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Crosswicking
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* {{Metapuzzle}}: The Hunt is divided into multiple rounds; each round has its own metapuzzle, with the individual puzzles in that round (called "feeders") providing clues or information about the meta's answer. At times, figuring out the connection between the feeder puzzles is itself a puzzle (for example, all of the answers might have something in common, or hint at another form of code like Morse or Braille). It's then taken even further with the aptly-dubbed "meta-metas," which combine the answers from each round's metapuzzle into an even ''bigger'' metapuzzle that provides the final answer. Some Mystery Hunts have even had multiple meta-meta puzzles!
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* SpecialGuest: As the Hunt has become more mainstream within the nerd community, some teams have recruited celebrities to help out.
** Randall Munroe, creator of ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'', participates on a Hunt-solving team and allowed some of his comics to be part of the 2011 Hunt. He even wrote a comic that contained his puzzle's answer during the 2011 Hunt itself!
** Music/WeirdAlYankovic made a guest appearance in the 2022 Hunt's section on cookbooks (appropriate, given his well-known love of [[PungeonMaster food puns]]).
** Randall Munroe, creator of ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'', participates on a Hunt-solving team and allowed some of his comics to be part of the 2011 Hunt. He even wrote a comic that contained his puzzle's answer during the 2011 Hunt itself!
** Music/WeirdAlYankovic made a guest appearance in the 2022 Hunt's section on cookbooks (appropriate, given his well-known love of [[PungeonMaster food puns]]).
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* WholePlotReference: Some hunts lean heavily on their theming and recreate key scenes and elements from their source material. Particular examples include 2012's ''Film/TheProducers'' Hunt (which had solvers helping Max and Leo try to stage deliberately bad musicals again, only to inevitably succeed), 2014's [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Wonderland]] Hunt (which had players meeting virtually every major character from the books), and 2018's ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' Hunt (which recreated the Emotion characters, Islands of Personality, and Core Memories).
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* EntryPoint: MIT students form teams and access the game by means of puzzles scattered around the city or during special events hosted on the campus.
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* EntryPoint: MIT students People of all ages form teams and access the game by means of puzzles scattered around the city or during special events hosted on the campus.campus--the only condition is that at least one person on the team has to have ''some'' connection to MIT.
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* FirstEpisodeTwist: This has become increasingly common in recent years, with the supposed theme of the hunt being set up only to reveal the true theme at the kickoff weekend event.
** In 2007, the entire hunt was apparently only five puzzles long, and nearly every team solved it quickly...only to discover that they'd inadvertently [[DealWithTheDevil sold their souls to Satan]] in the process. The true hunt involved a descent into Hell to recover the souls.
** 2011's hunt began with an invitation to the wedding of "M & P." It wasn't until kickoff that the initials were revealed to stand for [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario and Peach]]--and naturally Bowser showed up to crash the wedding and kidnap the princess, forcing Mario to travel through a video game-themed hunt.
** In 2014, teams were invited to attend a high-level academic conference, which was immediately interrupted by the Cheshire Cat to kick off an ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'' theme.
** The 2018 Hunt was given a "Health and Safety" theme, but teams quickly discovered that they were inside the head of [[PunnyName Miss Terry Hunter]]--the actual theme was ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', as solvers had to help Terry's emotions regain control and discover her Core Memories to save the day.
** 2020's Hunt kicked off with two longtime solvers getting married (that wasn't part of a skit--the two genuinely had their wedding ceremony at kickoff), seemingly setting up a "true love" themed hunt; instead, the couple decided to go to an amusement park for their honeymoon, with the puzzles deriving from the various "lands" in the park.
** 2022's Hunt, ostensibly about super-intelligent rats, went off the rails when the organizers announced that MIT's entire library had mysteriously vanished. Teams had to enter "Bookspace" to restore it by solving puzzles themed around all kinds of literature.
** In 2007, the entire hunt was apparently only five puzzles long, and nearly every team solved it quickly...only to discover that they'd inadvertently [[DealWithTheDevil sold their souls to Satan]] in the process. The true hunt involved a descent into Hell to recover the souls.
** 2011's hunt began with an invitation to the wedding of "M & P." It wasn't until kickoff that the initials were revealed to stand for [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario and Peach]]--and naturally Bowser showed up to crash the wedding and kidnap the princess, forcing Mario to travel through a video game-themed hunt.
** In 2014, teams were invited to attend a high-level academic conference, which was immediately interrupted by the Cheshire Cat to kick off an ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'' theme.
** The 2018 Hunt was given a "Health and Safety" theme, but teams quickly discovered that they were inside the head of [[PunnyName Miss Terry Hunter]]--the actual theme was ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', as solvers had to help Terry's emotions regain control and discover her Core Memories to save the day.
** 2020's Hunt kicked off with two longtime solvers getting married (that wasn't part of a skit--the two genuinely had their wedding ceremony at kickoff), seemingly setting up a "true love" themed hunt; instead, the couple decided to go to an amusement park for their honeymoon, with the puzzles deriving from the various "lands" in the park.
