1999

I lost track of my copy of the Original Puzzle.  In fact, I completely forgot about it after my brief encounter in 1996.  I took the copy home and tossed it on my junk desk.  I would not see it again until three years later.

One day in October 1999, I decided it was time to clean up my junk desk.  You see, I have two desks - one desk I work at and another 'Junk Desk' where I throw things to look at later.  As you might gather, 'later' can mean anywhere from next week to next century.  My junk desk was about to collapse under the weight of all the papers I had thrown on it over the years.  I don't remember what caused me to risk my life and begin delving through the pile, but about halfway through the mess, I finally reached the 1996 layer of papers. 

If you know me, you would understand that looking for anything in my office resembles an archeological search.  Once half the mound of papers was removed, I noticed the copy of the puzzle that Marla Jennings had given me.  That piece of paper was laying right where I had left it three years earlier.  I picked it up and examined it.

I remembered that after work that night in 1996, I had brought home the copy Marla Jennings had given me.  No doubt I tossed it on the junk desk and forgotten about it.  Soon enough, as more papers fell on that desk, the puzzle had disappeared.  Out of sight, out of mind.  I smiled when I saw the Original Puzzle again.  Aha, an old friend!

Curious, I tried solving some of the riddles again. As I racked my brain, I still didn't do very well. I didn't do any better the second time than I did the first for the same reason - I couldn't remember enough titles.  Nonetheless I was hooked again. I recalled how much fun I had trying to solve the puzzle the first time.  I love solving puzzles!  Crossword, jigsaw, sudoku, logic, chess, word jumble - you name it, I like it!

Most of the pictures were blurry and badly in need of some touch-up work. 

Plus the artwork was pretty sad.  One Santa Claus was so poorly drawn he could just as easily have been mistaken for Count Dracula. 

Maybe there was something I could do.

So I decided to substitute a Santa picture from my own art files.  I immediately smiled.  Thanks to my new Santa, this Rebus was immensely improved!

Pleased with my work, I looked for other rebuses I could improve upon.  I decided to use my trusty Paint Shop Pro computer art program to touch up the pictures where needed.  Although I have absolutely no artistic ability, I discovered I was good at improving the poor quality of the original artwork using the computer.  Plus it was fun! 

After upgrading a half-dozen puzzles, I started to toy with the idea of making up my own puzzles!   By coincidence, I owned a vast array of wonderful Christmas artwork.  Back in 1984, I had begun a subscription to a commercial art service named Dynamic Graphics.  At this point (1999), I now owned 15 years of artwork. 

Why not put all this wonderful artwork to good use?  So I added 16 new riddles to the original 24 to make a total 40 puzzles.  Then I published these 40 rebuses on my web site.  The SSQQ Christmas Carol Puzzle was born!

My idea paid off.  My friends at the dance studio got a huge kick out of solving the puzzle.  As the compliments rained in, I could not have been more proud of myself.  I had used my talent to make a lot of people happy at Christmas time.  A wonderful feeling of satisfaction came over me.  I had done a good thing.

I decided that quite a few pictures deserved an upgrade.  However, my inability to draw was a huge problem.  Since I can't draw, finding the correct artwork to express the clue has been very difficult at times.   There are a lot of good Carol titles that have never become part of the puzzle simply because I couldn't find the right picture.

Fortunately, most of the time I can find new pictures to replace the old. I am sure the readers will have no trouble spotting the difference between my work and that of my predecessor.  Before you compliment me on my wonderful artwork, don't forget that I cannot draw.  The artwork on the right came from Dynamic Graphics.  

All of my pictures were drawn by professionals.  Hence the marvelous quality!

Another problem I had with this quiz was determining the line between making a rebus too difficult and too easy. 

