Major Contributions to MSPH 123, Plus Photos

I had meant to write up about my experiences playtesting Microsoft Puzzlehunt 123 a while ago, and eventually post some pictures (eventually, being now). I had gotten started, when my three year-old daughter snuck on to the computer and managed to publish only the whiny parts and none of the "I had so much fun!" parts (since I tend to analyze my mistakes or shortcomings before my accomplishments). I've made no effort to revisit that topic or include moments like:

Making sure the white flashes of the Jeopardy squares where random

The joy of finally solving Pink's Hot Dogs

Holding up a colored-in Honeycomb for everyone to take wild stabs at identifying

Dying every single time I played Hunt the Wumpus, without ever once killing the beast.

Larry solving Crown Royal in ten minutes after Dunn and I had worked on for a hour or so (I found out later from him that he built on our work, but at the time it looked as though he was able to bypass it completely)

Being ten seconds away from diving into Rich's pool if that invisible plastic thing slipped away one more damned time

The frustration of trying to solve Triple Sec back when all the clues were scrambled, not just the second and third layers.

My only contribution to the Daily Doubles ("The Princess Brine!")

The interesting and completely incorrect monster I constructed for the Lego puzzle

Attempting my first duck conundrum with Rich, a half-naked Chris, and Ed (hopefully got those names right) and some... interesting props.

Brainstorming supervillian occupations for Bad Boys with the team, though it took two more days and an extra large "What bloody path?" hint to solve.

Finally solving Time Corpse the day after the playtest, while on a dinner date with my wife, and the bemused look I received from her.

All that's past, but Larry's recent notes spurred me on to write, despite not having yet finished the BATH 4 story.

My main, important, exciting, without-which-it-couldn't-have-happened contribution to helping out at GC at Stanford was... providing the chess pieces for Terminal Jeopardy. Yep, hunt definitely would have been ruined without me.

Okay, okay, I did actually help out a little:

Set up Gmail Notifier to beep as loudly as possible whenever GC got email from teams, as it was a rare thing for the first 18 hours or so

Was one of the four or five people fighting for the chance to reply whenever said email did come

Tried to give the Terminal Jeopardy a little more of a dramatic effect by placing the globular structure in a vase, lit from below with my headlamp and turning off as many lights as I could

Here's a list of other things I was able to do while staffing, due to GC's impressive orginization and preperaredness, as well as that amazing admin app:

jam on Guitar Hero 2 with Matt, Simon, and Josh. I was even allowed to torture the people there with my vocal rendition of "More than a Feeling" and "The Middle" ("'The Middle'? What song is that?" "Don't worry, you'll recognize it." [song plays] "Oh yeah.")
- keep track of how Team 196 (Jonathan) and Judean People's Front (Eric and Given) were doing in relation to each other

provide miniature pool table entertainment

create the Smoking GNU website in preparation for announcing BANG 22

blog about BATH 4

So, it'd be easy to say that there would have been no problem if I had stayed home for the weekend, but really, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Public Speaking at MSPH

I think I was able to prove at the Stanford wrapup of Microsoft Puzzle Hunt 12 that I am not well-suited for orating to the general population. The best my wife — who had watched the webcast — could say was, "Well, I'll give you points for conciseness."

My conscious mind doesn't have a problem getting up in front of people and talking. But for some reason, a ton of adrenaline gets dumped into my system regardless, clouds my thoughts and I lose whatever tenuous grip I have on motor control. Usually, the "mind over matter" approach works for me; I use it to overcome motion sickness for example. But it hasn't worked for public speaking. Practice practice practice is the other method I've tried, but in taking speech classes I seem to have gotten worse, instead of better.

Amusingly enough, the worst public speaking performance I ever gave was when I only had two words to utter...

A Taste of the Hunt and the Coming Simulcast

Yesterday, I got a call from Jonathan. His flight out of Boston had been canceled due to snow, so he was solving some more with Silly Hat Brigade. One puzzle had been bugging him, so he asked me to take a look at it. It was kind of up my alley, having read Hitchhiker's or listened to the radio show about once a year since I discovered it in the 8th grade. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to contribute much (it's kind of hard to solve at home when every few minutes there's a "Daddy, can I...?" or a "Honey, will you...?"), but I did fill in a few holes for them. And the addictive electric tingle I got from doing just that much showed me how much I missed it.

