Re a particular sudoku, one is a letter, one is a number. That was supposed to be obvious, and not part of the puzzle (at least not that one (and therein lies the failing, which means I should not even be posting)). No matter, it won't help much, but I was really proud of that sudoku, cuz, well, I think it is really cool. Try writing a sudoku like that which pretty much everyone will punt on and plug into an online solver.

Re plant life. Find a way to group them logically. Not sure if that will help either, but grouping things logically generally helps in all domains in life.

Re doors. Don't be a vegan. Eat your meat. This thing is so more intricate and so more complex than you can imagine, but at every turn there are simple things, for those with eyes to see.

Re farewell. I wish you all the best. Content on mapsurfer.com goes away in 9/18. puzzlemaze.org will continue to be developed. but for ATH, not LB. I hope you understand.

Its been a great run, and I'm happy that the hobby I co-founded in this country has brought alot of happiness to many people. Hopefully it will bring much much more for many many years, and I'm certain it will.

Good luck to you all!

A particular sudoku is now conquered. What turned out to be the answer was not considered to be within the range of potential answer formats previously, but some contextual reasoning is now proving otherwise. No online solver was used in my initial solving of this puzzle, and I appreciate your masterful construction - quite reminiscent of the beautifully constructed grids of Thomas Snyder.

Re doors, I'm gonna stay vegan :) but shall consider your words carefully. µ likes layers.

When you say mapsurfer.com content goes away 9/18, do you mean that you'll be pulling physical components of that content, or just pulling the online elements? Anything we can do, financially or otherwise, to sway your decision?

Quite literally growing up with your puzzles, I can't overstate the positive influence you've had on this hobby and on me personally. From many sleepless nights contemplating the limitless possible solutions to your clues and puzzles over the past decade, writing my college essay on how the process of solving and ultimately finding Riddle Rock was the quintessential "aha moment" experience, to in recent years collaborating more directly with you on various letterboxing/puzzle projects, your creations have led to many hundreds of hours of happiness just for me, and I'm sure even more for others who've been at this longer than I. Thank you for everything, and I look forward to working on your future armchair treasure hunts!

~µ[sic]

Don't go. You will be missed. But I do understand.

What Mu said and more.

You will always be a friend, no matter the decision.

PP & MC

Sir B,

While we respect your perspective and decision, we shall miss any future creativity you probably would have thrown our way. Your co-founding of the hobby (in NA) is something that we all appreciate.

I am proud to call you friend.

LB

Someone once told me that a letterbox inherently will disappear into its environs and fade from the world...alas, the spirit of the clue lives on.

Namaste

For inspiration I listened to Lemon Twin, which I think was meant to be ambient music for babies. Very Vangelis-like, but didn't help.