Too Many Secrets
Marleen's 40th birthday puzzle hunt
My sister made me this amazing birthday gift - least I could do was to write a report on it and make it look kinda of awesome to do the experience justice. So that's what I did. I didn't have time, however, to create a version that displays beautifully on small screens. So this report is only available on tablets, laptops, desktop PCs and TVs.
You can try turning your mobile device sideways (for landscape mode) - or otherwise, find a slightly larger screen and then come back!
Thank you.
- Marleen
I turned 40 in 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, and just like that, all my (ridiculously elaborate) birthday plans had gone out the window - no travelling, family visits, or space events. I think I managed to make the best out of that crappy situation, in no small part due to a (ridiculously elaborate) puzzle hunt that my sister sent me on, with the help with some of my local friends and family members.
Here's the write-up that I promised you. Enjoy!
Note! Some of you have asked if they can try the puzzles for themselves. Some of them, yes. I've done my best to indicate whether it's worth attempting a puzzle yourself if you're so inclined, and outlined the solutions (and tools used, where applicable) for all puzzles further down.
Anyway - chapter 1...
A post-it? Really??
It all started with a letter that Isabell had sent me via snail mail. Elaborately decorated and with explicit instructions on the back to not open it before the 22nd, and that's completely normal because where I'm from, we take birthdays seriously. She was also quite excited for me to open it on camera.
So on the night of my birth eve (Canadian time), I was technically already 40 (by German time), I was still up and Isabell was on her lunch break (Australian time), so we decided to zoom and open the letter... and what did I find inside?
This:
I had to laugh so hard that I could barely breathe, and I didn't stop laughing for probably 20 minutes. She sent an envelope around the globe, for almost $4 postage, during covid, for a single, sassy post-it.
I don't know how to explain this, but to me this is the funniest thing that has probably happened to anybody ever. I would have died of a heart attack from laughing too hard, it would have been worth it!
I kind of suspected that this might lead to a puzzle hunt though, call it a hunch... so after laughing (and crying) for an appropriate amount of time, I liberated the post-it note from the envelope to check the back.
... and I laughed for another 20 minutes straight.
Anyway, in the end it turned out there WAS something on the back, but it was tiny and I didn't see it through the tears (also my eyes are combined 80 years old now which really doesn't help with seeing tiny things).
On the back, there was a URL:
