erfcrpgviryl. Abgr gung fbzr bs gur onyyf ner haqreyvarq fb gung vg’f rnfvre gb gryy juvpu jnl gurl’er cbvagvat. Abj beqre gur onyyf ol vapernfvat qvfgnapr sebz gur phr onyy. Gnxvat gur pbeerfcbaqvat yrggref gura fcryyf bhg gur nafjre.

To reveal the Solution and Method, copy and paste the above gibberish here.

Puzzle 01: Chalkboard

This puzzle was originally on the RustyRedRock site.

Puzzle 01: Chalkboard
Posted: 11/01/06
Solved: 22:21:48 EST, 01/11/07
Winner: GrannyW
Prize: $69.00
Charity: Computer Literacy 4 Kids
Donation Made to Charity: $69.00

Spoilers Follow!

Hints:

1. (Posted 11/22/06 17:04 EST) The solution reads from left to right in the usual English way starting in the upper left hand corner and continuing through the whole puzzle.
2. (Posted 12/09/06 10:00 EST) I couldn't replace all the letters with numbers. I had no choice.
3. (Posted 12/23/06 17:46 EST) There are 60 letters in the solution.
4. (Posted 01/02/07 12:11 EST) 1 = H
5. (Posted 01/08/07 21:30 EST) Sherlock Holmes would have said that solving this puzzle was "simple".

Solution: Fpvraprvfnjbaqreshyguvatvsbarqbrfabgunirgbrneabarfyvivatngvg
Method: Vg’f “ryrzrag”-nel, zl Qrne Jngfba. Hfvat gur Crevbqvp Gnoyr vf gur xrl. Sbe gur onpxjneqf ahzoref, erirefr gur yrggref va gur purzvpny flzoby fb n onpxjneqf gra orpbzrf “RA” vfgrnq bs “AR”

To reveal the Solution and Method, copy and paste the above gibberish here.

Postdate Test

Test of the postdating thing