The $100,000 Puzzles That Were NEVER SOLVED

[@KarenPuzzles]

Do you think you can solve these ciphers? Make sure to check out the links in the description for all of the info I've gathered!

[@sameerakhan7455]

Heck no! I felt so dumb listening to your summary of the form in the last video 😂😭

[@heminadias5025]

I love your videos but it is a MYSTERY how I found your channel and now I am addicted.

[@anjagoller]

No, but I do know what a typewriter ribbon is.

[@darci4434]

1. I'm waiting for 24,000 what going on 2. Plzzz can you put subtitles for deaf people like me bc I love jigsaw and your videos but I felt unequal to hearing people I'm your real fan

[@Jackisafanofstarwars]

I would say ‘yes definitely’ but that would be such a lie, there is no way I’d be able to solve this even if it was for 100 million 😅

[@Jackisafanofstarwars]

Can we just appreciate how much work and effort that Karen puts into her videos, it’s amazing how much she does for us!

[@KarenPuzzles]

Thank you for watching so that I have a reason to make them!

[@Jackisafanofstarwars]

@@KarenPuzzles your welcome Karen! I love watching your videos 🤗

[@tattooeduglyguy3376]

@@Jackisafanofstarwars I wish i loved anything as much as Karen loves puzzlin'; she's an inspiration.

[@gleeknomatterwhat8958]

Agrees

[@user-id5yg9fc9k]

Karen made me deepen my passion for puzzles

[@geema2281]

*Karen gives us a 50 min video with every detail that exists about every version of these puzzles including contacting the original creator and tracking down his hot bachelor photo in cosmo magazine* Karen: that's all i've got! lol

[@Crescent-Adam]

What a great piece of investigative journalism and historical preservation at the same time. Hats off to you Karen and the effort you've put into these videos. If only someone like Matt Parker or Steve Mould or James Grimes or Tom Scott would watch these videos and solve the unsolved puzzles while giving us a mathematical point of view of the ciphers!

[@alessiam1659]

It's a Mistery how I was able to watch and enjoy this 50 minutes long video about jigsaw puzzles and ciphers.

[@thriftytxmom]

Mystery

[@brendanmooney7607]

A fictionalized version of this story & your quest to uncover all its secrets (even you finding the creator of the puzzles) is basically a John Green novel waiting to happen!

[@KarenPuzzles]

He watches this channel, so maybe he’ll get inspired 😂

[@EzrelZaBu]

We need!!;👏👏👏

[@mikec4390]

Or possibly Dan Brown since ciphers feature prominently in his books.

[@JSanime]

Typewriter ribbon were spools of cloth ribbon soaked in ink. When the keys struck the ribbon the ink transferred to the paper but you could see which letters were pressed. Basically you could use the ribbon to go back and read whatever someone had typed.

[@ThexBlackxKitty]

I see this trick a lot in old movies, but here in the Soviet Union we would roll back the ribbon and reuse it until the typed text was too faded to read. Only I'm not old enough for textile ribbons, ours were plastic film.

[@DKArmstrong]

I find that fascinating x

[@toneec]

Karen always complain how things always makes her feel old. Well, I typed my first book report on one of those typewriters. No one will understand the pain of stuck keys. How's that for old.

[@charisma-hornum-fries]

I had one as a child that my mom had gotten from a workplace. It was nostalgic as can be and fun to practice typing on. And build up finger muscles as it was the opposite of a touch screen. I loved it.

[@nataleeisjustchilling2737]

I didn’t know you could go back and read on the typewriter ribbon so that’s a cool fact but I’m surprised Karen doesn’t know what typewriter ribbon is because I’m only 15 and I know what it is but that’s maybe because my mom told me about it when I was young and she also has one so I know quite a bit about them

[@dfw-k6z]

The second puzzle from Decypher II, puzzle 2-2, is solved using Catch-22. That must have been a clue somewhere. Also, author nr 8 on Group B is Washington Irving. In Catch-22, the main character uses the pseudonyms Washington Irving and Irving Washington. And a whole theme of the book is about reverse logic. So it's only right to have the cypher in reverse.

