I can't join LW folks, because I'm already the co-lead of a different team (this year we are called 404 Rage Not Found), but I want to strongly endorse the MIT Mystery Hunt as an activity. For people who aren't familiar with it, you should check it out.
I am closing the discord link so it will no longer work. Let me know if you still want to join.
I'm planning to participate, if I can find some folks to work together in person!
I'm in Redwood City.
Teacher's password will be participating in the 2022 MIT Mystery Hunt!
What is the MIT Mystery Hunt?
The MIT Mystery Hunt is a puzzle-solving competition, in which teams race to solve a series of puzzles without instructions. Here is a quote by Mike Develin about puzzle hunts in general:
Imagine a word search.
Now imagine you aren’t told what words to look for.
Now imagine you aren’t told it’s a word search.
Now imagine it isn’t a word search.
You can learn more about puzzle hunts here, or the MIT Mystery Hunt here.
When is the MIT Mystery Hunt?
The Mystery Hunt is from 9AM PT on Friday, January 14, 2022 to 9AM PT on Monday, January 17, 2022 (MLK Jr. Day weekend). Depending on how many people sign up, (and where they are) we might be solving puzzles for that entire 72 hours. You can log on and work on puzzles however much you like.
Where is the MIT Mystery Hunt?
Usually, the mystery hunt is on MIT campus, but this year, it is entirely remote. We will be using three main tools to collaborate: Discord, Gather Town, and Google Docs. It seems likely that there should be a Berkeley in-person group. Let me know if you want to take responsibility for that.
What is Teacher's Password?
Teacher's Password is the name of LessWrong's Mystery Hunt team. The team is open to anyone on LessWrong, and friends of anyone on LessWrong, including people who are new to puzzle hunts. Our team emoji is 📎. We are not going to win.
How do I know if I will like the Mystery Hunt?
We will be casually doing the starrats mini practice hunt starting 9AM PT on Tuesday, December 14, 2021. (This is the official prologue to the 2022 MIT Mystery Hunt.) I don't know how long the mini hunt will take, but I suspect we will still be working on it for more than a day.
How do I Sign Up?
Join the discord. (This is a different discord from last year.) Just joining the discord is sufficient for signing up, and I will remove the discord link before the hunt starts.
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