My next taste may actually be coming really soon. With the GNU divided over the Microsoft Puzzle Hunt (Jonathan's going to Redmond, Eric's putting together his own team), Given and I have not yet found another team to play on. This means that we may — assuming there's still room — end up doing the playtest. Which is this coming weekend.

Bringing MSPH 12: Jeopardy! to the Bay Area?

The only thing better than hearing the announcement for the next Microsoft Puzzle Hunt (Feb 28/Mar 1), is finding out that there is a conspiracy fronted by Rich Bragg to simulcast the event here in the Bay Area. This is awesome news, since as much as I'd want to participate in Jeopardy! at Redmond, airfare to Seattle is not in our budget right now (it might be later in 2009 should any other Seattle events appear). Hopefully, there are plenty of other Bay Area people who would want to be in on this as well, enough to make it a reality.

Upcoming Puzzle Events

Today - Trogday: Trogdor turns five.

January 18 - MIT Mystery Hunt: Jonathan's flying out to Boston and joining the Silly Hat Brigade, the captain of which, oddly enough, went to the SRJC with us. Sure, he was eight at the time, but maybe he'll remember.

February 3 - Superbowl XLII: Hosting a surprise mini-puzzle hunt for friends. Something to do between commercials. And if any of them happen to read this, I'll deny everything.

February 9-10 - Iron Puzzler 2008: Tempting, but considering our abysmal showing at the last one, I think we'll pass and leave the slot open for other team.

February 23 - Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt: In the midst of putting a team together. I've been told it won't be as challenging as a puzzle hunt, but it'll be a fun life event anyway.

[Date Unknown] - Microsoft Puzzle Hunt 12: I doubt I'll be going up to Seattle for Cracking Good Toast's hunt, but other GNUs may. Perhaps I can remote solve for Second Breakfast.

[Date Unknown] - BANG 18: The Unibangers are planning on hosting the next BANG. I'm sure we'll be there!

[Date Unknown] - Googol Puzzle Hunt II? - The organizers of the Googol Conglomerate had hoped that it would become an annual event and that the winners (Phobos-Grunt) would host the next one. I have no hints or indications that this will happen, but I can hope, can't I?

Understanding the Point

On Saturday, I was travelling down to Berkeley and gazed out across the bay at San Francisco. As I saw one of the more obvious landmarks of the City, it suddenly hit me: I now understand why the Transamerica Pyramid and the Washington Monument were used in a visual depiction of GPS coordinates.

MSPH 11.0 - Pics and Vids

After upgrading my Gallery2 server, I was finally have the capacity to embed videos. With that, the pictures and videos I took at Microsoft Puzzle Hunt 11.0 are now up.

MSPH 11.0 Opening Video

Here's a video I took of part of the opening ceremony for Microsoft Puzzle Hunt 11.0. My apologies for the shakiness... I blame the epilepsy.

MSPH Update: 13th Place?

I got an email from Randy last night that our team, 196, had been bumped down a few places, to 13th. I'm assuming that that is still based on time since a few teams apparently took on OUTERMAGE without GC noticing until the wrapup, where they promised to update standings. Considering we were in first for so long, it's pretty disappointing to be kicked out of the top ten.

I have to assume, though, that our point ranking remains the same, leaving us in 7th. And since that's how teams were ranked the entire game (and maybe a little because it makes my ego happy), I think that's the ranking I prefer.

MSPH 11.0 Initial Assesment

MSPH 11.0 is finished. The team Jonathan and I joined, 196 (don't ask, only two team members truly understand the reason for the odd team name, and nobody understands when they explain anyway), placed 7th or 10th depending on whether you find total points or finish order more important. We were even in first place for a time, which was both surprising and exciting. Additionally, it was the first time 196 has completed a MSPH and we were glad to be a part of that! I want to personally thank them for having the faith and courage to give us spots on their team and for being such great people to puzzle with.

I also want to thank SCRuBBers for hosting. It is a dedicated person who is willing to give up a portion of their life and dedicate it, with their teammates, to creating complex and devious ways of hiding information for other people to try and break through, for no real profit of their own. I always think they are worthy of praise and thanks, and I wish to extend both profusely to SCRuBBers for their hard work and dedication. MSPH 11.0 was fun, challenging, and a great event to have had the chance to participate in.

