#puzzle hunts

[renewherself]

Microsoft Puzzlehunt 24

Submit License Applications (Remote) - Suffered through the first half of this puzzle solo

Review Liftoff - Effectively solo-solved after teammates got stuck and then abandoned the puzzle

Examine Nuts & Bolts - Solved most of the puzzle - Figured out the answers to the bolt clues - Figured out the gimmick for the light nuts and the final extraction

Initialize IP Addresses - Figured out the final extraction

Calibrate Celestial Coupler - Filled out the crossword - Figured out that the Cs in the crossword needed to be connected to the seas marked on the map of the moon, and the numbers the lines intersect were indices

Re-treat Micro Cables (Remote) - Solo-solved

Find Zero Crosspoints - Solved cryptic crossword clues, including: + "Tally Dracula for one" = COUNT + "Villain I abandoned before now" = AGO + "Early sketch of a medic at the back of a ship" = DRAFT

Prime Flex Capacitors - Helped solve some of the capacitors

Align Planetary Gears - Pieced together and solved the clues: + "Rock Instrument" = GUITAR + "Volleyball Defender" = LIBERO + "Ear Infection" = OTITIS - Figured out the final answer from the cluephrase "BASE THREE SPOCK SPECIALTY"

Monitor Audio Recordings - Solved the audio clues for: + POP GUN + GONG WITH THE WIND + JURASSIC BARK + FIDDLER ON THE HOOF - Extracted the final answer

Clear Circuit Board - Figured out how to extract the cluephrase "ORDER TRAINS YPBPRGBYGR" - Figured out how to extract the second part of the answer using the trains and Wingspan tokens after unlocking a hint.

[mtcenarius]

Already 1 month away from MITMH 2025

I've booked the hotel and flights already, just training hard for the event.

TTBNL plans to finish but not win. Come on, we wrote 237 puzzles for our event, give us a break :p

[thethinkingaurora]

I was going to sign up for the MIT Puzzle hunt this year but now I kinda don’t want to because all I would do is be a drag, I don’t think I’d actually be able to do anything useful for whatever team is unlucky enough to be stuck with me

[gaypapercuts]

What puzzlehunts did you do this year? Any favorites?

I’ve done quite a few this year! In order-ish:

Bloomberg summer of puzzles: I liked the idea of a lot of these puzzles, but it definitely felt like the writers had “it’s too easy! Add an extra layer on!” moments on a couple of them, where a puzzle would be really clean and then there would be something that didn’t exactly feel natural.

What’s the point? probably had my fav concept, but decoding into gibberish is risky (especially when the characters needed for it weren’t on the provided code sheet for that code)

Puzzle University: I’ve been somewhat following along with cypherhouse’s solve of this—doing the puzzles I can on my own and then watching his solves of the others. Some really cool ones here! English’s two-answer mechanic was neat and the ‘across the pond’ puzzle especially fit this well.  Perhaps recency bias, but I’m really enjoying the sociology round—love the Octopus’s chumblr page!

@welcomeinitiate: Unfortunately this one started during Bloomberg / work busy season, so I had limited time to solve. Finally decoded the video right before galactic but didn’t make any additional progress. I’m not sure if it has been solved yet or not – I left off with something v similar to the WAC wifi password but no idea where I should use it  – would be cool to see a solution if it’s over

Galactic: We got really far this year (34/39). The card gimmick took a little bit to get used to as someone who doesn’t play deckbuilder games, but there were some interesting card puzzles in there (Coloring was the standout for me, even if the saddle mountain thing was bullshit imo)

The standard puzzles were definitely easier than prior years, but all really clean with fun A-ha moments. Beige Flags was probably my fav here. The fact that there's a highway with a 26 lane stretch also greatly stresses me out.

Huntinality III: Will likely be doing this. Did not realize until tonight that it started on Friday! I’m going to put on my clown makeup and say that I think it’ll have a little red riding hood theme for absolutely no reason but pure vibes

What were your fav puzzles from the year, anon? Feel free to drop me a message—I want more puzzle friends!

[lunar-solarsystem]

so i have an explanation

so i was talking with a friend, i showed them a draft for something about Lose Clarity and they caught me accidentally saying “Puzzle’s” somewhere rather than just “Puzzle”

so now i have a joke branch off for my own AU

this shall now be known as the Puzzle Pieces branch-off :3

it’s literally just a whole bunch of tiny Puzzles

they multiply :)

[fantasticgothicpeachsludge]

Sometimes I think about Cal being an explorer/archaeologist for the Order if it had never fallen and I cry

[to-be-a-dreamer]

As a fellow "obsessed with spy ciphers as a child" girlie (gender neutral) thank you to Siobhan Thompson for making me feel deeply seen I would also like to be handed a coded message that I could silently solve while a whole entire conversation happens around me

[dreamrefuge]

Oddly enough, I was never a big fan of Zelda games (even being a big fan of Nintendo)... But given my Genshin gameplays in the past, I began to give Zelda a chance. And, that's it! Now I'm happy playing this awesome game ₍ᐢ> ̫<ᐢ₎

Now that I was converted (ᵕ ´ᗜ`), is there anyone who doesn't like this masterpiece?

