On August 6th, many things happened in history.
- 1806: the Holy Roman Empire ended.
- 1890: William Kemmler became the first person executed in the electric chair.
- 1945: the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
- 1991: Tim Berners-Lee first put forth his ideas for the World Wide Web.
- 1996: NASA annouced that Martian meteor ALH84001 contained evidence of primitive life.
- 2001: The President received a memo entitled "bin Ladin Determined to Strike in U.S.".
We're going to have a party that celebrates none of these things!
Liam & Liana's Puzzle Party
Saturday, August 6th, 2005
12:00PM – 7:00PM
On the first Saturday in August, Liam and Liana will be hosting a party where you get together and solve puzzles that we made up. Winners get prizes, everyone has fun. Puzzle-solving starts at 1:00PM sharp, but feel free to show up anytime after noon. There will be snacks provided throughout the day, and a group takeaway order placed to arrive when puzzles finish. When the puzzling is over and scores are announced, the party will become a general hanging out until 7:00PM (with non-participants welcome to come, also).
There is room for 20 participants. Since space is limited, and bailing out would be unfair to the other players on your team, participation will be by RSVP only. There will be a waiting list for those that caught this announcement too late.
Feel free to pass on this invitation and our contact information to anyone you know who might be interested in participating.
How it works:
This puzzle party idea is inspired by Eric Harshbarger's puzzle parties, held in October 2004 and April 2005. Browsing his site and examining his puzzle books will not spoil any puzzles, as the ones we've made are new.
Each participant will receive an identical booklet of puzzles. These will test you on a variety of teamwork, critical thinking, deduction, and knowledge. You and your teammates will endeavor to answer as many of these as possible within four hours. Correct answers (or partial answers) will earn your team points. Each team submits one set of answers, and the team with the highest score wins!
There will be other, smaller puzzles throughout the day that have minor prizes or rewards, sometimes for your team, sometimes just for you.
Descriptives:
Teams: Upon arriving, you will be given a clue as to who your other (randomly-assigned) teammates are. Your first puzzle will be to figure out who they are. Each team has five members, and will be given its own space to work in. (Don't worry: if you don't solve the first puzzle, we will still put you with your team!)
Puzzles: If you look at past puzzles from Eric's puzzle party, you will note that many of them have a single correct answer, that doesn't allow for many ways of getting to it. We have designed our booklet puzzles such that most of them are collaborative, open-ended puzzles that have multiple correct answers and ways of getting to them. We still have one or two puzzles that are strongly deductive, but we have tried to gear our puzzles to be such that teams that work together on solving them will do much better than five individuals.
Materials: All materials that are needed (pencils, pens, paper, puzzle-specific props) are provided. You will not need anything save your own brain. Since use of a dictionary, other books, computer, or the Internet might confer an advantage, we ask all participants neither to use them, nor to bring them. (Also, if you brought the Internet, we'd never fit it in the house.)
Logistics:
Location: 12:00–7:00PM on Saturday, August 6th, 2005. It will be held at Liana's house, in Columbia, MD. Directions provided upon RSVP.
Sustenance: Light snacks will be provided throughout the day, and we will make a group order of some sort of takeaway food, such as Chinese, when time is up. As we eat, the winners will be announced and prizes awarded. Snacks will appear in vegetarian-friendly, kosher-friendly, and vegan-friendly varieties. If you have other dietary allergies or restrictions, let us know.
Notes: Liana's house has no pets, no indoor plants, no smoking, and no perfume, so is allergy-friendly. If you wish to participate, do not wear perfume or cologne, and do not smoke for the duration of the party, period. Not even outside.
Kids: Liana's house does not contain any children of its own, and thus is not confirmed toddler-safe (it is reasonably so, but does require some supervision). If the child wants to and you agree, they are welcome to participate as a contestant (please indicate so in the RSVP). Note, however, that you are not likely to be on the same team. If your child is not a participant, he or she should probably hang around you, and is welcome to contribute. We do not have any activities or places to put any children, though, so keep in mind that they will be attached to you and your team.