Puzzling

One of my recent hobbies has been creating puzzles and organizing hunts. I particularly enjoy designing unique input/output mechanisms for puzzle events.

Most of my puzzle writing experience has been as a part of organizing DCPH^®.

DCPH^® 1 was my first time participating in the creation of a puzzle hunt. I coauthored Shelob, Minotaur, and Cyclops. I also implemented Lycanthropic Love - the webapp for the Werewolf puzzle.

For DCPH^® 2 I focused on organizing the hunt and building various input/output devices. I coauthored a choose your own adventure book which served as the primary input/output device for the hunt. I also built a book with an embedded circuit which allowed players to navigate a virtual word-ladder for the Gates of Time puzzle.

In DCPH^® 3 I coauthored five puzzles: Snowball Toss, Fairgrounds, Magicians Assistant, Ferris Wheel, and Tunnel of Love. For the opening mixer puzzle of this hunt I constructed a balloon toss game using thermochromatic paint.

Aside from DCPH^®, I dabble with 3D printing and electronics to create puzzles. One example is my Rainbow Box; a 3D printed cube with buttons and a seven segment display. I have also been curating my own puzzle collection.

At puzzle hunts I gravitate towards the puzzles which I can solve by writing a program. There is something exciting about encoding my knowledge of a problem as software and interactively using a computer to solve a puzzle. This can take many forms from a python script to grind through data, to a model using first-order logic with alloy, to a natural language system attached to a SAT solver.

If you have any questions, puzzles you think I might enjoy solving, or need a team member for your hunt feel free to contact me.