LEGO Ideas 21336 The Office reference leaves fans stumped

A mysterious reference in LEGO Ideas 21336 The Office left the community stumped – until the set’s fan designer swooped in to solve the puzzle.

The latest LEGO Ideas set (at least until 21337 Table Football launches tomorrow, November 1) is jam-packed with references to its source material – over 100 in total – across its minifigures, stickers and even buildable details. While many are obvious, some are a little more subtle (and therefore easy to miss). But at least one reference in 21336 The Office had fans on reddit completely stumped.

Every one of the 15 minifigures in 21336 The Office includes at least one accessory, often alluding to particular moments in the show or specific character traits. Stanley, for instance, comes carrying a pretzel – referring to pretzel day, his favourite day of the year, in Season 3’s Initiation – and a white window element stickered with a crossword, reflecting the salesman’s penchant for puzzle-solving. 

As reddit user Bogey7319 pointed out, even that crossword contains a reference through its negative space, which clearly spells out the letters ‘DLC’. Exactly what those initials stand for isn’t immediately clear, however – leading to some wild theories being thrown around on the r/lego subreddit. The original poster reckoned it might be a hint towards future expansions to 21336 The Office, for example, as ‘DLC’ typically refers to downloadable content for a video game.

Other less serious ideas included an Office pack for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Jim Solo and Pamcess Leia, anyone?); the sticker acting as a QR code to… something; and, simply, ‘Dinosaurs Like Chocolate’. (Our favourite, if you’re asking.) Reddit user Pikes_Pompadour then suggested that it could be a reference to one of the set’s model or graphic designers, in the same way that its ‘Certificate of Authenticity’ tile above the reception area includes the initials of fan designer Jaijai Lewis.

Eventually, it was Lewis himself who confirmed that ‘DLC’ does in fact refer to the LEGO designers responsible for turning his submission into an official set: graphic designer Diego Sancho, and husband-and-wife model designer duo Laura Perron and Chris Perron.

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“Laura and Chris are also married, [and] tag-teamed this design,” Lewis wrote. “I jokingly refer to them as LEGO’s Jim and Pam. Seriously though they are super cute. All three of them are incredibly talented and kind people! I loved when Diego snuck that reference in.”

Click here for five more references you may have missed in 21336 The Office, and head here to check out our detailed review of the latest LEGO Ideas set. It’s available to purchase from LEGO.com now (when not on back order or out of stock – your mileage may vary).

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