It’s a celebration for Curtis Chen’s 50th birthday that includes a puzzle hunt. There will be both online and in-person parts!
What is this?
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It’s a game/activity involving puzzles that solve to words or short phrases. You may be familiar with some of these events: Puzzled Pint, DASH, or “The Game.” And don’t worry, this birthday hunt will be casual and beginner-friendly!
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We play for fun! Many puzzlers enjoy discovering how to solve a puzzle. As for winning… everybody wins! You get to go outside and do stuff with friends, without having to plan all the activities yourself, plus there’s a party at the end. 😊
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The online part is so we can include as many people as possible, no matter where they are. And the in-person part is because we miss seeing folks face to face!
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Nope! Feel free to do as much as sounds fun. You can do the online part only if you’re not near Portland or don’t like going outside; and you can do only the in-person part if you don’t enjoy online puzzles.
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Again: fun! You’ll get to breeze through some easy puzzles, and have an excuse to interact with us. (I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a little starved for human connection these days. Let’s start a conversation! Even if that conversation is “why did you think this was a good puzzle dude”) 😜
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None! The puzzles will be Trek-themed, but you won’t need to know any specific Trek trivia in order to solve them. (Some of the online puzzles might require limited internet research, though!)
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Not very! We’re aiming for more fun than complexity, and hints are always free. As an example, here’s a video puzzle that Curtis made for his 40th birthday in 2013.
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We love helpers! Please fill out this other form and we’ll get in touch soon.
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Online puzzles will appear at https://snout.org/curtis50trek starting in mid-August of 2023.
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There’s no time limit for solving the online puzzles, but if you’re doing the in-person part (see below), the answers to the online puzzles may help you at the start of the Portland event!
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Nothing! This website is free for anyone to visit.
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You can absolutely play solo if you want! Some people prefer that, so they can discover everything about a puzzle for themselves. Others enjoy having friends to bounce ideas off. Team size is up to you, but the larger a team, the less each person might get to do.
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If you ever reach a point where you’re starting to not have fun anymore, please contact us. We’ll do what we can to get you unstuck before you stop having fun! Hints are always free, and you can skip any puzzle if it’s not to your taste.
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No, but feel free to solve however it seems most fun to you! We like to load puzzle PDFs onto a tablet and then draw on them with an app. You might prefer to print hard copies. You may also find these Puzzled Pint resources useful.
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On Sunday, October 1, 2023, we’ll run a walking puzzle hunt in Portland, Oregon.
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We plan to start no earlier than 12noon Pacific Time and end by 6:00PM the same day, followed by a party which will probably start earlier that afternoon.
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The event itself will be free, but you’ll have to pay for your travel and lodging if you’re not local to Portland.
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If you’re coming in from out of town, feel free to arrive early or stay late, but our only scheduled activities will be on Sunday, October 1st. Please contact us if you want recommendations, or if you want to hang out at other times. We’d love to see you!
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You’re welcome to play solo, but we recommend a team of around 4 people. In our experience, this is a good group size for collaboration: everyone can see the puzzle at once, and if someone isn’t interested, there are still enough other people to work on it. Also, you can all easily sit together in a restaurant or on a park picnic bench!
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Sure! The puzzles may be a little complicated for pre-teens, but you know your kids. (Remember, hints are always free!)
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If you ever reach a point where you’re starting to not have fun anymore, please contact us. We’ll do what we can to get you unstuck before you stop having fun! Hints are always free, and you can skip any puzzle if it’s not to your taste.
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For walking around, wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen, and a hat. For puzzle solving, a smartphone, clipboard, scratch paper, and writing instrument should be everything you need. You could also print out the Puzzled Pint code sheet and/or install a decoder app listed here: https://puzzledpint.com/resources/
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We’re aiming for a total walking distance of only a few miles, on mostly flat sidewalks. It might rain, so be prepared. We find a hat and raincoat to be more useful than an umbrella. But also wear sunscreen in case the weather’s clear!
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We are doing our best to find sites that will be easily accessible for everyone. Please sign up here BEFORE SEPTEMBER 10, 2023, to get more details when we have them!
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Don’t worry about presents! Your presence will be more than enough. 😺