[@groreistad5234]

The time and energy you have spent doing this research is unbelievable, hats off to you. And even though most of the puzzles still remain a mystery it was extremely interesting to hear what you had dug up. Well done, girl. 🤗

[@a-little-sunshine]

I have no idea if it helps, but there's a story by Isaac Asimov (one of the authors listed as matching for puzzle 3-1 on your Google doc) featuring a robot called Nestor 10, and one of the clues was the number 10.

[@SprongBobbles]

Karen, your videos have continued to bring me joy especially recently with my depression and insomnia. I hope your day today is amazing today!

[@RadioactiveSheep]

It's a mystery to me how your channel hasn't completely blown up yet! Thank you for the amazing content and the hard work you put in to your videos :)

[@MarielaDavina]

The fact that Buffy was mentioned within the first few minutes of the video 👌🏼

[@nc27bunny]

Mystery wow you went above and beyond researching these and giving so much information. I do puzzles with my 6yr old and she love watching “the puzzle girl” as she calls you. She at times fixes chunks of puzzle by herself and I just arrange her chunks to form the needed missing chunks. She is so good at puzzles and we are now on 500 piece puzzles. She is way better at seeing the pieces that makes pieces than me at times, many times to be honest. Thank you for your channel and for inspiring my daughter to doing larger puzzles. This is time with her I cherish.

[@andreaandrea5816]

This is basically a Netflix documentary series. Oh Karen you’re so good at this!

[@yorgunkirmizi]

A 50 minute Karen Puzzles video on a lazy sunday... well my day is made!

[@janetmichel3009]

This was 50 minutes???? It felt like 20!! I didn't even notice!!

[@yorgunkirmizi]

@@janetmichel3009 yeah me too!! It was finished so quickly!

[@41n98]

@@yorgunkirmizi I love your profile picture in combination with your user name :)

[@NancyCavillones]

Okay, since I am apparently OLD, I will tell you that while Saved By the Bell did first air in 1989, it was really a 90s show! There was an earlier version with Miss Bliss but that was still the end of the '80s.

[@ItsMeToryD]

Oh my gosh, we have one of the How to Host a Murder boxes on our bookshelf, my grandmother loved those!

[@TheTravelingMujer]

It’s a mystery that Karen hasn’t been awarded a PhD in puzzle history. Great video!!

[@sunnyscott4876]

That's why my husband calls her Amy Farrah Fowler..And not in a mean way !

[@Charlie-kp1yo]

You must have put hours and hours of work into this, thank you for making such an amazing video to document a fascinating piece of puzzle history 👍

[@badgerrambler]

I would literally watch deep dive tv shows about the history of puzzles with you. This is so engrossing! You’re incredible!

[@lovely.and.lacquered]

The fact that you made a Buffy reference is everything! My favorite show ever!

[@kittallen3504]

My husband and I hosted many "how to host a murder" by him. They were so fun that even the host could participate because even we didn't know the answer until the end. Our guests wanted to come again. My favorite character I played was Ivanda B. Alone. Lol

[@jcortese3300]

I'm just about positive that that Michener novel was the source of the puzzle cipher, just from the title: "The Source." One of the other ones probably pointed to it, like the Swift novel pointed to the comic compilation. It'd be worth it to find all the words in it as you did and note down what chapter they came from and what word they were in that chapter: ex. Chapter 2, the 665th word, that sort of thing. Once you do that, you might be able to work back to a work by one of the authors on the list ... ? I have no idea why I just watched what amounted to a one-person, hour-long documentary on a cipher puzzle from when I was in high school. It's a mystery, I guess. :-)

[@KarenPuzzles]

That’s a solid theory! Be sure to let me know if you dig into it and come up with anything!

[@collettescott1371]

Its very good that he burned the ribbon if he intended on tossing it, because then anyone would have been able to dig through the trash to read the ribbon and essentially find the answers for free. But too bad that he did because now it would have served as puzzle history memorabilia.

[@shellyt556]

Glad you got in contact with Mr.Holland! Pretty cool that he gave you so much information

[@astrotsiga]

I cannot even imagine, how much work you must've put into this video! Thank you for this amazing content, Karen!

[@icturner23]

I have loved both of these videos so much. I love thinking about the fun the solvers must have had, and the fact that the puzzles were a combination of the mathematical and the literary. Warren Harding seems like a really fantastic guy, a true Renaissance man. Thank you Karen for delving into history and bringing this story back to life.

