Melbourne University Mathematics and Statistics Society

Puzzle Hunt FAQs

What is the Puzzle Hunt?

The infamous Melbourne University Puzzle Hunt involves solving fun intuitive puzzles from Music to Morphology and collecting clues over the week. The time involvement can be made fairly minimal by not starting till later in the week when the hints have come out. You don't have to be physically at Melbourne Uni to solve the hunt!

How do I enter a team?

Fill in the form on the Team Registration page. The team submission system will open on Friday 1 April.

Can I enter the hunt if I am not at the University of Melbourne?

Yes! The hunt is open to the public.

Can I enter the hunt if I am not in the city of Melbourne?

Yes. Almost all of the Puzzle Hunt is conducted online. The only catch is that in order to win the event, you need to have one person on your team who will be in Melbourne during the Puzzle Hunt. This ensures that you can dig up the treasure to win. If you can't find someone in Melbourne, we will find them for you -- just write to puzzlehunt at ms.unimelb.edu.au. f you cannot be bothered to arrange this, you can still enter, still have fun, and can still win second or third prize.

Can I enter solo?

Yes and if you consult with friends, Google and the library you still have a decent chance of winning

When is the puzzle hunt?

The Puzzle Hunt will commence on Monday 4 April.

How long does it go for?

Puzzles and hints will be handed out each day from Monday the 4th until Friday the 8th. Further hints will be revealed (i.e over the weekend) until the hunt is solved.

Can I enter the hunt half way through?

Yes. You can enter the hunt at any time and still have an excellent chance of winning the hunt proper. If you enter the hunt very late it is unlikely you will get second or third places. Second and third places are awarded on score. The scoring system gives a bonus for puzzles that are solved before hints are given out.

My friends and I don't have much time most of hunt week, can we still enter the hunt?

But of course! The hunt is deliberately structured so that contestants with little time can wait for earlier puzzles to be hinted before attempting them. Come the Friday of hunt week, all contestants will be stuck on the final unhinted puzzles. This makes it possible for later entranants to catch up to ealier entrants. See above.

In addition, don't forget that you can have up to 10 people on your team. With good team management you can spread the workload so no one person will i have to spend too much of their hard-earned time on the hunt if they don't want to.

What are the prizes?

The Puzzle Hunt Prizes are:

• $200 for the winning team (solved the hunt and found the treasure)
• $60 for the second placed team
• $40 for the third placed team

In addition, the winning team, of course, receives unlimited bragging rights.

How hard are the puzzles?

The puzzles range from easy to demonically hard. However hints are given out to everyone each day until all puzzles are easy enough to solve.