In the previous post, we had just isolated the infectious agent that was spreading the disease at DASH 5. Puzzle 6: Determine Transmisson Vector Threat Level: BLACK Our next stop was The French Bakery where we were given the next puzzle, which included a wooden cube with crossword-style blanks running around the edge on all six sides. And this is the poor soul who handed it to us: The clues on the puzzle page were a bit tough until we figured out the first puzzle mechanic: each answer could connect to the one before and after it using the…
Puzzles and mysteries for adventurous minds
Posts Tagged‘hunt recaps’
DASH 5 Report Part 2
My goodness, I am terribly behind in my blogging! I’ll try and keep the rest of my DASH report a bit more concise than last year since I have a lot of other things to catch up on writing about as well. The rest of these posts will contain massive spoilers (though they will be blackened out), so try to avoid them if you want to solve the puzzles on your own. In my last post, we had just found our teammates and gotten registered. GC were all dressed in hospital scrubs and lab coats, following an apparent medical theme.…
DASH 5 Report Part 1
The short story: we had a great time at DASH 5 last Saturday! The long story is the following multi-part, in-depth, ridiculously detailed report. If you don’t like hearing about (literally) what I had for breakfast on DASH day, you might just want to skip or skim these posts. =) Last year, I wrote a post every day until my DASH report was complete. This year, I still want to get them done quickly, but I can’t get to the good stuff until they’ve run DASH in London this weekend (to avoid releasing any spoilers). So for this week, I’ll…
DASH 5 Prep
I can’t believe it’s finally DASH time again! Pretty much since the moment DASH 4 was over, I’ve been ridiculously eager to play again. Not only did we have a great time last year, we also had a lot of areas where we knew we could do better and couldn’t wait to try again. I feel like my puzzler’s toolbox must have grown a lot since last year, and I even have an MIT Mystery Hunt under my belt! But I’m definitely expecting DASH to throw some new puzzle styles at me. And a lot of our flaws last year…
My First MIT Mystery Hunt – Wrap-up
Want to catch up? Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Now that my re-cap is done, how about a quick look at the things I liked, didn’t like, etc. about the Hunt? Things I particularly liked: The theme of the Hunt: COINHEIST. It seemed like the perfect theme for a Hunt! The pop culture icons were fun, and the different security systems were really creative. I also liked that the theme wasn’t really clear until the presentation after the kick-off. That added an extra layer of mystery. My team! I really couldn’t have asked to join a better…
My First MIT Mystery Hunt – Part 4
Click here for Part 3. Sunday My intention at this point in the Hunt was to ride it out and stay awake until it ended, so again I was one of the few, the proud, the people who stayed up through the night and into morning. I don’t remember much of what happened during the wee hours of the night, just chipping away at various puzzles I assume. At one point, it was just Nina and me left in the room, so we decided to join forces and tackle a fun-looking puzzle together. We chose a puzzle called Plead the…
My First MIT Mystery Hunt – Part 3
Click here for Part 2. Saturday As Friday became Saturday, players started tapping out to get some sleep and our team size dwindled. Our team website had a place to sign up for sleep shifts, hoping to keep at least 4 players awake at all times, but the division of the spreadsheet cells didn’t really lend themselves to signing up for appropriate blocks so I skipped it and figured I would just play it by ear. I had even entertained the idea of going to bed really early, like between 8:00pm and 10:00pm, and returning at 3:00am or 4:00am. Instead,…
My First MIT Mystery Hunt – Part 2
Click here for Part 1. Friday Part 2 Back at home base, we still had an hour before the puzzles would be released. We didn’t really know what to do with ourselves after we had done introductions, but luckily Todd had brought a book full of fun and simple word puzzles for us to play together. It was a great way to warm up our brains and get everyone talking and laughing. It also reminded me that there are a lot of ways to make a puzzle! I was happy to get a few of the answers right, and it…
My First MIT Mystery Hunt – Part 1
Well, I did it. I survived MIT Mystery Hunt 2013, my first Mystery Hunt! It also happened to be the longest Hunt “in recent memory,” spanning over 72 hours. The following will be a description of my experience as a brand new player, so if you’re looking for a more detailed veteran account (and if you want to hear anything at all about the metas), check out Eric Berlin’s write-up, this write-up from a member of Immoral, Illegal & Fattening, and the webcast of the wrap-up (with spoilers) courtesy of Team Death From Above. This Storify post from The Tech…
Cambridge Bound
After a nice winter break, I’m busy packing my bags to head for Cambridge, MA tomorrow for my first ever MIT Mystery Hunt! I’m really excited/nervous, not just about tackling some seriously intimidating puzzles, but also learning how to be a helpful team member with important responsibilities. I can’t wait to meet my teammates (which include people from the puzzling community that I’ve been hearing about since I started this blog) and be completely overwhelmed by the whole experience! =) I can’t make any promises, but I want to try and do some tweeting during the event, so keep an…