It's listed on the lbna home page as new in the "What's New" section, but other things that make me question the legitimacy are that it's listed as being 25 years old but never found, and it's listed as being in Brooklyn NY but in Albany county. Oh, and when you click the link for the clue, you end up on a game page.

I don’t think it is a box, but a game you play. Not sure why someone would list it as a box. It has a link to the game in the clue. Not sure why it is listed as new if it was originally listed in 2000.
BB

Wouldn't wishing him a terrible day make him happy? So wish him a happy day, and that will make him even more vile and mean?

Yay!

I think &J is tired of me talking politics, and will welcome me musing about what the mystery postal could be….

this is obviously not a letterbox! some dead give aways. one is the plant date. if you go to the plant # before that it is 77457 which was planted on june 21, 2025. now true the person could have planted it 25 years ago but highly doubtful with the numbers being the way they are. two would be especially since there is no clue. yes, there are some innovative mystery clues out there but at least you know they are a letterboxing clue. there is nothing there to indicate that. seems to me it is someone wanting to get clicks on their game. i think only ryan would be able to figure this one out.
smile

Yeah I just saw two (77451 and 77443), they have no owner (don't even know how that's possible) and are just trying to farm clicks or get you to open sketchy links. What a weird way to scam people... it's not even like there are a ton of us to scam. Although we are more likely to follow a link on a letterboxing site. 😒

Spammers are a big problem on LbNA, and I'm constantly deleting spammer accounts. It's even gotten so bad, I've set up LbNA to not even allow people to create accounts from most countries. It is called Letterboxing North America, after all. And there are a few English-speaking countries that I've made exceptions for. But if someone from Germany (for instance) tries to create an account, I have the site automatically ban their IP address since 99 times out of a 100, it's a spammer.

And they spam by posting "fake boxes"--which aren't really boxes at all, but it's the only way they can publicly push links to their website. It's the "message boards" of LbNA as far as they're concerned.

I don't manually check every clue that's listed, though, so if you see someone who posted this sort of junk, let me know and I'll delete it. (And I've now deleted all three of the boxes listed in this thread.)

These are not "clever" clues or anything. It's just spam. Pure and simple. Report it and don't click on the links.

-- Ryan

To liken me to Count Olaf is as appalling and misguided as mistaking a moldy sardine for a priceless sapphire. Admittedly, my efforts to secure a peaceful, prosperous existence for those beleaguered orphans have crumbled like a soggy cake left out in the rain. I have given everything—my comforts, my reputation, even my collection of antique thimbles—not for glory, but in a futile attempt to protect them from a world so relentlessly grim that it eats hope for breakfast and uses kindness as a napkin.

If you are looking for a cheerful tale involving balloons, cake, and the warm embrace of a loved one singing your name in harmonious chorus, you would do better to find a different anniversary altogether. Mine arrived this year as it always does—uninvited, inconvenient, and entirely indifferent to whether I had stocked up on existential dread.

The only present I received was the lingering awareness that I am another year closer to a mysterious fate, wrapped not in ribbons but in worry.

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

I’ve got my thinking cap 🧢 on, let’s go!

This is not a bug it is an enhancement. Could you add a show password option? When I sign in and get an error, I do not know if I typed the wrong password or if I made a typo in the correct password. Being able to see what I typed in would be a big help for me.

Thank you!

I’m ready!

Mystery Postal #2501 Clue 1:

May the fourth be with you!

Each person can make one guess by 9:00 am 7.01.2025, eastern based on this clue. AQ Mail guesses to IrishRef.

As Yoda would say Do or do not, there is no try.

LbNA #77441 is also one of these types of fake listings.

The first of the new run of the boneyard boxer patches have been released into the wild at the June 28th in History.

Here are pictures of the actual patch which came out better than I could have imagined.

https://www.atlasquest.com/gallery/view-photo.php?photoId=170112
https://www.atlasquest.com/gallery/view-photo.php?photoId=170113

Its gotten A LOT more expensive to get a patch manufactured than the last time I did this... Patches are $5.00 each. You can send me cash or a check with a SASE OR Venmo. Write me here on AQ to order.

