And the winner of your favorite Nancy Drew game is...

Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake with six votes! The Secret of Shadow Ranch came in second with five votes, Treasure in the Royal Tower and Legend of the Crystal Skull tied with two votes each, and The White Wolf of Icicle Creek came in last with one vote.

Thank you all so much for your input on this six part poll series! I really appreciate your faithfulness and for taking the time each week to vote. I hope you have a great week! :D

The last week of the poll series!

Last week, the voting was down and I'm not sure if it's because school is starting and everyone is busy or if these four games are just not everyone's favorites.

The winner with six votes was Legend of the Crystal Skull. The Haunting of Castle Malloy came in second with four votes and The Phantom of Venice weighed in with three votes. Ransom of the Seven Ships did not receive any votes.

Legend of the Crystal Skull has been added to the list of winners for the final vote this week. The games that are competing against each other as your favorite Nancy Drew game of all are: Treasure in the Royal Tower, Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake, The Secret of Shadow Ranch, The White Wolf of Icicle Creek, and Legend of the Crystal Skull.

Let the voting begin and may the best game win! To vote, please scroll down to the bottom of the page. Thanks so much for letting your voice be heard! :D

The last four games in the poll!

Thanks for your votes everyone! It was pretty close between two of the games, but The White Wolf of Icicle Creek edged out Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon to be put into the finals for next week.

Here's how the voting ended: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek had 10 votes, Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon received 7 votes, Danger By Design got 1 vote, and there were no votes for The Creature of Kapu Cave.

This week we are down to our final four games in the series. The winner of this week will go up against all of the previous week's winners next week for the final vote to become your favorite Nancy Drew game!

To vote, please scroll down to the bottom of the page. As always, thanks so much for taking the time to cast your vote! :D

Answers to the Sudoku puzzle

Great job Jewel! You got all of the answers correct! This was a really hard puzzle and you did great!

For anyone who still wants to solve it, here are the answers for when you are ready:
[258 637419
941 528 637
763 914 528

386 159 274
524 873 196
197 246 385

815 492 763
672 385 941
439 761 852]Thanks for taking the time to work the puzzle! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Another Nancy Drew Sudoku!

To solve the Sudoku, fill in the missing numbers 1-9. Each number will appear only once in each row horizontally, in each column vertically, and in each of the 9 sections. Usually there is only one correct way to solve the puzzle, so if you're off by one number, it may not work. Clues from Nancy Drew games are given to get you going!

Clues (the first number is the row and the second number is the column--use the numbers like you would coordinates):
1-3 the game number for the mystery set at an amusement park
5-4 the number of letters in the name of where the creature in #15 lived
6-4 the game number that is set in New York City
8-7 the number of letters in the name of the manor in game #11
9-1 the number of words in the title of game #9

When you think you have the solution to the puzzle, feel free to post your answer under Comments. I'll post the answers on Saturday. Have fun and have a great week!!

We're halfway there!

Wow, what a close week this was! By only one vote, The Secret of Shadow Ranch edged out Curse of Blackmoor Manor as the favorite! It will be added to Treasure in the Royal Tower and Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake for the final voting in a few weeks. Here's how the voting for last week ended:

The Secret of Shadow Ranch got eight votes, Cure of Blackmoor Manor received seven, four persons voted for Secret of the Old Clock, and Danger on Deception Island ended with one vote.

We are already halfway through the series! Even if you haven't been voting, please feel free to jump and in vote anytime you'd like. Your voice is important!!

Moving onto the next four games in the series, which of the following is your favorite? Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon, Danger By Design, The Creature of Kapu Cave, or The White Wolf of Icicle Creek.

To vote, please scroll down to the bottom of the page. Thanks so much everyone! :D

Answers to the puzzle!

Great job Elenor, Reilly, Debbie, and Jewel!! You all had wonderful answers and discovered some I hadn't even thought about! Here are the answers I came up with when I created the puzzle: [Arlen (Rick Arlen-STFD), Lane (Christi Lane-TRT), Ostrum (Lisa Ostrum-TRT), Trout (Sherman Trout-FIN), Malone (Mickey Malone-DOG), Trent (Joy Trent-CAR), Corey (Ingrid Corey-CAR), Scotto (Holt Scotto-DDI), Britten (Tex Britten-SHA), Bosinny (Ethel Bosinny-CUR), Talbot (Lou Talbot-ICE), and Bolet (Henry Bolet-CRY)] Thanks so much for all of the hard work you put into the puzzle!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll be back on Monday with a Nancy Drew Sudoku! :D

A Nancy Drew name challenge!

Taking only the letters from the following game title and using each letter only once, see if you can find 12 Nancy Drew characters last names. Then give the character's complete name and which game they are from:

Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon

example: Trout (Sherman Trout from FIN)
Note: I've highlighted the letters in the game title for more clarification.

