Puzzle Crawl

05/22/2025

I (John here) asked the host of the Inebriart podcast -- who had been foolish enough to invite me on as a guest -- to give me two prompts that have nothing to do with one another, and said I would create a puzzle about them. The prompts were "bats" and "Albuquerque."

So, I present to you, THE BATS OF ALBUQUERQUE! If you solve it, leave a comment about something related to the answer but not actually containing the answer, so I know how smart you are!

THE BATS OF ALBUQUERQUE

Take a STAB at these clues, which are all about the BATS of Albuquerque, New Mexico! But there’s one important group of Albuquerque bats that’s missing: solve the puzzle to find a clue to the identity of that group!

1) The Big Brown Bat, unsurprisingly, is very large. Its set of wings snaps up to 14 inches! _ _ _ _ _ (3rd blank of 5 highlighted)

2) The first Hoary Bat ever discovered received the name “Master Pancake!” I wonder if they gave him a gateman to recognize him better? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (6th blank of 7 highlighted)

3) The Canyon Bat is super cute! It’s very small, and has body fur the color of warts, with darker wings, face, and ears. _ _ _ _ _ (4th blank of 5 highlighted)

4) The Lesser Long-Nosed Bats are not to be confused with flying star: although they look similar, bats are not even in the rodent order, but their own order, called Chiroptera! _ _ _ _ (3rd blank of 4 highlighted)

5) If a Townsend’s Big-Eared Bat ever turns into a human right in front of you, immediately stab it through the heart with a wooden stake! It wasn’t a Townsend’s Big-Eared Bat at all, but instead a vampire, and everyone knows all vampires are live! _ _ _ _ (1st blank of 4 highlighted)

6) The Pallid Bat could probably garb, considering it’s the official State Bat of California! But it’s native to New Mexico as well. _ _ _ _ (3rd blank of 4 highlighted)

7) According to the spam I saw, the Silver-Haired Bat has a massive habitat that encompasses almost the entire United States, plus parts of Canada and Mexico! _ _ _ _ (1st blank of 4 highlighted)

ANSWER: 8 letters

05/15/2025

I know it's been awhile since we posted, but when we post, we post big news:
NEW ONLINE PUZZLE EVENT by Crawl co-founder John Bromels runs tomorrow through Memorial Day at hivebookgame.com! 18 custom puzzles celebrating the launch of a new (award-winning!) sci-fi book by (award winning) author DL Orton!
Best part: it's FREE to play, but there are three $500 sweepstakes you can enter with a single ebook purchase... which costs just 99 cents!
Visit https://hivebookgame.com for details! Hope to see you there!

An online puzzle hunt. Sign up now.

12/03/2023

Happy December, Puzzlers!

(tl;dr: want some genuine Puzzle Crawl-style puzzling fun (with prizes)? Visit ickeyminipuzzles.com to find some of John's puzzle handiwork, with $50 prizes!)

No, we haven't posted in a while. Yes, we're very ashamed of ourselves. No, we were not abducted by aliens and forced to write puzzles for sixteen hours a day to satisfy their insatiable alien appetites. Yes, the aliens told us we had to say that.

In truth, we've been super busy with non-Puzzle-Crawl projects. Jeremy, star of the stage that he is, went off and appeared in an Off-Broadway production, while John joined the team writing this year's MIT Mystery Hunt (the oldest and largest puzzling competition in the world)!

John has also been working on an online puzzle hunt to promote a new mystery novel, called the Who Killed Ickey? $50,000 Online Treasure Hunt. And, yes, you read that right: it has $50,000 in prizes for the top 11 teams to solve it! Warm-up puzzles are available now at ickeyminipuzzles.com: every two weeks until the online Hunt (January 27th), you can play a mini puzzle and win $50!

So, head on over to ickeyminipuzzles.com to scratch that puzzle itch, and we'll hopefully have more live, local fun in store for you soon!

May your puzzles always be solvable,
The Puzzle Crawl Conclave

04/05/2023

Hey Everybody!
Mark your puzzle calendars for November 11th.
Not an official Puzzle Crawl event, but one you’re sure to love.
Details coming soon!

12/30/2022

Wordle 559 5/6

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12/30/2022

Congrats to Team Unicorns R H***y, who took the top spot (and the prize basket) in our December 28th Perry Puzzler Crawl! Also congrats to second place team Thestral, third place team Bilge Rats, and MVP (Most Valuable Puzzler) Aisha!

12/28/2022

It’s the day of the Crawl, y’all!

12/26/2022

Today's the last day of Early Bird pricing for Wednesday's Puzzle Crawl! Don't delay: get your tickets today!

12/23/2022

Need to escape the house after all the holiday excitement? Why not escape to four great bars and the world of boy sorcerer Perry Puzzler? Tickets available now! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/december-puzzle-crawl-perry-puzzler-returns-tickets-489912650927

12/16/2022

Tickets for our December 28 Crawl are now on sale!

The Boy Sorcerer is back in an all-new puzzling Potter parody! Visit 4 great bars and solve puzzles with your team to win prizes!

12/16/2022

Tickets for our December 28th Crawl go on sale at noon today! Watch this space for the link!

12/13/2022

Perry Puzzler is back! The Crawl is back! Tickets on sale soon!