Lay's Advent Calendar

Advent calendar season isn't over yet—while most brands

drop theirs in October or November (looking at you,

Reese's and Bonne Maman) Lay's just entered the game

with a 12-day, potato chip-filled version of their own. Called

the "12 Days of Flavors" Countdown Calendar, it makes you

work for those snacks. Kind of.

There's a different bag of chips hiding behind each door, but

you can only unlock them by answering a series of riddles.

(Or you can just, you know, open the doors—they're cardboard.

But we're playing along here.) Some riddles are fairly obvious

("This 'mesquite-o' doesn't leave a bite..."), while others are a

bit more head-scratching ("A flavor that'll keep you warm

during the holidays" points to something spicy, for sure, but it

could be anything from Kettle-Cooked Jalepeno to Flamin'

Hot). There are even a few riddles written exclusively in emojis.

The limited-edition calendars aren't available in stores, but

Lay's is giving them away on Instagram (@lays) for free,

starting today. Just look out for the entry call on the Lay’s

InstaStory, submit a comment, and you have a shot. In other

Lay's news, the company is currently gauging public opinion

on both eggnog and gingerbread-flavored potato chips via

Instagram (so far, reactions are...mixed).

If sweet-filled advent calendars are more your thing, there are

still some options available. Bonne Maman's super popular

jam version is currently going for $59 on Amazon (up quite a

bit from its original $30 price tag) while Reese's has a month-

long calendar for $14 (getting caught up by eating two weeks'

worth of peanut butter cups is half the fun). Or, if you're a

coffee lover, you could pick up The Yawn Coffee Advent

Calendar from Yawn Coffee Co.—it comes packed with 24

different craft coffee sachets, each one containing exactly the

right amount of either ground or whole beans for one perfect

cup.