FAQ

What is this?

Each pop-up concept is a puzzle; each puzzle’s solution is a short passphrase that allows you “entry” into the pop-up. Everyone who solves the puzzle and enters their name by the deadline will be eligible to win that pop-up’s prize. Each puzzle is different, each prize is different, and no puzzle requires information from another puzzle to solve it — except for the final puzzle. (Keep reading.)

How do I solve these?

These puzzles don’t have instructions — the first part of the puzzle is figuring out what to do! Here are some tips:

Read all of the text. Every word in every puzzle is there for a reason. If a word, phrase, or title seems odd, try to figure out why it’s written that way, and what it is trying to tell you. If you’re stuck, sometimes going back to the text can help you figure out what to do next.

It will always come down to translating one type of information to another. You may be given words that are code for other words, pictures that represent words, or numbers which need to be translated into letters. It’s up to you to figure out how to work the translation. Some extremely common puzzle mechanisms include mapping numbers to letters (A=1, B=2) or indexing a number into a word (PUZZLE / 2 => U).

Feel free to use the Internet. We know you have access to it, so it’s fair game and may even be required for some puzzles.

How do you pick a winner?

We’ll set a deadline for each puzzle, and anyone who submits an answer by that time will be entered in a raffle for the prize. If you are selected as the winner, you’ll have 24 hours to get back to us with confirmation, or we’ll select another winner.

Do I need to subscribe to your email list?

Everything in these emails is also on this website, so if you’re not subscribed, you can just check here every day. But we do use our email list (see footer on About page) to announce new pop-ups, so it’s a great way to stay on top of new puzzles. You can also follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Do I need to solve every puzzle? Can I start now if I missed a few?

Here’s how it works. Each puzzle is independent and you can start at any time; you don’t need to know the answers to previous puzzles to solve new ones. Past puzzles remain on the site and you can solve them at any time —though if the raffle deadline has passed for a puzzle, you won’t be eligible for that prize anymore.

There will be a final puzzle that will require the answers to all the previous puzzles, so if you want to be able to enter the final raffle for the grand prize, a Dinner for Two at Alinea, you should definitely go through the list and solve puzzles you missed!

Where are the answers?

We’re not posting answers until after the final puzzle is solved. We are posting hints, though. You can read them here.