Puzzle Pursuit events benefit
Outdoor Outreach
Part Amazing Race and part Sherlock Holmes, Puzzle Pursuit requires out-of-the-box thinking, team work, and high energy.
This year Puzzle Pursuit presents an all new exciting format!
All of the money raised goes to benefit the hundreds of at-risk and underprivileged youth that Outdoor Outreach serve each year.
Click here for more information on Outdoor Outreach.
We will be back with a new race next yeat!
Note: This event is intended for individuals 16 years or older. Families are welcome to play with younger children.
This year's format will allow teams to begin with straight-forward puzzles that get progressively harder. You will have to decide if you
should attempt the more difficult parts of a puzzle for more points, or if you are better off moving quickly through all the lower point
parts and then circling back around to the harder parts if time permits. Strategy will play a bigger role in deciding which team
wins this race.
If you enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to put together a piece of furniture you bought at IKEA (good luck), or you enjoy the
mental challenges of Sudoku, crosswords, who dunnits, etc., then you might like the CHALLENGE division.
You enjoy the mental challenges of jigsaw puzzles, card games, etc. You prefer to be handed a set of instructions
on how to assemble your IKEA furniture rather than trying to figure it out on your own. The Basic division will have its share of
challenges for sure, so don't assume this will be a walk in the park.
The BASIC division will contain puzzles ranging from EASY to MEDIUM DIFFICULTY. This division is
best for novice players who can follow directions and get from point A to B to C with only minor
leaps in thinking between them (see examples below). You will almost always be provided with
directions on HOW to solve the puzzle(as opposed to having to figure out on your own how to solve
it), so your actions will be to actually implement the instructions given(which may include
hunting for a certain statue, taking the letters from a sign and
transscribing them into a given code, etc.)
This will certainly not be a walk in the park. Just because you are told:
Find the 5 statues of horses and add the year on the plaque from each one
doesn't mean it's going to be easy to find those 5 statues, it just means it won't take you 10
minutes to figure out that that is what you are supposed to do based on hints and clues for that
particular puzzle.
The CHALLENGE division will contain puzzles ranging from EASY to MIND-BENDING. This division is
best for those that love recognizing the clues and
figuring out how to do things from those clues. You do NOT have to have raced a puzzle race
before, nor do you have to be someone who plays Sudoku and does
logic puzzles all day long. However, if those things are not something you think you would enjoy
the mental challenge of, then perhaps this division is not for you.
It will be necessary to employ an
out of the box
style of thinking. To solve a puzzle you MAY have to first figure out
how to solve the puzzle
(see examples below). You do NOT need to
know Morse code or what a pigpen cypher is (stuff like that will be provided to you if used).
In fact you will NOT be required to have any special
knowledge in order to solve puzzles, but you will be required to use reason, logic, and deduction.