ABOUT THE HUNT
The Starship Summer Hunt is a virtual puzzle hunt open to the public, modeled after Phillips Exeter's spring puzzle hunts. PEA Puzzle Hunt is a one-of-a-kind, weekend-long event (usually) held at Phillips Exeter Academy that brings together our community each spring, and our summer hunt (not affiliated with PEA) seeks to make this exciting event available to puzzle-lovers everywhere. The Hunt is a competition between teams of 3-10 people, all racing to solve a series of unique puzzles. They range from visual puzzles to word puzzles to logic puzzles, riddled with references from pop culture to history and beyond. Quick thinking and good teamwork are the only things you'll need. In past years we've had hundreds of people participate and many said it was one of their most memorable weekends of the year -- so grab some friends and family members and make a team, quickly! You can play for a few hours or go hardcore for the full weekend -- either way, you are guaranteed to have fun!
Our team, Hunt HQ, spends several months putting together an elaborate series of puzzles each year. They range from clever twists on standard forms (e.g. crosswords, sudokus, etc.) to interactive programs to audio/video puzzles to run-around puzzles which require clues scattered around campus.
You might have already seen us lurking on your Instagram feed as @totallypuzzlehunt. This is where we will feature our Pre-Hunt puzzles––solving all of them will give you a voucher to skip a puzzle during the actual hunt. Pre-Hunt answers and hint requests can be submitted through DMs or email.
We are making the hunt accessible to everyone! You can play for just a few hours or go hardcore for the full weekend––either way, you are guaranteed to have an unforgettable experience. So you have every reason to form a team! For those returning: this puzzle hunt will be completely virtual, so some aspects will be slightly different and we will be working to make sure that everyone has equal access to the Hunt in our virtual format. The winners will be determined on total run time rather than the first to finish, so you can participate regardless of time zone.
Teams can be anywhere from 3 to 10 participants in size, but 5+ is strongly encouraged to power through the hunt. A team of 3 should plan for more communication with HQ; a team of this size would work for an Exonian and their family.
If you want to make a team with more than 10 people, please contact HQ! We will most likely approve this request, but want you to let us know beforehand. Teams above 10 are not eligible for prizes.
Lastly, this message is not a puzzle.
Summer Hunt 2021 Credits
Hunt Directors: Jaekeb Harper '21 and Jaden Sides '22
Creative Director: Jax Lembo '21
Head Writers: Gwyneth Crossman '19 and Jaekeb Harper '21
Art: Jax Lembo '21
Website: Jaden Sides '22
HQ (writers, test-solvers, logistics):
Gwyneth Crossman '19, Jaekeb Harper '21, Jax Lembo '21, Emmett Lockwood '21, Stephen Mcnulty '21, Mali Rauch '22, Jaden Sides '22
Hunt HQ 2021 Credits
Hunt Director: Eleanor Bolker '22
Assistant Hunt Director: Mana Vale '22
Head Writer: Nick Pham '21
Art: Claudia Sanchez '20 and Caroline Adams
Website: Orion Bloomfield '20, Nick Pham '21 and Jaden Sides '22
HQ (writers, test-solvers, logistics):
Thomas Mowen '19, Alexander DelFranco, Orion Bloomfield '20, Richard Huang '20, Claudia Sanchez '20, Alex Pieroni '20, Erin Choi '21, Nick Pham '21, Eleanor Bolker '22, Jaden Sides '22, Mana Vale '22, Liam Brown '23, Clara Gulick '23
Starring:
Ian Rider '20 as Phoebe Bridgers
Summer Hunt 2020 Credits
Hunt Directors: Eleanor Bolker '22 and Orion Bloomfield '20
Head Writers: Thomas Mowen '19 and Alexander DelFranco
Art: Alexander Pieroni '20
Website: Orion Bloomfield '20
HQ (writers, test-solvers, logistics):
Daniel Li '18, Gautam Ramesh '18, Dilhan Salgado, James Wang '19, Orion Bloomfield '20, Nathan James '20, Brian Liu '20, Ian Rider '20, Kevin Xu '20, Eleanor Bolker '22, Mana Vale '22
Hunt HQ 2020 Credits
Hunt Director: Alexander Pieroni '20
Head Writer: Richard Huang '20
Art: Claudia Sanchez '20
Website: Orion Bloomfield '20
HQ (writers, test-solvers, logistics): Arjun Rajan '17, Yannick Yao '17, Kristy Chang '18,Bryce Morales '19, Emma Cohen '19, Miranda Derossi '19, Gordon Chi '19, Andrew Loevinger '19, Nathan James '20, Orion Bloomfield '20, Claudia Sánchez '20, Eleanor Bolker '22, Mana Vale '22
Hunt HQ 2019 Credits
Hunt Director: Miranda Derossi '19
Head Writer: Andrew Loevinger '19
Art: Alexander Pieroni '20
Website: Andrew Loevinger '19
HQ (writers, test-solvers, logistics): Arjun Rajan '17, Bryce Morales '19, Emma Cohen '19, Gordon Chi '19, Alexander Pieroni '20
Hunt HQ 2018 Credits
Hunt Director and PEA Puzzle Hunt founder: Vinjai Vale '18
Head Writer: Michael Chen '18
Art: Wendi Yan '18
Website: Andrew Loevinger '19
HQ (writers, test-solvers, logistics): Miranda Derossi '19, Kristy Chang '18, Andrew Loevinger '19, Alec Sun '17, Yannick Yao '17, Emma Cohen '19, Adam Bertelli '19, Arjun Rajan '17, Victor Luo '19, Matt Hambacher '17
