Note: This puzzle uses localStorage. To clear the localStorage used by this puzzle,
click here.
It's Christmas morning! You're just making yourself a cup of hot cocoa when the doorbell rings. Looks like there's a last
minute delivery! You open the door, but see only a parcel on the floor. Curious, you set down your mug and begin to unwrap it.
As you untie the festive ribbon, the package peels open and several Christmas cards fall out, revealing a deck of cards beneath
them. You instinctively open up the box and fan out the cards; it seems to be missing one card. How annoying! Puzzled, you turn
to the first Christmas card.
Dear Solver,
I recently came across this deck of cards and immediately thought of you. It may not look like much, but I think you'll discover
it has rather surprising qualities. In this season of giving, I think you could put it to good use.
Happy Holidays!
Odd indeed. Just as you're thinking this, though, a gust of wind blows through the room, seemingly from within the pack of cards,
and out pops a very merry-looking ghost. You're quite taken aback, naturally: "wait, what is this, A Christmas Carol?"
"No, no," the ghost replies. "just A Christmas Card. Common kerning error. Er, plural, actually—I believe there's an
entire deck here. Anyway, sorry for the sudden interruption! I'm the Christmas Spirit, and I'm here to spread some Christmas joy!
Now, come, follow me: we have three stops today, and I daresay those cards of yours will come in useful."
"This seems like a pretty thinly-veiled excuse for puzzles," you respond.
Click on a quest name to select it. Click a card to add it to the hand for the selected quest.
A♦️
A♥️
A♠️
2♣️
2♦️
2♥️
2♠️
3♣️
3♦️
3♥️
3♠️
4♣️
4♦️
4♥️
4♠️
5♣️
5♦️
5♥️
5♠️
6♣️
6♦️
6♥️
6♠️
7♣️
7♦️
7♥️
7♠️
8♣️
8♦️
8♥️
8♠️
9♣️
9♦️
9♥️
9♠️
10♣️
10♦️
10♥️
10♠️
J♣️
J♦️
J♥️
J♠️
Q♣️
Q♦️
Q♥️
Q♠️
K♣️
K♦️
K♥️
K♠️
Tutorial
Making the Grade
Cardinal Directions
Hand-to-Hand Combat
0/15 assigned
0/8 assigned
0/15 assigned
0/13 assigned
Not sure what this deck's for yet? Check out the tutorial!
Select the quest to assign cards to by clicking the corresponding button under the deck.
Select the cards to assign to that quest by clicking the cards in the deck.
They'll change to the color of the quest you're assigning them to.
Made a mistake? Just click the card again to unassign it.
Clicking a selected quest again will unselect it. While no quest is selected, clicking a card will unassign it.
Each card can only be assigned to one quest!
Below each quest is its required hand size. You must assign exactly this number of cards to that quest to be able to start it.
✔️
Tutorial
Hey, it's me, the Christmas Spirit!
Okay, okay. I know what you're thinking: puzzles and cards and helpful tutorial giver, yeah, I get it.
But just to reassure you, I'm definitely not an evil carp bent on world domination.
Your hand
You don't have any cards assigned to this quest at the moment.
Oh no, it looks like you don't have
anythe right number ofcards! How are you going to complete your quest without them?
You should start by assigning some cards in your deck to your hand. This quest requires fifteen cards,
so make sure to assign exactly fifteen cards—no more, no less!
First, select the quest to assign cards to by clicking the corresponding button under the deck.
Then, select the cards to assign to that quest by clicking the cards in the deck.
They'll change to the color of the quest you're assigning them to.
Made a mistake? Just click the card again to unassign it.
Clicking a selected quest will unselect it. While no quest is selected, clicking a card will unassign it.
For now, why don't you assign some cards to this quest?
You can do this from your deck.
This advice box will disappear once you add a card to your hand for this quest, but you can always review it by
clicking the "Toggle deck tutorial" button on the deck page.
Great, your hand's ready! To lock in your hand and start this quest, press the start button below.
You won't be able to change your hand while the quest is ongoing, but you can stop it and restart with a new hand at any time.
