College Puzzle Challenge Community Space

College Puzzle Challenge 2008 Registration Open

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 03:54:53 Z

Microsoft invites you to enter the College Puzzle Challenge; an annual puzzle-solving competition held simultaneously on college campuses across North America. Teams of 4 participants compete against their peers to solve challenging puzzles, win exciting prizes, and have a great time.

We’re hoping that you will join us to solve a baffling crime committed at the British Museum:

WANTED

Criminal mastermind responsible for the heinous theft
of the one and only Rosetta Stone

The criminal mastermind, believed to be either an overweight man wearing a trench coat or a red-haired woman with a fedora, left several puzzling clues. Scotland Yard has assigned Puzzle Investigators to investigate eye-witness accounts and return the Rosetta Stone to the British Museum.

Assemble a team of four elite puzzle investigators and prepare your team for a 12-hour investigation to unlock the secret identity of the culprit on Saturday, November 8th. To register your team and learn more about this crime, visit http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com.

Rooms announced for CPC '07

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:26:12 Z

We'll be meeting in the following rooms before the event for our opening ceremonies:

Carnegie Mellon University - Wean 7500

Columbia University - Davis Auditorium, Shapiro (CEPSR)

Cornell University - Upson B17

Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Grier Room (34-401)

Stanford University - Packard 101

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - SC (Siebel Center) 2405

University of Michigan - East Room, Pierpont Commons

University of Texas at Austin - Welch 2.246

University of Toronto - Bahen 1190

University of Washington - More Hall (Auditorium 220)

Registration is now open for College Puzzle Challenge 2007!

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 02:54:34 Z

Greetings auditors!

You are cordially invited to assist us in auditing the estate of Professor Solvem. The audit will take place on November 10, 2007 at 12:00 PM EST. Applications are being accepted at http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com/. Teams must have 4 auditors to participate, the available slots will fill on a first-come-first-serve basis, and the top auditors will be handsomely rewarded.

We look forward to your assistance.
R.E.D.T.A.P.E.

College Puzzle Challenge 2007 Announced!

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 22:35:28 Z

The College Puzzle Challenge 2007 event will be held on November 10^th, 2007. Our website is up now at http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com/. Registration is not yet open, but we'll be opening registration as soon as possible. The format is going to be basically the same as previous years, with 4-member teams and 12 hours of puzzle-solving from noon EST to midnight EST. This year, the event will be taking place at 11 schools:

Carnegie Mellon University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Michigan
University of Southern California
University of Texas at Austin
University of Toronto
University of Washington

Keep watching this blog and/or sign up for our email list through the form on the front page of our site for more updates.

It's over!

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:26:47 Z

College Puzzle Challenge 2006 has come and gone, and we think it's been a smashing success. We congratulate all of our participants, especially the winners from each school, and thank all of you for spending your Saturday with us. If you want to review any of the solutions (or puzzles, if you were unable to participate), we have posted all of the puzzles and solutions at http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com/Archive/2006/Default.aspx.

Please fill out the survey that was emailed to you so we can make the event even better next year!

S.O.L.V.E. Releases Final Assignment

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 01:42:36 Z

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

S.O.L.V.E. Command will be sponsoring the second expedition to Tahoma, Saturday at Noon Eastern Standard Time.

REDMOND, Washington - With only a few days remaining until the excursion, S.O.L.V.E. has released a final pre-excursion assignment. One more can�t hurt, right?

http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com/Puzzles/Wires.pdf

About S.O.L.V.E.
S.O.L.V.E. is an international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

S.O.L.V.E. Expedition Supply List

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 01:42:09 Z

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

S.O.L.V.E. Expedition Supply List

REDMOND, Washington - With less than a week until the expedition, S.O.L.V.E. wants to remind research teams to bring a few items that might be helpful while on the island.

White-out
Scissors
Tape
Highlighters
Colored pencils
Scratch paper
Pens
Rulers

About S.O.L.V.E.
S.O.L.V.E. is an international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

S.O.L.V.E. Releases Fourth Assignment

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 22:40:32 Z

For Immediate Release

Friday, November 03, 2006

S.O.L.V.E. Command has released a fourth assignment to candidates

REDMOND, Washington - With one week remaining, S.O.L.V.E. wants to keep candidates vibrant, so here's the new assignment.

http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com/Puzzles/The%20Ruins.pdf

About S.O.L.V.E.
S.O.L.V.E. is an international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

S.O.L.V.E. Releases Third Assignment

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 00:43:04 Z

For Immediate Release

Friday, October 27, 2006

S.O.L.V.E. Command has released a third assignment to candidates

REDMOND, Washington - As teams prepare for the expedition, S.O.L.V.E. wants to ensure the continued well being and mental aptitude of its research candidates.

http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com/Puzzles/Le%20Chiffre%20Indechiffrable.pdf

About S.O.L.V.E.
S.O.L.V.E. is an international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

Confirm your registration now!

