Podcasts about mit mystery hunt

 " An outlandish approach to meta puzzles" "Congratulations and Condolences" is the default phrase when a team of puzzlers has just won the vaunted MIT Mystery Hunt. This is because according to tradition, the winning team must write next year's Mystery Hunt. This daunting task was recently undertaken by Death and Mayhem, the team that wrote the 2025 MIT Mystery Hunt titled "The Case of the Shadow Diamond." At the helm of this illustrious team is James Douberley, affectionately dubbed the Benevolent Dictator. James led his team of over 160 people to create David's favorite MIT Mystery Hunt to date, blending puzzles with immersive theater in a way that Mystery Hunts had never done before. Some features of this year's hunt included an escape room, The Radio, and The Gala, which functioned as both the team headquarters, but also a place for players to experience a fun interaction. This year's Mystery Hunt had 5,000 people enrolled, with around 171 puzzles. James joins us on REPOD to unwrap the mystery behind how his team designed and built this year's Mystery Hunt. I especially loved hearing about the unique escape room they built, which involved one player actually going to the escape room, while the rest of their team back at HQ clued the active player on what to do, but with a very limited word bank. Cue hilarity. If you're interested in puzzle hunts and large scale immersive events, don't miss this episode, and make sure to check out David's favorite (relatively accessible) puzzle linked below. Winner's Coin from the 2025 MIT Mystery Hunt Episode Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you.    Weldwood Marketing Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business. Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners: Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.   Become a Patron Today! Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including:  The REPOD Bonus Show The Spoilers Club The Travelogue Series Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters

In this episode, Curt goes solo as Chris is still out sick, and welcomes guest Matthew Stein, a multifaceted puzzle designer, violinist, and adventurer. They discuss Matthew's unconventional career path, the intricacies of puzzle design, and the magic of music. Matthew shares his profound experiences with letterboxing, escape rooms, and puzzle hunts, including the prestigious MIT Mystery Hunt. They explore the connection between puzzles and meaningful human experiences while Matthew also sheds light on his future projects, including two upcoming books. Tune in for a deep dive into the world of creative puzzles and the adventures they inspire.IMakePuzzles.com Full Show Notes

What is a transiting brown dwarf, why are they so rare, and how do you find them? Equally important, how do you make a good French macaron? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome astronomer and astrophysicist Dr. Theron Carmichael. As always, though, we start off with the day's joyfully cool cosmic thing: a recent paper in the Astrophysical Journal possibly linking a supernova that took place millions of years ago and bombarded Earth with cosmic rays and radioactive iron with a flurry of virus mutation that took place in deep ancient lakes on our planet. After Theron brings up the Chicxulub meteor impact (the one that spelled trouble for dinosaurs) and how astronomical events can affect the evolution of life here on Earth, we naturally turn to the effects of extreme radiation events and… the mighty Marvel mutants themselves, the X-Men! Then it's time to talk about Dr. Carmichael's bread and butter: detecting and categorizing transiting brown dwarfs, an exceedingly rare form of the “failed stars” which actually orbit other stars. Theron explains that while we know how stars and planets form, we don't exactly understand the formation of brown dwarfs, which exist in the gray region between a star and a planet. Allen reminds us how protoplanetary discs form, while Theron points out that the distinctions may not be as clear as we used to think. Our first student question comes from Ani, who asks, “There are a lot more small, faint stars than big bright stars. Does that mean there are a huge number of brown dwarfs in the galaxy?” Yes, according to Dr. Carmichael. And not only are there more of them, but Theron explains that they last longer, too. Finding them is challenging, but it's become easier thanks to TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission that's been running for over 7 years, well past its operational lifespan. Our next student question comes from Josie, who asks, “Could there be life on brown dwarfs?” While brown dwarfs are colder than stars, they are still too hot to form and sustain the molecules we believe are necessary for life. And while those molecules are in fact present in the atmosphere of brown dwarfs – along with titanium oxide clouds – the pressure and temperature conditions of brown dwarfs make life as we know it unlikely. Theron explains that the atmospheric conditions of brown dwarfs are not dissimilar to Jupiter, as opposed to those on Jovian moons like Europa that we're going to explore when the Europa Clipper reaches its destination in 2030. After that, Theron tells us about the annual MIT Mystery Hunt, his long-time love of baking, and the astronomical value of macarons. (For his French macaron recipe, please visit our Patreon page.) Allen shares how he has made cookies conforming to the Einstein tile, and Charles mentions a few scientists who also love to bake. Theron explains how baking and brown dwarf research use the same parts of his brain. We even get to see a video clip of him making macarons! To end the show, Theron tells us about the international working group he helps lead focused on learning more about transiting brown dwarfs. If you'd like to know more about Dr. Theron Carmichael, you can follow him on Twitter/X @TherBaer or his website, www.theroncarmichael.com. We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon. Credits for Images Used in this Episode: Chicxulub impact 65 million years ago – Illustration credit: Lunar Planetary Institute/David King. Rendering representing the size of a Brown Dwarf compared to other celestials. – Illustration credit: NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ UCB. Planets forming around a young star – a protoplanetary disc. – Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF. Illustration of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. – Credit: NASA. Rendering of Europa Clipper as it orbits Jupiter. – Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Animation showing the orbit of the TESS telescope relative to the Earth and the Moon. – Credit: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio. Einstein Tile - a play on the German phrase "ein stein' or "one stone." – Credit: Creative Commons/University of Waterloo/David Smith, Joseph Samuel Myers, Craig S. Kaplan, Chaim Goodman-Strauss. Video of Dr. Carmichael making macarons. – Credit: Theron Carmichael. #TheLIUniverse #CharlesLiu #AllenLiu #SciencePodcast #AstronomyPodcast #TheronCarmichael #Chicxulubmeteor #BrownDwarf #protoplanetarydisc #TESS #EuropaClipper #exoplanets #EinsteinTile #macaron #failedstars #Jupiter #Europa #MITMysteryHunt

Lords: * Ben * Andrew Topics: * Baking: precise science of measurement or do it all by feel? (People have very different philosophies of muffins) * I've gotten into making crosswords this year and recently had the idea to start putting them on postcards and leaving them in public places for people to find. Am I becoming the Riddler? Is this fine? * I just found out that there aren't exactly 52 weeks in a year * The Rules, Leila Chatti * https://poets.org/poem/rules * Building fidgeting into a Zoom lecture * Things of Science. (Subscription science toy service that I got when I was a kid) Microtopics: * Posting pictures of pottery to social media. * The Hopefully Year of Layoffs. * Teaching game development as a hobby. * The interactive comic books of Jason Shiga. * Lies and truth and sea monsters. * Waiting for half an hour to find out if you fucked it up. * Baking intuitively. * Skimming a recipe and thinking "hmm yes, I've made food before" * Voronoi cookies. * Keeping separate baking notebooks for each season. * Having units that are divisible by two. * Putting it in a Gas 4 Oven. * How to pronounce "tare." * Sneaking into Grandma's kitchen and weighing all the ingredients. * Cruciverbalism. * Where to post the crosswords you've constructed. * A Lord's Puzzle. * Giving people a little bit of joy and avoiding hearing any feedback about it. * Living in the puzzle capital of the world. * Constructing a crossword puzzle for every party you attend. * The MIT Mystery Hunt. * Making art for a really small group of people. * Crosswordese. * Designing themed vs. themeless crossword puzzles. * How many weeks are in a leap year. * Yet another ratio that doesn't work out. * Calendrical systems you could use. * Things that you know that are wrong. * What's your favorite thing you don't know that you don't know? * Finding a drawer full of narwhal tusks in a bone shop and thinking "hm, sixty unicorns died here" * NASA's antigravity room. * Why doesn't the Mars habitat work out? * Multiple digressions on horse urine. * Refining horse urine into progesterone on Mars. * Suddenly realizing that you've been dead all along. * Cicadas doing whatever they do in the trees. * Acknowledging the expectations of what a poem is. * Why you always turn out to have been dead at the end. * Who is out there still making games about guns? * Adding line breaks to make your essay look like a poem. * Innominateness. * Garden path level design. * Reading aloud etudes. * Mavis Beacon Teaches Elocution. * Replacing your Zoom background with a video of yourself. * Brain massaging video of cutting sand. * The calming effect of amphetamines. * Fidgeting incessantly during Zoom calls. * Fidgeting for people so they don't have to. * Bubbling noises and space harps. * Remote testing protocols. * Plagiarism detector snake oil. * Doing homework to get used to the idea of doing homework. * Mass-production of adults. * Paperwork as a method of crowd control. * Homework as a barrier to family time vs. homework that facilitates family time. * Mailing people little bits of science. * Aerogel vs. Superslurper. * Growing mold in your oobleck. * Sending 1940s children asbestos in the mail. * Using every sense to explore the world. * A dog sniffing your hand and walking away. * Throwing away all the business cards that just have your Twitter handle on them.

Lords: * Erica * Kory * https://kbones.itch.io/ Topics: * Mystery Hunt 2024 * Developing my first video game * Wearing glasses prevents COVID * English Ending Song, by Ryoji Yoshitomi * https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/3/3597ddeb-e52e-4cda-a59c-c64600489fea/AxA-XP8E.png * How to make satisfying non-violent gameplay * @DJTentMode@mstdn.party Microtopics: * Letting go of concepts of yourself that you believe. * Losing a concept of yourself as a person and just becoming free-floating thoughts. * 47 year old house painters. * Growing up to be a pluripotent human being. * Finding cool and positive Internet spaces to hang out in. * Excavating old Bubsy memorabilia. * Checking the maps on your telephone. * Defining yourself as someone who doesn't eat free cheese samples. * Scientists researching how to be cool and cringe at the same time. * 2023 Game of the Year Gordy and the Monster Moon. * Protocols and processes that presume that if you are good at solving puzzles then you must also be good at designing puzzles. * The humble beginnings of the MIT Mystery Hunt. * Puzzle Inflation. * Instant stooging. * People who are obligated to prevent their children from dying. * Server migration problems. * Accidentally writing the same puzzle as someone else. * Premium content for listeners who want to subscribe. * Putting sprites on the screen and accepting controller input. * Game design by proxy. * Your local Barcade with a Pico-8 cabinet. * Buttoning up a game to make it a shippable product. * Whether the knife is detecting a dork. * Butter golems. * Bugs that make games more fun. * Building a high end gaming PC and only running Pico-8 on it * I can't believe they buttered Jorts! * Meeting the guy who runs the Indie Arcade at Magfest. * Waiting 40 years for opportunities to fall in your lap. * Think Buick. * A cat that is not on the show. * Of all the exposed mucus membranes on your face, the eyes are two of them. * Projectile transmission. * Did this COVID infection rate study control for popularity? * Hitting 40 and embracing the cringe. * Wearing chemistry goggles in public. * Myopic basketball players. * Things you can put on your face to look like a superhero in disguise. * The Wario Land 4 soundtrack. * Making ogg vorbis rips of the Wario Land 4 soundtrack to put on Napster. * A gem of a poem to be hidden in a Wario game. * Playing back vocals with single-syllable samples. * Our collective dream diary. * Your dreams melting into your pillow with all the dust mites. * Everything is impermanent, especially video games. * A shocking removal of an important human from your life. * Making your peace with the time you have forgotten. * The natural high you get from blowing things up. * Throwing apples at a Snorlax until it wakes up. * Cooking games. * Matching happy looking fruits of different sizes. * Watching carefully as two peaches slide together. * Designing video games for 5-year olds on T. * Dropping things that merge in a two dimensional space with gravity. * The boy has two dads. * What can I do that is nonviolent and crunchy and interesting and solvable? * Looking for inspiration outside of video games.

"We are so excited that a publishing company is using the medium of puzzles... to promote a book." The only thing I like better than puzzles is winning money while solving puzzles. Who Killed Ickey? is an online treasure hunt taking place January 27, 2024 with prizes worth $50,000. In this special release sponsored episode, we sat down with the Who Killed Ickey? puzzle hunt designer John Bromels for the inside scoop on how this treasure hunt works . John started off creating The Puzzle Crawl—For nerds who like to drink and drunks who like to think. He is also on the team that ran this year's MIT Mystery Hunt, but don't worry. He told us that he designed The Who Killed Ickey? hunt to be accessible to puzzlers of all experience levels. We're really excited to hear that a publishing company is using the medium of puzzle hunts to promote their new book. Good Luck to all the puzzlers! The Who Killed Ickey? treasure hunt begins at 10 am pacific time on January 27, 2024 and ends at 4:30 pm pacific time. You can learn more at the Who Killed Ickey? website.   Timestamps & Full Show Notes   Episode Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors Who Killed Ickey? and Morty, Buzzshot, and COGS by Clockwork Dog:  Who Killed Ickey? Who Killed Ickey? is a madcap treasure hunt from Galbraith Literary Publishers taking place on January 27, 2024, with prizes totaling fifty thousand dollars. This hunt is designed by John Bromels, a member of the team running this year's MIT Mystery Hunt. Who Killed Ickey? Details: Grand prize of $25k to fastest team. Next 10 fastest teams win prizes with total value of $20k. There are mini puzzles every week, and solvers are entered into a drawing for $50. If you solved every single puzzle, you're entered into a drawing for $5k. The entry fee is buying a copy of the book Who Killed Jerusalem, which will be needed to solve the puzzles. However, you won't need to read the book to solve anything.  Neither the book (which is set in 1977 San Francisco) nor the Hunt are related to recent global events in any way. The Who Killed Ickey? treasure hunt begins at 10 am pacific time on January 27, 2024 and ends at 4:30 pm pacific time. You can learn more at the Who Killed Ickey? website.   Morty Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.  Morty News: Morty now features haunt attractions Morty for Android is here Special Badge for REPOD listeners: You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media  Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

"One of my favorite things about Spoilers Club is getting to hear about those tiny little details that the designers sneak into their games." One of the things I love about playing escape rooms is that post-game discussion where we get to analyze everything that happened during the game. We can talk about all of our favorite puzzles, things that worked for us, and things that didn't work for us. But it's tough to discuss details on a podcast, because you don't want to spoil anything for people who haven't played the game yet. That's why we created the Spoilers Club. It's a Patreon exclusive series where we invite creators from all of our favorite escape rooms to dish about the challenges and details of creating their games. In this special release episode, I've chosen some fun clips from our more recent Spoilers Club episodes to preview. I tried to choose clips that were interesting but didn't spoil too much about the game. One thing to note is that some clips might have very slight spoilers, but nothing that wouldn't be immediately revealed the minute you step foot into the game. We also don't spoil major reveals or how puzzles work in these clips.   Timestamps & Full Show Notes Episode Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors Who Killed Ickey? and Morty, Buzzshot, and COGS by Clockwork Dog:  Who Killed Ickey? Who Killed Ickey? is a madcap treasure hunt from Galbraith Literary Publishers taking place on January 27, 2024, with prizes totaling fifty thousand dollars. This hunt is designed by John Bromels, a member of the team running this year's MIT Mystery Hunt. Who Killed Ickey? Details: Grand prize of $25k to fastest team. Next 10 fastest teams win prizes with total value of $20k. There are mini puzzles every week, and solvers are entered into a drawing for $50. If you solved every single puzzle, you're entered into a drawing for $5k. The entry fee is buying a copy of the book Who Killed Jerusalem, which will be needed to solve the puzzles. However, you won't need to read the book to solve anything.  Neither the book (which is set in 1977 San Francisco) nor the Hunt are related to recent global events in any way. The Who Killed Ickey? treasure hunt begins at 10 am pacific time on January 27, 2024 and ends at 4:30 pm pacific time. You can learn more at the Who Killed Ickey? website.   Morty Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.  Morty News: Morty now features haunt attractions Morty for Android is here Special Badge for REPOD listeners: You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira  Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media  Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

"You never know why something will go viral, and it doesn't matter why. They'll still come." If social media was an escape room, most owners and designers would never find the key. Navigating all the different trends and social media apps is a daunting task, and it's even harder when most escape rooms don't allow photos or videos of their games. That's why we brought in an expert. In this special release of our Patreon Exclusive Bonus episode from Season 6, Episode 3, we talk to social media influencer and the owner of Exit Game OC, Christine Barger. Exit Game OC not only allows filming during their game, they actively encourage it. They also capture footage of their guests filming TikToks for their own social media. Christine explains that all these players "want to market you. For Free." and wonders why more escape rooms don't take advantage of this free, viral marketing opportunity. We also discuss hiring practices and how to foster kindness towards players. This is a can't-miss conversation. For more episodes like this, support our podcast by joining our Patreon today.   Timestamps & Full Show Notes Episode Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors Who Killed Ickey? and Morty:  Who Killed Ickey? Who Killed Ickey? is a madcap treasure hunt from Galbraith Literary Publishers taking place on January 27, 2024, with prizes totaling fifty thousand dollars. This hunt is designed by John Bromels, a member of the team running this year's MIT Mystery Hunt. Who Killed Ickey? Details: Grand prize of $25k to fastest team. Next 10 fastest teams win prizes with total value of $20k. There are mini puzzles every week, and solvers are entered into a drawing for $50. If you solved every single puzzle, you're entered into a drawing for $5k. The entry fee is buying a copy of the book Who Killed Jerusalem, which will be needed to solve the puzzles. However, you won't need to read the book to solve anything.  Neither the book (which is set in 1977 San Francisco) nor the Hunt are related to recent global events in any way. The Who Killed Ickey? treasure hunt begins at 10 am pacific time on January 27, 2024 and ends at 4:30 pm pacific time. You can learn more at the Who Killed Ickey? website.   Morty Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.  Morty News: Morty now features haunt attractions Morty for Android is here Special Badge for REPOD listeners: You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also). Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira  Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media  Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

“An escape room crossword puzzle”  In Season 6, episode 8, we talk to the charming crossword constructor Eric Berlin. Eric is the creator of Puzzlesnacks, one of our favorite puzzle books, and he authored the Winston Breen trilogy, a series of puzzling novels for kids. Eric was also captain of Team Palindrome, one of the largest MIT Mystery Hunt teams, which won in 2021.  Eric has a long and illustrious career crafting creative crossword puzzles. From brazening his way into Games Magazine board game nights to convincing Weird Al Yankovic to star in a cameo congratulating the winners of the MIT Mystery Hunt, Eric has great stories about being a passionate life-long word nerd. This conversation with Eric Berlin opened my eyes to a whole new world of crossword puzzles. I had no idea that they were heavily themed or could masquerade as magic shows and escape rooms. It's always wonderful to interview guests who are enthusiastic about their craft. It's delightful to see that Eric has maintained a lifelong love for puzzles.   Timestamps & Full Show Notes   Episode Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, and COGS:  Morty Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.  Morty News: Morty now features haunt attractions Morty for Android is here Special Badge for REPOD listeners: You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira & Richard Burns Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media  Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

In this episode JD visits GRPVG again. We drink Oxyshred Guava Paradise energy drink, Tim Hortons Iced Oreo Cap Supreme, and Bells Hazy Hearted. RLXP includes a long wait, a week of 2 jobs, and lost pounds. We've played My Friend Peppa Pig (XB), Marvel Vs Capcom 2 (Dreamcast), Loituma Girl (Playdate), and Saints Row (XB). Marvel Snap gets a quick HSSTWKWM about new big data. Our reccos are Everything Everywhere All At Once, the MIT Mystery Hunt, and the podcast We're Alive.       Links -             We're Alive - https://www.werealive.com/       GRPVG Links - linktr.ee/grandrapidians --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/grandrapidians/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/grandrapidians/support

Lex (finally!) participated in the MIT Mystery Hunt.

with @enigmida @skominers @smc90A special bonus holiday episode (during our brief summer vacation) based on a hallway-style conversation we did linking two seemingly unrelated things: puzzle design, and crypto. What's the connection? Our experts  riff on all things puzzle design, from types of puzzles and mediums to mindsets -- as well as the parallels between the general principles of incentive design, engagement, accessibility, and more to NFTs, escape rooms, games, and other experience design -- drawing on their deep experience and passion from both inside puzzle communities and from work they've done for different crypto projects. Hosted by Sonal Chokshi, our guests in this episode are: Scott Kominers (a16z crypto research partner and professor at Harvard Business School), who also wrote Bloomberg's puzzle column for a couple years; and Matthew Stein (former software engineer at Google and now full-time puzzle designer), who specializes in narrative puzzle hunts, as well as in designing alternate reality games for NFT communities, movies, musicians, companies, individuals, and others. Stein also designs puzzles for Art of Play's art journal; and is a reviewer for Room Escape Artist, the largest escape room website in North America, where he also writes about various topics in immersive gaming. As a reminder, none of this is investment, legal, business, or tax advice; please see a16z.com/disclosures for more important information, including a link to a list of our investments. 

TW: Death;In this first episode of The Extraction, we challenge you to think outside AND inside the box as we talk to Todd Etter to talk about his puzzle, Xbox, which he wrote for the Famine Game in 2013.This episode contains spoilers for the puzzle Xbox, and some details of other puzzles from The Famine Game and the 2020 MIT Mystery Hunt.—• The Famine Game Website: http://thefaminegame.com/• Create an Electronic Puzzle Box by Marcus Porter on Instructables: https://www.instructables.com/Create-an-Electronic-Puzzle-Box/• Solving the XBox Puzzle by Fleb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_8e6XgAiow• See Todd's puzzles from the 2020 MIT Mystery Hunt: https://devjoe.appspot.com/huntindex/author/ettertodd—Support the Extraction on Patreon at https://patreon.com/theextraction and get access to behind-the-scenes posts and bonus content. Supporters of the higher tiers will get early access to episodes and get credited at the end of every episode. Those at the highest tier will also receive the official The Extraction mug after supporting the podcast for three months.Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @extractionpod.The Extraction is written, hosted, and produced by Justin Ladia.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/theextraction)

Dave and Ethan welcome puzzle masters Eric Berlin and Joe Bohanon to the podcast. Eric constructed a crossword puzzle with Weird Al for the New York Times, and together, Eric and Joe were part of a very special and obscure Weird Al appearance at the 2022 MIT Mystery Hunt. Johnny O'Hern also pops in to discuss Weird Al's new project with American Greetings.Be sure to visit our website for links to the supporting material and puzzles that we mention in this episode.

John and Craig rant about prohibitive screenwriting advice and declare their allegiance to the “we see/we hear” convention. They analyze scripts from this year's awards season to argue good story trumps all else. We also answer questions on screenplay fundamentals from parantheticals, action lines to script length. In our bonus segment for premium members, we consider: what is the screenwriting equivalent of boot camp? Links: The CW is for sale! Annie Hayes on Writing with an Invisible Illness on John's blog Being the Ricardos by Aaron Sorkin The Lost Daughter by Maggie Gyllenhaal The Mitchells vs. the Machines by Mike Rianda And Jeff Rowe Passing by Rebecca Hall Belfast by Kenneth Branagh Tick, Tick, Boom by Steven Levenson Willy Wonka Script at the johnaugust.com library! Vigil show MIT Mystery Hunt 2022 Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription! Craig Mazin on Twitter John August on Twitter John on Instagram Outro by William Brink (send us yours!) Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at ask@johnaugust.com You can download the episode here.

While Ryan is still on vacation, Brian is once again joined by Ben "The Barnacle" Zimmer! Coming in a smidge shorter than last week's show, Ben and Brian spend most of the episode talking all about cryptic crosswords -- history, evolution, Twitch streaming, and a Thunder Round of some of their favorites from the past week. Find more of Ben Zimmer on Twitter and on his other podcast, Spectacular Vernacular. And read the two articles he mentions on this show, the ones from Beyond Wordplay and Slate. There's a contest crossword, which you can download at https://bit.ly/fmi328con . And if you want to check out any of the cryptic crosswords mentioned on the show today, go to Daily Crossword Links for those and more! Stuff to click: MIT Mystery Hunt 2022 and the Hunt's archive SkyKnit Learned League If you get bored, write something for the Fill Me In wiki. And if you're feeling philanthropic, donate to our Patreon. We shout out the names of our patrons on the first new episode of each month -- including today! Do you enjoy our show? Actually, it doesn't matter! Please consider leaving us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. This will help new listeners find our show, and you'll be inducted into the Quintuple Decker Turkey Club. Drop us a note or a Tweet or a postcard or a phone call — we'd love to hear from you. Helpful links: Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fill-me-in/id1364379980 Google Play link: https://player.fm/series/fill-me-in-2151002 Amazon/Audible link: https://www.amazon.com/item_name/dp/B08JJRM927 RSS feed: http://bemoresmarter.libsyn.com/rss Contact us: Email (fmi@bemoresmarter.com) / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Google Voice (315-510-9892) We're putting these words here to help with search engine optimization. We don't think it will work, but you probably haven't read this far, so it doesn't matter: baseball, crossword, crosswords, etymology, game, hunt, movies, musicals, mystery, oscar, pizza, puzzle, puzzles, soup, trivia, words

