Updates
How To Hunt Workshop
On Saturday, January 8th, last year’s running team, the ✈️✈️✈️ Galactic Trendsetters ✈️✈️✈️, will be hosting a “How to Hunt” workshop. Part one of the workshop will be a standard introduction to puzzle hunts; part two will focus on online tools you can use for the MIT Mystery Hunt, including demonstrations of popular tools. Join them at 7:00 PM TIMEMIT (ET) on Zoom here.
Additionally, last year’s How to Hunt Workshop by team Left Out is available to watch at any time.
We hope to see you there!
Team Palindrome
Physical puzzles
This year’s hunt will include some puzzles with physical components. As we are not meeting on MIT’s campus this year, we’ll be shipping out these items in advance of the hunt — and asking recipients to not open them until instructed to do so during the weekend.
There are four items for sale on our Shopify store: three puzzle-y items, and the MIT Mystery Hunt t-shirt (not a puzzle, available to order now and will be shipped after Mystery Hunt).
The puzzle items’ listed prices likely make them cost-prohibitive. We’re going to be sending discount codes to the team captains, bringing down the price of the puzzle items to $0 — you’ll just pay the shipping costs. (If you hunted in 2021, this is similar to what happened last year.) And if shipping is more expensive than your team can afford or you have other questions, please get in touch by emailing swag@mitmh2022.com.
Coupon codes will be emailed to team captains when your team has registered. Captains, you are in charge of who to distribute these codes to — and ensuring they order promptly. You’ll get one discount code for each box and three for the envelope. (All envelopes are identical; this is just a chance for additional people to receive the item.)
International shipping is available through the US Postal Service, UPS, and DHL.
We recommend ordering as soon as possible after receiving your codes. With the quantity of packages going out, we expect some to be delayed or lost, and we anticipate having to re-ship a few items. If items are ordered by December 20th we are confident that we’ll be able to ensure receipt before the hunt. We will do our best to get all swag to teams before hunt no matter when it is ordered, and are hopeful that anything ordered by early January will arrive on time.
If we still have extra items after all teams have had a chance to order, we will reach out with information on how to order additional copies.
Team Palindrome
Answer checker enhancements
We've updated the answer checker to remove accents from your answer before checking it. However, to be safe, any letters you use should probably be part of the Latin alphabet. And if you've already submitted answers that use accented letters, please re-submit them to see if they were actually correct.
There's also a new entry in the Star Rats FAQ that explains how the answer checker normalizes answer submissions.
Team Palindrome
You can now finalize your team registration
Based on some feedback, we've added the ability to finalize your team's registration. This will prevent any team members from making changes to your team's registration information or password.
Team Palindrome
Answer submissions are now saved
Hey teams - we had an issue saving progress for logged in teams. This is now resolved as of 3:45 PM TIMEMIT on December 13, 2021.
We recommend resubmitting answers to puzzles you've solved so that your progress is tracked.
Team Palindrome and MIT Puzzle Club
The 2022 MIT Mystery Hunt Prologue is here!
Don’t want to wait another whole month for the 2022 MIT Mystery Hunt to start? Surprise! We’re kicking things off a little early this year, with an introductory set of over a dozen puzzles!
Solving these puzzles is entirely optional. They will not give your team any benefit when the real Mystery Hunt begins on January 14, and teams that skip these puzzles will not be hindered in any way. These puzzles are simply an appetizer we’re serving up before the main event. We hope you enjoy them.
You can find the puzzles at https://www.starrats.org, and check out the launch trailer.
Oh — and as a reminder, please register your teams for Mystery Hunt by December 20!
See you in a month!
Team Palindrome and MIT Puzzle Club
Frequently Asked Questions
Huh? What is this?
This is the site for registering for the 2022 MIT Mystery Hunt! To learn more about the background and history of the MIT Mystery Hunt, see its official site here.
When and where will the hunt take place?
Due to continued concerns about COVID-19, the 2022 Mystery Hunt will once again be held remotely, and not on MIT’s campus. It will begin at 12:00 p.m. TIMEMIT on Friday, January 14th, 2022. Wrap-up will take place at 12:00 p.m. TIMEMIT on Monday, January 17th, 2022.
TIMEMIT?
As in, the time zone that MIT is in. Which is to say, Eastern. Look, we’re called Palindrome and TIMEMIT was just sitting there.
Is there a deadline to register?
We ask that teams register by December 20. The final deadline to register is Monday, January 10, but teams registering that late will not have time to receive the physical components that will accompany certain Hunt puzzles.
If Mystery Hunt is virtual, does that mean we shouldn’t come to the MIT campus?
Right. Those who are not already a part of the MIT community should experience the hunt from home. We recommend as well that people on campus not gather in large numbers. You will be able to fully enjoy the Hunt from any location with Internet access.
Will you have tips to help our team with online collaboration?
Yes! Last year's running team, ✈️✈️✈️ Galactic Trendsetters ✈️✈️✈️, will run an online workshop at 7:00 p.m. TIMEMIT on Saturday, January 8th 2022, with a special focus on remote collaboration tools. We'll post a link to a recording of that event after it happens. If you don’t want to wait that long, you could always watch the previous workshop by Left Out, which you can find here.
Is the object of the hunt still to find a coin somewhere on campus?
Yes.
How will that work if the hunt itself is not on campus?
You’ll see.
What does the winning team get?
Honor, glory, and the responsibility to create and run the 2023 Mystery Hunt.
Will there be any Mystery Hunt merchandise?
Yes! Teams who register on time will hear from us so we can arrange for them to receive physical elements they’ll need for certain puzzles. There will also be an official T-shirt, of course.
Are there any team size restrictions?
No. You may register a team of any size. We believe we have designed a Hunt that can be completed by a team of 75 by Sunday night, but we're working to make the event an amazing experience for both small and large teams.
Is this event still related to MIT?
Of course! This is the MIT Mystery Hunt, organized through MIT Puzzle Club, and there will be plenty of MIT-specific and Boston-specific content. Familiarity with MIT and the surrounding area will help you succeed in the hunt, and MIT students are especially encouraged to participate!
Do I need to be affiliated with MIT to participate?
No. Everyone who likes puzzles will enjoy the hunt, and we invite them to participate! However, teams who expect to be competitive are encouraged to have current MIT students on their team—especially since the writing team must have students on it.
How can I support the MIT Mystery Hunt?
Registration for Mystery Hunt is free, but there are a number of ways you can help support us. In particular, if you would like to donate to the MIT Mystery Hunt fund, you can go to MIT Giving and click on the “give” button next to “Mystery Hunt”.
What was that noise?
Oh, it's probably just the rats.
WHAT RATS?
More information is available at www.starrats.org
I have questions not answered in this FAQ!
In that case, e-mail us at puzzle@mit.edu.
Is anything on this page a puzzle?
Please don't solve my masters’ project. 6* 3 1 6
A feeder about the Roman Goddess of Night 4 2 3*, 1 6
A feeder about a type of bug. 4 2 3*, 1 6
… then what is it? 4, 2* 3 1 6
A feeder about a Valve game. 4 2 4* 6
… is instead a red herring. 4, 2* 3 1 6
Make a feeder into a baby! 4 2 "3* 1 6"
A feeder about the Turner who led a rebellion. 4 2 3*, 1 6
Teams
No teams yet - will you be the first?