On the right is one of my first attempts at creating a rebus of my own.  What carol could it be?  After I created this picture, I was disappointed when NO ONE got the right answer.  That's right - not one single person!!   I took another look and realized the clue was much too vague (don't bother guessing; I'll give it to you: Auld Lang Syne.... "Old Long Sign")

No one got it!   How pathetic.  However, the Auld Lang Syne disaster was a good lesson.  I realized that for a rebus to work, the clues have to make sense.  People don't mind hard clues, but I have to at least give them a fighting chance.  If I list too many clues that no one can get, then people get frustrated and quit. 

Because people write in to request the answers, I have always been able to monitor the success rate of each clue.  Over the years, I have always gone back and reworked any clue that was consistently hard to solve. 

By the way, I received a nice Christmas Present over the 2007 Holidays. 

The SSQQ Christmas Carol Puzzle officially became the Number One Christmas Puzzle on the Internet! 

Take a look for yourself.

There was one other development - I made the new clues larger. 

Back in the beginning (1999), the modems carrying Internet images to personal computers were so slow that I deliberately made the pictures small.  However, twelve years is an eternity regarding the Internet.  Now in 2010, most people could acquire the images in an instant if they had high-speed Internet connections.  Why not make the pictures larger?

So I expanded them from 894 wide by 397 tall to 1200 wide to 500 pixels tall.

I think the larger pictures were a huge improvement.

2011 -  The Puzzle Gets a Facelift

During the 2011 Christmas Season I made several dramatic changes to the SSQQ Christmas Puzzle.

For the first time, I gave the Short Puzzle and the Long Puzzle separate identities.   Previously, the Long Puzzle had consisted of the 40 "Top Forty" pictures from the Original Puzzle followed by 90 pictures I created myself to make up a total of 130 clues.

In 2011, I went from 130 clues to 200 clues.  That's quite an expansion!

I donated 10 puzzle clues to the Top Forty collection to make it 50 puzzles.  Then I renamed the Top Forty and called it the Short Puzzle.

After donating 10 clues to the Short Puzzle, that left me with 80 clues.  So I created 70 new clues.  These 70 new clues merged with the other 80 to create a Long Puzzle that had a completely separate identity from the Short Puzzle. 

The new Long Puzzle were 80% in color.  Plus they were all enlarged.  In all, the work took about two weeks. 

Another thing that got larger was the Clue List.  It grew from 280 to 320. 

These were major developments.  I can only assume that as the Long Puzzle has grown longer, it has become harder.  

But then maybe not.  I made an effort to be a lot less tricky. 

The one thing I am sure of is that the new artwork is sure to please everyone.  I think the new Long Puzzle will be a huge hit with the previous fans of the SSQQ Christmas Puzzle.

Divine Help?

As I returned to my old friend the Christmas Puzzle in 2011, I took another peek at Google.  I was disappointed to see the Puzzle was no longer listed on Page One.  Many commercial Christmas puzzles had paid for the privilege to be listed ahead.  Oh well, big deal.  People would still have no trouble spotting the listing for my puzzle on Page Two.  I was pleased to see that my puzzle was still the most popular Internet Christmas Puzzle... for free.  

Then I had a curious thought.  Wasn't it odd that a "dance teacher" had somehow created such a successful picture puzzle?  Heck, I couldn't even draw!  Why me? 

That's when for the very first time I was struck with the idea that I was actually the perfect person for the job.  I had a lifelong love of puzzles.  Furthermore, by coincidence, I had a huge collection of artwork to draw from dating back 15 years. 

Plus the timing was remarkable.  Back in 1998, some friends had convinced me to join the Internet just as it was breaking into mainstream consciousness.  Then the Original Puzzle magically reappeared one year later.  This was the perfect time to add it to my web site.  I published my puzzle when there was nothing else on the Internet to compare. 

As a result, Google propelled the obscure puzzle to a Number One ranking... which in turn made sure it stayed Number One.

Have you ever seen an athlete score a touchdown, then say on TV, "I give all Glory to God"?   I am usually a bit cynical about public demonstrations of faith, but the series of lucky breaks that led to the success of my own puzzle forced me to think a little deeper. 

