CISRA Puzzle Competition 2007 - News
This is the archive of the 2007 Puzzle Competition. Please visit the current competition site for information about the latest Puzzle Competition.
23 April
The 2007 competition is over. Congratulations to the winners! Special mention goes to yope who solved every puzzle without needing any hints, for the maximum possible score of 100.
| (See the team stats page for the final scores and rankings of all teams.) |
We hope you had as much fun solving the puzzles as we did creating them. Please give us any feedback you have, positive or negative, so that we can improve future events!
Worked solutions for each puzzle can be found on the puzzle page, and the full guess log can be viewed here.
Last but not least, if you are a final-year student interested in working at CISRA next year, don't forget to register at the gradsite!
19 April
All the puzzles are now released. Hints are available for Groups 1 to 4, and more hints will be released over the weekend until the competition closes on Monday. It's not too late to have a go and score more points!
16 April
The Group 2 puzzles have been released! Hints for Groups 1 and 2 will be released tomorrow, along with Group 3 puzzles. Until the hints come out, puzzles are still worth maximum points. Remember, you have 100 answer attempts for each separate Group of puzzles.
5 April
Completing all four puzzles in a Group now gives your team a virtual medal! There are different medals for each Group, plus bonus "rank" ribbons which depend on how many hints were needed to complete the Group. These medals are simply graphical extras; scoring and ranking of teams have not changed in any way.
If you'll be graduating this year from a Computer Science, Physics, Applied Mathematics, Software Engineering, or related degree, you have one month left to apply to join CISRA as part of this year's graduate recruitment intake. Applications close 4 May. Visit the gradsite for more details.
3 April
We've made some minor changes to the answer checking code on the solve page. Now, if you enter an answer that you have already tried for the chosen puzzle, the server will let you know that you've already tried it, and it won't count as one of your answer attempts for that puzzle Group. And because a few teams have already entered the same answer more than once, we've refunded those additional attempts. So if you think you might have a correct answer, but aren't sure if you've already tried it, just go ahead and type it in, because it won't cost you anything if you have tried it before.
22 March
The MUMS Puzzle Hunt begins on Monday! This competition has puzzles of a similar style and complexity to the ones we are using, so entering would be a great way to build up your puzzle-solving experience and skills before CISRA Puzzle Week.
16 March
You can now check that your registered team details are correct (such as your all-important e-mail address if you win a prize) on your team's individual page, accessed from the Team Statistics list. Since this information is private, you need to enter your team password in the new form to see it. If you spot a typo, let us know by e-mail.
13 March
We've added a bit more explanation about the puzzles and how to approach solving them to the puzzle solving guide. This is to help bring up to speed the people who haven't participated in a puzzle competition like this one before. If you're a bit stuck or unsure where to even begin, we recommend you have a look at it.
8 March
The MUMS Puzzle Hunt is now open for registration to teams all over the world. Their competition is held during the week 26-30 March, and will be a great way to flex your puzzling muscles before CISRA Puzzle Week.
7 March
The worked example in the Puzzle Solving Guide has been revamped to become a better puzzle, and more representative of the puzzles in the competition. (We realised it wasn't as tested or refined as the ones we're actually using.) Also, due to loss of power to our building, the website was down for a few hours today - we don't expect anything like that to happen again, and are sorry if it caused any inconvenience.
5 March
We've added a form to the registration page to allow you to add more members to your team, if you currently have fewer than four people. Remember though, that adding members who are not Australian students will make your team ineligible for prizes.
1 March
The CISRA Puzzle Competition is now open for team registration and for working on the first group of puzzles.
Puzzle Week, when the rest of the puzzles are released, begins on 16 April, 2007.
The competition is open to everyone. Teams of Australian students are eligible for prizes of Canon digital cameras.
See the competition rules for full details.