Hello! I’m so proud of what I’ve done and I had to share it with someone before I break and tell my husband what I have prepared for his birthday.

Disclaimer: I’ve never been on any scavenger hunts, so if this isn’t that great, or if I didn’t follow a certain rule preparing for this, sorry in advance. Also, I left some details out for safety reasons.

So here’s how it’ll go:

1. My husband will wake up after I’m gone for work, and I’ll leave him a birthday card on his phone, and I’ll mention that he has to look in his side of the closet for a piece of paper. (Picture #2)
2. The next clue will be in above our dogs crate, along with 3 puzzle pieces. The QR code is of a song (Play with fire) which should lead him to the only lighter we have and keep next to candles. (Picture #3)
3. 1 puzzle piece + next clue by the lighter. This clue refers to the show One Piece.
4. Salt and peppers = season
5. chill = Netflix
6. So he should look up one piece on Netflix to find out how many seasons of it they have. (Picture #4)
7. When he finds out he should be filling the blank in the page with the number.
8. And then scan the QR code on the other page, it’ll take him to another song on YouTube, I added a timestamp of when they say a specific word, which is the name of a local cafe that we had, but now it’s permanently closed and there’s a pharmacy in the same space. Inside this pharmacy there are parcel lockers, I left two more puzzle pieces there, and added the code he needs to type to get the locker to open.
9. I wrote something along the lines of “When things are gone, the only medicine is the boxes inside”
10. He gets the 2 puzzle pieces from the locker + new card. This card guides him to drive straight to a close supermarket. And there are more clues to get numbers to fill the blanks with (Isles where things are located) I wrote bubbly *fairy* tales. < not the greatest idea lol.
11. In the same care, it says to scan a code after getting the numbers, which is the location and time for our dinner reservation.
12. When we get to the restaurant, I’ll give the waiter more puzzle pieces, and a card to give to him there. (Picture #5) I already planned to get a specific order from the main dishes, and the order of that dish will be the number, I checked their menu online, so if it’s not the same anymore I guess I’ll be stuck ordering a different thing lol.
13. He’ll write the number, and then scan the QR code that has the time and location for our movie.
14. At the movies, I’ll try to slip in a card when he’s not looking. (Picture #6) the colors represent the coat of our aussie dog, and he has her picture hung on his rearview mirror. I have a tiny sticker on the picture of a drawn glove and a box. Which will lead him to the last clue, few more puzzle pieces and the last letters.
15. The combination of all numbers and letters is my car’s plate number. So he should be looking in my car when we’re home, which has the last 2 puzzle pieces (the arrow will be one of them)
16. The arrow refers to behind the lazy boy couch, which is where I’ll be hiding his presents!

I’m so excited!!!! How did I do?

We decided to do a little scavenger hunt around the house and outside the adults can play. Basically they pick a riddle out of the witch’s cauldron and it has a riddle on it. Then, they have to find their “potion,” to be cured of their curse which is a shot/cocktail drink in a bottle they can take. Example, deck of cards- I have 13 hearts but I pump no blood.

Just having a hard time thinking of things….and I don’t want to plug into AI.

I’m planning a hunt that involves doing crossword puzzles to find clues. Does anyone happen to know if the subscription to the NYT puzzles gives access to all previous puzzles or does it only go back to 2025?