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Solutions to the 2019 Hunt


Across campus and all over social media, the following poster was posted.



The first clue found on the site was the following picture.



Inputting the answer to the previous puzzle unlocked this one on the site.



After completing Blocks, puzzlers were given the instruction:

“Your gateway onwards waits on cool breeze, at 37.224089°, -80.418650°. Return to this page once you're through it, then return again when you know the answer.”


Our Love puzzle started off with a poem, which we thought was quite fitting


Life Support

Once teams had indicated that they followed our last request, we emailed them back the following:

Your altruism is appreciated. You'll find your next clue below.



The website revealed the following stanza for the start of the next puzzle:

“You are a lost ship. Seek out your lumen-house.

The path there is paved with our intentions. Orient yourself towards BF.

When lost or at an impasse, Let your perspiration fall on the stones. Water works too.”

A Dark Queen

The website returned to lead hunters about:

Your next clue lies out in the world, crushed by the dark queen, ruling over her eight squires. Dethrone her, and return here when you have solved it.


Nearing the end, the puzzles got dastardly difficult. All the website gave hunters was:

For this puzzle, you'll have to start elsewhere. Near the wispy, figurative wires, across the road, your next clue lies between fence and stone. Light your fire; continue forth. Also, a note: advancing past a puzzle without understanding its answer is cheating.


The second to last puzzle started off with a quote and a link:



The last puzzle of the hunt was a meta-puzzle, trickier than all those that came before it.

After entering the solution for Fireplace two puzzles before, the website’s automatic response was as follows:

Fantastic work. In the barren North of society, truly you are the Scandinavian islands, with the serenity of Karlsö, the bustle of Kungsholmen, the placid beaches of Tjøme, the overawing remoteness of Myken, far from work, the beauty of Fredön drawing men away from puzzle deadlines; wait, this actually sounds like a good trip - then Fejø, Fejan, and Gåsgrund, then Hästö... What? Ah, my bad - your next puzzle has been revealed.

All you got on the Terminus Puzzle Page itself was this:

Our apologies - the Hunt isn’t finished. Our clue writer left, one puzzle unmade except its answer and its all-important boxes. Here is the thing: he was mumbling about going to Scandinavia, but he didn’t leave a clear address. He should be back in a few months, but you could always try to retrace his path - he usually leaves something hidden everywhere he visits.

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2019 VT Hunt!

We had a total of 537 teams with 1810 total participants.

Of these 537 teams, 66 completed the Hunt, garnering a total of 266 Victors.

The medal-finishers of the hunt were the teams SparTau, Batmansnygma, and Hunterz.

We'd like to give a special shoutout to team kbbc_vthunt, who had the most answer submits (at 701!) - congrats on a victory well-earned.

At the end of the hunt, here's how many teams were stuck on each puzzle:

Twitter: 64

Blocks: 30

Gateway: 139

Love: 64

Life Support: 69

Searching: 6

A Dark Queen: 10

Fireplace: 49

Tabs: 20

Terminus: 20

Finished the Hunt: 66

We had a total of 28078 answer submissions, split up as follows between the puzzles:

Twitter: 1053

Blocks: 1445

Gateway: 7050

Love: 8496

Life Support: 1031

Searching: 434

A Dark Queen: 1583

Fireplace: 1623

Tabs: 775

Terminus: 4588