I found this all really cool. First, the idea of giving people a reason to, you know, actually buy a magazine and comb through it. Second, the idea of having J.J. Abrams guest edit and hide clues, Lost-style in the magazine. And third, that it was first solved by Steven Bevacqua, who is a postproduction supevisor for NBC’s Life.
So, as Mr. Bevacqua wrote on his blog, he spent the next several days following the hidden clues he believed he’d found, using Morse code, alternative computer keyboard layouts and even electrician’s wiring codes to solve the covert brainteasers. Finally he was directed to a hidden Web site, from which he sent an e-mail message to a secret account. A short while later he learned that he was the first Wired reader to solve an extensive hidden puzzle embedded throughout the magazine.