The Original Puzzle
Rick
Archer's Note: No one ever come forward to claim
authorship of the Original Puzzle until 2011. That is
when a couple of ladies emailed to say they did it. However
neither woman sent anything that convinced me they were the original
author. That matter is still pending as of December 2011.
As people have written me over the years, the Original Puzzle began to appear in
America sometime in the Eighties. I have one Catholic sister
who said she used it in 1978, so now the 80s claim is uncertain.
The invention of the Fax
Machine allowed this puzzle to become popular across America.
I first saw
the Original Puzzle in 1996. I scanned the copy
directly below into my computer in
1999 when I decided to use my website and the Internet to popularize the
puzzle.
Since then,
I have misplaced my copy of the Original Puzzle. So I would
like to thank Tiffany
Hayden for sharing her copy of the Original Puzzle. Tiffany
faxed her copy to me in 2005. Now you get to see the piece of paper
that inspired me to create my own version of the Christmas Carol Puzzle.
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This copy
of the Original Puzzle was sent me in December 2011 by an anonymous
woman who said she had developed the puzzle back in 1985.
Unfortunately by keeping her identity a secret, I was unable to
determine if she was the true author or not.
The artwork
of the anonymous woman is very similar to Tiffany Hayden's copy
directly above. Isn't this just so mysterious!
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Color Version of Original
Puzzle
This color
version below was sent in by Emily
Schankweiler in 2006.
As you can see, someone took the time to use the "Fill" function of
some paint program to add simple color. Cute.
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December
2010
The
"Confusing Christmas Puzzle" from 1996
Rick
Archer's Note: Thanks to a lady
named Deb, in December 2010 I received a note that offered an
important new clue towards solving the mystery of the Christmas
Puzzle's Origin. Here is the note.
From:
Deborah
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 7:45 PM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: Confusing Christmas Carols -
Hi Rick,
I recently found your website
while looking for "Confusing Christmas Carols".
I have a different version of your 'original
puzzle'. I got mine back in 1996
- 1997 when a
co-worker brought hers in to work. She didn't know
exactly how she had come to acquire her copy.
I assumed it had come from a
book because on the first page there is a page
number at the bottom, and the top right corner says
STARTERS.
The second page looks like the page number could
have been cut off, but the top says
THE PLAYBOOK, like
it came from a party games book.
Assuming
that it had come from a book, I have on different
occasions gone to book stores in hopes of finding
this 'party games book'.
Back in 2005
I did an internet search
and came across the santalady website
which isn't exactly the same thing. Hadn't given it
much thought since then, but last week I was in
Borders and thought I'd give it another shot... No
luck.
But today, I found your
website!
I don't know whose version was
first, but my
copy reminds me a bit of a holiday activity book I
had received back in the 70's.
If I remember correctly, the
book was like a coloring book with activities,
crafts, and trivia, all pertaining to Christmas.
Attached you'll
find my version. Let me know what you think.
Deb
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Rick
Archer's 2010 Note:
As I have pointed out
before, I had nothing to do with the original version of the
Christmas Puzzle. I openly admit I took some unknown person's
work and expanded on it. Please note Deb dated this "Confusing
Christmas Puzzle" around 1996 which is
the same year that I first received my Original Copy.
Deb was nice enough to scan two pages from her book and send me
copies. Here is what she sent me.
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Rick
Archer's 2010 Note Continued
I think it is fairly
obvious that the "Original Puzzle" and the "Confusing
Christmas Puzzle" are near clones of one another. As I
compare the professional artwork in the "Confusing Christmas
Puzzle" to the amateur artwork in the "Original Puzzle",
I see that both puzzles have 24 clues. Apparently both puzzles
refer to the same 24 Christmas Carol titles.
I have created a simple
comparison of the two puzzles for you to look at. As you will
see, some of the clues are direct copies. The
Original is on
the left, the Confusing
is to the right.
DUPLICATED
PICTURES
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Rick
Archer's 2010 Note Continued
So which copied which?