Your assigned cards:
Cards to give: Stage 1/5
Quests are all about helping people. Sometimes, it's very clear how your cards can affect things. You should see a
copy of your collection appear just above; simply click a card from your hand to play it. Clickable objects will
usually cast a shadow when you mouse over them, so you can tell what's clickable and what's not. In this tutorial, you can always
take a card back after playing it but before submitting it, simply by clicking it again.
Other quests may not be so forgiving!
🙂 Excuse me! Could you spare an Ace of Hearts for my collection?
Way to go! Look at you, you've already helped someone! Sometimes, it won't be so clear what exactly you need to do.
Feel free to play around and try different things; usually, there's no penalty for getting an input wrong.
You can also always restart a quest using the button just under your hand if you think you don't have the
cards you need to complete a quest.
🙁 Hey, I'm looking for one card. I'm not sure what it's called, but if you show me what you've got I can tell
you whether it's what I'm looking for!
Sometimes, you'll need to use multiple cards at once. Here, you can just load all the cards into your submission
and submit them together.
🤨 I heard you were giving out cards! I'm looking for six cards; they're three each in two different suits.
Um, I think the suit names are the same length. I also think there was only one picture card? And it had a name that ends
in a letter that starts the name of another kind of picture card. And the sum of the black cards' values was lower than
the sum of the red cards' values. And two pairs of the cards had the same values. And the black cards were all consecutive.
And the product of all the values of the number cards was 18816. But other than that, I'm not sure about what cards I need.
Sorry, I guess that's not much to work off.
Sometimes, it seems like what's going on doesn't relate to cards at all. But it does! Somehow.
🤓 I just learnt about "indexing" the other day. Have you heard of it? Anyway, I heard you were giving out stuff.
I need a B and an O!
There's not always exactly one way to solve a problem, but keep in mind that you only have so many cards, and you need to
use them to complete all your quests. You can only use each card in one quest, so manage your resources wisely!
(I hear a quest will uncomplete itself if you change the hand associated with the quest, so try not to do that...)
😎 So, real talk, I need a full house. Um, it needs to have three tens and two queens. Any combination will do.
No diamonds though please, those are my unlucky suit. Er, don't ask why I need the cards or what I'm using them for. It's
definitely a good deed.
🎓 Quest complete! 🎓
You've done it! That was a great first quest completion!
Now that you know how this whole card deal (pun intended!) works, I think you're ready to move on to more quests!
I've marked out three more recipients for you, and you can now assign cards to your other quests as well. Remember that your goal
is to have all the quests completed at once, without reusing any card in your deck! Good luck!
✔️
Making the Grade
"This poor PSA grader is sad because he hasn't seen a pristine card all year. What? That seems like a him kind of
problem? Okay, look, while that may be true, there's no reason we can't spread some joy."
Your hand
You don't have any cards assigned to this quest at the moment.
Your collection:
Your submission: Stage 1/3
💯 Quest complete! 💯
✔️
Cardinal Directions
"This explorer lacks direction. Let's help him find his way."
Your hand:
You don't have any cards assigned to this quest at the moment.
Your actions:
-
-
-
-
🧭 Quest complete! 🧭
✔️
Hand-to-Hand Combat
"This warrior is hopelessly outmatched—a perfect time to manifest the power contained in your cards."
Your hand:
You don't have any cards assigned to this quest at the moment.
Your arsenal: Stage 1/4
⚔️ Quest complete! ⚔️
Ace of Clubs
Oh, what's this? The missing card was in the package the entire time! You pick it up and inspect it; after all, it
is your last remaining card. As you look it over and reflect on your day, you can't help but wonder: how
did you always manage to find the right card at the right time?
Meta complete!
Epilogue
Ah, IT'S A HALLMARKED DECK! The Christmas Spirit itself must have guided your hands as you played through
your cards. (Well, not to give the Spirit all the credit—there was a fair bit of planning involved in there.)
Even now, you can feel the festive aura surround you, sending a joyous calm through your body.
As you settle back into your seat, you realize your hot cocoa is still hot.∎