Behind the Scenes

"Where do you get your ideas?"

Every puzzle starts with a pun. With some puns, inspiration strikes easily; with others, it takes more effort.

My process typically involves:

• Keeping a running list of potential pun ideas in a notes app and Google doc

• Looking for words with multiple meanings or homophones
• Saying things I see in real life out loud to see if they could for (e.g. "Stop sign... yeah I could probably do a little guy telling a sine wave to 'stop'...")
• Going through dictionaries, phrasebooks, idiom dictionaries, etc. line by line and thinking of alternate word meanings all the while

The best puns have that perfect balance of being clever enough to be satisfying when solved, yet not so obscure that they're impossible to figure out. And the really best puns aren't too difficult for me to draw :)

The Drawing Board

Once I've settled on a pun concept, it's time to bring it to life visually.

My illustration process:

• Each illustration starts with a visual in my head that I roughly sketch onto physical paper to just make something "exist"

• Then I may hand draw it with color first, before moving on to the digital version

• I often use "cartoon" versions of object for reference to see how other illustrators have drawn something
• When it comes time to make the digital version, I draw on an XP-PEN drawing tablet

• For my drawing software, I use Krita. A free, open-source program which is plenty for me and does everything I need it to

• I aim for a consistent, friendly art style that's clear but not too obvious. But to be honest I'm not really good enough of an artist (yet) to have a ton of control over that. I do my best but they're really just doodles!
• I do choose colors very carefully though to try and illustrate what I'm going for. I feel like this helps when my drawing may not be the best on any particular day.

• Most illustrations take 30-45 minutes to complete from sketch to final version. Below is what this would look like for the example we've been following in this section.

I try to strike some sort of a balance between making the visual clues apparent while still not making it too glaringly obvious to hopefully keep solving satisfying.

Site Building

Pundaze is entirely built and maintained by me (Tom), despite having no formal web development training.

The technical stack includes:

• HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the front-end
• Firebase for authentication, database, and hosting
• Custom-built puzzle logic and hint system
• Mobile-responsive design to work across all devices

Building the site has been a learning journey, and honestly a longer one than I expected. There have been long hours spend debugging and doing this little by little has been the only thing that made it possible (and kept me sane throughout). I kept a little notebook of all the things I did and the days I did them on, which has been nice to look back at. It makes you realize all those small bits of progress really can add up to something.

And then looking back at screenshots of old versions really is shocking to see how far it's come along

There is still a lot more to do and a lot more to learn, but I wanted to get the site to a place where I could share it with everyone. Further improvements will come over time.

Scheduling and Planning

Creating a new puzzle every day is ambitious, I'll admit. It takes careful planning and organization.

• I work several weeks ahead to maintain a buffer of puzzles
• Special themes or holiday-related puns are scheduled strategically
• I try to vary difficulty levels throughout the week so there aren't any super easy or hard stretches
• User feedback helps shape my thoughts, future puzzles (but only via feedback as I don't accept pun submissions), and site features

This advance planning helps ensure there's always a fresh puzzle waiting for you each day, and keeps me from scrambling to get a new one live. Not having a new pun ready is not really an option