I would love to know who created the puzzle, but I doubt if I will ever find out.  After all, my own version of the Picture Puzzle has been posted on the Internet for ten years.  In that time, my version of the Christmas Puzzle has become so popular on the Internet that my Puzzle site gets thousands of hits each Christmas Season.  You would assume someone who knew the story of the Original Puzzle would eventually run across my web site and contact me, but it has never happened.

Unfortunately the trail has grown cold.  Based on what people have written, I estimate the Original Puzzle has to be at least 25 years old.  Many people who have written to ask me for the Answer List have told me they remember that same piece of paper very well.  A couple people have told me their memory of the Original Puzzle goes all the way back into the early 1980s. 

I remain disappointed that not one person has ever offered even a single hint as to its origin.  However, you never know!  Maybe one of these days I will get lucky and someone will come across this site and will take the time to share more information.

By the way, if you would like to see a copy of the Original Puzzle that was the inspiration for my updated version, click here.

1999

I lost track of my copy of the Original Puzzle.  In fact, I completely forgot about it after my brief encounter in 1996.  Then one day in October 1999 I decided it was time to organize my junk desk because it was about to collapse under the weight of all the papers, etc, I had thrown on it over the years. 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 can gather, 'later' can mean anywhere from next week to next century. 

As I dug down to the 1996 layer of papers I discovered the copy Marla Jennings had given me.  Lo and behold, the piece of paper had been laying there under a mound of other papers right where I had left it three years earlier. 

I smiled when I saw the Original Puzzle again.  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 forgot about it.  Over the years, various other papers came to rest on top of it.  If you know me, you would understand that looking for things in my office resembles an archeological search. 

Curious, I tried solving some of the riddles again. As I racked my brain, I recalled how much fun I had trying to solve the puzzle the first time. Sad to say, I didn't do any better the second time than I did the first, but I was hooked nonetheless.  In the quiet of my office, I began to realize how cute and clever the puzzle was.  I immediately wanted to share it with my friends.

That is when I got to the idea to publish the pictures on the Internet as a challenge for some of my dance students.  By coincidence, just a year earlier (October 1998) I had gone online with the SSQQ Dance Studio Web Site.  I was looking for something to generate interest in my web site.

Since the 1999 Christmas Season was just around the corner, why not give it a try?

So I scanned the pictures into my computer.  But there was a problem.  When I took a look at the pictures on my screen, I realized they were in pretty sad shape! 

2000

Flush with satisfaction over the success of my puzzle in 1999, in the following year 2000 I decided to create some clue pictures of my own.  I added 16 pictures to the original 24 Pictures to bring the total to 40 pictures in 2000. 

In 2001 I added 16 more pictures I created myself.  Since then I have expanded the quiz several times with more pictures as the spirit moved me.

2002: The Puzzle Takes Off!

I made a very significant change in 2002.   Recalling the difficulty I had remembering titles to songs when I first took the test, I realized the game would be a lot easier to play if there was a List of Carol titles.  However, rather than just match 56 titles to 56 pictures, I decided to make things a bit more challenging by listing 100 names for 56 puzzles. 

By adding the title list, the puzzle got a lot easier.  Something very interesting started to happen - that change catapulted this puzzle to national and international popularity.

In 2002 I received a phenomenal number of email requests for the Answer Sheet.  As I checked email addresses, I realized they were sent from all over the country.  That puzzled me a lot.   After all, I thought the only people who knew about the puzzle were people from my dance studio, but now I could see that people from all over the globe were checking in.  I was baffled.  

It took me a while, but eventually I figured out that Search Engines like Google were the culprit.  I didn't even know what 'Search Engines' were at that point.  But someone wrote "Google" in an email and I started nosing around.  I found that people were typing in words like "Christmas", "Puzzle", "Carol" into Google and the link to my Christmas Puzzle web page was popping up like crazy. 

Suddenly my audience was no longer limited to Houston-area dance students. The whole world was web surfing to my puzzle.

2004

As of 2004, this puzzle would appear on the first page anytime you type "Christmas Carol Puzzle" into Google.  Now that the puzzle had become so popular, I was encouraged to add new pictures. 

In 2004 I added my first new page in three years to hit 64 clues.

2005

Then in 2005 I added 16 more clues to bring our total to 80.  I also bumped the Clue List Chart up from 100 Titles to 168 Titles.

2006

Once I hit 80, I just couldn't help myself - I was obsessed with reaching 100!   So I searched the Internet to find more titles of Christmas Carols.  To my surprise, I found a lot of song titles I had never heard of.  No matter.  There was no rule that said I had to have heard of the title to make it valid.  As long as I included a list of the carols included the puzzle, any title was fair game.

These new titles gave me the boost I needed.  Now I was able to create 20 new puzzles and boost the clue list up to 180. 

At the urging of many people who wrote in for the answers, in 2006 I decided to add color.  Imagine that.  As a result, the 2007 version of the puzzle had a slightly different look to it, but it seemed to be as fun as ever. 

2007

In 2007, I bumped the Puzzle from 100 clues up to 120.  In addition I expanded the Clue List from 180 to 225.  However when I stopped to look at the puzzle, I realized it had grown too large.  Too many clues also meant the puzzle had grown too hard.

In life, there are people who like the easy Sudoku and Jigsaw puzzle and there are those who like the difficult levels.  Why not try and have the best of both worlds?

So I decided to divide the puzzle into two parts - the original 24 plus 16 of my own would serve as Part One.  In addition I would provide the answers.  This way people who were in a hurry would not have to work the entire puzzle. 

Part Two would consist of the next 80 clues, all of which I created myself.  We would play this section by the old rules: give me 40 correct answers and I will give you the rest. 

However 80 is a goofy number.  I expect to add 20 more clues for 2008 to make Part Two reach 100 clues.

 I hope you have a great time solving the puzzle and sharing it with your friends!

By the way, one final note - Did you know that the SSQQ Christmas Carol Puzzle is now the Number One Puzzle on the Internet?Take a look for yourself.

It is very flattering to discover my puzzle is the most popular Internet Christmas Puzzle in English.  But, as they say, I could not have accomplished this without the help of visitors like you.

I am very grateful to all of you who have played my Christmas Carol Puzzle Game over the years.  Your interest makes me proud to make this contribution.  Thank you very much.  

I hope you have a great time solving the 2007 puzzle.  By all means, please share it with your friends!  

Are you ready to try the Puzzle?   Don't forget to print out the Clue List first.  The Puzzle is nearly impossible to solve without the Clue List. 

By the way, if you would like to learn even more about the background of this puzzle plus see a picture of the Original Copy, please click "Puzzle Anecdotes"

Rick Archer
dance@ssqq.com

So just exactly what does "SSQQ" stand for?  Slow Slow Quick Quick, the rhythm of many social dances including the Texas Twostep, Foxtrot, and Swing.  Have a great Christmas!