[@sunnysouth3638]

I'm happy to support you, your channel & your videos ~ you are so much fun and such a delight!

[@RachaelLyn]

It's a mystery how much time you spent researching all of this. Loved every minute of the adventure from the first video to the end of this one!

[@dees3179]

I’m going to be surprised if some university does not end up awarding you an honorary degree for this series. The level of detail and research is starting to be insane. Well done and thank you.

[@pvic6959]

OMG almost an hour of Karen!? This is the happiest moment of my week!!

[@BarbiesRevenge579]

this was much fun!!! my first and immediate thought when you mentioned the way the prize works for puzzle 3 was that that was obviously the reason no one bothered to solve it. lack of press clearly didn't help either. thanks so much for these! we love a puzzle mystery.

[@sonjanaugler244]

I can't wait to watch this. I have been so interested in seeing the follow ups to the first video.

[@Julie-ms9ss]

I enjoy all your videos, but this may be the best. You did a great job on all the research.

[@amberleverette2189]

I am absolutely looooving these MYSTERY puzzles! I hope this becomes a longterm series on the channel

[@MarielaDavina]

It’s a mystery to me how Karen makes the time for all of this research, whilst working on multiple videos for this channel. I appreciate it though! Incredibly thorough research.

[@SirChubbyBunny]

Thank you so much for taking scans of these. I was going to ask if you had plans to put them on Archive so they won't become lost at some point. I didn't anticipate for us to get an update on this!

[@analuisa1214]

This is my favorite sunday activity!! Thank you for putting so much effort into making the perfect puzzle videos!! Puzzles are my special interest (I'm autistic) and I really love watching your channel, everything is just perfect!! If I can't puzzle for any reason, I just come here and watch your videos and it helps me regulate myself

[@myleahrydberg8848]

I enjoyed this video so much. Thank you for the time and energy you put into solving each one of these mysteries!

[@TheeGaoSter]

I must say I really enjoyed this cipher series. I learned a lot even though I'm not into puzzles. 🤷🏻‍♀️ you learn something new everyday.

[@CaroleAyache]

Fantastic Karen! I fell down a rabbit hole and found you (replacing missing puzzle piece). So glad to have met you. The depth & breadth with which you cover topics and deliver explanations beyond delightful and perhaps masterful. I''' have to check out your other channels! Bravo!

[@nataliecheriman7796]

I love your channel, you work so hard to make quality content. I have been telling my family all the great tips you have for doing puzzles. We have a kind of swap club and pass on our puzzles when we have finished them. Watched till the end as always MYSTERY XX

[@dougleong2099]

Mystery. I enjoyed your videos and storytelling about the Decipher series of puzzles.

[@amypenn1497]

I watched every minute of this and it was so interesting! I love that you tried to solve the mystery of all the puzzles! This is something I would never be able to solve! Loved loved loved this video!😍

[@cough182]

My two favorite hobbies! Learning history and doing jigsaw puzzles, it's a mystery how you fit them both in one video! Thanks for this one Karen.

[@justicierodelaliga]

INCREDIBLE VIDEO! Loved it as much as the first! Thank you for all the work.

[@bkackman]

Wow, what an amazing episode. You are truly a researcher extraordinaire. So many facts and background on this set of puzzles. Every moment of this video was filled with interesting information. And the narration was brilliant. It's a mystery how you have the time to do all that had to be involved in putting this information together and contacting all the sources that you did. Amazing. Thank you.

[@rebekahlgonzalez9315]

Yay! Love Karen puzzles Sunday!

[@totallynotdeena9377]

Your channel makes me so happy 😁

[@alchemyqueen2764]

Can't wait for someone to solve this mystery!! Great video!! I was so curious about the other puzzles.

[@julypatchouli9719]

I love love love these Mystery videos :) Not only the puzzle itself. But also your intense research is a delight to watch. Love you and your channel! I enjoy every minute of watching!!!

[@EF-fc4du]

Absolutely fantastic job Karen. Just discovered your channel and it's excellent. Mr. Holland sounds like a really cool dude.