The entire set-up was handed to me on a silver platter.  All I had to do was add a little imagination.   In fact, creating the Puzzle was so easy, I began to wonder if perhaps I had a little unseen help along the way.  The curious set of coincidences definitely gave me pause.   

When it comes to the Mysteries of the Universe, I will never know for sure if perhaps a hidden hand played a role in the success of this neat Puzzle.   However, there is one thing I will always know for sure.  I know exactly who helped make this Puzzle a success.  And that would be visitors like you. 

Every time you have visited the web site, you helped to ensure our buddy Mr. Google keeps listing this Puzzle way up at the top.  In turn, thanks to its lofty status, every year more people are alerted to its presence.  In other words, the Puzzle stays famous because Google says it is famous. As they say in show biz, this Puzzle could not have become a success without you!  

Over the years, many of you have written to thank me for posting the Christmas Puzzle.  Truthfully, the thanks is all mine. Your interest in the Christmas Puzzle has made me very proud to make this contribution.  Without your interest, I would never have bothered to continue.  Thanks to all of you, your words of encouragement have brought me profound satisfaction over the years.   

So I hope you have a great time solving the 2011 SSQQ Christmas Puzzle.  And by all means, share it with your friends and loved ones!   That is my wish.  Please make it come true.

Rick Archer
dance@ssqq.com
 

2012 Update

For the 2012 Christmas Season, we have two developments.

The first is my announcement that we finally know who created the Original Puzzle.   That honor goes to Lahlete Pearson of Belzoni, Mississippi.

The second development is that I have expanded the puzzle again.  The Long Puzzle has grown from 130 clues to 150 clues.

In addition, the Clue List that accompanies the Long Puzzle has grown to 321 clues.  In other words, you have 321 clues and 150 answers.

Not an easy puzzle... but loads of fun.  I hope you enjoy the new clues!   RA

Puzzle Anecdotes and Rick Archer

You have just read my "Short Story" about the development of the SSQQ Christmas Puzzle.  While telling the abridged version, I have glossed over many of the details.

If you have enjoyed the Short Story about the Puzzle, you will probably enjoy the Puzzle Anecdotes quite a bit.  In addition to more details about the SSQQ Christmas Puzzle, you will surely laugh at all the crazy emails I have been sent over the years.  Plus I will offer more information about Lahlete Pearson, the lady from Mississippi who started it all.

If you are curious about me, I am now a semi-retired dance teacher.  For 32 years, I ran SSQQ Dance Studio (1978-1980) here in my hometown Houston, Texas.

SSQQ was a pretty amazing place.  At its peak, I am fairly sure that SSQQ was the  largest dance studio in America.  To read the story of how I developed the dance studio, click SSQQ.   As you will read, my Christmas Puzzle and my dance studio both owe much of their success to the same source - the Internet.

Currently my wife Marla and I are attempting to become dance instructors aboard cruise ships.  Marla is an amazing woman who has a gift for organizing huge group cruise trips.  As of 2011, Marla has organized 21 previous trips.  In 2012, Marla has trips planned to the Panama Canal, the Eastern Caribbean, Russia, and the Western Caribbean.    

The one thing I always notice on our trips is how much people admire our dance group.  They always come up to me and wish they could join in, but our dancing is too complicated.  So they have no choice but to stand and watch.  Invariably they tell me how busy they are back home or how there is no dance studio near their home.

I point out to them they have free time on the cruise ship.  Why not take dance lessons during the cruise?  They always reply, "Why don't you teach some dance lessons?  If you were the dance teacher, I would definitely take your class!"

Since I am always looking for new challenges, I think it would be fun to put together a seven day dance program on a cruise trip with a dance party on the final night as a reward.  And, since my wishes have a way of coming true, one of these days I might just get my chance to implement my program.  You never know.