6: Answerables and Unlock Structures

Must puzzlehunt puzzles have answers? If a puzzle’s goal is simply to interact with a puzzle until a “solved state” is reached, is there something missing? And, seemingly unrelatedly, but arguably entirely relatedly, should a metapuzzle be available at the start of a round? And, if so, does it follow that all rounds should be available at the start of a hunt?

This episode will decisively answer none of these questions, but we hope you’ll listen anyway.

Also: the Socratic method, fun-seeking entities, and having less of a life.

This episode’s featured puzzle was Composition, by Deusovi and Level 51. You can see the puzzle here: https://silphpuzzlehunt.com/puzzle/composition

Also mentioned: Divided Is Us (incorrectly referred to as “Baba is Us” during the episode), by Evan Chen and Azalea Weisblat, which can be found here: https://puzzles.mit.edu/2021/puzzle/divided-is-us/

Transcript:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ey2bcwJk8XcItqMF-cRTdr9HFKcp-q1oHpzG9AjNVWI

Intro music created by Eitan Frank. Originally recorded October 5th, 2024.