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 07:49:11 Z

Last night (at 5:42 PM Pacific Time), we sent out an email to all of the registered teams asking them to confirm their registrations. If you have a team registered for the event, please make sure that you confirm your registration by Nov. 1st, or your spot will be up for grabs. Even if you are participating at a school that doesn't have a waitlist, you should still confirm your registration. If you did not recieve the email, please check that the participant emails for your team are entered correctly on the website when you confirm your team and/or add cpc@microsoft.com to your spam filter's whitelist.

The full text of the email follows:

Microsoft thanks you for your interest in this year’s College Puzzle Challenge. Because of finite resources, the number of teams that can participate in the event is limited. You have registered a team for the event and at this time we request that you confirm your team’s intent to participate in the event on November 11^th, 2006 from Noon-Midnight (EST). Confirmation will guarantee your team a position in the competition. If your team was previously waitlisted, additional space has become available and your team has been promoted to registered status.

If you have not confirmed your reservation by November 1^st, we will offer your spot to a team on the waiting list. You should have a full team (4 members) in order to confirm.

*Confirmed teams without four members may be transferred to the waiting list without notice.*

To confirm your participation, simply:

Navigate to http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com
Sign In. Once you sign in, you will be transferred to the “Manage your team page”.
Click the “Confirm Registration” button.

If you cannot participate, please delete your registration:

Navigate to http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com
Sign In. Once you sign in, you will be transferred to the “Manage your team page”.
Click the “Delete Team” button.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@collegepuzzlechallenge.com.

Sincerely,
S.O.L.V.E. Command

Pre-event puzzles

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:32:54 Z

I forgot to post the first one on the blog last week (it was up on the site last Friday), but now we're back on track. We'll be releasing a pre-event puzzle every Friday until the event (including the day before the event). Start now and get your brain in shape!

S.O.L.V.E. Releases Second Assignment

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:30:27 Z

For Immediate Release

Friday, October 20, 2006

S.O.L.V.E. Command has released a second assignment before the expedition

REDMOND, Washington - As excitement for the expedition mounts, S.O.L.V.E. Command is releasing a new assignment to keep candidates in top form for the expedition.

http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com/Puzzles/Dominos.pdf

About S.O.L.V.E.
S.O.L.V.E. is an international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

S.O.L.V.E. Releases First Assignment

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:26:57 Z

For Immediate Release

Friday, October 13, 2006

S.O.L.V.E. Command has released the first assignment to candidates

REDMOND, Washington - Within days of opening registration for the second expedition, S.O.L.V.E. has received a tremendous amount of feedback from interested parties. As such, S.O.L.V.E. Command has decided to release the first assignment early so that candidates might begin preparing for the expedition.

http://www.collegepuzzlechallenge.com/Puzzles/First%20Assignment.pdf

About S.O.L.V.E.
S.O.L.V.E. is an international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

S.O.L.V.E. Plans Second Expedition

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 00:53:04 Z

S.O.L.V.E. command is looking for small research groups to explore the island and retrieve the device which caused the initial team to evacuate

REDMOND, Washington - Research teams are needed to identify and recover an unknown and potentially dangerous device on a remote island. An initial research team explored the island but was unable to recover the device and was forced to evacuate after 48 hours.

S.O.L.V.E. command is looking for small research groups to explore the island and retrieve the illness-causing device. Reports from the initial team indicate that the device causes confusion and impairs concentration after 12 hours of exposure.

There may be multiple teams on the island attempting recovery. S.O.L.V.E. will provide compensation, with prizes, for the team members from the top teams who recover the device.

Research candidates should:

Be prepared to solve challenging and fun problems
Be available 11-November-2006 for 12 hours
Assemble and register a 4-person team

S.O.L.V.E. Research Team O.K.

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 02:06:11 Z

Recovering Island researchers under close surveillance

REDMOND, Washington - S.O.L.V.E. island researchers rescued last Friday have recovered and are resting with their families. S.O.L.V.E. continues to closely monitor their vital signs, but it appears that the effects of the ailments are temporary. Doctors believe that the ailment is directly related to a prolonged exposure to the island.

The only apparent casualty is the loss of Dr. Solvem. No, he's not dead, but he remains in a catatonic state.

At this time, we believe that an artificial source or device may be responsible for these effects. We are investigating safe methods for future researchers to continue exploring the island.

Additional details will be released as available.

