Galactic Puzzle Hunt 2022

Galactic Puzzle Hunt 2022, titled The Exam, was the fifth iteration of the Galactic Puzzle Hunt, run by ✈✈✈ Galactic Trendsetters ✈✈✈. The puzzle hunt featured four rounds, with all of the rounds after the first instead happening on the Galactic Puzzle Hunt 2021 website. The general mechanism of the hunt was time loops, and various puzzles and rounds in the hunt interacted with this mechanic in various ways. 889 teams registered, and a record of 684 teams having solved at least one puzzle. A total of 79 teams solved The Cube (the endgame puzzle) and finished the hunt.

Plot
Teams started by taking an exam, which was advertised as about ten questions to be completed in an hour. However, upon completing the exam, teams are sent back to the beginning of the hunt, suggesting that something was amiss. Eventually, by finding alternate answers, teams were able to find the "real" answer to the intro round, taking them back to the 2021 Galactic Puzzle Hunt, an alternate universe imperiled by an incoming asteroid. A timer signifies the amount of time left before the alternate universe is destroyed by the universe, and the time loop must be started again by redoing the 2022 site. Teams are tasked to try to deal with this asteroid in the subsequent rounds, at varying degrees of urgency, and finding a device upon completion of each round. Finally, after finding all three devices, teams are able to address the asteroid, which is solved with a "WHACK TO THE FUTURE".

Structure
The hunt is divided into four main rounds. Most of the rounds have a signature mechanism that uniquely distinguishes them and affects the puzzles or unlock structure.

The Exam (Intro Round)

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Forward

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Hibernating and Flying South

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World's End Concert

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Endgame

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