[@bennydreamly]

Wow, these decipher videos are amazing! I am still yet to find your video on the eternity puzzle a year later in 2022! These puzzles sure are mysteries, but I think that this has been a really good kind of mini series of videos! Thank you for making all of this amazing content for our consumption.

[@francoruggiero6584]

Once more, I'm amazed at how much work you put on these videos. And the end-result is amazing! Thank you so much!!!

[@fern_ephemera]

I love these investigative videos, they are amazing

[@Uniquelyyours1]

I love a good Mystery. Thank you for all you do to keep us informed and entertained, Karen:)

[@piecefulpuzzle9222]

Hey Karen, love what you do. You are a true inspiration and part of the reason I started my channel. Love the amount of detail background stories you have on these puzzle. Great work!

[@maitreduhuit]

I don't think it's a mystery why people like your videos, theyr are so entertaining. It felt like the hunt in Ready Player One but 35 years earlier.

[@rustytv3023]

This was an informative insight into the history of jigsaw puzzles. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into these. I hope it's paying off!

[@maritdegoede9119]

absolutely fascinating, thank you Karen!!! also i always think you're about my age but then you reference an episode of Buffy and i remember you are actually like nine years older hahah

[@trosa7190]

The work you put on the research is so beautiful, very satisfying to watch

[@nehchalnarula1545]

Really appreciate you for the extensive research you have done... mystery.

[@anishajoshi3635]

Absolutely love this!! These video essay type videos of yours are my fav :)

[@VirginiaGreco_Scrapbooking]

Another very interesting video. A big shout-out to Karen! Love the mystery about these puzzles. Thanks for sharing!

[@twentynineducks]

What a fantastic video! These puzzles remind me of a VHS I had as a kid about finding a golden horse.

[@foreverloved95]

Hi I watch your ever video I love you soo much for solving this high quality and hard puzzles, you just motivate to solve any easy puzzles also you show how to solve a puzzle very easily. Thank you soo much

[@shalinib9670]

Can't wait for my brain to break again 😂.

[@IssieAngela]

Brilliant work! Thanks for researching so much into this fascinating "mystery" puzzle. You deserve all the success in the world!

[@edb5272]

An amazing amount of research clearly went into this video! Thank you for taking the time to create something so interesting, and different from your usual content! It was really a wild ride following this mystery!

[@TarunoNafs]

Thank you so much, Karen and Mr. Holland, for bringing us this great piece of history!! Great work!

[@zorac91]

So fascinating, you are amazing Karen! The unsolved puzzles are a true mystery waiting to be solved

[@xtieburn]

Typewriter ribbon is literally a ribbon soaked in ink. You hit a key, the metal arm the letter is on hammers the paper with the ribbon in between and it leaves the print of the letter behind. The same key press also mechanically turns what the ribbon is wrapped round so it keeps slowly moving as you type so it doesnt run out. It would be quite difficult to see letters typed on the older woven ribbons (They could even be reused.) but on more modern and electric typewriters they had these sort of plastic ribbons with a very even coat of ink. When you hit a letter on them itd so neatly apply the ink to page that youd be able to see the negative of the letter on the ribbon and could literally read off what the typist had punched out. Seems reasonable that youd want to burn that and I wouldnt be surprised if that was a common protocol for anyone wanting to keep things secret. Im not really sure of a much easier way to get rid of the record short of trying to shred a very long plastic ribbon, which sounds like a lot of effort.

[@TomCee53]

Shredding was sometimes done by unspooling the ribbon into a pile and stuffing it into a 9x12 envelope, which will feed successfully through a commercial shredder. I worked much of my life as a government contractor on classified projects.

[@adam-l74]

Amazing video and research, if I ever go missing I want Karen Puzzles to be the one looking for me!

[@madaian369]

You put so much effort into this mystery cipher stuff, I'm impressed! Your content is delightful, and it made me get over the "I don't know if I have the space for puzzles" phase - now I'm happily puzzling away on a new 2000 piece puzzle 😊

[@ThisIsMeMorgan]

I’m thinking it’s time to rewatch Buffy! You mention it and it makes me want to do another rewatch 😂

[@KarenPuzzles]

I just finished Season 5, so it was on my mind 😂

[@jodiw5458]

Its a mystery ;) on how Karen is able to stay focused and work so hard on these videos. Great work and I appreciate the work you put into your channel!

