

- approved by the Circus Mods - ​

Introduction



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Format / Rules

The Smogon Puzzle Hunt will start on Saturday, July 20th, 2019 at 0100H GMT and last until Monday, July 29th, 2019 at 1300H GMT.

Teams may have up to 6 users.

users. Some puzzles will be available at the start of the hunt, while more will be unlocked as you solve puzzles and progress through the hunt.

The goal of the hunt is to complete the final metapuzzle at the end of the hunt, not necessarily to complete all the puzzles along the way.

There is no fixed limit on the number of guesses you may use on any puzzle during the hunt. However , if we feel you are making blind guesses or performing unreasonably wide dictionary attacks on our puzzle answers, we will warn the team and possibly revoke bot access for a period of time.

, if we feel you are making blind guesses or performing unreasonably wide dictionary attacks on our puzzle answers, we will warn the team and possibly revoke bot access for a period of time. Starting from Sunday, July 21st, 2019 at 0100H GMT, each team will be given two pieces of fan mail every 24 hours, at 0100H GMT. Your team may expend one piece of fan mail at any time to ask for help on any one puzzle you’ve unlocked.

every 24 hours, at 0100H GMT. Your team may expend one piece of fan mail at any time to ask for help on any one puzzle you’ve unlocked. Fan mail hints can be used to get a nudge in the right direction (i.e. you give us your progress on the puzzle and we’ll try help you find the next step) or to ask a question (e.g. "Which answers on this list are wrong?"). We reserve the right to not answer hint requests like "What's the answer to this puzzle?", though, and we'll deal with such requests on a case-by-case basis.

Teams that complete the hunt will be ranked by the time at which they finish. Teams that do not complete the hunt will be ranked by the number of points they’ve accrued.

Each team will have their own channel on our Discord server. This is the primary method in which teams should interface with staff members for any hunt-related matters.

Additional Rules

You are allowed and encouraged to use external sources of help such as Google and other sites.

You may obtain help from an external party so long as they are not actively involved in the hunt, either on your team or another team .

. Do not leak any answers or information about puzzles to other teams, as this will ruin the hunt experience for other teams.

We reserve the right to disqualify any team for unsportsmanlike conduct, which includes but is not limited to leaking answers and sabotaging other teams.

Signups

Signups will run throughout the hunt, so it’s possible for teams to sign up mid-hunt.

The hunt will be run on a Discord server, so at least one member of the team should have a Discord account in order to submit answers and collect puzzles.

To sign up a team, please have one member of your team send a PM via Discord to either talkingtree (talkingtree#1556, NA timezone) or myself (Level 51#0375, APAC timezone) with your team name and the names of your team members.

You may also sign up as a free agent by messaging myself or talkingtree via Discord and being asked to be added to the Free Agents list (below).

Additionally, registering on Smogon via this thread will make the team eligible for the Smogon-only prize (see the Prizes section below).

To register in this thread, please have one member of the team make a post in the following format:

Team name: Sample Team

Members: @Level 51, @lovemathboy, @talkingtree, @Imanalt, @Mistrals, @CheeseMuffin

Discord contact: Level 51#0375 Click to expand...

Prizes

The first team containing at least one Smogon member to complete the hunt (by completing the final metapuzzle) will receive a banner on Smogon for each of their team members. This banner will last a year before expiring.

FAQ

Q: I've never done puzzles like these before, how should I prepare for the hunt?​

A: Here's a helpful Here's a helpful beginner's guide (PDF) detailing various tricks often employed in puzzles.​

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Q: I have no idea where to start with these puzzles! / I'm stuck! What am I supposed to do?​

A: In addition to reading the above guide for inspiration, if you're really still stuck during the hunt, that might be a good time to use a hint!​

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Q: Will I need to be active consistently throughout the entire event?​

A: Nope! The primary objective of this event is for everyone to have fun, so feel free to participate as much or as little as you like!​

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Q: How many of the puzzles in this hunt will require knowledge of Pokemon or competitive Pokemon to solve?​

A: Few of the regular puzzles in this hunt will require Pokemon-related knowledge to solve, and the knowledge required isn't excessively technical. The other regular puzzles can be solved by someone who’s never played Pokemon in their entire life.​

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Q: Does my team have to do all its communication within our Discord channel?​

A: You’re free to work outside the Discord channel if you wish, but allowing us to see your team’s discussions can help us to provide more accurate and helpful hints to your team.​

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Q: How many puzzles are there in total in this hunt?​

A: 31.​

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Q: Can I sign up in a team of fewer than 6 people?​

A: Sure! Of course, having more people would certainly help in solving the puzzles more quickly.​

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Q: I have a question that’s not on this list!​

A: If you wish to contact us for any hunt-related matters, including potentially erroneous puzzles, please tag @᠎Staff in your team’s Discord channel and voice your concern. Feel free to message me on Smogon or on Discord (Level 51#0375, and I’m contactable via the official Smogon server) if you have any other questions that need answers!​

Major changes from 2018

Answer submission: there are no fixed limits on guess count. Rather, the staff will warn teams which are abusing the answer-checking system, and potentially remove answer submission access for some time if such behavior continues

Ranking: teams which do not finish the hunt are now ranked by points instead of by puzzles solved.

Stricter implementation of the outside help rule: no users outside the team are allowed to be actively involved in the hunt, including on the team they're helping.

in the hunt, including on the team they're helping. Prizes: the banner is now given to the first team with at least one Smogon member, rather than the first team comprised solely of Smogon members.

Signups: Free Agents

dream

Tommat035

Typhoonflame

Tushavi

UncleFungal

Chickenpie2

duketime

The stage is set! Get ready to flaunt your style and take part in the Smogon Phashion Hcontest and vie with other teams to win the hearts of judges and fans alike. Which team will come out on top of the competition? Only time will tell!What’s a puzzle hunt? In a puzzle hunt, you’re faced with a series of puzzles, where each puzzle is generally in the form of a collection of data. Each puzzle in this puzzle hunt always has a final answer which is an English word or phrase, often hidden behind multiple steps of solving. However, unlike typical crosswords or Sudokus, the puzzles usually don’t come with instructions, so it’s up to you and your team to figure out what to do with each puzzle. Puzzles may span a wide range of different abilities and knowledge, so make sure to pick your team members with this in mind!Additionally, some of the puzzles in this hunt will be. These puzzles usually cap off a round, and they’re solved by using the answers to that round’s regular puzzles, so try to solve as many of the regular puzzles as you can before attempting the metapuzzle!Still not sure what's going on? Check out last year's puzzles here: https://spo.ink/sph18full This puzzle hunt is staffed and run by the Eggplant Parms, including Level 51 Mistrals , and CheeseMuffin . Please check the FAQ for more details on how to contact us regarding hunt-related matters. Besides that, please read the following rules so that you'll know a bit more about what to expect from the hunt experience. If you participated last year, you can skip to the "Changes from 2018" section to read the important changes from last year's rules.===========