My puzzling adventure continues!
I’m excited to introduce the Meta-Puzzle Mystery Hunt, a new kind of team challenge inspired by the MIT Mystery Hunt, the largest and most complex puzzle challenge in the world, attracting thousands of puzzle enthusiasts. My goal was to develop a puzzle “experience” for younger puzzlers that would incorporate some of the same elements and create the same kind of enthusiasm.
WHAT IS A META-PUZZLE?
A meta-puzzle includes two or more puzzles that lead to a final reveal. The well-known word puzzle JUMBLE is a simple example of a meta-puzzle. You must first unscramble letters and put them together to find the caption for a cartoon. Many of the puzzles I’ve created are cascade puzzles, in which the puzzles are solved in order, one after another.
My Progressive Puzzles and Crypt-O-Words vocabulary enrichment books are two examples of cascade puzzles.
This new Meta-Puzzle Mystery Hunt is different. Designed for advanced upper elementary and middle school students, this is a team challenge in which students work together to make sense of a whole packet of puzzles and cryptic messages. Teams are given limited instructions and use their wits and know-how to solve and connect the puzzles. As in the MIT Mystery Hunt, the goal is to find THE COIN (more about this below).
The Meta-Puzzle Mystery Hunt incorporates math, cryptography, logical thinking, creative problem-solving, and even current events.
| This activity would be a fun end-of-the-year challenge, especially if you have limited prep time. It could be part of a Think-a-Thon event or as a stand-alone classroom experience! |
HOW IT WORKS
Students work in teams of two or more. Each team is given a set of 6-10 cryptic tasks, mostly puzzles and ciphers, with limited instructions. (Don’t worry, hints are included, but teams must use points to purchase hints.) Students solve the puzzles in the order they choose, looking for connections. Rules allow them to refer to a handbook; my recommendation is Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers, and Secret Writing. You can purchase used copies (you would only need a few copies), but if you don’t have funds to purchase handbooks, links to alternate resources are provided.
The goal of each team is to find THE COIN (included with the packet). All teams will eventually find the COIN, so the winning team is not necessarily the one that finds it first. Teams earn (and use) points, and the winning team is the one with the highest score at the end. You can determine if there is a prize. If you use this as an annual event, you might create a trophy or leaderboard to display in your classroom with a photo of the winning team each year.
I look forward to creating several more Meta-Puzzle Mystery Hunts. I hope your students have as much fun engaging in the challenge as I did creating it!
I’d love to hear about your experience with the Meta-Puzzle Mystery Hunt! If you’re not a member of our Facebook group, please join and share.
RELATED RESOURCES:
How to Turn a Logic Puzzle into a Mini-Mystery
I am so excited for this! Thank you for sharing your work. My students enjoy the appropriate challenge!
Thank you, Amy! I had so much fun creating it! I hope you can use it for many years!