[@apoptoses_9123]

Thank you so much for this video! Your contribution to puzzle's history is incredible! Loving to know more about all of this. It really gets me frustrated that people didn't solved this incredible mystery. But oh, well...

[@solevazquezmaria]

It's no mystery that you are a success! This was very interesting and it made me nostalgic for the 80s

[@sameerakhan7455]

Oh, this puzzle! I've heard a lot about it! Btw, just wanted to say, I'm about to have my birthday in 2 months and I want to have puzzles thanks to u!

[@JudithARobinson]

Wow! I can't believe how much time and effort you put into the research for this video!! Fascinating stuff! Like I commented when you did the first one, I don't think these puzzles made it to the UK. I was 18 when the second one was released and I'm sure either myself or my mum would have heard about it. It's ironic that nowadays it would be so much easier to publicise something like this, and keep the hype going, but it actually wouldn't work because everything would get shared online. I really hope though, that amongst your viewers, there is someone who can throw some light on the remaining mystery around these puzzles.

[@Lyntintin1]

I graduated in the 80s so it always cracks me up when you reference that time period. The typewriter ribbon has already been answered, but its true, you cld see what was typed previously. Also I remember that Cosmo mag!!!! It's a mystery how you were able to dig that up. Thank you for such an informative video. That's a LOT of research!

[@LionHeart17Q]

So excited! Got my “puzzling” t-shirt last week and and a cool Ravensburger Puzzle from my youngest son for Mother’s Day! He didn’t even realize how awesome they are! 😂

[@Rachel13dw]

This is so interesting - The amount of work that went into this video is amazing! I can't wait for the next ones!

[@popadenisa7188]

I really enjoy watching your videos 🥰

[@mothersuperior6751]

Some videos need more than one like button. This is one of them. Great work Sherlock.

[@srshama]

Wow what a MYSTERY! Great video, Karen. Always fun and entertaining to watch ❤️

[@moonpalace.mp3]

Oooh I've been waiting for this!! Never been this early to a video before either :)

[@KarenPuzzles]

You're first!

[@sameerakhan7455]

Same. Btw, I see a fellow orbit😏

[@boonbb69]

All I can say and feel at the end of watching this video is Mystery and WOW!!! I am impressed and amazed by the detailed research and time spent putting this wonderful, informative and quality video. Bravo 👏🏻 and thank you 🙏🏻

[@Jackisafanofstarwars]

Yesss, I loved the first so this will be so great! I love how you make your videos enjoyable and entertaining while also teaching us and informing us Karen, I’ve learnt so much from you!! Thank you 😊

[@amwehr86]

West Allis, WI is less than 20 minutes from me! Didn't find any info online. Just watched this video, so didn't find anything yet on her.

[@lea2926]

These Decipher Videos are so awesome 🤩 they are so informative

[@annabethwilliams8866]

Loved this! You have done a great job researching this mystery!!

[@julieandrews730]

Such fun following your research! I laughed out loud when you didn't know what a typewriter ribbon is (was?). Made me remember typing class in the 60s.

[@47streetcop96]

I subscribed after the Matt Parker video cameo, I stayed for the lovingly crafted excellent videos!

[@OlympeFlora]

Thank you very much from Paris, France ! Congrats for all your work ! Huge work ! - Mystery

[@ArthurRaynaud]

I love love love that kind of content! Thank you so much !!! ❤️

[@barghast]

Amazing, thank you for all the time and energy you put into making these videos 😊 Also amazing that despite modern technology, some of the answers are still a mystery

[@SymbolicallyShallow]

I played the Star Wars and Star Trek card games, so it's very cool getting to see about the history of Decipher. Awesome video! :D

[@SymbolicallyShallow]

Oh, and I hope we do resolve this mystery someday! ;)

[@Mintpuppy17]

I am assuming the 2-3 puzzle article is from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Unfortunately I don't have a Milwaukee County library card to access it, but I am led to believe there is a digital archive (and I found the dates in the microfilm catalog)!

[@KarenPuzzles]

I hope someone from that area sees this and can dig into it!