1. One member of your team should open the puzzle hunt template and click the “Use Template” button to make a new copy of the template for your team.

2. Then, share the doc with everyone else on your team and with steinviolin@gmail.com. (Click on the big “Share” button and enter everyone’s emails, making sure that the “Editor” role is selected.)

3. As you’re writing each puzzle, decide on your favorite 1-2 clues to share with the larger group.

Examples:

• ALLEY _____ SCAN → CAT

• TROJAN _____ RACE → HORSE

• SPRING _____ POX → CHICKEN

Extraction:

• Add blanks for the middle word with a 〇 for the letter you want to extract (i.e. _ _ _ 〇 _), or

• Provide an index after the clue (i.e. [4])

Tips:

• Start by thinking of two-word phrases, then extend the chain in either direction.

• It can be helpful for the middle words to fit a theme or category.

Examples:

• Arm muscles _ 🧊 _ _ → B🧊PS

• System for missed messages _ _ 🧊 _ _ _ _ → VO 🧊 MAIL

• Dino with horns _ _ 🧊 _ _ _ _ _ _ → TR 🧊 RATOPS

Extraction:

• Use underscores to show the length of answer (including extra spaces between words) and use a 〇 to indicate the extracted letter.

Tips:

• Pick a short word that appears within lots of other longer words and can be represented by a single emoji (see the Sample Rebuses below for inspiration.)

• You can search on OneLook to find words that contain your rebus. For example, “*cat*” would return all words that contain “CAT” surrounded by any number of other letters.

Sample Rebuses:

🧊 ICE, 🔛 ON, 📴 OFF, ⬆ UP, 😺 CAT, 👍 OK, ✂️ CUT, 🧘 OM, 🐀 RAT, 🦇 BAT, 🦉 OWL, 🐜 ANT, 👂 EAR, 💩 POO

Examples:

• ROMAN GODDESS → MANGO

• URBAN ANALYTICS → BANANA

• MAP, PLEASE! → APPLE

Extraction:

• Provide an index, e.g. [3] after the first clue above would take the third letter of MANGO = N, or

• Omit a letter from the hidden word, e.g. EMMA GOLDMAN contains MANGO without the N.

Tips:

• Pick a theme or category for your hidden words.

• Interesting hidden word clues have an element of the unexpected, even when the answer is hiding in plain sight.

Examples:

• The red planet’s swamp → MARS’ MARSH

• Needing food in Central Europe → HUNGRY in HUNGARY

• A bike ride in Western Europe → SPIN in SPAIN

Extraction:

• Take the added/deleted letter from each clue, so from MARS’ MARSH you’d get the letter H.

Tips:

• The added/deleted letter should change the base meaning of the word (it’s no fun to just pluralize words or use the American-to-British spelling.) It’s especially fun if it also changes the pronunciation!

• Have fun with the cluing, without adding any unnecessary noise. Try to find a way to narratively connect the two words.

• OneLook: Search for words and phrases that fit a specific pattern. A “?” represents a single unknown letter, and a “*” represents multiple unknown letters. Includes useful sorting and filtering features (especially “Sort by commonness”).

• Qat: Similar to OneLook, with fancier equation capabilities but no ability to sort by commonness. A “.” represents a single letter instead of a “?”. See their tutorial page for usage examples.

• Wordplays Crossword Clues: Find previously written crossword clues for a specific answer.