[[!meta title="Christmas Code 2014"]]
[[!tag puzzles]]
My boys just finished this year's Christmas puzzle hunt, (known in our
family as "The Code"). Read below for a summary of how things went, or
check out the actual puzzles if
you want to solve them yourself or just wonder at the amount of work
my poor boys have to go through before they get any Christmas
presents. I've also written up a brief history of
the Christmas code linking to all the puzzles from previous years.
I'm really pleased with how things went this year. I scaled the
difficulty back compared to last year, and that was good for
everyone's sanity. It's easy to see the difference in just the
numbers. Last year's hunt had 24 puzzles, 5 metapuzzles, and 1 final
metametapuzzle. This year there were only 9 puzzles and 2 small
metapuzzles. I was nervous the boys might think I did too little, but
I think I actually got the difficulty just right this year.
They did solve it a few days before Christmas this year, but that's a
good victory for them. Last year, there was a tough Battleships
metapuzzle and the deciphering of a Playfair cipher that all came
together only late at night on Christmas Eve.
Of course, the most important feedback comes from the boys
themselves. There was a priceless moment last night as one-by-one, the
boys in turn had the final flash of insight needed to solve the last
clue. There's nothing better for a puzzle designer than getting to
watch that "ah-ha" moment hit with its explosion of laughter. And that
laughter is always mixed---appreciation for the disguise of the clue
and a bit of disgust at not being able to see through it all
earlier. And last night, it was a perfect cascade of these moments
from one boy to the next. After the first one finally got it, just
knowing it was possible was all the others needed to reach the same
insight themselves. It was perfect.
This morning the boys reported that this year's code was the "best one
yet". I think I've heard that three years in a row now. That's what
gives me the motivation to do all this again. I guess I had better
start planning now if I want to improve again next year!