When you think you have the answers, feel free to post under Comments. I'll post the answers on Friday! Good luck and have fun! :D

Part 3 of the poll series!

I'm so sorry I wasn't able to post a weekly puzzle last week! This flu bug hit me harder than any other bug I've ever dealt with and has been very hard to get over. Although I'm better, I'm still not running at full speed yet. However, I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to post a puzzle tomorrow!

In the meantime, I have the results of last week's poll. Last week was the second part in our "What is your favorite Nancy Drew game" series. The winner was Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake with nine votes! In second place was Secret of the Scarlet Hand with five votes, third place was The Final Scene with three votes, and sadly The Haunted Carousel didn't receive any votes.

This week, we move onto the next four games in the series--Danger on Deception Island, The Secret of Shadow Ranch, Curse of Blackmoor Manor, and Secret of the Old Clock. This week should be quite interesting, because I know that all four of these games are favorites of many persons!

This week I've added something new. If you look in the lower right section of my blog, you'll see the poll results for the previous weeks. I'll continue to update this along the way, so you'll know which games will be in the final vote.

To vote, please scroll down to the bottom of the page. Thanks so much for the support and happy voting! :D

The poll continues...

Last week I started a six part poll to find out which is your favorite Nancy Drew game. Of the four games I listed, Treasure in the Royal Tower was the winner with nine votes, with Message in a Haunted Mansion receiving six votes and coming in second. Secrets Can Kill and Stay Tuned For Danger didn't receive any votes. This means that Treasure in the Royal Tower is our first entry for the final list of contenders which will be posted on the sixth week.

This week we move on to the next four games in the series--The Final Scene, Secret of the Scarlet Hand, Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake, and The Haunted Carousel. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to cast your vote in the poll! Thanks for voting! :D

Answers to the spot the difference puzzle!

Nice job Debbie, Jewel, Elenor, and Grace!! You all did fantastic! I'm so glad you all enjoyed it. You are all so sweet to take the time to work these puzzles! ♥

Here are the answers to the puzzle: [BIM's trunk is now inside, hula girl has replaced other figurine, sign on wall has been altered, light switch is missing, door handle is missing, poster has been added to closet door, BIM's picture/poster has been added to side of filing cabinet, calendar picture has been changed, pot for plant has been changed, Wiki Tiki icon is different on screen of game, top window is missing, picture has been added to the wall (to the right of Wiki Tiki). ] There was also an extra difference that I did not catch until I read some of your answers! This was because when I took the second screen shot, the scene changed on it's own without me realizing it. You all are very sharp! That difference is:[the screen on the computer]

Thanks again for playing and I'll put on my thinking cap for a new puzzle for next week! Have a great weekend! :D

A Nancy Drew spot the difference puzzle!

Can you spot 12 differences in these pictures of Big Island Mike's Immersion Excursion from The Creature of Kapu Cave?

Feel free to submit your answers under "Comments" if you find them. I'll post the answers, along with your comments on Saturday. Have fun!! ♥

A new six-part poll begins!

Thank you all so much for voting in last week's poll! The question was: If you could play as any character in a ND game, who would you choose?

Eight of you voted for Ned, six for Togo, and Carson and Hannah received one vote each. It would sure be wonderful if Her Interactive could let us play as Ned or Togo someday!!

Today, I'm beginning a poll series for which of the Nancy Drew games is our most favorite of all! Each week, we'll vote for our top choice out of four games. Once we've gone through the entire series of twenty games, I'll post the top five choices (the winner from each week) for a final vote. Please stick with this if at all possible so we can see what our favorite game really is!

To vote, please scroll down to the bottom of the page. Thanks so much for your support! :D

Answers to the challenge!

Wow great job everyone--Grace, Mili, Jewel, Elenor, Debbie, and Reilly!!! Thanks so much for working so hard on the challenge and taking the time to post!

Here is one possible solution:[Haunting, Ghost, Tower, Ransom, Mansion, Nancy Drew, Wolf, Final, Legend, Danger, Ranch, Haunted, Dogs, Secrets, Skull, Last, Train]

However, as you can see from your great answers, there was more than one way to solve this one!

Next week, I hope to have another Nancy Drew Spot the Difference puzzle ready! Have a great weekend! :D

A Nancy Drew game title challenge!

Put the following 17 scrambled words from Nancy Drew game titles in the right sequence to where the last letter of one word is the first letter of the next word until all words are used.

(Example: Nancy--yes--secret--the next word would begin with t)

Wolf
Ranch
Legend
Nancy Drew
Ransom
Haunting
Last
Danger
Mansion
Dogs
Tower
Haunted
Skull
Final
Train

Ghost
Secrets

When you think you have the answers, feel free to post under Comments. I'll post the answers on Friday! Good luck and have fun! :D

What will you do FIRST after you play RAN?

