Can you crack the code?
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Posted by Wei-Hwa Huang, Software
engineer and
Championship Individual Winner
Back in college, I had this idea of an Internet-based puzzle
extravaganza. It would have one thousand puzzles of various types,
more than anyone could ever expect to solve in the time limit
provided. It was all going to tie into a central theme and an
intricate story.
I got to about two hundred before I got exhausted (in both senses
of the word).
Almost a decade later, that dream has come true: a small group of
us at Google, in cooperation with
Pictures, have managed to create 12,358 original puzzles for
Code Quest on Google.
That's right, 12,358 (I'd make a joke about
numbers, but that would be too obvious), all designed to honor
both a fanatical puzzler’s sheer love of a mental challenge and the
labyrinthine spirit of The Da
Vinci Code itself. They'll be released over the next 24
days, in the form of six different challenges at four difficulty
levels, with enough variety that I think everyone will be able to
find something they like and play it over and over — although if
you're in the U.S., you'll want to try to complete all 24
and make it to the Final Challenge, where I hear there's a
pretty nice prize package awaiting the winner.
I'm rather pleased with how this project fulfilled my youthful
dream, and very proud of how well our team's creative synergies
were able to mesh with the world of The Da Vinci Code, the cinematic
version of which will premiere just as the Quest wraps up. Yes,
we'll have to turn the puzzles off then — after all, how else
are we going to get you all offline to join the rest of us in the
multiplexes?
Good luck, and more importantly, have fun!
P. S. Okay, this wouldn’t be a Da
Vinci-related post if I didn’t give you a clue: if you
really want a mental workout, try solving the Chess Challenges by
looking only at the board, without using the multiple choices to
help you. The training you get may very well prove helpful should
you turn out to be one of the elite few who reach the Final
Challenge.