** 2022's Hunt, ostensibly about super-intelligent rats, went off the rails when the organizers announced that MIT's entire library had mysteriously vanished. Teams had to enter "Bookspace" to restore it by solving puzzles themed around all kinds of literature.
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Added a little detail. When in doubt, double-check, my source was a TED talk from one of the Mystery Hunt's winners
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Early Hunts were around 30 puzzles long, but they have since grown to be over 100 puzzles long, with 10 to 20 meta-puzzles. The winners of the hunt gain the right to design the next year's Hunt. A general intro to the Mystery Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/history.html here]]. Puzzles can involve a variety of elements, from traditional puzzles/games like chess and (cryptic) crosswords, to a ''huge'' variety of trivia that can be recombined to spell out answers in certain ways.
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Early Hunts were around 30 puzzles long, but they have since grown to be over 100 puzzles long, with 10 to 20 meta-puzzles. The winners of the hunt gain the right (and obligation) to design the next year's Hunt. A general intro to the Mystery Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/history.html here]]. Puzzles can involve a variety of elements, from traditional puzzles/games like chess and (cryptic) crosswords, to a ''huge'' variety of trivia that can be recombined to spell out answers in certain ways.
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** The images depicted in the 2005 MIT Mystery Hunt puzzle called "Telephone TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}" uses [[spoiler:[[TheBeatles Beatle]] songs as the thing that's being illustrated]].
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** The images depicted in the 2005 MIT Mystery Hunt puzzle called "Telephone TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}" uses [[spoiler:[[TheBeatles [[spoiler:[[Music/TheBeatles Beatle]] songs as the thing that's being illustrated]].
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* EntryPoint: MIT students form teams and access the game by means of props scattered around the city or during special events hosted on the campus.
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* EntryPoint: MIT students form teams and access the game by means of props puzzles scattered around the city or during special events hosted on the campus.
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* EntryPoint: MIT students form teams and access the game by means of props scattered around the city or during special events hosted on the campus.
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** The images depicted in the 2005 MIT Mystery Hunt puzzle called "Telephone Pictionary" uses [[spoiler:[[TheBeatles Beatle]] songs as the thing that's being illustrated]].
to:
** The images depicted in the 2005 MIT Mystery Hunt puzzle called "Telephone Pictionary" TabletopGame/{{Pictionary}}" uses [[spoiler:[[TheBeatles Beatle]] songs as the thing that's being illustrated]].
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* ArtifactTitle: In the first few hunts, the goal was to track down an Indian head penny, which came to be known as a "Coin." As the hunts progressed, what teams actually hunt for has evolved immensely, ranging from a weather-controlling machine to a piece of a manhole cover to a [[WesternAnimation/InsideOut Core Memory.]] This object is still referred to as a Coin even though it is almost ''never'' a piece of actual currency any more. [[spoiler: Although the all-online 2021 Hunt ''did'' have an actual quarter as the Coin.]]
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* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first few hunts were written by one man--Brad Schaefer--on a single sheet of paper and consisted of relatively basic codes and ciphers. The earliest example of having any sort of theme dates to 1992 (eleven years after the Hunt was established). Given the sprawling size of contemporary hunts and the dozens of people who write a single one each year, it's odd to look back at the original ones and how brief they were.
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* ScrabbleBabble: [[spoiler:[[https://puzzles.mit.edu/2000/set1/7/Puzzle.html Puzzle 7 of Set 1]] of the [[spoiler:2001]] Hunt is about this trope.
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* ScrabbleBabble: [[spoiler:[[https://puzzles.mit.edu/2000/set1/7/Puzzle.html Puzzle 7 of Set 1]] 1]]]] of the [[spoiler:2001]] Hunt is about this trope.
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* ScrabbleBabble: [[spoiler:[[https://puzzles.mit.edu/2000/set1/7/Puzzle.html Puzzle 7 of Set 1]] of the [[spoiler:2001]] Hunt is about this trope.
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expies can only be people
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* {{Expy}}: Not of characters, but of puzzles. Every year there's at least one "tons of tedious and confusing but technically unambiguous directions about modifying a sequence of letters" puzzle, as well as a puzzle involving box puzzles (such as nurikabe or thermometers). Puzzles containing smaller Mystery-Hunt-style sub-puzzles are also popular.
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None
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Early Hunts were around 30 puzzles long, but they have since grown to be around 100 puzzles long, with 10 to 20 meta-puzzles. The winners of the hunt gain the right to design the next year's Hunt. A general intro to the Mystery Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/history.html here]]. Puzzles can involve a variety of elements, from traditional puzzles/games like chess and (cryptic) crosswords, to a ''huge'' variety of trivia that can be recombined to spell out answers in certain ways.
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large and really small teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles in recent years have been available online, meaning that people who can't be at the MIT campus in person can still participate.
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large and really small teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles in recent years have been available online, meaning that people who can't be at the MIT campus in person can still participate.
to:
Early Hunts were around 30 puzzles long, but they have since grown to be around over 100 puzzles long, with 10 to 20 meta-puzzles. The winners of the hunt gain the right to design the next year's Hunt. A general intro to the Mystery Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/history.html here]]. Puzzles can involve a variety of elements, from traditional puzzles/games like chess and (cryptic) crosswords, to a ''huge'' variety of trivia that can be recombined to spell out answers in certain ways.
