Post Hunt

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The Post Hunt was an annual puzzlehunt in Washington, DC. It was co-created by Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry, along with Gene Weingarten and Tom Shroder. The Post Hunt debuted in 2008. The most recent hunt took place on May 22, 2016. The hunt was discontinued in 2017. [1] It was a renamed version of the Tropic Hunt, also created by Barry, Weingarten and Shroder, which had a long run in Miami, FL.

Contents

The Washington Post Magazine held a Hunt in downtown Washington DC, attended by about 5,000 people, including dozens who came up from South Florida. [2] In 2015, for the first time in 10 years, Gene Weingarten, now a columnist for the Post Magazine, joined Shroder, now editor of the Post Magazine, and Barry in designing the Hunt.

Format

The Hunt consists of three parts. Answering the "opening questions" directs Hunters to five puzzle sites scattered through the Hunt area. Solving the five Hunt puzzles—the answer is always a number—indicates the five authentic clues on a list of dozens of numbered bogus clues. Hunters have three hours to solve the puzzles, then at 3 p.m., a sixth and final clue is announced from the main stage. This begins the "endgame", which is by far the most difficult puzzle of the day. Solving the endgame often leads to a phone number, or directs Hunters to go to a certain out-of-the-way location and give a password to someone identified in a cryptic way. [3]

Previous Winners

The winners of the 2016 Washington Post hunt were Benjamin McRae, Erin McRae, Mark Swiatek, and Michael Engard [4]

The winners of the 2015 Washington Post hunt were Todd Etter, Chris Guthrie, Matthew Hartman, and Charlie Scarborough [5]

The winners of the 2014 Washington Post Hunt were Todd Etter, David Forrest, Chris Guthrie, and Charlie Scarborough [6]

The winner of the 2013 Washington Post Hunt was solo participant Sean Memon [7]

The winners of the 2012 Washington Post Hunt were: Phil Spector, 35, of Washington; Sabita Soneji, 35, of Washington; John Mackedon, 34, of Washington; Mark Cackler, 57, of Falls Church; Timothy Bouley, 31, of Washington; Madalina Cristoloveanu, 31, of Washington; Kris White, 29, of Washington; Sean Sharifi, 30, of Vienna; Nicole Mechem, 32, of Washington; Damon Taaffe, 35, of Arlington; Alva Kretschmer, 27, of Washington; Patricia Van de Velde, 27, of Washington [8]

The winners of the 2011 Washington Post Hunt were Sean and Diana Viera, Alex Elliott, Kevin Chang, James Auwaerter, Amy Posten and Galen Mullins [9]

The winners of the 2010 Washington Post Hunt were John Sanders, Eana Chung, Eric Pilar, Chris Wong, Suzanne Schwartz, Joe Grossman and Katie Elder [10]

The winners of the 2009 Washington Post Hunt were David Shahoulian, Emma Filstrup, Serena Hoy, Jim Reilly, Jenny Hunter, and Tom Jawetz [11]

The winners of the 2008 Washington Post Hunt were Todd Etter, David Forrest, Chris Guthrie, and Jack Reda [12]

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References

  1. ↑ "The Washington Post Magazine Editor's Note on Peeps Contest, Post Hunt".
  2. ↑ Weingarten, Gene; Shroder, Tom (2008-05-19). "Post Hunt: The Aftermath". Chat Transcript. Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  3. ↑ Engelberg, Mark. "Winning the Herald Hunt". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
  4. ↑ Contrera, Jessica (2016-05-22). "Rain, sweat and brains: Inside the 2016 Washington Post Hunt". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  5. ↑ Contrera, Jessica (2015-05-31). "Annoyingly smart Post Hunt team takes First Place for the third time". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  6. ↑ "Veteran Post Hunt Champions Take the Prize Once Again". The Washington Post. 2014-06-01. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  7. ↑ "The 2013 Post Hunt". Archived from the original on 2014-03-08. Retrieved 2014-03-07.
  8. ↑ "The 2012 Post Hunt". Archived from the original on 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2012-08-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ↑ "Recovering from the 2011 Post Hunt". The Washington Post. 2011-06-06. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  10. ↑ Lowman, Stephen (2010-06-07). "Group of seven wins $2,000 Post Hunt prize". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  11. ↑ Antoniades, Christina (2009-05-18). "The Washington Post Hunt". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  12. ↑ Ruane, Michael E. (2008-05-19). "Urban Safari Participants Find Equal Parts Fun and Frustration". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-01-19.
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