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+[[!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 <a href="http://cworth.org/2014/">actual puzzles</a> 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 <a href="../">brief history</a> 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!