Carter Tunstall

Won the bottle of Aviary Select Angel’s Envy
by cracking the code to get into Red Herrings

Carter (left) and his husband Joe

How did you hear about the game?

My friend, Bryan, who won the first week, actually got me interested in the puzzles. My husband, Joe, and I have since been doing the puzzles each week hoping to also win a prize, because we're obnoxiously competitive.

How many of the puzzles have you solved?

Every damn one. The Spoon puzzle was so frustrating, but the others have been a lot of fun. It's a nice little feeling of accomplishment during these times where everyone is stuck inside doing nothing.

Walk me through your experience with solving the Red Herrings puzzle.

I come from a sailing family, so I instantly recognized the naval flags (backgrounds) and semaphores/signals (herring fish). I also love cryptographic puzzles and recognized the other ciphers almost immediately (pigpen/borders and dots, morse code/utensils, etc.). I still had quite a few misguided attempts, as with every puzzle, but after realizing they were all various communication codes, I was able to focus on that as a theme. At first, I didn't think the red herring messages would be used at all until I reorganized everything. Discovering the braille took a few attempts to get right, though.

What other kinds of puzzles or games do you play?

My husband and I do crosswords, trivia, and play a lot of puzzle games. However, we have very different "workstyles"/mindsets and end up arguing when trying to work together on a puzzle; he's fast and jumps around a lot, while I'm slow and methodical.

Have dined at Alinea or our other restaurants?

I have not been to Alinea yet (gasp, I know), which is why I was hoping to win the grand prize! I've been to Aviary many times, and even though I used to live a couple blocks away from Alinea, I just never got around to it. I'm very impulsive and making reservations is not my forte.

How do you spend your days?

I used to live in Chicago for 7 years, and then moved to Japan in 2018. Pre-lockdown, I would typically be exploring new bars/breweries/patios and traveling throughout Asia and Europe (we went to 10 countries last year). During lockdown, I'm pretty much just snacking, practicing Japanese with the Uber Eats drivers, taking long baths, and drinking all the wine/sake. 

How are you keeping healthy and sane during quarantine?

I love long-distance running and being outdoors; so, I've had a hard time being stuck indoors during lockdown. Instead, I have gotten back into yoga, which has definitely helped relieve my depression and stiffness from working on the couch. Since we're not able to travel and explore new breweries, I've been getting beer shipments in from different places every weekend. I've also been buying tons of houseplants and redecorating to keep things new and interesting. 

Anything else you want to add?

The puzzles are truly ingenious and give me the same feeling as running - I hate it when I'm doing it, but get a weird sense of satisfaction and accomplishment afterwards that keeps me coming back. They have taught me to take a step back when I'm stuck, and come back the next day with a fresh mind. They have also taught me to just try everything whether or not I think it may be correct. Praise to the creators.