Did you conclude the Original Puzzle borrowed the work of the
Confusing Christmas Puzzle?? If so, join the club.
That is what I did. At first I assumed the Original Puzzle
was a rip-off of the Confusing Christmas Puzzle.
When I saw Deb's
"Confusing Christmas Puzzle" pages, I mistakenly assumed these pages
came from the Holiday Activity book she had seen back in the
Seventies.
I don't know whose version was first,
but my copy reminds me a bit of a holiday activity book I
had received back in the 70's.
If I remember correctly, the book was like
a coloring book with activities, crafts, and trivia, all
pertaining to Christmas.
But when I
re-read Deb's note, I realized I had jumped to conclusions.
I have a different
version of your 'original puzzle'. I got mine back in 1996
- 1997 when a co-worker
brought hers in to work."
Oops! That
changed everything. Since both puzzles could be dated
back to 1996, now I didn't know which puzzle copied which.
After giving it
some thought, I changed my mind and decided the Confusing
Christmas Puzzle is the copycat. I think someone
took the amateur artwork of the Original Puzzle and
improved it for use in a Christmas Activity book to be sold
at bookstores.
You will note
that the artwork in the Confusing Christmas Puzzle is
far superior to the Original Puzzle. I believe
someone decided to make some money off the Original
Christmas Puzzle, but realized the artwork was far too
pathetic to have much chance of enticing people to buy the
book version.
So the artist
simply duplicated the clues he or she liked the most
using much-improved artwork.
In addition, the
artist decided to upgrade some of the clues.
Using some imagination, he or she substituted completely
original artwork of their own to replace the weaker clues
from the Original Puzzle.
For example,
please note the vast improvement in
Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow
and All I Want for Christmas
is My Two Front Teeth as
well as Santa Claus is
Coming to Town.
In my opinion,
the Confusing Christmas Puzzle is basically a
much-improved version of the Original Puzzle. I
like the new artwork a lot, but we still haven't discovered
the true origin of the Christmas Puzzle.
Let me add that
Deb suggested she remembered a Holiday activity book that
dated back to the Seventies. Perhaps some readers will
also recall this same book. Maybe that Holiday
Activity Book is the true origin.
If you are in
position to shed more light on the mystery, email me at
dance@ssqq.com
Thanks! RA 12-2010
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UPGRADES
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January 2011 - Another Copy
Appears
From: Mickey Weitsen
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 7:26 PM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: 2011 - happy new year and puzzle thanx
We played the christmas riddle puzzle with friends and family
after christmas dinner (while all the dinner was settling to
give us room for dessert!!)
What a lot of fun! I am attaching a copy of the "antique" puzzle
page we used --- we all liked their Chestnuts Roasting picture!
What a hoot!!
Thanks for the happy times -
I'll check back next November to take a look at the BIG puzzle..
Good Health-- Mickey
Rick Archer's
Reply:
How interesting, Mickey!
Your puzzle has clues that are
slightly different versions of what I call the “Original
Puzzle”, except the artwork is so close you have to assume that
one of these puzzles copied the other.
Since the artwork in YOUR VERSION is superior, I
assume yours is the “copy”. What I mean is, why would anyone go
to the trouble of making a mediocre copy?
So I assume that someone took a look at the
original version and said, “Gee, I can do better than that.”
And yes, they did!
I agree…. The chestnuts is pretty funny!
Thank you very much for sharing!
Rick Archer's Note:
In the space of one month I
received Deborah's version and now Mickey's version. Since most of
the clues in all three puzzles are so similar, I assume all three
puzzles share a common DNA.
That said, I believe both Deborah's
version and Mickey's version are COPIES of the Original Puzzle.
I base my decision on
the principle that the superior artwork indicates someone tried to
IMPROVE upon the original. Since the original artwork wasn't
all that good, it had to be tempting to try to make the pictures a
little more clear... which is basically the same conclusion I came
to when I first started upgrading the clues in 1999.
RA 01-2011
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