History of Alpha Sleuth® & KingMate Products

Alpha Sleuth® Development History

This page details how the Alpha Sleuth® puzzle was born, and the various developmental stages of the puzzle, the magazine, and our business, KingMate Products. On other sites this page might be dubbed the "blog".

May 20, 2007: Dan Meinking developed a new puzzle with letter-set and grid.
May 22, 2007: Dan coined the name "Alpha Sleuth", to be trademarked later.
May 22, 2007: John Meinking added manual clues to our Excel spreadsheet design.
May 23, 2007: Colleen Meinking & Kathy Gerend-Meinking were the initial 'testers'.
May 30, 2007: Priscilla Meinking also began test-solving.
May 31, 2007: Dan changed the arbitrary clues into a clue-word.
June 1, 2007: Dan developed the clue-phrase, linked to the grid via numbered cells.
June 6, 2007: Simple word-search tool developed to help with composing.
June 7, 2007: Dan began making phrases 'thematically related' to words in the grid.
June 10, 2007: Dan & Colleen discuss turning "Alpha Sleuth" into a new magazine.
June 11, 2007: Initial plans for the Alpha Sleuth® Composing Tool (ASCT) formed.
June 13, 2007: Dave Brown agreed to begin the font & graphics development.
June 16, 2007: Submitted Trademark registration to use "Alpha Sleuth" in commerce.
June 16, 2007: Opened a business account for KingMate Products.
June 17, 2007: Our website, www.alphasleuth.com, was born.
June 20, 2007: Colleen found Deerfield Press as our top printing candidate.
June 31, 2007: Dave's initial font set ready for review & testing with ASCT.
July 3, 2007: Dave's letter- and number-BMPs ready for testing.
July 9, 2007: Dave developed another font to represent the letter-set.
July 10, 2007: Colleen started on her initial cover designs.
July 15, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® Composing Tool (ASCT), Beta-1, released.
July 16, 2007: Jennifer Meinking agreed to help setup our website.
July 19, 2007: Dave invented the "alphabetic sequence", now our magazine standard.
July 19, 2007: ASCT, beta-2 released.
July 20, 2007: First draft of www.alphasleuth.com ready for inspection.
July 21, 2007: Dave's first batch of graphics (for magazine and web) delivered.
July 22, 2007: ASCT, beta-3 released.
July 23, 2007: Converted all old Excel puzzles into ASCT format.
July 24, 2007: Acquired a Vendor's License from the Ohio Business Gateway.
July 25, 2007: Puzzles for Volume 1 assembled using the ASCT. .
July 26, 2007: Dave added "crossed-out" letters for our Solving Tips and Tutorial.
July 30, 2007: The official "KingMate Products" business stamp design created.
July 31, 2007: Colleen's final cover design completed.
August 1, 2007: First draft of Alpha Sleuth®, Volume 1 delivered to printers.
August 3, 2007: First "proof copies" of Volume 1 received from printers.
August 3, 2007: Submitted bus. registration ("KingMate Products") to State of Ohio.
August 8, 2007: Final draft of Alpha Sleuth®, Volume 1 delivered to printers.
August 11, 2007: First shipment of Alpha Sleuth® magazine ready.
August 15, 2007: "KingMate Products" registration received from the State of Ohio.
August 18, 2007: Received our first subscriptions: Mike & Mary Neumeier.
September 8, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® available at two Barnes & Noble locations.
September 17, 2007: Dan & Colleen interviewed by Community Press; article here.
September 20, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® available at Good Sam gift shop.
September 21, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® available at Hug Jewelers.
September 22, 2007: Dan, Colleen and Mike Neumeier interviewed by Downtowner.
September 22, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® Word Search Tool released.
September 23, 2007: Solving Contest and Solving Ladder details published.
September 25, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® available at Bethesda North.
September 25, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® available at Joseph-Beth Bookstore.
September 26, 2007: Article and puzzle in the Community Press.
September 27, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® available at Bethesda Oak.
October 2, 2007: Article in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
October 3, 2007: Article and puzzle in the Downtowner.
October 5, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® available at Christ Hospital.
October 7, 2007: The first Alpha Sleuth® Solving Contest was held.
