Meta-matching

In hunts with more than one metapuzzle, meta-matching refers to the hunt design where the exact set of puzzles that feed into a meta is not given, and teams must figure out the correct groupings of answers that go with each meta. There may be external information (for instance, the titles of the puzzles) guiding this matching, or the matching may be motivated solely through commonalities found within the answers themselves. This makes solving the metas more difficult, but as more groups are found, additional groupings and commonalities can become more clear.

Notable Examples

• Round Trois (CMU Hunt Spring 2022)
• The Ministry (MITMH 2022) - 25 puzzles sorted into 5 metas
• QoDE Puzzle Hunt 2021 - The second round involved matching puzzles to 3 metas
• Students (MITMH 2021) - 54 puzzles sorted into 10 metas
• The Oscars
• Safari Adventure (MITMH 2020)
• Galactic Puzzle Hunt 2019 - The second round involved matching puzzles (with overlap) to 4 metas
• MIT Mystery Hunt 2019 - metas were split between rounds
• Galactic Puzzle Hunt 2017 - 25 puzzles sorted to 3 metas
• Puzzle Boat - Several past Puzzle Boats featured meta-matching
• MIT Mystery Hunt 2008/Little Blue Book