There were puzzles good and bad, experiences fun and frustrating, and ideas unique and silly. Those, though, I plan on sharing in my write-up and here at 33,000 feet seems as good a place as any to get started. See ya on the other side!

From Tahoe to Redmond

Just recently got back from our vacation up at Lake Tahoe and tonight I'm flying up to Seattle for Microsoft Puzzle Hunt. Two odd requirements for the game: A rubber duck and MS Silverlight, which up until now, I'd never heard of. One nice thing is that MS is trying to make it as cross-browser compatible as possible, even to the extent of working with Opera developers (MSN and Opera have had some big problems in the past).

I'm taking my trusty blacklight flashlight again. However, since Terrence said it might have been useful for 10, I doubt it'll be used in 11.0. Not bringing much else, though. I'll have to buy my baby carrots when I get there...

One a side note, while up at Tahoe I had some time to clean up my hard drive a bit and came across two crossnumber puzzles I'd written back in 2002 (I've been writing puzzles as far back as 2001). I'm looking for some good web-based interface to put them online, so people can laugh at and/or enjoy them.

Puzzle Hunt Porn

Who would have ever guessed that puzzlehunt.com would redirect to shaggle.com, a front for Adult Friend Finder and pretty NSFW? Kind of a waste of a good domain name.

Those are the difficulties you run into when browsers outside your network attempt to interpret intranet addresses. Luckily, my wife thought it was funny. :)

One more for Microsoft Puzzle Hunt 11.0?

The good news is that of the three people on The Smoking GNU who are interested in participating in the quickly upcoming puzzle hunt in Redmond, two have found a team. Some basic math will tell you that Given is still looking for a team.

I guess I'll head over to the forums and post something for him.

Anybody in need of players for Microsoft Puzzle Hunt 11?

Anyone? Anyone?

Some of The Smoking GNU's players (including me) are seeking to join a team (or teams if need be) in Redmond on October 6-7.

And yes, we should be posting to Seattle GC's forum shortly :)

Bees & Beavers vs. Shinteki Decathlon

That's right, I'm really busy. Yet, I'm taking time out from writing a puzzle for a good friend and former roommate's wedding and trying to finalize puzzles for a friends and family puzzlehunt and get prototypes ready in time for the playtest to say...

We got 4th!

Well, I say "we" much in the same way that a team fan says "We won!" at a football game: I played no part in The Smoking GNU's placement in Shinteki Decathlon III, Week 2.

I got the report from Jonathan yesterday. He said they had a great time, but are a little disappointed with their 4th place finish for two reasons: a) It's the same placing they got last year; and b) They were in the lead for much of the game. Apparently, they ran into trouble on the ninth clue, when they didn't spot a vital part of information on the back of the DVD box. This cost them about a half hour and perhaps 45 points. If they had seen that, it's possible they might have ended up in third, or even second place. That "missing a vital part of the clue" problem happens to our team too often... kind of like the Raiders always seeming to fumble the ball during a comeback drive.

I asked about the laser game clue because it sounded neat based on Ian's description, and apparently like some other teams, they found the puzzle easier to solve without the game. He really enjoyed the Livecube puzzle, which is indeed what I was refering to in my earlier post and was one of the clues I staffed the previous weekend. They never made it to see Leon the Giraffe at the tenth clue (another one that I staffed a week ago; it was amusing how most teams asked Ian and I if we were Leon), since they figured that the half-hour or so that they had left wouldn't put much of a dent in any puzzle labeled "Endurance"; instead, they concentrated their remaining time on solving bonuses.

The somewhat sad thing is that this may be the last time Jonathan (our team captain) comes up for a puzzle event this year. Living in Southern California means that he flies in for each event, which is fine if it's long enough (i.e. longer than half a day). But if a BANG or, if we're lucky, two is held by the end of the year, he'll probably be up for neither. Which would just leave me and Given...

The next event that three of us may be able to participate in together is the Microsoft Puzzle Hunt, which is apparently happening October 6-7. One of the difficulties, of course, is that none of us know any Microsoft employees (well, we met Terrance while playing for Second Breakfast, but I think he's part of the hosting team), and unless I start selling body parts, I wouldn't be able to afford the trip anyway.