About S.O.L.V.E.
S.O.L.V.E. is an international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

Regarding the University of Southern California

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 22:49:33 Z

We’ve received several questions as to why College Puzzle Challenge won’t be coming back to USC this year and wanted to post some information as to why. We had fully intended on running the event again at USC, however, this year USC’s homecoming game and celebration are also scheduled for November 11^th. After talking with some of our contacts at USC, we learned that most of the students were planning to attend homecoming or take part in some of the festivities. Since most of the students would likely be attending homecoming and it would be difficult to obtain rooms and run the event on the same day as homecoming, we had to make the decision to pull USC from this year’s contest. We investigated rescheduling the event to another weekend, but November 11^th was the best choice for all of the other participating schools.

We are disappointed that USC will not be able to participate this year. We will definitely be considering bringing the event back to USC for next year’s contest. We will also be doing some other types of events throughout the year. You can always check out our event calendar at http://www.microsoft/college (and search under your school) and it will list out the events that Microsoft will be attending and hosting.

S.O.L.V.E. Team Encounters Trouble on the Island

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 01:51:02 Z

For Immediate Release

Friday, September 22, 2006

Scientists extracted earlier than planned due to unknown ailments

REDMOND, Washington - Researches from S.O.L.V.E. headquarters initiated an emergency evacuation yesterday after the research team's last radio report was incomprehensible and contained references to killer gummy bears.

After spending two days on the island, Dr. Solvem's team was evacuated by way of helicopter. Rescue workers reported that all team members are alive and accounted for, but are confused and delirious. Dr. Solvem, however, was found in a state of catatonia at the top of a tree with a sign below saying "Beware of falling gummy bears."

S.O.L.V.E. headquarters is still investigating the source of the research team's ailments. Additional information will be released as physicals and exit interviews are conducted over the next few days.

About S.O.L.V.E.
S.O.L.V.E. is an international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

S.O.L.V.E. Research Team Arrives on the Island

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 01:31:34 Z

For Immediate Release

Friday, September 15, 2006

Scientists with S.O.L.V.E. arrive on the uncharted island and set up camp

REDMOND, Washington - Scientists with the international organization S.O.L.V.E. (Special Operations for Location, Verification and Extraction) arrived on the previously announced uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean yesterday. After a week long journey, Dr. Solvem and his research team arrived by helicopter on the island and landed near the southern most shore, closest to where the drifting current research buoy first reported the presence of the island.

After arrival, the crew began scanning the beach for signs of previous inhabitants. During this scan they came across the smashed remains of the research buoy which was retrieved for future analysis.

Following their initial scans, the team traveled inward, toward the large volcano at the center of the island, and found a suitable location for a base camp. Believing themselves to be the first people to set foot on the island, the team has named it "Tahoma" due to the nearby volcano's resemblance to the Washington State volcano of the same name.

The team plans on spending the next week performing an initial mapping of the island, cataloging its flora and fauna, and attempting to isolate the source of the interference with satellite photography.

About S.O.L.V.E.
S.O.L.V.E. is an international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

S.O.L.V.E. Scientists Depart for Island

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 00:11:14 Z

For Immediate Release

Friday, September 08, 2006

Scientists with S.O.L.V.E. depart for a month long expedition on the mysterious uncharted island in the Pacific

REDMOND, Washington - Scientists with the international organization S.O.L.V.E. (Special Operations for Location, Verification and Extraction) have departed for the previously announced uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean today. Led by Dr. Solvem, the expedition departed a week sooner than expected after the drifting current research buoy which first came across the island failed to phone home or respond to test signals.

Over the past week, satellite photos of the island have been taken but all have resulted in pictures with significant haze, rendering the pictures useless.

The research crew should arrive on the island in one week and will report back with their initial findings at that time over their satellite communication radio.

About S.O.L.V.E.
S.O.L.V.E. is an international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

S.O.L.V.E. Discovers Island In The Pacific

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 16:13:07 Z

For Immediate Release

Friday, September 01, 2006

Scientists with S.O.L.V.E. come across 
mysterious uncharted island in the Pacific 

REDMOND, 
Washington - Scientists with the international organization S.O.L.V.E. 
(Special Operations for Location, Verification and Extraction) announced the 
discovery of an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean today. The discovery was 
made early this morning by a drifting current research buoy near the island of 
Guam. 

Researchers are already planning an expedition to investigate the 
possibility of unknown species inhabiting the island. They ask that any fishing 
boats or other nautical vessels avoid the island to preserve its scientific 
integrity and ensure that researchers can perform a thorough, unhampered 
analysis. 

More details about the island will be released as information 
becomes available. 

About S.O.L.V.E. 
S.O.L.V.E. is an 
international organization highly recognized for its scientific work in the 
areas of pure mathematics, logical reasoning, oceanographic exploration, 
linguistics, and cryptography. Detailed information about the organization is 
even more secret than the NSA. Spooks are spooked by these guys!

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 22:42:41 Z