I'll Also be at the following events in 2025: The Groovy Gather, Susquehanna Sojourn XVII and Soup's On 2025!

Thanks! Jenn

I normally delete these spam boxes to help GT out, but I'm on vacation and didn't see them. Sorry.

With all due respect you know what you did to those children. And your mysterious fate might not be so mysterious after all.

Thank you all for your input and replies. I did get a message that the DragonFly Cafe on Mt. Hood has closed. I'm so sad because that was one of the first stamps I craved on the road of our big trip. Oh well. It happens. And it explains why no one will ever find it. :(

Deleted!

I’ve been toying with the idea of designing an informative 8-page zine that could be given out to newbie letterboxers (not that I’m not still very green myself haha) or given to various organizations I’d like to contact along with requests to hide letterboxes with them.

If you’re unfamiliar with what a mini zine is, it’s essentially a document you print on a single sheet of paper and then fold into a little booklet. Since these have such limited space to work with, I’ve been trying to really nail down the absolute essentials of the hobby to include for someone without any prior knowledge or experience.

At a bare minimum, an explanation of what someone can find, what they’ll need to bring, and where to find clues will be included. But this still leaves me with some extra space for more information. This site and its users are a treasure trove of knowledge, and so I felt it was only natural I ask the experts for their opinions!

Happy belated AQ-CAKE day!

Yes, only on your cake day. Only you see the cake, however, on the "this day in history" widget, scrolling to the bottom, you can see those who are celebrating their AQ-anniversay and the number of years.

condo

i would like to make a suggestion on fostered boxes. i understand the principle behind not being allowed to edit the listing. am agreeing with not editing a listing, to me it has historical value. what i would find beneficial is if the person fostering could record a checkup. as a fostering party i do not want to just mark it as a find. i already found it years and years ago, now i am just checking on it.
smile

Sojourner made up this brochure (pdf file) prolly close to 20 years ago. Lots of great info in it for you to draw from and an updated format like your mini zine is a great idea!
http://www.letterboxing.org/GettingStarted/Letterboxing101.pdf

Yes. Lemony Snicket has 21 years - we were the top 2 on the list. Today I found my 1000th traditional box. :)

In the database, a check-up IS a find. There is literally no difference. AQ just displays the word "checkup" if you are listed as a planter (and it won't be counted towards one's F-count) and displays the word "find" if you are not listed as a planter (and it will be counted toward your F-count).

AQ is smart enough to recognize duplicate finds on the same box and will only count them once, so multiple finds on the same box won't break your F-count.

So just mark it as a find. AQ literally makes ZERO distinction between finds and "checkups" internally. From an AQ perspective, it's like complaining that a "6 eggs" is entirely different than a "half-dozen eggs." They are, quite literally, exactly the same.

-- Ryan

Just a thought, but perhaps AQ could also be configured to display "checkup" if you are listed as the foster person. A recent "checkup" can encourage more new finds, even more so than a recent find. It demonstrates that someone not only found the box, but is actively maintaining it.

I still have mine and keep it close by.

That sounds wonderful! I love zines!

Right? It’s my go to when sharing printed material and I literally printed hundreds of these when working for our county parks and recreation that we would hand out in the nature centers where I had boxes planted. A handy dandy tool that I felt like had more success in sharing the info rather than just directing folks to a website. It’s still a lot of info and some of it could be condensed or removed for the sake of a smaller and more current way of sharing L’box info like a mini zine.

well said. this is what i was trying to convey.

smile

Had a strange situation today. Found a letterbox at a hotel near DIA. It was logged in early June by a known boxer, but then two people (kids) signed in and stamped in — Haley and Annabelle. Have not seen their names in any other local boxes we’ve found. The strange part was their actual stamp had been added to the box/pouch and obviously they did not know how to put the box back together (bags, etc.) after they opened it. Anyone in the area know a family with two girls with those names? We took the stamp out of the pouch (store bought, bright pink baby Minnie Mouse head) and have it. If we don’t find them, we’ll turn it into a HH or a cootie. Thank you!