[hplonesomeart]

Let me know if I should upload this officially to my YouTube or not lol. Felt like doing a little animated skit about what would happen if my previous comfort character (The Snatcher btw) caught me fixating on Mr. Puzzles (my current source of joy and comfort obviously). I think this is how the conversation would go. Took three days to complete! :3

Audio borrowed/taken from Doobus Goobus YouTube channel—the “Harley & Ivy are Great ‘Friends’” original video can be found here!

[niranutcake]

Roleplaying is... actually so much fun?? First Mr Puzzles and now Maison Talo...

I never knew it could be so good before!

Like, I've never roleplayed. Ever. I only heard about it from ppl and the internet and vaguely knew the concept, but actually never participated in one before. That was until a couple of months ago. I got invited to roleplay with Mr Puzzles in a specific RP community for various characters, and it blew my mind! I didn't know it was that fun! Bc I've never roleplayed, I didn't know if what I was doing and how I was replying was correct, but the person answering for Mr Puzzles didn't say anything discouraging, so I think we're good, haha! 😄

Anyways, now I rp-ed with Maison Talo (another new totally-not-dangerous charming old man for me to simp over lol) and it was awesome! 😆

I feel inspired to do something, maybe even translate the RP dialogue so it would become some sort of fanfiction (??) (for anyone interested - leave a '🏠' in the comments)

As for Mr Puzzles... Well... I have something else cooking in store~ 😏🤭

[herewithinthevoid]

only Sleep Token could have me feeling like this on a random fuckass friday imma crash out 𖹭

[renewherself]

Huntingale

BREAKING NEWS! - Figured out the aha of the puzzle being about bowling splits.

Cassette Remix - Painfully solo-solved

Marked Gingers - Solo-solved

Hunting Ale - Had the aha of the puzzle being about previous Puzzled Pints

[wishgraanted]

Developing LAA and it's plot has been super fun; I am back to working on another Encore chapter, but college is started and I've gotta learn to rebalance everything around it.

I figured I would share some concepts of Click Clack/Toby for the Lifetime Achievement AU, and share some thoughts about it specifically for here!

CW for body horror. You know the drill. No blood!

First and Foremost, the rule again stands that Toby cannot kiss Thespius Alive. To rectify this, I immediately killed him. Now what?

Well, without getting too far into spoilers, both Thespius and Cobigail have to work together. It's a frantic, stressful time. She's working hard, cobbling together the best she can from margins and old notes. She has to go out to find the pieces of what she needs...all for a ritual.

Thespius is doing what he can to support and help her...but he is NOT ready for any of the messy stuff that comes with such a thing. His contributions are more Flora than Fauna.

In the meantime, Click is kinda just chilling in the freezer. They had to put him Somewhere, after all.

The result I've come up with, alongside @scribblelimbo (Thank you SOOOO much for your help and ideas) was this:

Where Time Will Tell Click Clack deals with Bones in a sense of "rebuilding yourself into someone new", LAA Click is definitely "using the spare pieces to bring back something broken"

Think of the forest; petrified wood, old bones, weeds and cattails, the moss and earth, and that is what you get. The only things Cobi could manage to pull together with her broken knowledge of such things.

As it was lovingly put by my dearest collaborator: " Cobigail adds everything practical. Thespius adds all the fluff."

It's not perfect, once complete. Toby couldn't keep all of their human organs; they'd been dead too long by the point Cobi and Thes gathered everything. He chills easily, and he's quick to stalk and eat small critters when he's peckish...but the pros far outweigh the cons. Being "alive" is certainly better than being dead.

....and being able to kiss the dead hippie guy helps too.

