Hello, and welcome to my birthday puzzle, 2020 edition! A big, elaborate puzzle on my birthday is one of the few traditions I've been able to keep up with, and this year I'm posting the puzzle here rather than Facebook, to make it more accessible.
My earlier puzzles have been difficult, sometimes to the
point of extreme frustration. Sometimes they required the solver to notice a
very small detail just to progress, or they gave the impression of being so
polished that any mistake was surely something I did on purpose. As you can imagine, this was stressful for everyone, myself included!
So, I am happy to say that I’ve taken a step to de-escalate
this year. My 2020 birthday puzzle is meant to be enjoyed by children and
adults alike. I’ve taken a leaf from the oft-underappreciated puzzles that
grace cereal boxes and restaurant coloring sheets to create my own series of
simple puzzles, enjoyable by all. And if there’s a little mistake or seemingly
important detail here or there, I’m not too worried about it!
The old Spandan would have cut it off there and left you
with no idea where to begin, but I can’t do that in good conscience. So, I’ll
give you a quick summary of the puzzles and what you need to do to succeed! The
first puzzle is a fill-in-the-blank game – all you have to do is find out which
letter is missing, and then use the letters to solve the tricky bonus question.
The second puzzle is a search and find, because I’ve cleverly hidden coins
around the puzzle sheet, and only a keen eye will be able to find all of them. Watch out, though, some coins are hiding together! The third puzzle is a maze, with a twist! Instead of just finding your way to
the end, you have to collect coffee for your friend. If you want to try the
bonus puzzle, pay attention to the letters you come across! And finally, the
last puzzle that ties the rest together is the word search. Find the words in
the word bank – you’ll notice they’re all kid-friendly words, nothing adult
there. The big, empty box is for the secret phrase I’ve hidden in the word
search.
And, that’s it! I hope you enjoy the fresh new aesthetic,
and the kid-friendly puzzles!
Here's the puzzle!
