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TMOU, puzzlehunts & cracking (im)possible problems with Python

Description

Do you like codes, riddles and ciphers? Some people have turned cracking puzzles into a hobby and gave rise to events dedicated to solving such problems – puzzlehunts. TMOU is the oldest and biggest one among them. During these games, players regularly feel the frustration from endless unsuccessful efforts, often quickly followed by extraordinary joy after finally figuring out the peculiar problem. This joy can only be surpassed by creating a perfect puzzle for others to solve.

I will share a few lessons learnt while organizing TMOU, namely:

  • What makes a problem seemingly impossible
  • How to turn impossible into possible and hard into not-so-hard
  • How to crack tough problems and hammer down their complexity
  • Why Python might be a good hammer for that

Follow the creation of a specific puzzle from an initial idea to the final design (puzzle #4 "the Dice", TMOU 17 http://www.tmou.cz/2015/sifry/reseni#kostka). Where else would you need to solve a bunch of problems just to create a new one?

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