A puzzle hunt consists of a number of individual puzzles, all joined together into an overarching whole in some way. The players work together on teams to solve the puzzles, eventually finishing the hunt by getting a final answer or performing a final task.
Indeed they are not. Puzzles are generally constructed in the following way. You are given some information, explicitly and/or in some confusing form. Generally what you are given explicitly is not enough to tell you what you need to do to solve the puzzle, but will hint at the ideas necessary to solve it. You will be helped in your puzzling venture if you can decipher these oblique references and find patterns in the information you are given.
In order to solve a puzzle, you generally need to follow one or more steps, which involve doing something with the information you are given or with the results of previous steps. The patterns and clues in the puzzle will (if you are clever) guide you in discovering what you need to do to proceed.
When you have solved a puzzle, you will have some word, phrase, acronym, or name that is the "answer" to that puzzle. To verify that you have correctly finished the puzzle, you will be able to call us with your answer and ask if it is correct.
There will be in the neighborhood of 25 puzzles for this hunt. Rather than receive them one at a time (which leads to getting stuck on a single puzzle) or all at once (which can be somewhat overwhelming), the puzzles will be released in several batches, consisting of a number of puzzles, plus a "metapuzzle" for that batch. You will get the next batch when either (a) your team solves the metapuzzle for the current batch, or (b) a certain predetermined time is reached. This allows people who solve faster to get ahead, while still permitting every team to see all of the puzzles.
A metapuzzle is a puzzle where some of the required information is contained in the answers to the previous puzzles. This means that the more puzzles you have solved, the easier the metapuzzle is; generally a metapuzzle is nearly impossible if you have not solved a majority of the puzzles whose answers it relies on, but is solvable (if more difficult) if you are only missing a couple of those answers.
This is correct. It is entirely possible to win the hunt without solving all of the puzzles. In fact, we would not be surprised if the winning team did not solve all the puzzles. So definitely don't give up if you get stuck on a couple of puzzles.
The date of the puzzle hunt is Saturday, April 19, 2008. The Hunt will begin at approximately 10 AM Pacific time (1 PM Eastern).
We anticipate the hunt lasting around 10 hours. If it turns out to be easier than we expect and several teams finish early, we may end it somewhat earlier; if it turns out to be harder, then we may end it later.
We recommend that each team have 6-10 people. We won't be enforcing a minimum number (so if you want to have a 2-person team, feel free, though you'll be at a big disadvantage), and the maximum will only be loosely enforced: if you have to have 11 people on your team, we won't stop you, but 15-person teams are definitely out. This may sound like a large number, considering that last fall teams were only 4-6 people, but keep in mind that this time you will have several puzzles available at once, so different people can work on different puzzles.
Pretty much anyone can participate. The only hard-and-fast requirement is that every team must include at least one current Harvey Mudd or Rose-Hulman student or faculty member. Alumni, friends, and (in Claremont) students at the other Claremont colleges are welcome to be on teams. Also, we'd like everyone participating to be present on one of the campuses during the hunt.
See the sign-up info page for information on how to sign up.
Some (though certainly not all) of the puzzles will be much more difficult if you do not have internet access, so it is a good idea for each team to have a computer easily accessible. You won't need the computer to be mobile, however, since you won't need to be travelling around campus to get to the various puzzles. A desktop (or even just using a computer in a computer lab) will be fine.