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large and really small teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles in recent years have been available online, meaning that people who can't be at the MIT campus in person can stillparticipate.
participate. And finally, unlike many other hunts that take place over a week or even an unlimited amount of time, this hunt is designed to be worked on in one intense, continuous effort, over the weekend (which often makes teamwork a necessity so people can work in shifts).
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large and really small teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles in recent years have been available online, meaning that people who can't be at the MIT campus in person can still
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The Hunt is held every January during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, beginning at (around) noon on Friday, and running continuously until a team recovers the coin, usually 40 to 50 hours later. In recent years it's been customary to keep running the hunt a little longer after the coin gets found, if the coin gets found relatively early.
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The Hunt is held every January during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, beginning at (around) noon on Friday, and running continuously until a team recovers the coin, usually 40 to 50 hours later. In recent years it's been customary to keep running the hunt a little longer after the coin gets found, so that more teams can enjoy finishing the hunt, especially if the coin gets found relatively early.
early. Though, most teams don't actually finish the hunt, but designers have started catering for that too, with early- and mid-hunt climaxes being common features of more recent hunts.
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* MoonLogicPuzzle: Some puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought. This sometimes means realizing that something familiar is being presented in a very unusual way (e.g. representing car models using chemical elements).
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* MoonLogicPuzzle: Some puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought. This sometimes means realizing that something familiar is being presented in a very unusual way (e.g. representing [[spoiler:representing car models using chemical elements).elements]]).
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* OverlyLongName: The name of the team that won the 2013 Hunt is the entire text of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. For their succeeding 2014 Hunt, based on ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'', they renamed themselves "Alice Shrugged".
to:
* OverlyLongName: OverlyLongName due to LoopholeAbuse: The name of the team that won the 2013 Hunt is the entire text of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. For their succeeding 2014 Hunt, based on ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'', they renamed themselves "Alice Shrugged".
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ARGH FORMATTING
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** In addition, Hunt themes are often shout-outs to something, either an entire genre (e.g. the [[MysteryFiction murder mystery]]) or a specific work (e.g. **Film/TheProducers** or **{{Film/Inception}}**).
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** In addition, Hunt themes are often shout-outs to something, either an entire genre (e.g. the [[MysteryFiction murder mystery]]) or a specific work (e.g. **Film/TheProducers** ''Film/TheProducers'' or **{{Film/Inception}}**).''{{Film/Inception}}'').
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** In addition, Hunt themes are often shout-outs to something, either an entire genre (e.g. the [[MysteryFiction murder mystery]]) or a specific work (e.g. *Film/TheProducers* or *{{Film/Inception}}*).
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** In addition, Hunt themes are often shout-outs to something, either an entire genre (e.g. the [[MysteryFiction murder mystery]]) or a specific work (e.g. *Film/TheProducers* **Film/TheProducers** or *{{Film/Inception}}*).**{{Film/Inception}}**).
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The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large and really small teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles for the past few years have been available online, meaning that people who can't be at the MIT campus in person can still participate.
Hunts these days often come with an ExcusePlot in the form of an AlternateRealityGame to explain why people are going around solving puzzles. Past plots have included a murder mystery, a journey through hell, and a 30(0)th anniversary celebration of the Hunt.
Hunts these days often come with an ExcusePlot in the form of an AlternateRealityGame to explain why people are going around solving puzzles. Past plots have included a murder mystery, a journey through hell, and a 30(0)th anniversary celebration of the Hunt.
to:
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large and really small teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles for the past few in recent years have been available online, meaning that people who can't be at the MIT campus in person can still participate.
Hunts these days often come with an ExcusePlot in the form of an AlternateRealityGame to explain why people are going around solving puzzles. Past plots have included a murder mystery, a journey through hell, anda 30(0)th an anniversary celebration of the Hunt.
Hunts these days often come with an ExcusePlot in the form of an AlternateRealityGame to explain why people are going around solving puzzles. Past plots have included a murder mystery, a journey through hell, and
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** In addition, Hunt themes are often shout-outs to something, either an entire genre (e.g. the [[MysteryFiction murder mystery]]) or a specific work (e.g. *Film/TheProducers* or *{{Film/Inception}}*).
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Updated, fixed, and tweaked the various trope descriptions. Added some tropes. Added some spoiler tags.
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* AlternateRealityGame: While it did originate as a non-web puzzle, it is now primarily a web hunt with non-web components (i.e. the kickoff, the MIT campus runarounds, endgame and wrapup).
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* AlternateRealityGame: While it did originate as early Mystery Hunts didn't have a non-web puzzle, it specific theme, more recent hunts generally have some sort of theme "explaining" why everyone is now primarily solving puzzles. The gradual shift to a web hunt with non-web components (i.e. mostly-online format for the kickoff, the MIT campus runarounds, endgame and wrapup).Hunt has facilitated this.