The results are in and very interesting! Thanks so much for your votes!!

Apparently no one was tired enough from all that sleuthing to need a nap right away! Seven said they would turn around and play it again, five said they were headed to Hints & Tips to help other members, three said they would write an Alternate Ending, two are going to write a review, and one person is going to start counting down to ND 21.

This week's poll is about what you would like to see in an upcoming ND game! If you could play as any character listed, who would you choose?

To vote, scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the poll! Thank you so much for taking the time to vote and have fun!! :D

Answers to the puzzle!

Great job Mili, Aki-ki, meatloafbandit, Jewel, Debbie!!! The answer to the puzzle is: [pliers] and the games that you can find them are: [STFD, CAR, and SHA--I'm not sure about LCC, as I've only played that once, so it's very possible that you can find them there too!]

I'll be working on another puzzle to post on Monday! Have a great weekend!! :D

Find the hidden object!

Find an object hidden below. Can you think of two different Nancy Drew games where you actually see this object?

abcdelfghijrklmnopqrstpsuvwxyezabcdi

When you know the answer, feel free to post under Comments. I'll post the answers on Friday! Good luck and have fun! :D

Which Nancy Drew activity do you enjoy most?

Thanks so much for voting in last week's poll about which Nancy Drew activity you enjoy most! Seven of you voted that reading the books were your favorite activity, twelve said that playing the games were their favorite, and no one voted that watching the movies/TV shows are their favorite activity.

With preorders shipping for RAN this week and the game being available in stores next week, I thought this week's poll should be devoted to RAN. So...this week's question is: What is the FIRST thing you'll do after you play RAN?

To vote in the poll, scroll down to the bottom of the page. :D

Answers to the A-Z challenge!

Awesome job Jewel, Alex, and Abby!!! You all did wonderfully with this puzzle. There were some very tricky letters you had to work with, too! Here are the names I came up with:[Abby (MHM), Bob (SHA), Camille (TRN), Donal (HAU), Ethel (CUR), Frank (CRE), Gilbert (CRY), Hulk (SCK), Ingrid (CAR), Jacques (TRT), Katie (DDI), Lamont (CRY), Margherita (VEN), Nicholas (FIN), Ollie (ICE), Prudence (DAN), Quigley (CRE), Rick (STFD), Samantha (VEN), Taylor (6), Uri (CLK), Vivian (DOG), William (Pappas--STFD), Xander (DOG), Yanni (ICE), Zu (DAN)]Thank you all so much for playing! I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe 4th of July tomorrow!!

A Nancy Drew A-Z character challenge!

See if you can complete the following, using only the first name of a Nancy Drew character from any of the games. Super Challenge: Try to include a character from each of the 19 games!

Ace the horse (SHA)--only as an example
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

When you complete this, feel free to post your answers under Comments. I'll post your answers on Friday! Good luck and have fun! :D

What is Carson Drew's middle name?

This question sure had a wide range of responses! Here's how the voting turned out:

Randolph--4
Matthias--0
Edmund--1
Phinnaeus--0
Campbell--5
Lawrence--5
Bradford--3
Vaughn--1

It looks like you were all too smart to fall for Matthias and Phinnaeus! (Although I did some research and found these were common names used before the turn of the last century when Carson would have been named!)

Congratulations to those of you who said Campbell! This bit of information can be found in book #56 The Thirteenth Pearl and surprisingly, it's the only mention of his middle name in any of the Nancy Drew books.

Now for this week's poll...I thought it would be fun to ask what your favorite Nancy Drew activity really is: Reading the books, playing the games, or watching the movies/TV shows. To vote in the poll, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Thanks so much for taking the time to vote!! :D

Spot the Difference puzzle answers!

Patches, Debbie, Melissa, and Jewel you all did great!! Thank you all so much for posting and for all the time I know you spent working on this puzzle!

The 12 differences are: [Water is missing from fountain, squirt nozzle on hose is missing, tree tile has been added, bridge tile is missing, green leaf on floor is missing, pink flower is missing, another pink flower has been added, palm branch has been added, planter base has changed from round and silver to square and brown, leaf on man-eating plant is missing, window bar is missing, hanging light has been added.]

The bonus difference is:[The wire is missing and the wood panel has changed color to the left of the fountain.]

I have another spot the difference puzzle idea in mind for July! :D

A Nancy Drew spot the difference puzzle!

Can you spot 12 differences in these pictures of the conservatory at Blackmoor Manor? Bonus: There is one more difference that is pretty tricky to spot! Can you find it, too?

Feel free to submit your answers under "Comments" if you find them. I'll wait to post them until Friday, along with the answers. Have fun!! :D

Where do YOU think ND21 will take place?

