Rules


Time Subject Pixar Puzzle Hunt Update
2020/12/13 3PM PST Wrap-up released Thanks again to everyone who joined us! The wrap-up and Familia Tunes submissions are now posted. Feel free to check them out!
2020/12/06 6PM PST Solutions released The hunt is officially over! A big thank you to everyone who participated! Solution links are now posted on each puzzles page. You may continue to solve puzzles, but the leaderboard will no longer be updated. We'll post a wrap up within the next couple of weeks sharing some thoughts, feedback responses, stats, melodies, and more!
2020/12/06 2:10PM PST Familia Tunes reminder We have an automatic responder for teams who send us emails for this puzzle. By now, there have been several teams who didn't seem to receive the immediate reply. If you sent in a submission and don't see a response, try following up on the email thread. Please let us know if you don't get a response, because all the emails show as sent from our end.
2020/12/05 11AM PST Highway Petrol clue We updated the message for the partial clue that's blocking many teams to say more than just "Keep going!" Try guessing it again.
2020/12/05 10:40AM PST Releasing hints early We're awake and it looks like many teams got a chance to finish. We just released self-serve hints to all expert teams - feel free to guess "HINT1" on any puzzle you're stuck on. We'll also be revisiting the self-serve hints for Highway Petrol and a few other puzzles to hopefully unblock those who are nearly there but got blocked on the final steps. If any HINTs change, guessing them again will show the new message. And remember - you can always email us for help too!
2020/12/05 1:30AM PST Going to sleep It's getting late where we live, so we'll be going to sleep soon and our replies will be delayed. Thanks to everyone who's given our hunt a try so far! It looks like many of the top teams have gotten a chance to finish, so we'll release the self-serve hints early to expert teams in the morning (in ~9 hours). There's no penalty for using them, so if you're stuck, feel free to query them.
2020/12/04 9:25PM PST Heroine's Journey Errata We missed another wall: image. The puzzle has been updated.
2020/12/04 9:20PM PST Transmission Mission Google sheet Added a Google sheet for the crossword (link). To edit, first make a copy.
2020/12/04 9:00PM PST Heroine's Journey Errata There should be a wall between the A and the T near the middle 2 wisps: image. The puzzle has been updated.
2020/12/04 7:42PM PST Stargazing Errata For the clue "Thomas Edison is widely credited for inventing...", the question should state, "What is...? (5 4)" instead of "What is...? (5 5)."
2020/12/04 6PM PST Hunt begins The Pixar Puzzle Hunt has begun! Head to the puzzles page to begin the adventure. Friendly reminder that all casual teams have access to self-serve hints (try guessing HINT1) that can be used at any time with no penalty. Expert teams will get access to self-serve hints in 24 hours.
2020/12/03 7PM PST 1 day away The Pixar Puzzle Hunt starts tomorrow! We sent a 1-day reminder email to all teams who signed up before 12/03 7PM PST. (Note: We didn't have permission to send emails to some googlegroups.) In general, please check here for new updates.

Basics

  • The puzzlehunt will start on December 4, 2020 at 18:00PST and end on December 6, 2020 at 18:00PST. The hunt consists of a set of puzzles followed by a multi-part metapuzzle (which will require previous puzzle answers to solve).
  • There are no team size requirements, but we recommend a team of 3-6. You're also more than welcome to play by yourself!
  • There is a Casual track and an Expert track. See the Ranking and Hints sections below for more info.
  • Teams may use any source of information available, including the Internet and other people not actively participating in the hunt.

    • Solving

  • Each answer consists only of English letters A–Z. The answer checker will automatically uppercase the guess and strip all other characters before checking for correctness.
  • There are guess limits for each puzzle which vary according to how many partial answers the puzzle contains.
  • It won’t be necessary to look at the HTML source/JavaScript/CSS on any webpages for any puzzle.

    • Ranking

  • Expert track teams will be ranked on the leaderboard: first by number of puzzles solved, then by last solve time.
  • Casual track teams will not be ranked.
  • All teams that finish the hunt will have their names marked with celebratory emojis!

    • Hints

  • Hints are revealed through the answer checkers. Note that hints may also contain numbers 0-9.
  • There are no penalties for using hints.
  • There are 2 types of hints: partials and self-serves.
  • Partials allow teams to check their partial solutions to puzzles (e.g. crossword clues). Partials are always available to all teams.
  • Self-serves provide more explicit guidance on how to do the puzzles. To see these hints, guess "HINT1" for the 1st self-serve hint, "HINT2" for the 2nd, and so on.
  • For expert track teams, self-serve hints will be made available 24 hours after the hunt starts.
  • For casual track teams, self-serve hints will always be available.
  • If you're still stuck after looking at hints, you can request additional help on any puzzle by e-mailing us at darocaropuzzles@gmail.com. In the subject line, include your team name and which puzzle you'd like help on. You may describe where you are stuck (and we'll try to help get you unstuck), or ask any open-ended question.

    • Other

  • We reserve the right to disqualify any team for unsportsmanlike conduct. Please don't cheat!
  • We reserve the right to change any of these rules. If there’s a significant change, we’ll announce it to all teams.
  • If you would like to contact us with any questions or feedback, e-mail darocaropuzzles@gmail.com. We'll try to respond as quickly as possible.