[beatrixacs]

And my The Witcher puzzle project is done 🧩🐺⚔️😊

[sometimesanequine]

a horf based on your favorite game! :D

big fan of neko atsume, im not really a gamer if i want to play a game its either some sort of mind game (puzzle/learning/building up physical skills) or i go pace around until i dont want to play anymore

but neko atsume is a staple along side pocket frogs, have nearly every added item on neko atsume2 rn, this includes remodels and wallpapers 😔👍 cant really capture neko atsume in a horse but i tried

[eyeswaitingfortuesdaynight]

putting this under a cut because this has major plot spoilers for blue prince (and probably puzzle spoilers too) bUT THIS IS EATING MY BRAIN I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT I TALK SOOOO MUCH ABOUT IT

i keep running the effigy part of the ascension cutscene through my head over and over. the scepter and the crown flashbacks make sense in context but why that choice for the effigy?

crown = authority, recognition of your title, cut scene is of the heist of it at the closed exhibit which showcases the crown's importance to public perception - the ruling family of fenn aries specifically changed the crown to red and kept it only available for the nobles, and when mary stole it, she specifically changed it to blue to give to her son, who would have been the crown prince in another timeline

scepter = power, historical precedent and ceremony and tradition, cutscene of the miners finding it in the buried castle is meant to invoke how the long history of orinda aries was buried - but it was unearthed in the same way the truth is during the game

effigy = divinity, magic of the ancestors and old gods, cutscene is the kid (jesper) from the black bridge fable immediately after being cursed and killing the not coachman

i keep thinking why the effigy and why this cutscene? why is the effigy just as important as the crown and the scepter for simon's ascension? for the magic of the throne's blackprint to recognize him after at least a century of disuse (even if we assume mary or maybe herbert tinkered with the magic in it) and turn it blue? what is the symbolism here?

the other phrases from mary's voiceover feel self explanatory, but 'deadly is the stone'.....i feel like this particular phrase is in direct reference to the gods and magic of the ancestors and eraja. it's basically a mechanic of the game that if you give generously, these gods will reward you, and if you steal or cross them in some way, you are cursed.

if it's specfically about the consequences of your actions...the effigy is obviously meant to represent the divine right to rule that monarchs have. and in the world of mora, that's real. magic is real. the gods are real.

but instead of focusing on that, the cutscene related to it is the story of the curse of black bridge, specifically the scene right after jesper gets cursed and kills the not coachman in retaliation. the story is about the greed and cruelty of the unholy hounds, and how the cursed effigy first leads jesper to his death, and then all the other unholy hounds.

why is this scene shown? i think it has to do with how fenn aries was formed in the first place. like, the nobles of fenn didn't HAVE to plan and execute a rebellion in the first place. nobody was forcing them to start a civil war literally the day after king desilets iii died

jesper didn't have to steal the effigy and kill the coachman, but he did and he died for it, taking the rest of the unholy hounds with him. leerson didn't have to plan a rebellion and declare himself a monarch, but he did and he died before ever getting near the throne, and got 1/3(!!!!!!) of the men in the country killed in the ensuing civil war. there's also an argument to be made that leerson possibly killed the old king for his objectives, the same way jesper killed the not coachman - leerson seemed way too ready to start a fight for the throne.

i'm also thinking of how the censorship in the 2nd edition of the history of orindia really shows fenn aries' priorities and could be another reason why the effigy is used for ascension. orinda aries existed uhhh maybe 100-120 years ago from the time of the game iirc? not extremely long ago, but the government is still doing its level best to erase any trace of it from existence, including trying to kill off the rest of the old royal family that fled south to eraja - i definitely remember reading smething about fenn aries demanding eraja stop sheltering the exiled former royal family well after the civil war ended, that might have been in a newspaper? interestingly, the censorship also erases mentions of the ancestors and their magic in relation to eraja.

the worship of the ajeran angels don't seem to be an issue or to be censored, but they feel different from the effigy and the shrine. maybe related religious practices but not the same. i get the sense that the ajeran angels are widely worshipped in fenn aries, but the government is actively surpressing the worship of the old gods - which feels stupid since we've established gods are real in this world.

it feels like it's more of an extension of the government's fanatic need to try and erase orinda aries everywhere rather than specifically targeting these gods (this seems incredibly stupid to do especially with how vindictive these particular gods are BUT ANTWAY) the royal family of orinda aries is legitimized by their artifacts of power (like the orindian crown fenn took and made their own), their long history (which fenn aries' government is trying to bury), and their divine right to rule (which again fenn aries' government is trying to bury).

there's not much i can gather from the game about the current royal family of fenn aries, other than them being all for burying mary's disapperance and theft, but it feels like their authoritarian behaviour is escalating. the information in the final exam is something that would have 100% in simon's time been censored if we compare with what's available in the 2nd edition of the history of orindia. so either the classroms were specially made for simon to learn from...or, like the bunk beds or some of the other bedrooms, it's simply an older drafting room that was preserved and not updated, which would make them at least 30 yo. i'm leaning the latter tbh.

there's also this undercurrent that NO ONE shown or mentioned in the game is happy with the current fenn aries government (including the fucking BLACKMAILER) and that leads to ripe circumstances where simon could potentially seize the throne once there's an opening in the same way leerson did. which would fit with the effigy's way of paying someone back in turn and would be delightfully ironic. 'deadly is the stone' indeed.