The results are in and it was really close! Here's how the voting ended for where you think the next Her Interactive game (ND21) will take place:

In River Heights--2
In the United States--6
Outside the United States--7
On board a cruise ship--5

It will be really interesting to find out where the setting for the next game will take place! I'm really looking forward to watching the trailer at the end of Ransom of the Seven Ships to find out!

Now for this week's poll! Since it's Father's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to honor Nancy's father with a trivia question: What is Carson Drew's middle name?

To vote, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Even if you don't know the answer, go ahead and give it a try! You might surprise yourself! Thanks again for your great support and for taking the time to vote!! :D

Crossword puzzle answers!

Thanks everyone! I'm so glad you enjoyed the puzzle! Alex, Grace, Jewel, and scoutout14, you did an excellent job solving this!! You really know your Nancy Drew games trivia!! Here are the answers:

Across: [tape, reading, Frank and Joe Hardy, eleven, Monty, snowshoes, donut, Tubby, Mayan, quarter, Bob, purple rose]

Down: [hangman, I see you, Blackmoor Manor, five, Helena Berg, worms, crab]

I want to ask those of you who have been working the puzzles a few questions, which will help me design puzzles in the future.

1) Of the following Nancy Drew puzzles that I've posted in my blog, which types you would like to see me do again? Choose as many as you want:

Sudoku
Secret Message Puzzle
Scavenger Hunt
Spot the Difference Puzzle
Story Puzzle (How It Could Have Happened)
Crossword Puzzle

2) Do you enjoy puzzles based on the books, the games, or a mix of both?

Thanks for your input! I really appreciate it. I also have some ideas for new puzzles if I can figure out how to make it so you can easily post your answers (if that makes sense!). :D

A Nancy Drew crossword puzzle!

The following questions all come from the Her Interactive Nancy Drew computer games. Hint: There is one question for each of the 19 games in the Adventure series.

When you think you know the answers, feel free to post under "Comments." I'll wait to post them until Friday when I post the answers. Good luck and I hope you have fun!! :D

ACROSS
3 What does Harlan have all cued up?
4 What is Kyler Mallory doing when you aren't talking to her?
6 Who does Nancy see on the beach in Hawaii?
8 How many dolls did Camille have in her collection?
9 What is the name of the mechanical magician at the Royal Palladium Theater?
11 What does Lou Talbot not let you borrow?
12 What is the security guard eating in STFD?
13 What is the name of your employer in Titusville?
15 What kind of artifacts do you find in the museum in Washington DC?
16 What do you need to play the pinball machine in Maxine's Diner?
17 What is the name of the horse you ride at Shadow Ranch?
18 What is Marie Antoinette holding?

DOWN
1 What game does JJ like to play?
2 What does the picture say to you as you walk up the stairs in MHM?
5 Where does Nancy stay in England?
6 How many buzzard statues do you find in Bruno Bolet's garden?
7 Who does Nancy share a room with in Venice?
10 What does Nancy say "Ewww" about in Em's Emporium?
14 What is Nancy talking to when she says, "Fight the power little one" at Snake Horse Harbor?

What is the name of Nancy's cat?

It appears this one was a little trickier than I thought it would be! Here's how the voting turned out:

Snowball--5 votes
Watson--3 votes
Spunky, Twinkles, and Pepper--2 votes
Whiskers--1 vote

Five of you had it right! Congratulations!! In the original version of #17 The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk, Nancy is given a white Angora cat as a token of appreciation and names her Snowball. Unfortunately, she's never mentioned again in any of the other books.

For this week's poll, I thought it would be interesting to see where everyone thinks the next Nancy Drew computer game (ND21) will take place, since we don't know the name of the game or any details about it yet.

To vote in the poll, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Thanks so much for voting!! :D

Answer to the How It Could Have Happened puzzle

Great job Meatloafbandit, Grace, Debbie, and Jewel! You all came up with the correct answer of: [The Clue of the Black Keys]

I'm working on a special Nancy Drew crossword puzzle for next week's challenge! Thanks so much for your support and participation!! :D

Through the years with Nancy Drew

Next spring, Nancy Drew will be 80 years old, but you would sure never know it by looking at her! Amazingly, she has a way of staying a teenager forever and is always on the cutting edge of fashion. Even though her age doesn't reflect the number of years we've known her, Nancy's appearance has changed quite a bit through the course of time--hair color, hairstyle, and fashions.

I gathered together some of my favorite pictures of Nancy from the book covers and put them into a collage showing how she's changed from decade to decade. I hope you enjoy it!

Top Row: The Secret of the Old Clock #1, The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk #17, The Scarlet Slipper Mystery #32
Center Row: The Mystery of the Fire Dragon #38, The Clue in the Crossword Cipher #44, Mystery of the Glowing Eye #51
Bottom Row: The Phantom of Venice #78, The Treasure in the Royal Tower #128, Model Suspect (Girl Detective)

How It Could Have Happened (as told by Nancy Drew)

Instructions: Print the story and circle the key words found in the titles of the 56 Nancy Drew yellow hardback books. By doing this, you will discover the one book that is not mentioned in the story.

When you think you know the answer, feel free to post it under "Comments." I'll wait to post them until Friday when I post the answer. I hope you have fun with this!! :D

*•..•*•..•* •..•*•..•* •..•*•..•*•..•*•..•* •..•*•..•* •..•*•..•*•..•*•..•* •..•*•..•*

Looking back at how it all began, it was like one crazy summer of solving mystery after mystery, like I was stuck in a twilight zone gone terribly awry where I was forever 18, always seeking clues...

One morning, as I was driving home after delivering legal papers for my dad, I came to an old haunted bridge. At the end of it, was a fallen tree blocking my way. A message in the hollow oak told me to take a detour past Red Gate Farm and turn left when I spied a leaning chimney. I got lost looking for it, and stumbled upon a mystery involving a whispering statue wearing a broken locket and a velvet mask. The statue whispered to me about a secret involving Larkspur Lane and an old album.

I immediately headed right over and after I located the album, I found a picture of an old clock. However, I soon learned that a ringmaster stole it to cover up his secret. Soon after, I discovered a mysterious letter inside a jewel box in an old bungalow, but before I could read the letter, a mysterious mannequin and a wooden lady stole it.

On their tail, my roadster had a flat tire outside of Blackwood Hall where I found an old brass-bound trunk. Inside was a missing map with directions to Crocodile Island where I discovered the thirteenth pearl in the old attic of a moss-covered mansion. While wearing the necklace, I was double jinxed and tumbled down a crooked banister, falling 99 steps, in a hidden staircase. A mysterious potion in an ivory charm brought me back to life and I spied a sky phantom holding twisted candles. They illuminated an old diary which I tried to decipher.

It told about a hidden window at Lilac Inn on the shore of Mirror Bay. A strange message in a parchment and a crossword cipher located in the back of the book told me to find the glowing eye at Moonstone Castle which would reveal a clue in the crumbling wall.

I never found that place and instead went on a quest for the invisible intruder's scarlet slipper at Pine Hill. An adventure at the ski jump led to a clue inside a tolling bell which opened a secret entrance to a forgotten city on Shadow Ranch. There I solved the mystery of the fire dragon's dancing puppet who was whistling bagpipes. And in a dramatic flourish to end my adventure, wearing tapping heels and a spider sapphire necklace, I hopped on an old stagecoach that was parked by the witch tree and stopped at a golden pavilion before finally catching a haunted showboat and heading home.

So as every hard working girl detective would say, “All in a day’s work.”
--Based upon the original story by Jennifer Fisher

Last week's poll results and a trivia question!

It looks like with 7 votes, Pamela Sue Martin (from the 1970's Nancy Drew TV series) wins as your favorite actress to play Nancy Drew! Emma Roberts came in second with 4 votes, Bonita Granville, Tracy Ryan, and Maggie Lawson each received 1 vote and Janet Louise Johnson did not receive any votes.

This week's poll is another trivia question! I have a feeling this one won't stump some of you clever sleuths! :D

To find the poll, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Thanks so much for taking the time to vote!♥

Spot the difference answers!

Grace, Alex, Debbie, Jewel, and Aki-ki, you all did a really awesome job with this!! Here are the 12 differences, plus the bonus:

[Button on back of chair is missing
Picture on panel in mirror is missing
Nail clippers are missing
Clasp on purse is changed
Electrical cord is missing
Bobby pins have been added
Reflection of lights are missing
Lipstick has been changed
Pink heart added to compact
Drawer handle is missing
Light bulb is missing
Yellow can is missing]

And the bonus one is:
[Small lipstick in group is missing ]

I had so much fun making this puzzle! I'll be looking for other fun scenes like this in the games, and I hope to make a new spot the difference puzzle each month if I can. Thank you all so much for your participation!! :D

A Nancy Drew spot the difference puzzle!

Can you spot 12 differences in these pictures of Mattie Jensen's dressing room? Bonus: There is one more difference that is very, very tricky to spot! Can you find it, too? Feel free to submit your answers under "Comments" if you find them. I'll wait to post them until Saturday, along with the answers. I hope you enjoy this!! :D

So who named Togo?

Thanks once again for voting in last week's poll! I hope you had a good time with it. Here's how the voting ended--6 people thought Nancy named Togo, 5 voted for Hannah, 3 thought Carson named him, 2 people thought it was George, 1 person thought Ned did it, and no one voted for poor little Bess. Before I read about this, my guess would have been Nancy, so the answer really surprised me.

The person to name Togo is none other than Bess! In the original 25 chapter version of #14 The Whispering Statue, Nancy, Bess, and George find the stray terrier in a park in the first chapter. After some discussion on what to do with him and Nancy decides to take him home, Bess suggests they call him Togo. From that moment on, Nancy's new friend is then referred to as Togo. Nancy never even commented on whether or not she liked the name!

This week's poll is an opinion poll. There have been many actresses through the years to play Nancy Drew and now it's your turn to voice who is your favorite! Is it Bonita Granville, the actress who originally played Nancy in the black and white 1930's episodes? Or maybe it is Pamela Sue Martin or Janet Louise Johnson who played Nancy in the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mystery Series on television in the 70's? Could it have be Tracy Ryan from the short lived 1995 TV series or Maggie Lawson from the 2002 pilot of another Nancy Drew TV series? Or finally, is it Emma Roberts who recently portrayed Nancy in the 2007 movie Nancy Drew?

To vote, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Thanks so much for taking the time to vote! I'll post the results next Sunday evening.

A liddle part of my Nancy Drew collection

Back in the late 60's and early 70's, Mattel produced a line of small dolls, similar to Barbie, but much smaller (even smaller than Kelly). The dolls were called Liddle Kiddles and although they haven't been sold in stores for over 30 years, they can still be found today, mainly at estate sales and on eBay. However, many of the dolls that survived are in very poor condition.

Several years ago, I started a new hobby: purchasing troubled dolls and using dollmaking restoration techniques, transforming them into beloved characters. My favorites of course, are my Nancy Drew Kiddles.

After cleaning the doll and reparing tears and broken wires, I then restore the doll's hair to it's original state and repaint facial features. When creating a character like Nancy, I make an outfit similar to what she is wearing on the cover of the book, add miniature accessories, and then try to pose her in the same way she is featured.

I've included pictures of four of the Nancy Drew dolls that I've created: The Secret of the Old Clock, The Secret of Shadow Ranch, Mystery of the Tolling Bell, and Clues to Good Sleuthing, featuring a detective-clad Nancy and her faithful friend Togo. I hope you enjoy this little peek inside my Nancy Drew collection!

Answer to the puzzle...

Awesome job finding the answer Meatloafbandit and Jewel! You are absolutely correct with the answer of: [Fingerprints.] Thanks for taking the time to do the puzzle!

A Nancy Drew Scavenger Hunt!

Use this Her Interactive link and the clues below to see if
you can discover what Nancy is currently investigating:

CRY•HENRY•17 (-ATE)
SHA•DAVE•2
DOG•JEFF•6 (-AK)
CLK•EMILY•8
DDI•ANDY•36 (-L)

Feel free to submit your answer under "Comments" if you figure it out.
I'll wait to post them until Friday, along with the answer.
Good luck!

Last week's results and a new trivia poll!

Thanks again for your awesome support in voting! Last week, sixteen of you cast your vote. It was close, but by a two vote margin, you decided that Frank Hardy is the one for Nancy to pair with George! Nick Falcone came in second with six votes, and Alejandro del Rio and Kit Foley received one vote each.

This week's poll is a little different. Instead of it being an opinion poll, I thought it would be fun to throw in a little trivia. But, you'll have to do a little sleuthing for the answer to this one! This week's question, "Who named Togo?" To find the poll, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. Even if you don't know the answer for certain, go ahead and give it a try!

Where is River Heights?

The truth is, no one knows for sure, as Nancy Drew's hometown of River Heights is in reality only a mythical place. It's location is based upon each ghost writers' decision of where they think it should be and how the reader interprets that.

Mildred Wirt Benson, the original writer of the Nancy Drew books said that when she imagined River Heights, she had her own home state of Iowa in mind. In the books that she wrote, you will often find descriptions of cornfields, farmlands, and references to the Midwest. Emerson College, where Ned attends school, is located on a tributary of the Ohio River.

In other books, Nancy's father makes trips out "west" to Chicago, which would make Indiana and Ohio seem like logical locations for River Heights. In her book titled, The Mystery of Nancy Drew, Betsy Caprio suggests that River Heights is located in Holmes County, Ohio. By interviewing the Nancy Drew authors and analyzing the books carefully, she actually created a map of River Heights.

In the later yellow hardbacks and the revised versions of the original books, River Heights was portrayed to be somewhere farther east, like in New Jersey (which interestingly enough happened to be the location of the Stratemeyer Syndicate offices).

The location changed once again when years later, the writers' guidelines for the Case Files state that River Heights is a suburb of Chicago.

Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois? The bottom line is that the location of River Heights is left completely to the reader's imagination for where they picture it to be.

Answers to the puzzle!

Great job R.G., Grace, Jewel, and Annonymous! All of you got the correct quote!! The answer is:

["No I was speaking to my husband, my second husband, soon to be exhusband if he continues to crawl on the furniture like that."]

And most of you were correct in who said it. It was: [Prudence Rutherford]

The trickiest part seemed to be in which game it was from. The answer is: [SSH]

Thanks to all for your participation! :D

Test your sleuthing skills!

Decode the following secret message and find the quote.
Then see if you can remember who said it and what ND game it's from:

Please feel free to post your answers if you figure it out.
I'll wait to post them until Friday, along with the answers.
Have fun!

*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*•..•*

Here are a few hints for anyone who is interested:
Little Hint:
[Nancy used this method to crack a mysterious message in one of the games.]
Big Hint:
[Start at n, end at t]
Really Big Hint:
[The first word is No]

Nancy's matchmaking results...

Thanks to your votes last week, it looks like Nancy's clear choice for Bess is going to be Dave Gregory! Eight out of fifteen of you voted for Dave, three voted for Joe Hardy, three for Brady Armstrong, and one for Henry Bolet.

In this week's poll, Nancy is trying to decide between four eligible bachelors for George! Who do you think she should pick?

What is an "Original" Nancy Drew?

Harriet Adams, daughter of the founder of Stratemeyer Syndicate, took over writing the Nancy Drew series in 1959 and began a revision of the first 34 books. Soon after, the yellow hardback cover format was introduced. The revisions were made because Harriet felt that the books needed to be shorter and Nancy needed to reflect the modern values of today's teenage girl. The revisions took many years and were finally completed in 1977. Volumes 35-56 never had revisions and have kept the same cover art since first being introduced.

The easiest way to tell whether you have an original or a revised copy is not by looking at the outside of the book, but rather the inside. The original stories contain 25 chapters and the revisions have 20 chapters. Trying to determine which version you have based on the cover can be tricky, especially when it comes to the first seven books in the series.

Even though volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4 were published with two types of picture covers in the yellow hardback format, all contain only the revised 20 chapter stories. The revisions had already been made by the time the yellow hardback format was introduced. #5 The Secret of Shadow Ranch has two kinds of covers and both original and revised versions of text. #6 The Secret of Red Gate Farm has only one cover and only contains the revised version text. #7 The Clue in the Diary, is misleading because it has the same familiar cover for both the 25 and the 20 chapter versions.

As a side note, even though Nancy Drew books 57-64 are now available in the glossy yellow hardcover format, they are not considered to be part of the original yellow hardback series. The primary reason is that these books were initially published as paperback books by Simon & Schuster (instead of Grosset & Dunlap) and the original team of writers and illustrators were no longer involved. Collectors and Nancy Drew enthusiasts include these books in the Nancy Drew Digest Paperback category.

The results are in...

Thank you all for voting in last week's poll! This time, we had a total of 18 votes. The question was: Other than Nancy, who is your favorite character in the original books?

The results? Ned was the big winner with 7 votes, George was next with 4 votes, Bess received 3 votes, 2 people voted for Hannah, and Carson and Togo each got 1 vote.

I just posted a new poll for the week, which will end next Sunday evening. This week's question is: Nancy is playing matchmaker. Who should she pair up with Bess? Be prepared! Nancy is on a roll and has plans for George next week! Have fun and thanks for voting! :D

A Nancy Drew Sudoku

To solve the Sudoku, fill in the missing numbers 1-9. Each number will appear only once in each row horizontally, in each column vertically, and in each of the 9 sections. Usually there is only one correct way to solve the puzzle, so if you're off by one number, it may not work. Clues from Nancy Drew games are given to get you going!

Clues (the first number is the row and the second number is the column--use the numbers like you would coordinates):

1-4 - the number of letters in Gilbert's last name (CRY)
2-7 - the number of suspects you talk to in the high school in SCK
5-3 - all of the characters (including Nancy) on board Jake Hurley's train
8-7 - the number of letters in Mr. Rose's first name in SSH

When you think you have the solution to the puzzle, post your answer under Comments. I won't post any of the answers until late Saturday afternoon so that the puzzle isn't spoiled for anyone. I hope you have fun with it! And if you'd like me to do another next week, just let me know.

Edit: So far I've gotten two completely differently solutions to this puzzle, but both work out perfectly! Nice going Grace and Jewel! :D

So just who is Carolyn Keene?

Since there isn't really a person named Carolyn Keene that wrote the Nancy Drew books, trying to find the true author can be as baffling as solving a Nancy Drew mystery. Because of early confidentiality agreements, ghost writer names were not allowed to be revealed, so for fifty years the public was under the impression that the books really were written by a mysterious person named Carolyn Keene.

