Some people call this type of thing "enigmatic puzzles." Here's an example. There's a bunch of information that makes zero apparent sense. Maybe it's a bunch of crossword clues with no grid. Or a grid with no clues. Or a bunch of pictures of falcons.
It looks meaningless, or asinine, or impossible. But it means something, and if you somehow tune into the cleverness and creativity of the person who made it, you can unlock that meaning. I think that's beautiful. Although usually the secret meaning you unlock is something like "POWER BALLAD" or "MEGABYTE." Or a pun. But still.
MIT MYSTERY HUNT
I was part of the team that made the 2018 MIT Mystery Hunt. I got to help make a bunch of puzzles and contribute a bunch of art.
ENIGMARCH
EnigMarch is an Inktober-type thing where you're supposed to make a puzzle every day for a month.
- My 2023 puzzles were my first foray in the form, and some of them are good (especially "Diagonal").
- I made puzzles for the 2022 prompts later in 2023 (check out "Present" and "Mirror").
- I built on some ideas from those two sets in this thing I called "EnigmAugust." It's just a few puzzles, but they're extra-hard and extra-self-indulgent and maybe not as fun.
- Then I went rogue and made 31 spooky puzzles for Drawlloween, using prompts from a non-EnigMarch-affiliated drawing challenge. I was able to start working on these a month early, so they're a bit more polished and intentional than you get from EnigMarch's ostensible one-puzzle-per-day schedule. The best ones might be "Black Lagoon" (qua puzzle) and "Hunter's Moon" (qua aesthetic object).
- Then I did EnigMarch 2024 and there are some good puzzles in there. "Watch" and "Bridge" and "Shield" and "Club" are all great.
- Then, in 2025, I did EnigMarch 2025 and as of April 2025 I believe I did a great job. I set up a bunch of cool metapuzzles in advance and I did art and it's all really slick. The best puzzles from this set include "Random" and "House."
OTHER
These puzzles don't have fancy hints or answer checkers or explanations. They may have been written with very specific audiences in mind! They may be unfair.
- With Sarah Willson I made an "ARG" to promote my game "The Little Match Girl 3: The Escalus Manifold."
- Later we made another more ARG-like ARG to promote my game "The Little Match Girl 5: The Hunter's Vow."
- I made this set of puzzles based on the board game "7 Wonders" for my in-laws. One of the puzzles relies on you having access to the same outdated edition of the board game that they had.
- Whatever this is