Mystery Puzzle SPOILER #26

Warning! This post contains spoilers to a mystery puzzle.

This week's puzzle is "Maurice Sendak's Christmas Mystery"  It's a 48 piece puzzle.  The solution to the puzzle is NOT on the box.  The solution is actually each page of the book, where the two children start walking up a hill and then walk back down.

Once all together, the larger true form of the puzzle appears - Santa!

Box, puzzle, and booklet.

Completed puzzle.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Mystery Puzzle SPOILER #25

Warning! This post contains spoilers to a mystery puzzle.

This week's puzzle is "Hidden Treasures - Conductor."  It's a 100 piece puzzle.  The solution to the puzzle is mostly on the box - cut off because of a prior sticker.

The added challenge is finding the hidden objects listed in the enclosed booklet. 

The objects are of different colors and make the hunt super hard and much less fun. 

Further, one of the photos looks like a Geoduck, but it's likely a misprint of a spoon. We found the spoon - green head/leaf and blue suspender of the lower-left dog.

Puzzle, box, and booklet 

 Completed puzzle. 

Booklet with "geoduck."

Thanks for reading!

Dr. Alex

Mystery Puzzle SPOILER #24

Warning! This post contains spoilers to a mystery puzzle.

This week's puzzle is "Pirate Treasure Hunt" by Roosevelt's Amazing Puzzles.  It's a 77 piece puzzle.  The solution to the puzzle is mostly on the box.

The added challenge is finding the path that takes the two boys in the upper-right corner down to the treasure in the lower-left corner.

There is also a shortlist of "Pirate Facts & Fun" included with the solution.  Other fun things the book encourages you to find are:
3 crabs
1 compass
3 lanterns
1 spider
2 pirates
1 painting of a ship
3 spider webs
5 wooden doors (swinging and broken)

The solution is to take the upper swinging doors and follow the rightmost edge of ladders and staircases to reach the treasure.

I'll plan on filling out the comment card and seeing if I get a return.

Puzzle and box. 

Full size puzzle.

UPDATE: 12.09.2019, a letter that I sent to Moran Co. at 48th Elm St. Meriden, CT  06450 was sent back with a vacant note.  I guess they are not longer in business at this addres. :-( 

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Mystery Puzzle SPOILER #23

Warning! This post contains spoilers to a mystery puzzle.

This week's puzzle is "Princess Ballerina." It's a 250 piece puzzle.  The solution to the puzzle is not on the box.

Sadly, there was no novelet story included with the puzzle. :-( It was a shrinked wrapped puzzle and all the pieces were included.  Just missed out on the quality control. 

UPDATE Dec 2019: I wrote an e-mail to the author Nancy Butcher, who sent me pictures of the booklet and included them in my edition for the next solver! 

The back of the box reads "Samanta Spengler is starring in the ballet Cinderella.  But someone is out to ruin the production ... and hurt Samanta.  Wile she be able to catch the culprit in time for opening night?"

On the plus side, I did find the bonus spider.

Completed puzzle and box. 

Completed puzzle.

Bonus spider foud! 

I am guessing that the small handprint is the clue to the solution to the mystery.  

The world may never know. 

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Mystery Puzzle SPOILER #22

Warning! This post contains spoilers to a mystery puzzle.

This week's puzzle is "Sleepless Sleepover." It's a 250 piece puzzle.  The solution to the puzzle is not on the box.

There is a novelet story included with the puzzle. 

The clues are fairly small and can be misleading.  The story overall was fun to read.

Final puzzle solution.  Courtesy of my mom.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Mystery Puzzle SPOILER #21

Warning! This post contains spoilers to a mystery puzzle.

This week's puzzle is "Five Finger Marks." It's a 200+ piece puzzle with all irregular shapes and non-interlocking pieces.  The solution to the puzzle is not on the box.

There is a small story on the back of the box.  Careful reading leads the solver to already knowing the clue in the image to focus in on. 

The non-interlocking pieces made solving this puzzle a pain, as the pieces would wiggle around.

My puzzle was also missing 2-4 pieces of the woman's black dress.  The pieces are fairly thick and should hold up well. 

Box and solved puzzle.

The story on the back of the box. 

 The final image of the solved puzzle.

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Mystery Puzzle SPOILER #20

Warning! This post contains spoilers to a mystery puzzle.

This week's puzzle is "Murder By the Stars." It's a 300 piece puzzle with all irregular shapes.  The solution to the puzzle is not on the box. 

There is a small novelet with the story and the last two pages are the solution.  For the solution to the puzzle, a heated bulb or other heat source is used to singe the final page (front and back) and reveal the answer.  My copy had the back page fully readable to but only a few lines on the front page.  After a bit more singeing the rest of the story came to life! 

"Completed" puzzle and box.  The fun pieces were removed and placed to the side.  

Final image.

1st page that needed a bit of extra burning to be able to read. 

Second page. 

Close up of "fun pieces." 

THE SOLUTION

Detective Barry noted that although a book lay
open on the blood-spattered desk in the Pro-
fessor's study, it's covers were soiled by blood.
The blood could not possibly have run beneath
the covers had the book been open on the desk 
at the time of the supposed suicide.  Obviously  
it had been "planted" after commission of the
crime.
     The second, inaccuracy in the story told by 
Mrs. Montrose, who, police  learned had fired 
the shot into her husband's head and then forced
the revolver into his nerveless finger, was her
statement that the letter received by the Professor
that morning was from the Chicago astrologer.
He had not shown it to her.  According to her
own words, he had glanced at the envelope, put
it into his pocket and left the table. How could 
she have known the letter was from the astrologer?
     Bary's finding of the key on the rug outside the 
study convinced him to come had locked the 

Professor in after the killing so that the police would
break down the door.  And the bottle of ink
eradicator was used to eliminate the writing on a 
previous letter from the astrologer, which Mrs.
Montrose had found in her husband's desk, leaving
a clean sheet of paper, with the astrologer's letter-
head, and an envelope with a Chicago postmark.
Mrs. Montrose herself subsequently had typed
the supposed prediction of suicide, had sealed it
into the envelope, and had planted the letter on
the mail salver in the downstairs foyer. 
     This Barry proved by comparison of the report
he had typed on her machine and the supposed
astrologer's letter.  The top half of the letter "s"
was missing from words in both documents. 
    Mrs. Montrose, police grilling revealed, had 
conceived an infatuation for a younger man named
Howard Hamilton who, believing her wealthy,
had urged her to elope with him.  To clear the
way for marriage to Hamilton, she murdered
her husband for his estate.  Her testimony thor-
oughly exonerated Thomas. 



Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex