The holidays are a season for giving (even if that giving is really for yourself—go ahead, we won't tell). So we've compiled a list of unique gift ideas for that crime and mystery lover to make your gifting just a little bit easier. Sherlock Holmes Phone Case – $12.99+ Sherlock Holmes fans will love this…
My first experience with Games Workshop’s tabletop miniature war game Warhammer 40,000 left me rather unimpressed. Basically it involved moving around a bunch of little metal figures and rolling dice to see if I hit anything. The figures were these cool futuristic looking soldiers, but you had to paint them and my painting skills are…
Ever play a game and wonder just where the creators got their ideas? As it turns out, one of the greatest games ever to be created for wordsmiths was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. Alfred Butts, the creator of Scrabble, was inspired by Poe’s story “The Gold Bug,” about a code that is based on…
I’m one of those people who shouts at a book when a character does something stupid or ignores a vital clue. I will smack the page with a “No, you idiot, the lamp. Look at the lamp. Don’t waste time with the knife.” This can be awkward when I shout it at the TV or…
When the creators of Elementary wanted to promote the show’s debut with a Sherlock-themed scavenger hunt, New York-based Watson Adventures (Yes, that’s their real name!) was the natural choice for the job. So if you happen to be in lower Manhattan this Saturday, September 22, and you run into a bunch of sleuths hunting for…
First off, let me be clear: we’re talking about crime in literature, on television, in games, etc. That kind of crime. Not like actually getting your car stolen or reading a blotter note about a CPA defrauding a charming little mom-n-pop bakery, for example. Those things don’t seem sexy at all, right? Now, an insanely…
Recently my son Stan (6) discovered something it took me until I was an adult to figure out. He’d been playing a lot of Lego Batman on his Nintendo DS—I know I’m a model parent—and I noticed he was no longer playing as Batman or Robin; instead he was switching between the Riddler, the Penguin,…
But of course you can, crimefighter! Five people killed outdoors in five different states, and the FBI needs someone to Solve the Deadeye Murders in fewer than 25 days, when the serial killer will strike again . . . dum-Dum-DUM! To date, my personal best is 18 days, but that leaves a lot of headroom…
Arrgh! We can’t believe tonight is already the LAST episode of Sherlock’s Season Two—we just got started and now we’re already to the finale, “The Reichenbach Fall!” With its murky agendas and personal complications, this season has us curious to uncover our own hidden selves and deeper motivations. Lurking within, do you suspect you harbor…
If you recall one thing from the early days of arcade video games, you know you had to line up your quarter for next play and that Donkey Kong is a low-down kidnapper. And platformers—video games where the character moves across suspended platforms while dodging obstacles—have continued their diverting existence carrying that banana-shaped stain of…
