Alpha Sleuth®: Iraq Fundraiser

Alpha Sleuth® -- Iraq Fun(d)raiser

by Dan & Colleen Meinking

Help us create a Special Edition of Alpha Sleuth® for our troops! 100% of funds raised will go towards printing and shipping costs. All donations and expenses will be posted online.

Summary of Donations: $159.36 and 12 puzzles.

Updates:

11/5/07: A colleague, whose enlisted wife works in the D.C. area, volunteered to personally deliver a box to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Thanks Brad!
1/21/08: We found a much cheaper paper source. We plan to print the Special Editions ourselves, in a 'deluxe Sampler' format, to keep costs down.
2/1/08: Our friend Brad shipped a batch of 50 booklets to WRAMC this week. These are for monthly 'care packages' for the troops!
2/8/08: Another colleague, Brian, agreed to ship some booklets to his son's unit in Afganistan once the Fun(d)raiser is done.
2/14/08: Brad personally delivered another 50 booklets to Walter Reed!
2/16/08: To our vets who've received a Special Edition booklet: please contact us for a full-size print of the solutions!
2/27/08: Brian shipped 100 booklets to his son's unit in Afghanistan!
3/6/08: Final shipment of 200 booklets sent to the APO address, earmarked for Iraq. Thanks to Brad & Lorri for their help!

October 31, 2007

Hi everyone,

We learned today that a copy of Alpha Sleuth®, Volume 1, found its way to our troops in Iraq. The soldier (a friend's nephew) loved it, and reports that the magazine was a *big hit* with his comrades. Very flattering and humbling for us!

As a small token of appreciation for their service, we're hereby hosting a fun(d)raiser to create a Special Edition booklet of Alpha Sleuth® puzzles expressly for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq.

The fundraiser will run from today until Sunday, Feb 17th, 2008. After that, we will begin compiling the magazine, and hopefully have it printed and ready to ship by March 1st, 2008. We'll research different transport options before then; please contact us with any suggestions.

Contribute in three ways

(1) Message of Thanks/Encouragement:

If you'd like to send a message to our troops, we will quote as many folks as possible in the magazine. Space will be limited, however, so please keep your message brief.

(2) Donate Money:

Money donations of any amount (U.S. Dollars only, please) can be made out to:

KingMate Products

P.O. Box 389256

Cincinnati, OH 45238-9256 (USA)

inquiries: 513-347-7296

Be sure to earmark your donations for Iraq Fundraiser. All receipts will be posted on our Donations page. We'll list your first name, last initial, hometown, state, and contribution (amount) so you can be sure your funds have been received and counted. The more money donated, the better "volume discount" we'll be able to get for printing costs.

Please note that donations are not tax-deductible since we are not a registered charity.

All expenditures will be posted on our Expenses page to account for the dollars collected.

(3) Donate Puzzles:

You may donate one or two Alpha Sleuth® puzzles for the special issue. Again, space will be limited, so only the best entries can be included. We will do our best to make sure all contributors are represented.

Some guidelines for puzzle submissions (go here to brush up on the terminology):

Themes should be fun and upbeat.
No political statements, implied or otherwise, please.
Utility words (non-thematic) are OK, but should be used sparingly.
All words should be common references.
You may use 'formal words' if you submit a special theme puzzle.
All letter-sets should contain A-Z (26 letters) only.
Phrases should be 20 characters or less, including spaces and punctuation.
We will assign the appropriate Level number.
Email puzzles to: editor@alphasleuth.com. Or send paper entries to our P.O. Box.

When submitting puzzles by email, you have two options:

Use a plain-text attachment (example: yourfile.txt). Be sure to 'space' the lines so that words line up properly. You do not need to include the letter-set, but don't forget to add the phrase. And make sure letters A-Z are all used.

Send a list of words (for the grid) in the body of your email. We'll 'connect' them for you. Again, be sure to include a phrase, and make sure letters A-Z are used.

You do not need to assign numbers for the numbered-cells, or 'blank out' extra letters. We'll take care of that for you. If you submit a special theme puzzle, all words must be thematic.

Please make our editing job easier and submit each puzzle once only. Remember: the best puzzles -- not the ones that arrive first -- will be selected, so make sure you're satisfied with your puzzle before sending.

If you need help coming up with words for your puzzle, our free Solving Tool has a built-in word-search tool that's very handy. Or contact us if you prefer.

Miscellany:

All contributors will receive an electronic copy of the magazine, in two forms:

A puzzle file that can be imported into our free Solving Tool. You'll be able to work all the puzzles on your PC screen. Paper and pencil not necessary!

AND

A zipped PDF file that you can print. This will contain the entire magazine image, including all puzzles and words of thanks and encouragement.

Sending electronic copies to our contributors will allow 100% of donations to go towards printing and shipping costs.

As an added twist... instead of our usual Level names (Expert, Master, etc.), we thought it'd be fun to use "Ranks" such as: Private (for Level 1), General (for Level 10), etc. We need help with this list! Please contact us with your suggestions.

Please share this memo with your family and friends! Feel free to contact us with any other ideas or questions.

Thank you!