puzzlehack

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 About

The 2nd annual Puzzlehack contest brings back the challenge, fun, and excitement of the first Puzzlehack held at the Univerity of Illinois in 2002. Part of the ACM Reflections/Projections conference, the contest runs over a five day period from October 13th-17th. For years groups at MIT, Microsoft, and many other institutions have hosted events where groups of people solve logic and technical puzzles in an attempt to win prizes. Now UIUC has a contest of its own. For more information on similar and past contests, check out:

This contest is somewhat different from most other puzzle contests in that it is generally unregulated. While most contests have strict rules about the number of individuals on each team and deadlines for puzzle submissions, our contest has one simple rule. Solve the final puzzle, take home the grand prized. It's that easy.

In a unique twist on other puzzle contests, some of the puzzles for this contest will be published in the Daily Illini student newspaper. Unlike last year, not all puzzles will be in the DI, and by popular demand we will be releasing puzzles on-line at the same time as they are available in the DI.

The main purpose of this contest is to have fun. Some of the puzzles in this contest will be incredibly challenging, and we hope you enjoy solving them.

Teams
Team work is a central part of Puzzlehack. Though anyone can compete as an individual, puzzles often require talents from a variety of disciplines to solve. We do not regulate teams or team size in this competition. In the past teams of 3-4 have been the most efficient. If your team is too big, it will be very hard to manage. If your team is too small, you may not have enough horsepower on the last day. Choose your team and partners wisely!

Training
For those of you who have competed in a previous Puzzlehack contest or similar competition, you've probably got a good idea of what to expect from this years contest. If you have not, we'd strongly suggest that you prepare yourself by visiting similar contests and trying out a variety of puzzles. The following links will get you started:


(c) 2003 josh michaels, igor kofman - e-mail questions@puzzlehack.org