College Puzzle Challenge

College Puzzle Challenge is an annual puzzlehunt hosted by Microsoft, inspired by the Microsoft Puzzle Hunt or the MIT Mystery Hunt. However, several key features differentiate College Puzzle Challenge from these events. College Puzzle Challenge is a timed event, and while it does have a meta-puzzle, if no team has solved the meta-puzzle at the end of the allotted time, the event is declared over and alternate means are used to determine winners. Registration is limited to current undergraduate and graduate students and those who have graduated in the last year before the event, and team size is strictly regulated to four students. Instead of the winning team hosting the next event as with the Microsoft and MIT hunts, the event is always hosted by Microsoft employees. Since College Puzzle Challenge takes place at multiple locations simultaneously, events are coordinated by a puzzle control team at Microsoft's corporate campus in Redmond, Washington. Ground teams consisting of school alumni who are now Microsoft employees manage on-site issues such as holding opening and closing ceremonies and distributing puzzles. During the event, participants work on a number of puzzles and submit the answer to each one. The solutions to these puzzles are fed into a meta-puzzle, and the first to solve that is determined to be the winner.

College Puzzle Challenge 2003: An All-Night Affair

• Date: November 15–16, 2003
• Start Time: 12:00 Noon, EST
• Length: 24 hours
• Theme: Not strongly themed
• Participating Universities: University of Michigan

College Puzzle Challenge 2004: Casino Royale

• Date: November 6, 2004
• Start Time: 12:00 Noon, EST
• Length: 12 hours
• Theme: Casino games
• Participating Universities: University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Toronto

College Puzzle Challenge 2005: Wonders of the World

• Date: November 12, 2005
• Start Time: 12:00 Noon, EST
• Length: 12 hours
• Theme: The Seven Wonders of the World
• Participating Universities: University of Michigan, University of Toronto, Columbia University, Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Southern California, University of Texas
• Grand Prize Winner: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Team: Super Cow Power)
• Note: This was the first event to use the name College Puzzle Challenge.

College Puzzle Challenge 2006: Special Operations for Location, Verification, and Extraction

• Date: November 11, 2006
• Start Time: 12:00 Noon, EST
• Length: 12 hours
• Theme: A top-secret organization discovers a mysterious island
• Participating Universities: University of Michigan, University of Toronto, Columbia University, Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas, Stanford University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Washington
• Grand Prize Winner: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Team: Quarks and Gluons)

College Puzzle Challenge 2007: Regional Executive Department for Taxation of Assets, Property, and Equity (R.E.D.T.A.P.E)

• Date: November 10, 2007
• Start Time: 12:00 Noon, EST
• Length: 12 hours
• Theme: Auditing the estate of Professor Solvem to explore its mysterious financial state.
• Participating Universities: University of Michigan, University of Toronto, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas, Stanford University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Washington
• Grand Prize winner: Stanford University (Team: Tyrannosaurus PAX)

College Puzzle Challenge 2008: The Heist

• Date: November 8, 2008
• Start Time: 12:00 Noon, EST
• Length: 12 hours
• Theme: Auditing the estate of Professor Solvem to explore its mysterious financial state.
• Participating Universities: Boston College, Boston University, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Howard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Texas A&M, University of Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Texas, University of Toronto, University of Washington, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• Grand Prize winner: Brown University (Team: The Sons of Tamarkin)

College Puzzle Challenge 2009: Making a movie

• Date: November 14, 2009
• Start Time: 12:00 Noon, EST
• Length: 12 hours
• Participating Universities: Boston University, Brown University, California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Olin College, Princeton University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Texas A&M, University of California at Berkeley, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Southern California, University of Texas, University of Toronto, University of Washington, University of Waterloo
• Grand Prize winner: Princeton University (Team: Left for Dead)

College Puzzle Challenge 2010: Apocalypse

• Date: November 6, 2010
• Start Time: 1:00 PM, EST
• Length: 10 hours
• Participating Universities: Boston University, Brown University, California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Olin College, Princeton University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Texas A&M, University of California at Berkeley, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Southern California, University of Texas, University of Toronto, University of Washington, University of Waterloo, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Grand Prize winner: Olin College (Team: Name Team Name)

External resources

• The official College Puzzle Challenge website
• The College Puzzle Challenge Community Space, a blog from the organizers of the event