While Swifties Freak Out About Taylor Swift's Cryptic Tortured Poets Department Promo, I Couldn't Agree More With The Fan Who Compared Her To 'The Riddler'

It’s The Tortured Poets Department release week, and the clowns are clowning, the girlies are theorizing, and the Swifties all around are freaking out, understandably. Whenever Taylor Swift has an upcoming release, typically she’s heavily promoting it. However, with TTPD she hasn’t said much about it with the exception of the variant announcements. So, now that she’s been cryptically doing promo for the album, her fans are losing it. And as I see more and more of it, I can’t help but think about one fan who compared her to The Riddler. 

For context, yesterday, Swifties lost their collective minds when a QR-code mural made out of TTPDs and 13s appeared in Chicago. As it was being painted, fans were trying to figure out what it was. However, @spencerbarrett took to X to make it known that this is some Batman-villain-level scheming as they posted:

I want to be very clear, this is a compliment in my eyes. Whenever I see a Riddler performance, I’m always excited to see what puzzles he has planned to take down Batman, and I love his campy style. Honestly, I also think you could assign each version of the big bad to Taylor Swift's eras. For example, Paul Dano's Riddler is giving Reputation energy if you ask me. 

Overall, like this legendary The Riddler, Swift tends to roll out her albums in a cryptic and extra way that always leaves her fans spiraling. 

We saw it happen when she dropped TTPD playlists with brutal song selection, and the various variants for Swift’s eleventh album have also caused many theories and questions. Now, this QR code, which goes to a broken site at the moment, is leaving the pop star’s followers in a tizzy, and they posted reactions like this one:

Also, as the painting was going up, many Swifties lost it on socials, posting things like:

• OMG KEEP UPDATING BESTIE SO I CAN SCAN IT -@isaactheswiftie
• please someone take one for the team and scan it when it’s done -@cindyisbejewld
• Watch it be a link to her store 🤡🤡 -@shakingoffmyrep
• random qr codes, a mysterious youtube short, a 321 countdown. i get a rush every time taylor swift gets Cryptic like this. we are so back! -@karmasbfs

Basically, all these cryptic riddles from Swift are causing so many questions about TTPD, and it’s leaving Swifties discombobulated. Overall, I think this tweet describes the general vibe surrounding these Batman villain-level puzzle promos:

Presumably, The Tortured Poets Department will feature tracks about Swift’s breakup with Joe Alwyn. Swifties have already been brutal about him, and they really want to see if the pop star opens up about that relationship on her album. So, that’s only adding fuel to the theorizing flame.

Now, with these Riddler-level clues popping up just days away from the album’s April 19 release, the Swifties are freaking out. I can’t say I blame them. However, should we be surprised? She did tell us she’s a “Mastermind.”