EC Puzzle Hunt

(Redirected from EC Puzzle Hunt 2022)
EC Puzzle Hunt
Echunttitle.png
The Exploring the Countryside logo, in full color
Running Teamr/PictureGame
No. of Registered Teams384
Winning Teamአ ETHIOPIC CAMPFIRE
No. of Rounds2
No. of Puzzles (Feeders and Metas)26
Timeframe and Location
LocationOnline
Start Time2022-10-08 12:00 EDT
Finishing Time (Winning Team)2022-10-08 22:52 EDT
Official End Time2022-10-17 00:00 EDT
Links
Hunt LinkLink
Wrapup LinkLink

EC Puzzle Hunt, titled Exploring the Countryside was a puzzle hunt organized by members of the r/PictureGame team, and run during the middle of October, 2022. The hunt was presented as a trip through the wilderness. However, as soon as the hunt started, something was off (there was no color!). Teams were sent off to explore the countryside, as well as solve puzzles from the Four Seasons in search of a solution.

Plot[edit | edit source]

The hunt was presented as a relaxing trip through nature. However, something was clearly wrong - as teams set out, they discovered that all puzzles are in grayscale, with all colors Faded Away. After solving the Exploring meta, they discovered the reasoning for that - the Seasons have disappeared. Hope was not lost however, as there was a way to restore fragments of the seasons - by solving puzzles associated with each season. Each puzzle solved in the Seasons round added a bit of color to its season on both the round banner and the background. After solving enough puzzles, teams discovered a way to restore the Seasons for good. Finally, teams Click to revealrevisited the feeder puzzles to apply the final amendments and brought the countryside back to life.

Structure[edit | edit source]

Exploring the Countryside was divided into two main rounds. The feeders in the Seasons round was further divided into 4 groups of 4 belonging to each season.

Round Title Number of Feeder Puzzles Number of Metapuzzles
Exploring 7 1
The Seasons 16 1 (+1)

Unlock guide[edit | edit source]

The Exploring round started with Field Notes, Round Trip and Cobble unlocked. Each puzzle solve unlocked the next puzzle, in this order: Entering Competitions, En Route, A Very Large Integer, Rock Climbing. The meta, Faded Away was unlocked at 5 solves. Solving Faded Away opened the Seasons round.

The Seasons round started with 1 puzzle from each season unlocked: Journal Overtakeages, Stained Glass, Squared Away and Ice Fishing. The puzzles unlocked in a fixed order, following the seasons' cycle. Most puzzle solves in the Seasons round unlocked 1 puzzle, but two of them unlocked 2 puzzles. Solves in the Exploring round did not count towards these.

 

1 solve: Garden Cleanup

2 solves: Too Hot!

3 solves: Back to School

4 solves: On Thin Ice, Much Assembly Required

5 solves: Summer Camp

6 solves: Butterfly Catching

7 solves: Puzzle Boxes

8 solves: Cryptoornithology, Unreal Estate

9 solves: Artistic Interference

10 solves: Star Accommodations

The Four Season Theorem meta was unlocked at 12 solves. Solving it, in turn, unlocked the final puzzle of the hunt - Emending the Countryside.

List of puzzles[edit | edit source]

Exploring (Intro Round)[edit | edit source]

The Seasons[edit | edit source]

Spring[edit | edit source]

Summer[edit | edit source]

Autumn[edit | edit source]

Winter[edit | edit source]

Seasons (endgame)[edit | edit source]

Leaderboard[edit | edit source]

Rank Team Solves Finish Time
1 አ ETHIOPIC CAMPFIRE 26 2022-10-08 10:52:00 PM
2 Eastcampus Cruft of r/puzzlers_galactic 22 2022-10-09 1:56:00 AM
3 Eponymous Clues of r/PuzzlersGalactic 22 2022-10-09 6:15:00 AM
4 Ephemeris Calculators of the Coraline Schism 26 2022-10-09 10:52:00 AM
5 ൠ MALAYALAM LETTER LOOK AT THIS COOL BUG 24 2022-10-09 4:21:00 PM
6 I Cook Eggs 24 2022-10-09 4:48:00 PM
7 Being good at finding a certain coordinate in a picture game is valuable, but I think I’ll take the 200+ collective years of professional countryside exploration experience 26 2022-10-09 6:03:00 PM
8 /u/embarrassedclupea 🎏 23 2022-10-09 11:14:00 PM
9 Ecliptic Catgirls of the Caroline Schism 26 2022-10-10 12:36:00 PM
10 [URGENT] EMERGENCY CRITICAL ET CETERA 26 2022-10-10 3:55:00 PM
11 Travelers Seeking Best Inn for the Entire Colony 26 2022-10-10 3:57:00 PM
12 outdoorscamper 23 2022-10-10 5:42:00 PM
13 Impossibly Organized Hiker 21 2022-10-10 7:44:00 PM
14 MystikFact 21 2022-10-10 8:55:00 PM
15 17th Switchback 26 2022-10-10 10:11:00 PM
16 Nature Enjoyment Season 21 2022-10-10 11:04:00 PM
17 Yardinality 26 2022-10-11 1:12:00 AM
18 Given the Outdoor Setting It Is Unlikely to Be Projectyl 22 2022-10-11 2:49:00 AM
19 Mobius Strippers 21 2022-10-11 8:28:00 AM
20 ghostbloods 23 2022-10-11 12:41:00 PM
21 Eternity Challenges of r/antimatterdimensions 23 2022-10-11 2:01:00 PM
22 MiaoMiaoMiao 26 2022-10-11 3:18:00 PM
23 🟥🟧🟨🟩🟦🟪🟫⬛⬜ 22 2022-10-11 4:54:00 PM
24 cam[pi]ng 23 2022-10-11 5:07:00 PM
25 ECosysTEM Adventure 26 2022-10-11 6:33:00 PM
26 pluru 22 2022-10-11 9:45:00 PM
27 Enormous Chamber 1 26 2022-10-12 4:33:00 AM
28 Teddy Set Go 23 2022-10-12 5:57:00 AM
29 The Blob Wizards 🔮🧙 22 2022-10-12 7:59:00 AM
30 PonX 26 2022-10-12 10:09:00 AM
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