By Katie Hobday
If you like puzzles and cool prizes, then Puzzled is for you. Put on by the Computer Science Graduate Society, Puzzled is a one-day event on Sat., Mar. 19 that challenges teams to solve different types of puzzles to win some sweet prizes.
“The event is inspired by Microsoft’s Intern Puzzle Day, along with reality TV shows like The Amazing Race and The Mole. You will see this reflected in the types of puzzles that people will solve,” said Carman Neustaedter, CSGS President. “The individual puzzle answers will help teams solve an over arching meta-puzzle, which points to a secret location on campus containing the key to unlock the mystery and ultimately win Puzzled.”
There are several varieties of puzzles to solve, including word games, scavenger hunts, and picture puzzles, which means that you don’t need to be a grad student in computer science to participate.
“Anyone can participate providing that at least half the team is made up of students, faculty or staff members from the University of Calgary,” said Neustaedter. “Thus, we encourage people from any department or faculty, along with their friends or family, to compete.”
The only thing teams will need is an on-campus headquarters from which to solve their puzzles.
“This location has to have at least one computer–Google will be a handy friend for Puzzled–in order for teams to search the web and also email in puzzle answers throughout the event,” he said.
The prizes for first and second place teams are packages valued at $250 and $100, respectively. Puzzled sponsors include the Department of Computer Science, the Microsoft Student Ambassador Program, the Graduate Student Association, the MicroStore, and Ploughboy.
Registration is free, and teams can have up to six members. All those who are interested must sign up before Mar. 17. Teams can register by either e-mailing puzzled@ucalgary.ca or by visiting the website http://get.to/puzzled. The site also has links to sample puzzles and solutions.