Numeral Answers

Numeral Answers are a way for hunts to subvert the expectation that answers should be a string of letters.

History

The Miami Tropic Hunt, which first started in the early 1980's, entirely consisted of puzzles with Numeral Answers. Also included was a list of instructions with various numbers, that served as a metapuzzle for the hunt. The list included many more numbers than the number of puzzles (which is typically around four or five), reducing the amount of short circuiting that can be done. Taking the correct instructions generally led to the final puzzle, allowing teams to finish the hunt. The Tropic Hunt (which itself later became the Herald and Post Hunts) inspired several other hunts in this manner.

Hunt Application

For consistency purposes, generally a round with a Numeral Answer puzzle will entirely contain Numeral Answers. It's also somewhat difficult to create a compelling meta with Numeral Answers (both keeping the numbers fairly succinct, yet conveying enough information).

Notable Examples

• Round 2 of the 2011 Mathcamp Puzzle Hunt (web)
• TO DO

See Also

• Hunts that use Numeral Answers