Arguing About Puzzles

Mini-Episode: Greetings (ft. Max Woghiren)

In the debut episode of Clashing on Conundrums, our guest says hello. What occurred during this recording? Answer checker: https://www.puzzlehunt.net/checker#1#ergWXMVuP3EUe4rJ#1otlXCk4VjITUKAjQK6fXTenjZ623VB6#TWluaS1FcGlzb2RlOiBHcmVldGluZ3MgKGZ0LiBNYXggV29naGlyZW4p Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R_1QHNrnPRWn6zTBWziYBi2mREVgiTIl/view Edited by Max Woghiren. Solution will drop next week along with the next episode. PS: sorry about the wait, we put The Extraction in charge of our upload schedule This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arguingaboutpuzzles.substack.com [https://arguingaboutpuzzles.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

10: Cultural Conventions (ft. Olive)

Olive comes in to talk about cultural conventions in puzzlehunts. (Sorry about the audio artifacts in this one, I did my best.) Also: Jeopardy! canon, police sirens, and tiny towns in Massachusetts. (Speaking of Jeopardy!: puzzlehunter Paolo Pasco is on a 5-day Jeopardy winstreak as of today. Go Paolo!) This episode contains discussion of (and spoilers for!) the following puzzles: * Most of the puzzles from the Ascent round (MITMH '23), but particularly * How Come This Got No Grid One? (MITMH '23) * Book of Fixed Stars (MITMH '23) * The Tower of the Eye (MITMH '23) * Ten Lions (GPH '24) This episode's featured round was The DIY Room, with puzzles by Elara Wei, Farid Khuri-Makdisi, Ryan Judge, and Cindy Gao. You can view the round here: https://puzzlehunt.club.cc.cmu.edu/hunt/25/view/ [https://puzzlehunt.club.cc.cmu.edu/hunt/25/view/] Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SgJHdt6SawfJOCQSyJbeQ09kWKrQv-0eKyw9eIrtF4Q [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SgJHdt6SawfJOCQSyJbeQ09kWKrQv-0eKyw9eIrtF4Q/edit?tab=t.0] Intro music created by Eitan Frank. Originally recorded June 12th, 2025. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arguingaboutpuzzles.substack.com [https://arguingaboutpuzzles.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

9: Ahas Are Overrated (ft. Jonah Ostroff)

This week, Jonah shares his opinion on the place of ahas in puzzlehunts. Also: surprises, inquiry-based learning, and a crisis of faith. This episode contains discussion of (and spoilers for!) the following puzzles: * Historic Preservation (MSPH23) * A Local Knowledge Puzzle (CMU Spring '25) * Plagiarism (Brown '25) * The State Puzzle (Shardhunt) * To Serve and Protect (MITMH '16) * The Duck Konundrum VI: Now with Way Way Way Way Way Too Much Pepper (MITMH '14) * Classics Round Metas (MSPH23) This episode's featured puzzle was Pyramid Schemes, by Jonah Ostroff. You can view the puzzle here: https://puzzle.university/puzzle/pyramid-schemes.html [https://puzzle.university/puzzle/pyramid-schemes.html] Intro music created by Eitan Frank. Originally recorded June 11th, 2025. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arguingaboutpuzzles.substack.com [https://arguingaboutpuzzles.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Mini-Episode: The Tim Tam Incident

New episodes starting September 1st. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arguingaboutpuzzles.substack.com [https://arguingaboutpuzzles.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

8: Recent Developments

In the finale for Season 1, Zach and Thomas demonstrate long-term memory skills. Also: live investigative journalism, being on the same team, and getting skinnerboxed. We are looking to have some special guests on the show for Season 2! If you’re interested in being on an episode of the show, let us know. You can reach out to one of us through Discord, or you can fill out this form: https://forms.gle/x5sw9aGXrgX9Hipp9 This episode’s featured round was Computer Science, by Amos Eshel, with help from Jonah Ostroff. You can view the round here: https://puzzle.university/round/computer-science.html (If it’s not working, you might need to mess with your settings on this page first: https://puzzle.university/continuingeducation.html) Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13_Pz26RxjNCwz0aAUTWJtaM2NmSwuHAYQLLHxsPJPL4 Intro and outro music created by Eitan Frank. Originally recorded January 5th, 2025. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arguingaboutpuzzles.substack.com [https://arguingaboutpuzzles.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]