October 2008 Newsletter

A while ago, I set out to create a one-of-a-kind word puzzle. By the time I was finished, I was exhausted. Could it be it wasn’t worth the effort? “Don’t let yourself think that way,” I said.

Every time I re-read the puzzle I became a little less certain it was a good one. For a while, I even thought about tearing it up and starting over. Gradually, though, I came to believe that it was truly special.

Having self-doubts is a little unusual for me, so I tried to figure out why it was happening. I’m usually a pretty confident guy, especially about word games. Just then, a thought occurred to me. Knowing I would feel better if others would approve of my work, I invited some trusted friends to have a look. Luckily, they all agreed it was a very special puzzle. Most of them had a lot of experience in the world of games, and they were very positive in their comments. None of them had an unkind word to say.

Once I had their “approval”, I had to decide what to do with the puzzle. People recommended everything from publishing it, to reading it on “Wheel”, to posting it online. Quite a few of them said they had never seen anything like it. Right then and there I decided that “Pat’s Chat” would be the best place for it. So here it is.

The question for you is: can you figure out the hidden secret of this puzzle? Usually, I would be a little more direct about it, but I’ve decided to be a little “sneakier” this time. Very soon I will expose the secret of the puzzle. When I do, I hope you’ll be pleasantly surprised. X-rated language is something I ordinarily discourage, but you may shout a few expletives when you see it. You see, this story is actually the puzzle, and do you know what figuring it out will get you?

Zilch!

(Scroll down for the solution)








The story above is comprised of 26 sentences, and each of them starts with a consecutive letter of the alphabet from A to Z. (Sentence number one with an “A” and number 2 with a “B” and so on.) I told you it was sneaky!