Spooky season is upon us again! I love a well themed offering for both the Boxes and the Booze so I’m getting in the scary spirit and breaking out the scary spirits.

There’s always something abuzz at an International Puzzle Party (IPP), which often has to do with, no surprise, an interesting puzzle, perhaps spied passing hands here and there, and utterly unfamiliar.

Who Dares Wins is a British television show named after the SAS (Special Air Squadron) motto. It is also now a collaborative puzzle lock box from a bunch of brilliant Dare Devils....

There is a controversial Indian folk tale from 1899 that has been beloved by generations of children around the world.

I’m celebrating Hobbit Day with the perfect puzzle. Hobbits are well known to prize their pantries, which are full of palatable provisions and delectable vittles. Surely a Hobbit would absolutely love a puzzle box shaped like a petit four cake, as long as he didn’t attempt to eat it for elevenses.

I recently received a mysterious package. The return label identified the sender as “The Source”. I suspect it may have come from the CIA, as the address listed Arlington, Virginia. It was also not addressed to me, but rather one “WSW” ...

September 6 was National Read a Book Day, which is celebrated like a National Holiday at Boxes and Booze headquarters. This is because at B&B we love books as much as we love boxes. And booze.

Kyle Chester and his Grandfather Steven have produced another beautiful puzzle box in their English workshop, but I’ve been hesitating to talk about it. I've been stalling, resistant, unwilling, and ... reluctant.

Dee Dixon's latest foray into the circular format, which began with the Bad Moon rising, and came full circle with the uplifting Uplift, has got some dizzying antics sure to give you Vertigo.

Otters are “semi-aquatic” mammals who live on coastlines, riverbank, lakes and oceans, eating fish and being generally playful and cute. They are also somewhat notorious for the lovely scent they deposit along their territorial habitats.

There’s always cause for celebration when Janichi “Juno” Yananose announces a new puzzle box or sequential discovery design.

In March of 1882, construction began on what would become the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world, the Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família.

Puzzle historians will be well familiar with the works of Angelo John Lewis, an English lawyer and avid magician, who catalogued a compendium of puzzles of the Victorian era.

Franz Rudolph Wurlitzer was a German immigrant to the United States who started a music company in 1853 based out of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The game is afoot again at Cabal Manor, in Victorian era England, where noted naturalist and collector Sir Charles Allen resided, up until quite recently, that is. Mystery and intrigue abound here, along with a colorful cast of characters who are joined, naturally, by the world’s foremost consulting detective.

The traditional dish of fermented soybeans, known as natto, has been a staple of Japanese diet for millennia.

The origins of photography can be traced back to approximately 500 CE when the first descriptions of the “camera obscura” can be found.

Artificial Intelligence is all around us. Like it or not, AI is going to expand rapidly and exponentially based on how quickly technology in general advances in the current era. We might as well embrace it, like many artists are currently doing.

Here’s a toast to nostalgia on this graduation weekend.

Perry McDaniel understands a lot - about the fine art of precision crafting in wood, about what makes for a great puzzle, and most certainly about the subject at hand, a successful marriage.

They say you never forget your first love, and it’s likely true with puzzle boxes too. I’d argue that with a Mowen’s puzzle box, on the other hand, you might try not to forget, but try as you might, you’ll get lost every time – and probably love every moment all over again.

Lex Luther, Dr. Doom, Magneto, Joker – arch enemies are easy to identify in hero centric fiction, and always seem to be the evil characters. I’m particularly fond of Moriarty, if we’re picking favorites.

According to Wikipedia, Onigiri, which is also known as Omusubi, Nigirimeshi, or simply, rice ball, “is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or cylindrical shapes and often wrapped in nori”

There’s something thrilling about receiving mail. Perhaps the excitement of getting a physical letter from someone wears off as we get older, likely tempered by all the bills and junk mail, but even now in my jaded days it’s still nice when that happens. And if getting a special letter is a nice surprise, well I don’t need to tell you what it’s like to receive an eagerly awaited puzzle box.

In 1894, German-American psychologist Hugo Munsterberg described a peculiar observation, that when blocks of light and dark high contrast are staggered in rows, parallel lines drawn between the rows appear to be crooked.

There was a time, once upon a time in the not too distant past, when becoming a metagrobolotegestolomixologist was merely a speculative thought experiment meant as clever wordplay.

In ancient Greek lore, the Titan Cronus was overthrown by his children, the gods Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, who divided the skies, the seas and the underworld amongst themselves.

In 1905, French author Maurice Leblanc introduced the world to a charismatic aristocrat who often operated as a force for good from the opposite side of the law, a “gentleman thief” if you will, named Arsène Lupin.

It’s time to celebrate bravery, creativity and innovation here at Boxes and Booze – because it’s the Year of the Dragon!