I helped write and run HRSFA's puzzle hunt, which just finished a few hours ago. All three teams completed the hunt successfully, the first in roughly the predicted amount of time. I co-wrote the runaround, which the first team team took forever and a day on (still beating out all the other teams), and everyone else zipped through in thirty minutes. I also wrote two of the eight main puzzles. Actually, I wrote four, but one got lost (it involved physical objects), so it was never test-solved, and one was cut before it was even edited due to lack of space.
I promise
these two are much easier and more elegant than the last puzzle I posted.
I liked most of the other puzzles (that I saw -- I still have yet to look at
occultatio's) as well --
dumble's Facebook puzzle was cute, Shmike's looked like it was even harder to construct than mine, and
ophblekuwufu's used a piece of one of the other puzzle ideas I was thinking of.
September 17 2005, 13:27:23 UTC 6 years ago
September 17 2005, 15:56:34 UTC 6 years ago
September 17 2005, 16:56:24 UTC 6 years ago
Next year, you might want to ask more alumni to write, if that helps.
September 17 2005, 23:53:44 UTC 6 years ago
September 21 2005, 13:49:55 UTC 6 years ago
September 21 2005, 16:45:40 UTC 6 years ago
The typical solution is a word or short phrase. Here's last year's MIT mystery hunt. My puzzles are probably easier than most Mystery Hunt puzzles. But if you want to see a relatively easy example from the mystery hunt, try Girls, Girls, Girls. Like many mystery hunt puzzles, there's a phase where you determine the answers to clues, and a phase where you figure out what to do with the answers. Sometimes, puzzles tell you what to do. Sometimes, they even tell you how to do it. Sometimes puzzles require knowledge. Sometimes, they require clever googling.