Comments on: After the Hunt

By: Eric Berlin

Eric Berlin — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:03:19 +0000

Indeed he did — he attended the event. Which was, I must say, mighty courageous of him.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:46:22 +0000

Did the former captain ever turn up again?

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:40:07 +0000

I agree with all of the comments above. We were certainly frustrated throughout the weekend (mainly that the difficulty made us feel like we had gotten much, much worse after two very good years for us), but in the end, it was a fantastically good time as usual. I don’t know how you (and all the others you thanked) managed to pull it off, but thanks.

A question if anyone is still reading this: Would the Hunt have been considered to be too long if it ended at the same time, but with all the structure intact? I started with Carmen Sandiego way back when, which went until 11 PM or so Sunday, so I always think an early Sunday morning ending is way too soon. Obviously, once it becomes Monday, things have gone too far, but Sunday afternoon to early evening seems like the best to me…

By: zebraboy/Mark Halpin

zebraboy/Mark Halpin — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:34:55 +0000

A personal, public “thank you” to Eric. I have never been in any kind of leadership/organizational role of this sort before, and wouldn’t begin to know how to manage it. Eric stepping in was both a huge source of personal relief and a stunning demonstration of what effective leadership is all about. Echoing Tinhorn’s remark, it’d be an honor to work with Eric again. An incredible class act.

By: Roger

Roger — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:47:28 +0000

Wow, congrats. I definitely did not get the sense during hunt that this was a hunt thrown together at the last minute — one that was too hard, yes, but very clean and usually elegant.

“It’s traditional for the Hunt organizers to join the winning team to celebrate the finding of the coin.” It is? Didn’t happen in 2005 or 2006….

By: Dustin

Dustin — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:14:41 +0000

Well done! A cancelled hunt would’ve been a crushing blow to many of the students (including me), alumni, and other puzzlers–NPL or otherwise–and we owe you our thanks. I believe our team had a number of people that had their plane tickets booked for months in advance.

I’m glad you took the reins, and it’s a shame you didn’t start out with them. Thinking back to the 2004 hunt I spent with you guys, I can only imagine what all that leadership stuff must have been like…

By: econwell

econwell — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:54:25 +0000

I want to add to the chorus of thanks. Writing and running a Mystery Hunt under the best of circumstances is an epic endeavor. To do it in a matter of weeks is another thing altogether. I am in awe.

Metaphysical Plant had our fair share of frustrations, but we also had the kind of fun that only comes from Hunt: a whole weekend doing puzzles with friends we don’t see often enough. Thank you and everyone else on Palindrome for making that possible.

By: Mikalye

Mikalye — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:16:58 +0000

Absolutely,
Bravo. My compliments on saving the hunt. Now clearly this wasn’t in the running for “GREATEST HUNT EVER”, but it was also a long, long way from the worst. Everyone had fun, everyone got to moan a bit about how stupid hard some of the puzzles were. There also were puzzles like PIE IN THE SKY, which we only encountered late in the hunt and solved in about 4 minutes that would have been better served near the beginning of the hunt.

Indeed, I recall thinking on Saturday afternoon, “Wow, Palindrome really have the pacing of this hunt down perfectly, just whenever things start to flag even a little bit, we get a new page of six puzzles.” At that point we had identified the six cabals and were just waiting to get enough answers to get the dossiers. 24 hours later I was no longer thinking that the pacing was perfect, but it took a very, very long while for us as solvers to realise just how much trouble you guys were in.

And I echo Tahnan’s comment (http://tahnan.livejournal.com/145054.html) that the metas this year were really really good. There was a real buzz around the team when the warrant was unlocked. That is the kind of genuine puzzling goodness that makes a good hunt. You cannot fake that buzz, and it has to be earned.

I genuinely hope you are feeling some of that buzz, because Holy Cow you earned it.

By: Ken/Cazique

Ken/Cazique — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:51:31 +0000

Eric – as I’d said before, you did an amazing job and should go down in Mystery Hunt lore as a hero. Though I had similar issues as everyone else with some content of the hunt itself, the event was run well from beginning to end relatively cleanly, so kudos for that.

This report should be read by every person who ever wins a mystery hunt and considers being part of the team that writes the next one.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:53:53 +0000

I think it’s also worth mentioning that even though it was a crazy weekend, you were still able to fit in the annual dinner with me AND saw the end of the Giants game.