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* ExcusePlot: The reason teams are solving puzzles. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojR9XgXQCkU "The path through the Mushroom Kingdom is full of puzzles."]]
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* ExcusePlot: The reason teams are solving puzzles. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojR9XgXQCkU "The path through the Mushroom Kingdom is full of puzzles." "You don't say."]]
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* GuideDangIt: The entire point, really, is that you're supposed to figure all this out as a team. Also, there is no guide until the end.
%% MoonLogicPuzzle: Several puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: Topics you may need to know to solve the puzzle include:
%% MoonLogicPuzzle: Several puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: Topics you may need to know to solve the puzzle include:
to:
* GuideDangIt: The entire point, really, is that you're supposed to figure all this out as a team. Also, there is no guide until MiniGame: Some puzzles come in the end.
%%form of little games or even little puzzlehunts themselves. Each Mystery Hunt also generally has a handful of events, which require a few participants from each team to attend, and contain activities with some puzzle elements but are generally easier than the normal puzzles.
* MoonLogicPuzzle:Several Some puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought.
thought. This sometimes means realizing that something familiar is being presented in a very unusual way (e.g. representing car models using chemical elements).
*OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: Topics you OnlySmartPeopleMayPass / ViewersAreGeniuses : Not necessarily "smart" or "geniuses", but tons of trivia will be involved, and sometimes more formal "book knowledge" may need be useful too, especially (but not limited to) mathematics and computer programming (unsurprising given the Mystery Hunts origins). However, this trope is somewhat [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagged]] in that participants are allowed to look up any resources on the internet to help them...though this still requires people to know what to solve look for and how, which is in turn a puzzle-solving skill, and being familiar with a thing may make it more likely for a solver to jump to the puzzle include:realization. Anyhow, here are a variety of examples of topics/skills used in puzzles:
%%
* MoonLogicPuzzle:
*
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* SequenceBreaking: Examples of this played straight and averted: In individual puzzles, you can often figure out the solution without figuring out all the pieces, by inference. You can also often solve meta-puzzles without figuring out all the solutions to their component puzzles. However, you can't find the coin early by accident; the organizers will not put it there until someone's gotten to the point of doing the final run-around.
* ShoutOut: Nearly every single puzzle contains pop-culture references...which you need to know to solve the puzzle. Arguably this detracts from the puzzles as simply never having heard of some obscure webcomic or other that the designers love may well stop you dead.
** The solution to Toto, I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore requires the solver to recognize the pictures are referencing rock bands who took their names from movies.
** The images depicted in the 2005 MIT Mystery Hunt puzzle called "Telephone Pictionary" uses Beatle songs as the thing that's being illustrated.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: See the Only Smart People May Pass entry above.
* WikiWalk: Finding the solution to Walkthrough from 2011 requires you to do this.
* ShoutOut: Nearly every single puzzle contains pop-culture references...which you need to know to solve the puzzle. Arguably this detracts from the puzzles as simply never having heard of some obscure webcomic or other that the designers love may well stop you dead.
** The solution to Toto, I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore requires the solver to recognize the pictures are referencing rock bands who took their names from movies.
** The images depicted in the 2005 MIT Mystery Hunt puzzle called "Telephone Pictionary" uses Beatle songs as the thing that's being illustrated.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: See the Only Smart People May Pass entry above.
* WikiWalk: Finding the solution to Walkthrough from 2011 requires you to do this.
to:
* SequenceBreaking: Examples Hunts contain examples of this trope played straight and averted: averted. In individual puzzles, you can often figure out the solution without figuring out all the pieces, simply by inference. inferring from how other clues work and filling in some blanks. You can also often solve meta-puzzles without figuring out all the solutions to their component puzzles. However, you can't find the coin early by accident; it's typical for the organizers will not put it there until someone's gotten to keep tabs on how close teams are to finishing, then only place the point of doing coin in its proper location when a team has reached the final run-around.
* ShoutOut:Nearly every single puzzle contains Many puzzles contain pop-culture references...which you need to know to solve the puzzle. Arguably this detracts This may prevent you from the puzzles as breaking open a puzzle if you've simply never having heard of some obscure webcomic or other thing that the designers love may well stop love, though since you're allowed to look up as much information as you dead.
want, there are often ways to get around not knowing a thing -- almost all pop culture stuff has fan wikis or other databases covering them these days. Furthermore, the sheer number of puzzles is often used by Hunt writers to cater to a large variety of niches, so given over a hundred puzzles you're likely to find something you can work on. Anyhow, examples of shout-outs include:
** The solution to Toto, I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore requires the solver torecognize [[spoiler:recognize the pictures are referencing rock bands who took their names from movies.
movies]].
** The images depicted in the 2005 MIT Mystery Hunt puzzle called "Telephone Pictionary" usesBeatle [[spoiler:[[TheBeatles Beatle]] songs as the thing that's being illustrated.
illustrated]].
*ViewersAreGeniuses: See TheTeam: The Hunt, which generally spans a weekend with a hundred or more puzzles and involves people working continuously until the Only Smart People May Pass entry above.
coin has been found, is pretty much specifically designed for a team solving effort to be finishable in time. Solving teams often have members taking on more specialized roles based on their knowledge of different fields and trivia. Teams can even be of unlimited size, though at some point adding more people doesn't help.
* WikiWalk: Finding the solution toWalkthrough [[spoiler:Walkthrough]] from 2011 the [[spoiler:2011]] Hunt requires you to do this.this. More generally, consulting Wikipedia and other wikis for information is a pretty much core part of the standard toolset of an experienced solver.
* WorldOfPun: {{Pun}}s and other wordplay are extremely common, with many puzzles bearing {{Pun-Based Title}}s and even puzzle mechanics that involve and/or were inspired by puns. Puzzle flavortext is frequently written in the style of a PungeonMaster, with the puns likely being meaningful clues to the puzzle's mechanics.
* ShoutOut:
** The solution to Toto, I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore requires the solver to
** The images depicted in the 2005 MIT Mystery Hunt puzzle called "Telephone Pictionary" uses
*
* WikiWalk: Finding the solution to
* WorldOfPun: {{Pun}}s and other wordplay are extremely common, with many puzzles bearing {{Pun-Based Title}}s and even puzzle mechanics that involve and/or were inspired by puns. Puzzle flavortext is frequently written in the style of a PungeonMaster, with the puns likely being meaningful clues to the puzzle's mechanics.
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writing out the full name of MIT and spoilering out the example puzzle themes
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The [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/ MIT Mystery Hunt]] is an annual puzzlehunt, held at MIT (and with an online presence as well).
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The [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/ MIT Mystery Hunt]] is an annual puzzlehunt, held at MIT (and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and, these days, with an online presence as well).
well.
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** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/druggle/ prescription medications]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/one_two_three_shoot/ words with different meanings]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/clash_of_the_titans/ more "traditional" puzzles]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/unscrambled_cable_porn/ a song by the Bloodhound Gang]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/twisty_little_passages/ mapping out a dungeon]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/little_rascals/ lolcats]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/in_soviet_union_death_defies_you/ Russian figure-skaters]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/hearing_voices/ movie quotes said in Mac OS voices]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/frontal_lobotomy/ Absolut Vodka advertisements]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/mary_kachings/PUZZLE/ Chinese astrology]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/timecop/PUZZLE/ Amazing Race participants]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/the_intergalactic_sanitarium_unit/PUZZLE/ measurement units]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/i_can_haz_zyzzlburger/PUZZLE/ more lolcats...and Frontier Airlines jets]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/doctor_of_thinkology/solution.html the show]] Series/LookAroundYou
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/a_potential_problem/ biology/anatomy (in this case, neurons firing)]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/bits_and_pieces/ board games]]
** [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/10/puzzles/1983/edits/ the webcomic]] ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth''
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/one_two_three_shoot/ words with different meanings]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/clash_of_the_titans/ more "traditional" puzzles]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/unscrambled_cable_porn/ a song by the Bloodhound Gang]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/twisty_little_passages/ mapping out a dungeon]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/little_rascals/ lolcats]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/in_soviet_union_death_defies_you/ Russian figure-skaters]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/hearing_voices/ movie quotes said in Mac OS voices]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/frontal_lobotomy/ Absolut Vodka advertisements]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/mary_kachings/PUZZLE/ Chinese astrology]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/timecop/PUZZLE/ Amazing Race participants]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/the_intergalactic_sanitarium_unit/PUZZLE/ measurement units]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/i_can_haz_zyzzlburger/PUZZLE/ more lolcats...and Frontier Airlines jets]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/doctor_of_thinkology/solution.html the show]] Series/LookAroundYou
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/a_potential_problem/ biology/anatomy (in this case, neurons firing)]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/bits_and_pieces/ board games]]
** [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/10/puzzles/1983/edits/ the webcomic]] ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth''
to:
** [[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/druggle/ prescription medications]]
medications]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/one_two_three_shoot/ words with different meanings]]
meanings]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/clash_of_the_titans/ more "traditional" puzzles]]
puzzles]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/unscrambled_cable_porn/ a song by the Bloodhound Gang]]
Gang]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/twisty_little_passages/ mapping out a dungeon]]
dungeon]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/little_rascals/ lolcats]]
lolcats]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/in_soviet_union_death_defies_you/ Russian figure-skaters]]
figure-skaters]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/hearing_voices/ movie quotes said in Mac OS voices]]
voices]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/frontal_lobotomy/ Absolut Vodka advertisements]]
advertisements]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/mary_kachings/PUZZLE/ Chinese astrology]]
astrology]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/timecop/PUZZLE/ Amazing Race participants]]
participants]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/the_intergalactic_sanitarium_unit/PUZZLE/ measurement units]]
units]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/i_can_haz_zyzzlburger/PUZZLE/ more lolcats...and Frontier Airlines jets]]
jets]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/doctor_of_thinkology/solution.html the show]] Series/LookAroundYou
Series/LookAroundYou]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/a_potential_problem/ biology/anatomy (in this case, neurons firing)]]
firing)]]]]
**[[http://web.[[spoiler:[[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/bits_and_pieces/ board games]]
games]]]]
**[[http://www.[[spoiler:[[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/10/puzzles/1983/edits/ the webcomic]] ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth''''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'']]
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
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**
**
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**
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* ExcusePlot: The reason teams are solving puzzles. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojR9XgXQCkU "The path through the Mushroom Kingdom is full of puzzles." You don't say.]]
to:
* ExcusePlot: The reason teams are solving puzzles. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojR9XgXQCkU "The path through the Mushroom Kingdom is full of puzzles." You don't say.]]"]]
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Fixing Word Cruft? And how!
Changed line(s) 21,23 (click to see context) from:
* GuideDangIt: And how! The entire point, really, is that you're supposed to figure all this out as a team. Also, there is no guide until the end.
%% MoonLogicPuzzle: And how! Several puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: [[RuleOfThree And how!]] Topics you may need to know include:
%% MoonLogicPuzzle: And how! Several puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: [[RuleOfThree And how!]] Topics you may need to know include:
to:
* GuideDangIt: And how! The entire point, really, is that you're supposed to figure all this out as a team. Also, there is no guide until the end.
%% MoonLogicPuzzle:And how! Several puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass:[[RuleOfThree And how!]] Topics you may need to know to solve the puzzle include:
%% MoonLogicPuzzle:
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass:
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** The images depicted in the 2005 MIT Mystery Hunt puzzle called "Telephone Pictionary" uses Beatle songs as the thing that's being illustrated.
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Removing ZC Es, and strikes.
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* MoonLogicPuzzle: And how! Several puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought.
to:
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* ShoutOut: Nearly every single puzzle contains pop-culture references...which you [[strike:probably]] need to know to solve the puzzle. Arguably this detracts from the puzzles as simply never having heard of some obscure webcomic or other that the designers love may well stop you dead.
to:
* ShoutOut: Nearly every single puzzle contains pop-culture references...which you [[strike:probably]] need to know to solve the puzzle. Arguably this detracts from the puzzles as simply never having heard of some obscure webcomic or other that the designers love may well stop you dead.
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Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
* Expy: Not of characters, but of puzzles. Every year there's at least one "tons of tedious and confusing but technically unambiguous directions about modifying a sequence of letters" puzzle, as well as a puzzle involving box puzzles (such as nurikabe or thermometers). Puzzles containing smaller Mystery-Hunt-style sub-puzzles are also popular.
to:
* Expy: {{Expy}}: Not of characters, but of puzzles. Every year there's at least one "tons of tedious and confusing but technically unambiguous directions about modifying a sequence of letters" puzzle, as well as a puzzle involving box puzzles (such as nurikabe or thermometers). Puzzles containing smaller Mystery-Hunt-style sub-puzzles are also popular.
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The MIT Mystery Hunt contains examples of:
to:
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The [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/ MIT Mystery Hunt]] is an annual puzzlehunt held on the MIT campus. Teams are required to solve puzzles, the solutions of which help to solve the meta-puzzles, which then help to solve the meta-meta puzzles, and so on. There are also many events that take place on the MIT campus. The goal of the Hunt is to use the solutions to the puzzles to help find a coin of some sort somewhere on the MIT campus. Early Hunts were around 30 puzzles long. They have since grown to be around 100 puzzles long, with 10 to 20 meta-puzzles. The winners of the hunt gain the right to design the next year's Hunt.
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles for the past few years have been available online, meaning that people who couldn't go to the MIT campus could still participate.
Hunts often come with a plot to explain why people are going around solving puzzles. Past plots have included a murder mystery, a journey through hell, and a 30(0)th anniversary celebration of the Hunt.
An intro to the Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/history.html here]]. The Hunt is held every January during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, beginning at (around) noon on Friday, and running continuously until a team recovers the coin, usually 40 to 50 hours later.
Beware, the example list spoils the solution to many puzzles. If you want to solve them on your own, please don't read it.
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles for the past few years have been available online, meaning that people who couldn't go to the MIT campus could still participate.
Hunts often come with a plot to explain why people are going around solving puzzles. Past plots have included a murder mystery, a journey through hell, and a 30(0)th anniversary celebration of the Hunt.
An intro to the Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/history.html here]]. The Hunt is held every January during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, beginning at (around) noon on Friday, and running continuously until a team recovers the coin, usually 40 to 50 hours later.
Beware, the example list spoils the solution to many puzzles. If you want to solve them on your own, please don't read it.
to:
The [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/ MIT Mystery Hunt]] is an annual puzzlehunt puzzlehunt, held on the at MIT campus. (and with an online presence as well).
Teamsare required to must solve puzzles, the solutions of which help to solve the meta-puzzles, which then help to solve the meta-meta puzzles, and so on. There are also many some events that take place on the MIT campus. The goal of the Hunt is to use the solutions to the puzzles to help find a coin of some sort somewhere on the MIT campus. campus.
Early Hunts were around 30 puzzleslong. They long, but they have since grown to be around 100 puzzles long, with 10 to 20 meta-puzzles. The winners of the hunt gain the right to design the next year's Hunt.
Hunt. A general intro to the Mystery Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/history.html here]]. Puzzles can involve a variety of elements, from traditional puzzles/games like chess and (cryptic) crosswords, to a ''huge'' variety of trivia that can be recombined to spell out answers in certain ways.
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large and really small teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles for the past few years have been available online, meaning that people whocouldn't go to can't be at the MIT campus could in person can still participate.
Hunts these days often come witha plot an ExcusePlot in the form of an AlternateRealityGame to explain why people are going around solving puzzles. Past plots have included a murder mystery, a journey through hell, and a 30(0)th anniversary celebration of the Hunt.
An intro to the Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/history.html here]]. The Hunt is held every January during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, beginning at (around) noon on Friday, and running continuously until a team recovers the coin, usually 40 to 50 hours later.
Beware,later. In recent years it's been customary to keep running the example hunt a little longer after the coin gets found, if the coin gets found relatively early.
'''Beware, the tropes list below spoils the solution tomany puzzles. some past puzzles.''' If you want to solve them on your own, please don't read it.you may want to avoid reading the list.
Teams
Early Hunts were around 30 puzzles
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large and really small teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles for the past few years have been available online, meaning that people who
Hunts these days often come with
Beware,
'''Beware, the tropes list below spoils the solution to
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None
Changed line(s) 7,8 (click to see context) from:
An intro to the Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/huntintro.html here]]. The Hunt is held every January during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, beginning at (around) noon on Friday, and running continuously until a team recovers the coin, usually 40 to 50 hours later.
to:
An intro to the Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/huntintro.edu/~puzzle/history.html here]]. The Hunt is held every January during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, beginning at (around) noon on Friday, and running continuously until a team recovers the coin, usually 40 to 50 hours later.
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** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/doctor_of_thinkology/solution.html the show]] LookAroundYou
to:
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/doctor_of_thinkology/solution.html the show]] LookAroundYouSeries/LookAroundYou
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Added DiffLines:
The [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/ MIT Mystery Hunt]] is an annual puzzlehunt held on the MIT campus. Teams are required to solve puzzles, the solutions of which help to solve the meta-puzzles, which then help to solve the meta-meta puzzles, and so on. There are also many events that take place on the MIT campus. The goal of the Hunt is to use the solutions to the puzzles to help find a coin of some sort somewhere on the MIT campus. Early Hunts were around 30 puzzles long. They have since grown to be around 100 puzzles long, with 10 to 20 meta-puzzles. The winners of the hunt gain the right to design the next year's Hunt.
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles for the past few years have been available online, meaning that people who couldn't go to the MIT campus could still participate.
Hunts often come with a plot to explain why people are going around solving puzzles. Past plots have included a murder mystery, a journey through hell, and a 30(0)th anniversary celebration of the Hunt.
An intro to the Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/huntintro.html here]]. The Hunt is held every January during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, beginning at (around) noon on Friday, and running continuously until a team recovers the coin, usually 40 to 50 hours later.
Beware, the example list spoils the solution to many puzzles. If you want to solve them on your own, please don't read it.
----
The MIT Mystery Hunt contains examples of:
* AlternateRealityGame: While it did originate as a non-web puzzle, it is now primarily a web hunt with non-web components (i.e. the kickoff, the MIT campus runarounds, endgame and wrapup).
* BlessedWithSuck: Congratulations! You won the Hunt! Now design next year's Hunt!
* ExcusePlot: The reason teams are solving puzzles. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojR9XgXQCkU "The path through the Mushroom Kingdom is full of puzzles." You don't say.]]
* Expy: Not of characters, but of puzzles. Every year there's at least one "tons of tedious and confusing but technically unambiguous directions about modifying a sequence of letters" puzzle, as well as a puzzle involving box puzzles (such as nurikabe or thermometers). Puzzles containing smaller Mystery-Hunt-style sub-puzzles are also popular.
* GuideDangIt: And how! The entire point, really, is that you're supposed to figure all this out as a team. Also, there is no guide until the end.
* MoonLogicPuzzle: And how! Several puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: [[RuleOfThree And how!]] Topics you may need to know include:
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/druggle/ prescription medications]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/one_two_three_shoot/ words with different meanings]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/clash_of_the_titans/ more "traditional" puzzles]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/unscrambled_cable_porn/ a song by the Bloodhound Gang]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/twisty_little_passages/ mapping out a dungeon]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/little_rascals/ lolcats]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/in_soviet_union_death_defies_you/ Russian figure-skaters]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/hearing_voices/ movie quotes said in Mac OS voices]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/frontal_lobotomy/ Absolut Vodka advertisements]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/mary_kachings/PUZZLE/ Chinese astrology]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/timecop/PUZZLE/ Amazing Race participants]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/the_intergalactic_sanitarium_unit/PUZZLE/ measurement units]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/i_can_haz_zyzzlburger/PUZZLE/ more lolcats...and Frontier Airlines jets]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/doctor_of_thinkology/solution.html the show]] LookAroundYou
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/a_potential_problem/ biology/anatomy (in this case, neurons firing)]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/bits_and_pieces/ board games]]
** [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/10/puzzles/1983/edits/ the webcomic]] ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth''
* OverlyLongName: The name of the team that won the 2013 Hunt is the entire text of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. For their succeeding 2014 Hunt, based on ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'', they renamed themselves "Alice Shrugged".
* SequenceBreaking: Examples of this played straight and averted: In individual puzzles, you can often figure out the solution without figuring out all the pieces, by inference. You can also often solve meta-puzzles without figuring out all the solutions to their component puzzles. However, you can't find the coin early by accident; the organizers will not put it there until someone's gotten to the point of doing the final run-around.
* ShoutOut: Nearly every single puzzle contains pop-culture references...which you [[strike:probably]] need to know to solve the puzzle. Arguably this detracts from the puzzles as simply never having heard of some obscure webcomic or other that the designers love may well stop you dead.
** The solution to Toto, I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore requires the solver to recognize the pictures are referencing rock bands who took their names from movies.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: See the Only Smart People May Pass entry above.
* WikiWalk: Finding the solution to Walkthrough from 2011 requires you to do this.
The hunt is unique among many puzzle hunts in a few ways. There is no cap on team size, leading to a lot of really large teams participating. Also, most of the puzzles for the past few years have been available online, meaning that people who couldn't go to the MIT campus could still participate.
Hunts often come with a plot to explain why people are going around solving puzzles. Past plots have included a murder mystery, a journey through hell, and a 30(0)th anniversary celebration of the Hunt.
An intro to the Hunt can be found [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/huntintro.html here]]. The Hunt is held every January during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, beginning at (around) noon on Friday, and running continuously until a team recovers the coin, usually 40 to 50 hours later.
Beware, the example list spoils the solution to many puzzles. If you want to solve them on your own, please don't read it.
----
The MIT Mystery Hunt contains examples of:
* AlternateRealityGame: While it did originate as a non-web puzzle, it is now primarily a web hunt with non-web components (i.e. the kickoff, the MIT campus runarounds, endgame and wrapup).
* BlessedWithSuck: Congratulations! You won the Hunt! Now design next year's Hunt!
* ExcusePlot: The reason teams are solving puzzles. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojR9XgXQCkU "The path through the Mushroom Kingdom is full of puzzles." You don't say.]]
* Expy: Not of characters, but of puzzles. Every year there's at least one "tons of tedious and confusing but technically unambiguous directions about modifying a sequence of letters" puzzle, as well as a puzzle involving box puzzles (such as nurikabe or thermometers). Puzzles containing smaller Mystery-Hunt-style sub-puzzles are also popular.
* GuideDangIt: And how! The entire point, really, is that you're supposed to figure all this out as a team. Also, there is no guide until the end.
* MoonLogicPuzzle: And how! Several puzzles require you to take....''interesting'' trains of thought.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: [[RuleOfThree And how!]] Topics you may need to know include:
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/druggle/ prescription medications]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/one_two_three_shoot/ words with different meanings]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/clash_of_the_titans/ more "traditional" puzzles]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/07/puzzles/unscrambled_cable_porn/ a song by the Bloodhound Gang]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/twisty_little_passages/ mapping out a dungeon]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/little_rascals/ lolcats]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/in_soviet_union_death_defies_you/ Russian figure-skaters]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/hearing_voices/ movie quotes said in Mac OS voices]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/08/frontal_lobotomy/ Absolut Vodka advertisements]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/mary_kachings/PUZZLE/ Chinese astrology]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/timecop/PUZZLE/ Amazing Race participants]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/the_intergalactic_sanitarium_unit/PUZZLE/ measurement units]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/09/puzzles/i_can_haz_zyzzlburger/PUZZLE/ more lolcats...and Frontier Airlines jets]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/doctor_of_thinkology/solution.html the show]] LookAroundYou
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/a_potential_problem/ biology/anatomy (in this case, neurons firing)]]
** [[http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/puzzles/2000/bits_and_pieces/ board games]]
** [[http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/10/puzzles/1983/edits/ the webcomic]] ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth''
* OverlyLongName: The name of the team that won the 2013 Hunt is the entire text of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. For their succeeding 2014 Hunt, based on ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'', they renamed themselves "Alice Shrugged".
* SequenceBreaking: Examples of this played straight and averted: In individual puzzles, you can often figure out the solution without figuring out all the pieces, by inference. You can also often solve meta-puzzles without figuring out all the solutions to their component puzzles. However, you can't find the coin early by accident; the organizers will not put it there until someone's gotten to the point of doing the final run-around.
* ShoutOut: Nearly every single puzzle contains pop-culture references...which you [[strike:probably]] need to know to solve the puzzle. Arguably this detracts from the puzzles as simply never having heard of some obscure webcomic or other that the designers love may well stop you dead.
** The solution to Toto, I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore requires the solver to recognize the pictures are referencing rock bands who took their names from movies.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: See the Only Smart People May Pass entry above.
* WikiWalk: Finding the solution to Walkthrough from 2011 requires you to do this.