October 12, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® Word Search Tool made available.
October 20, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® Solving Tool made available.
October 22, 2007: Electronic subscriptions offered for the first time.
October 31, 2007: Announced a fundraiser for U.S. troops in Iraq.
November 2, 2007: The creator of Hexa-Trex puzzles contacted us.
November 4, 2007: Solver David Moulton sets record time: 7 minutes!
November 10, 2007: Alpha Sleuth® Composing Tool (ASCT) v1.0 released.
November 15, 2007: Brain Games Magazine contacted us, interested in samples.
November 18, 2007: A record 12 solvers successfully cracked the contest puzzle.
November 18, 2007: Solver David Moulton beats his own record time: 6 minutes!
November 25, 2007: Our first non-U.S. solver joined the ranks.
November 26, 2007: Switching from Alpha Sleuth® to puzzle books.
November 27, 2007: The Alpha Sleuth® mark published in the Official Gazette.
December 2, 2007: Solver David Moulton's winning streak ended at six weeks.
December 12, 2007: Brain Games Magazine requests a batch of puzzles from us.
December 23, 2007: Solver Ron Schuermann sets new record time: 3 minutes!
December 30, 2007: David Moulton earned the "Alpha" for Oct-Dec 2007 Ladder!
December 30, 2007: Gary Sargent earned the "Beta" for the Oct-Dec 2007 Ladder!
January 18, 2008: Delivered first batch of puzzles to Brain Games Magazine.
January 19, 2008: Alpha Sleuth® Composing Tool (ASCT) v1.1 released.
January 28, 2008: Final adjustments to the "Special Edition" for our troops.
February 1, 2008: 50 Fundraiser booklets shipped to Walter Reed MC.
February 10, 2008: Solver Dan Katz ties the record time: 3 minutes!
February 13, 2008: Completed our first contract with Brain Games Magazine.
February 14, 2008: Another 50 Fundraiser booklets shipped to Walter Reed.
February 15, 2008: Alpha Sleuth® became an officially registered trademark.
February 17, 2008: Solver Dan Katz again ties the record time: 3 minutes!
February 17, 2008: Gary Sargent & David Brown become first Expert Sleuths!
February 23, 2008: Alpha Sleuth® Solving Tool v2.0 released.
February 24, 2008: Mary Neumeier becomes an Expert Sleuth!
February 27, 2008: 100 Fundraiser booklets shipped to Afghanistan.
March 1, 2008: Our first monthly Book Give-Away awarded to Mary Neumeier.
March 6, 2008: Final 200 Fundraiser booklets shipped to APO, earmarked for Iraq.
March 6, 2008: Alpha Sleuth® appears in the 2nd issue of Ohio Chess Connection.
March 8, 2008: Alpha Sleuth® Composing Tool v2.0 released.
March 9, 2008: Solver Linda Haley of Rockford, IL earned her Expert Sleuth title!
March 9, 2008: Solver David Moulton of Princeton, NJ earned his Expert Sleuth title!
March 14, 2008: Record of 26 solvers participated in this week's Solving Contest.
March 21, 2008: Record of 28 solvers participated in this week's Solving Contest.
March 23, 2008: Locals Mike Neumeier & Ron Schuermann became Experts!
March 28, 2008: Record of 31 solvers participated in this week's Solving Contest.
March 30, 2008: Gary Sargent earned the "Alpha" for the Jan-Mar 2008 Ladder!
March 30, 2008: David L. Brown earned the "Beta" for the Jan-Mar 2008 Ladder!
March 30, 2008: Justin Smith & Randy Rogers set new record time -- 2 minutes!
April 5, 2008: John Miller selected as our March 2008 Book Give-Away winner.
April 6, 2008: Colleen Meinking & Miriam Schneidmill became Expert Sleuths!
April 6, 2008: Solvers Howard Barkin & Dan Katz equal the record time -- 2 minutes!
April 7, 2008: Revamped our Introduction, Solving Tips and Sample Puzzles pages.
April 13, 2008: Howard Barkin of Hillsborough, NJ sets new record time -- 1 minute!
April 15, 2008: Six Alpha Sleuth® puzzles to appear in Brain Games. Details here.
April 26, 2008: Record of 31 solvers participated in this week's Solving Contest.
May 3, 2008: Dan Thompson selected as our April 2008 Book Give-Away winner.
May 3, 2008: Record of 31 solvers participated in this week's Solving Contest.
May 5, 2008: Released Alpha Sleuth® Solving Tool v2.x. Mandatory upgrade.
May 11, 2008: Special article for Mother's Day: "My First Alpha Sleuth®".
May 18, 2008: Noam Livnat of Lev Hashomron (Israel) earned his Expert Sleuth title!
May 19, 2008: Dan Thompson of Cleveland, OH earned his Expert Sleuth title!
May 31, 2008: Justin Smith selected as our May 2008 Book Give-Away winner.
June 2, 2008: Local Priscilla Meinking became an Expert Sleuth. WTG Mom! :-)
June 8, 2008: Solver Justin Smith of Trumansburg, NY earned his Expert Sleuth title!