The year was 1929. Edward Stratemeyer was the founder of Stratemeyer Syndicate and was enjoying the success of his popular series, The Hardy Boys, but he had a new idea. He thought it high time to create a spunky female teen detective with blond hair, blue eyes, and a spiffy blue roadster. He wrote a one page plot outline with the pen name of Carolyn Keene and hired a talented writer named Mildred A. Wirt to see if she could write a book based on his ideas. The manuscript was a hit and he hired her to write two more books, with Grossett and Dunlap being awarded printing rights. It is more than sad to note that Edward Stratemeyer died of pneumonia only twelve days after the three books were released on April 28, 1930.

After the overnight success of The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase, and The Bungalow Mystery, Mildred went on to write the next four books in the series. Because of The Great Depression and a proposed cut in her salary, Mildred refused to write more of the books. Walter Karig was then hired to write the next three books #8-11. However, things changed and Mildred did return to write the next 19 books in the series. Out of the first 25 books, she authored 22 of them. She came back for one final book, #30 The Clue of the Velvet Mask, with her married name of Mildred Benson, thus writing 23 books in all.

Other writers of the books were George Waller, Jr., Margaret Scherf, Iris Vinton, Wilhelmina Rankin, Alma Sasse, Charles Strong, Priscilla Doll, and finally ending with Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, daughter of the founder of Stratemeyer Syndicate, who took over writing the series beginning with volume #35 and continuing until the series ended. It is also noteworthy that while Edward Stratemeyer wrote the plot outline for the first three books in the series, after his death, his daughters Harriet Adams and Edna Squier kept a very close eye on the series and wrote all but one of the plot outlines for the books.

For more information about "Carolyn Keene", you might enjoy reading, Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak.

Poll results and new weekly poll

Thank you all for taking the time to vote in last week's poll. By an over-whelming majority, 15 voted that their favorite books are the yellow hardbacks! One person voted in favor of the paperback mysteries, while The Case Files and Girl Detective books didn't get any votes this time around.

I just posted a new poll for the week, which will end next Sunday evening. This one asks, "Other than Nancy, who is your favorite character in the original books?" Thanks so much for your votes!♥

Possible cover art for RAN

Her Interactive mentioned on Twitter a few days ago that they are still in the process of drafting the packaging copy for Ransom of the Seven Ships. I found this cover art on the Internet, so while this may not be what is ultimately chosen, I thought I would post it for those who haven't seen it. The colors and design are breathtaking!

Clues to Good Cooking

Many years ago, I was given The Nancy Drew Cookbook, Clues to Good Cooking, as a gift. It is a collection of over 100 recipes including things such as Tapping Heels Griddle Cakes, Blackwood Hall Muffins, Old Album Meatballs, Crossword Cipher Chicken, Bungalow Mystery Salad, Dancing Puppet Parfait, and Whistling Bagpipes Crunchies. I've made several of these recipes over the years and as a mater of fact, my family will be making Twisted Candles Peach Crisp and Old Clock Ice Cream Pie later this week. The recipes are simple and very easy to prepare, making it a great book for those with little cooking experience.

Although the original book from 1973 is now out of print, Grosset & Dunlap reprinted the book in 2005, making this cute book available to Nancy Drew fans once again. I picked up the newest version a few years ago and although the formatting is different, for the most part, the recipes are the same. I have a picture of both versions shown above.

A Nancy Drew poll section added!

I just added a poll at the bottom of the page. This week it is for which kind of Nancy Drew book is your favorite. I plan to have a new Nancy Drew poll each week, so please be sure to check back to see how the current poll is coming along, as well as take part in the next one. As a side note, I did have some trouble getting it to load on one of my browsers, but had no trouble with it on Internet Explorer, so please keep that in mind in case you have that problem too. Thanks so much for voting!

One of my favorite Nancy Drew collectibles...

This is probably one of the best gifts I have ever received. It's the 1957 Nancy Drew Mystery Game, which I've wanted for the longest time. The playing board is a really pretty map of River Heights and each player drives a miniature metal roadster!

The object is to be the first to discover Nancy's whereabouts, as she is currently working on a case at a location based on one of the books--Red Gate Farm, the Tolling Bell, the Haunted Bridge, Blackwood Hall, the Old Attic, the Sign of the Twisted Candles, the Moss Covered Mansion, or the Hollow Oak. It also shows pictures of Moon Lake and the Drew Home.

To find Nancy, you fill in the name NANCY with your five colored markers on any one of the eight locations on the board. The first player to do this has found Nancy and wins the game. However, it is a little more involved in that as you throw the dice and move on certain spaces, you draw a Mystery Card and one of the characters from a Nancy Drew book tells if you are to place your markers or take them off. It is a whole lot of fun, especially when you have the opportunity to play with other Nancy Drew fans!