This week, Ryan and Brian go diving with the EELs, ponder on life as an understudy, and rave about the MIT Mystery Hunt (which hasn't happen and which Brian is too scared to attend). There's a new contest crossword as well, which you can download at https://bit.ly/fmi326con If you get bored, write something for the Fill Me In wiki. And if you're feeling philanthropic, donate to our Patreon. We shout out the names of our patrons on the first new episode of each month! Do you enjoy our show? Actually, it doesn't matter! Please consider leaving us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. This will help new listeners find our show, and you'll be inducted into the Quintuple Decker Turkey Club. Drop us a note or a Tweet or a postcard or a phone call — we'd love to hear from you. Helpful links: Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fill-me-in/id1364379980 Google Play link: https://player.fm/series/fill-me-in-2151002 Amazon/Audible link: https://www.amazon.com/item_name/dp/B08JJRM927 RSS feed: http://bemoresmarter.libsyn.com/rss Contact us: Email (fmi@bemoresmarter.com) / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Google Voice (315-510-9892) We're putting these words here to help with search engine optimization. We don't think it will work, but you probably haven't read this far, so it doesn't matter: baseball, crossword, crosswords, etymology, game, hunt, movies, musicals, mystery, oscar, pizza, puzzle, puzzles, soup, trivia, words

In this week's episode of Fill Me In, Ryan and Brian verb Ben Zimmer, calculate the likelihood of traveling to Egypt, and learn how to make a bubble wig. Deborah Cameron's article on "Ette-ymology" A.J. Pollock's statistics Is it hunt yet? Puzzle Hunt Calendar Mouse Adventure Little Monsters and Knock Down the House Wiktionary: "stewardess" The MIT Mystery Hunt (puzzles, solutions, spoilers) P & A Magazine Westport Crossword Puzzle Contest Finger Lakes Crossword Competition The Indie 500 The New York Times puzzles, January 28-February 3 If you enjoy our show (or even if you don't), consider leaving us a 5-star review on iTunes. This will help new listeners find our show, and you'll be inducted into the Quintuple Decker Turkey Club. Drop us a note or a Tweet or a postcard or a phone call — we'd love to hear from you. Helpful links: iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fill-me-in/id1364379980 Google Play link:https://player.fm/series/fill-me-in-2151002 RSS feed: http://bemoresmarter.libsyn.com/rss Contact us: Email / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Google Voice

In the island of Vyortovia, the Dread Queen awaits, holding captive Prospect City's superheroes for the Tangee occupation. Our heroes must now assail this oppressed nation to save their own. Slipstream learns the joys of being a hero, Turn slips down a darker path and Regicide confronts their past. The Gauntlet and everything related can be found at https://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/ Masks: A New Generation and its sundry supplements can be found at http://www.magpiegames.com/masks/ Plugs! * DIE by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/die * Heroes of the Republic https://heroesoftherepublic.com/ * The MIT Mystery Hunt http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/nexthunt.html

Welcome to the strange, deviously difficult and incredibly joyful world of puzzle hunts. Follow along as Alex Rosenthal lifts the veil on one of the world's most complex puzzle hunts, the MIT Mystery Hunt -- and reveals how puzzles can be found in the most unexpected places. (Hint: see if you can spot the puzzle hidden in this TED Talk.)

Bem-vindo ao estranho, tortuosamente difícil e incrivelmente alegre mundo das caças a enigmas. Acompanhe enquanto Alex Rosenthal revela uma das caças a enigmas mais complexas do mundo, a MIT Mystery Hunt, e como os enigmas podem ser encontrados nos lugares mais inesperados. (Dica: veja se você consegue identificar o enigma escondido nesta palestra TED.)

Bienvenido al mundo extraño, increíblemente difícil e increíblemente alegre de la búsqueda de acertijos. Sigue a Alex Rosenthal como revela cosas en una de las búsquedas de acertijos más complejas del mundo, la MIT Mystery Hunt, y revela cómo se pueden encontrar acertijos en los lugares más inesperados. (Sugerencia: vea si puede encontrar el acertijo oculto en esta charla TED).

This week we interview puzzle designer and enthusiast Dan Katz! This is probably our longest podcast yet. Blame Errol.Dan Katz has written puzzlehunt puzzles for the MIT Mystery Hunt, the Gen Con Puzzle Hunt, and BAPHL. His puzzles have also appeared in Wired, MAA Focus, and Games World of Puzzles. His most notorious gift to the puzzling community is the follow-the-deranged-directions puzzle format known as the Duck Konundrum, for which he sincerely apologizes.Check out Dan's new puzzle blog at puzzlvaria.wordpress.comFor the curious, see the most excellent Xbox puzzle on youtube.And the parody song was written and performed by Dan Katz himself!