Wiki:Page Structure/Puzzles

The guide depicts the standard format for all puzzle pages currently on and to be added to this wiki. While some puzzles may require additional information, or reduced coverage in the described areas, we recommend future page creators begin with the following as a base.

Opening Notes

The opening sentence(s) for a puzzle page should introduce the puzzle in as concise a way as possible, and the following format should accomplish this:

[Puzzle Name] is a Puzzle Type from the Round of the Hunt. [Brief 1-2 sentence description of visual presentation and/or mechanics]

Core Puzzle Information

After the initial sentence, we can divide the rest of the puzzle's information into two sections (both titled with 2nd-Level Headings). First, we need to establish the Solve Path, which should not be ripped from the solution page of the puzzle. These Solve Path write-ups should be an attempt to replicate the order of operations of an actual solve, as solution pages are often written exclusively from the perspective of the author, and may not accurately reflect how an average solver may proceed. They also may leave out pertinent information vital for a non-expert to understand the puzzle in full, or clues that the author didn't deem "important" enough to include in their solution. However, we still recommend reading the solution on top of establishing your own path and referencing it when writing your own Solve Path, as this is the best way to collect as much information as possible.

Key formatting elements of the Solve Path involve the inclusion of the final answer, and separate spoilers for each sentence (including a separate one for the final answer). While the intention of this wiki is not to provide alternate hint systems, this method of spoiling information is simple enough to perform that it may as well be done.

The other section of core puzzle information is the list of elements utilized by that particular puzzle. This section should be in the form of a bulleted list, in which the names/titles of the relevant elements should be linked to their respective pages. After that, short descriptions or explanations of how those elements apply to that particular puzzle may be written, but may not always be necessary. Use your own judgment when determining whether or not they're necessary, but if there is still uncertainty, contact a senior editor via email or discord and information will be added or deleted as necessary.

Images

Visual information for individual puzzles should be kept relatively minimum in case of spoilers, but as a rule we try to include purely flavourful images as a way to bring colour and visual context to a puzzle page. For example, if a hunt has an "overworld" or otherwise has icons to represent individual puzzles, those icons can be presented on puzzle pages without fear of spoilers. These types of images should be accompanied by a caption that includes the connection between the puzzle and the image, as well as a brief description of the image itself.

Should a puzzle not include such an icon, there is still a chance that it may involve non-spoilery visual elements. Once again, judgment calls may be used, but uncertainty can be quelled by involvement of senior editors.

Categorization

Categorization is helpful to group puzzles together by their elements. For consistent use of categories, place a [[Category: Puzzles that involve X}} link for each valid element (applied to the given puzzle) at the bottom of the page, and they will automatically be grouped together.

Example

One example of a completed puzzle page can be found below, and at The Ferris of Them All .

The Trebuchet is a word-based puzzle from the Grand Castle round of the 2020 MIT Mystery Hunt. It's themed after sieges and the use of trebuchets with relatively odd types of projectiles, although with a degree of creative interpretation of those projectiles.

Solve Path

The puzzle's icon, an old medieval-style wooden trebuchet.

The puzzle starts off by providing the solver with a lot of nonsensical letter strings and letter walls, but acknowledging the flavourtext's mentions of projectiles, weights, and an offhand mention of the word "boggle", there are two places one can break in: the trebuchets themselves, and the walls.

If one looks at the trebuchets first, they can find a phrase that may describe a type of launched projectile interwoven with a unit of measurement (albeit mostly ones that aren't commonly used in modern times) such as HOT METAL and HUNDREDWEIGHT.

If one looks at the walls, they may be able to find several words and phrases hidden in them boggle-style. Things like CATS EYE, VERMOUTH, and SLIPKNOT can be found in the first, fifth, and seventh walls respectively. Additionally, each of the walls can be almost filled by the boggle entries in them, aside from 3-4 letters that go unused.

Alone, not much can be done with these two sets of information, but after finding a few things in a single wall (like SLIPKNOT, TOOL, MEGADETH, and MASTODON in the fifth) a revelation can be made. The projectiles from the trebuchets can be used to describe what is found in the walls. For example, HOT METAL describes the seventh wall, which is filled with "hot" metal bands like Slipknot and Megadeth. The grid at the bottom of the puzzle implies an ordering for these: lightest weight to heaviest weight. If that's done properly, the unused letters in each wall can be taken and placed in the columns in dropquote fashion, revealing a final phrase that clues the puzzle's final answer: MISTER POTTER.

Puzzle Elements

• Asked and Answered - "who’s commanding the opposing forces[?]" While not explicitly posed as a question, the flavourtext does imply that the goal of the puzzle is partly to figure out exactly who the commander is. As it turns out, it's Mister Potter from It's A Wonderful Life.
• Creative Interpretations - While all of the "projectiles" presented are in fact projectiles that may be used (albeit some not in real life), they can be parsed in ways that describe other things. "Throwing Stars" are in fact NFL quarterbacks, while "Pieces of Glass" refers to musical compositions by Phillip Glass (his 'pieces').
• Dropquote - Despite the abnormal presentation of the dropquote grid, it's relatively straightforward. Thanks to the clear delineations made by the different shading in the columns, it's clear which cells belong to them even among the jagged, brick-like construction.
• Final Clue Phrase - "COLDHEARTED FOE OF GEORGE BAILEY"
• Hint In Flavourtext - Several hints, in fact. The flavourtext mentions weights, projectiles, boggle, and even hints towards the idea of using unused "bricks" to help construct the new "wall" (via the dropquote).
• Interwoven Words - On the trebuchets. Thankfully, not in clue format so it's much shorter and clearer, especially when the lengths of the weight and projectile differ.
• Reordering - By Magnitude. Helpfully clued by a feather at one end of the grid and a cartoonishly large weight at the other.
• Units of Measurement - Weight. Not exactly common ones (Dalton and Scruple especially), but valid nonetheless.
• Unused Information - Letters that go unused in the word search grid get transferred (in no particular order) to the proper columns in the final dropquote.
• Word Search - Boggle-Style.