Perplex City: The Masquerade Connection
Season One of Perplex City has reached its conclusion; intrepid puzzler and searcher Andy Darley found the Receda Cube and claimed his $200,000 prize. What made me happy was that in the days between finding the artifact and turning it in for the reward, Andy savored being the only guy in the world who knew where it was -- he kept it to himself for a bit. And despite lousy weather, Andy felt it was only right to take the Cube to the puzzle world's equivalent of Inspiration Point: Ampthill, to the spot where Kit Williams buried the Masquerade jewel. Andy was nice enough to let me repost the photo here but you'll find higher res versions and the whole winner's tale wonderfully told at Andy's website.

This can of course only mean one thing: Season Two of Perplex City is underway. If you're not following this one, PxC is a fascinating mix of stand-alone puzzles printed on gorgeous, oversized, individually numbered cards, and an alterate reality game (ARG) involving a stolen artifact from another world. ARGs are like treasure hunts that hunt back--you might get an email from a character from the game's fictional world (or is it?), or better still, find or see things in everyday life that may in fact be connected to the larger puzzles you're uncovering. It all starts with packs of cards, which you can get online from firebox.com, or check your local game, puzzle, book, or software store. I am once again on the hunt; look for me on the leaderboards--my nickname is, unsurprisingly, Bunnyears.

Meanwhile, Menagerie

--Dan

Like a lot of kids who grew up in the late 70's/early 80's, I was absolutely enthralled with a picture book called Masquerade. The book, written and illustrated by Kit Williams, could be read as a standard child's fable about the moon falling in love with the sun, but it was designed as a real-world treasure hunt: Follow the subtle clues dropped throughout the book, and you'd discover the location of a very real hand-made jewel, valued at the time at $5,000. My father brought the book home one day as a gift and I was hooked. I was sure I would be able to solve the riddle.

I couldn't, and neither could any of my friends--but it was extraordinary fun trying, and it was a great mental workout. To this day, the complexity of the riddle floors me. Kit Williams created another puzzle book, where the challenge was to discover the book's very title, before returning to his chosen career of painting.

There's a great paperback edition of Masquerade that gives the answer, but I was looking for even more detailed information--a complete breakdown of all the puzzles and the paintings' clues. When I went to look for information on the Kit's books online, I couldn't find much, so I made this site. I don't have all the answers--and I'm not going to offer all the answers I have in some cases, so as not to ruin the fun for newbies--but I will share most of what I know, plus I hope to find answers to some of my own questions. Check out the links below to see what's on the site.

	Masquerade, Page By Page
	Untitled (a.k.a. "The Bee Book")
	About Kit Williams & Photo Gallery
	Frequently Asked Questions
	Links & Other Treasure Hunts