How the puzzle game ‘Puckdoku’ took the hockey world by storm this summer

Like thousands of hockey fans, Taylor Dixon completes his Puckdoku puzzle each morning with varying degrees of success.

The die-hard Vancouver Canucks fan usually nails anything related to his favourite team, but Dixon rarely achieves a perfect puzzle.

“Usually, I get seven out of nine. Or maybe eight out of nine,” says Dixon.

While those are admirable scores, there is a significant caveat that needs to be added for context. Dixon is not only a participant in the trivia game that is taking the hockey world by storm, he is also in charge of creating the puzzles each day.

“I’ll be honest, I’m not super good at my own game,” Dixon says, laughing. “I pick the categories, but it doesn’t mean I can correctly pick the players.”

Each morning, shortly after 6 a.m., Dixon makes two cups of coffee — one for his wife and one for himself — and checks the puzzle that was loaded onto the Puckdoku site at midnight Pacific Time. He makes sure there aren’t any glaring mistakes or issues that require his immediate attention. A few weeks ago, an error occurred involving the system not recognizing that Eric Brewer played 1,000 games in the NHL, causing Dixon’s inbox to be deluged with complaints about the oversight.

But once he confirms the current day’s puzzle is accurate…