NPAW 2026 Scavenger Hunt Rules
Welcome to this year's NPAW Scavenger Hunt! Before we get started, please make sure to watch the trailer, sign your teams up, and most importantly—have fun!
Each team must have at least one, but at most two, postdocs (everyone is welcome to play on a team, only the number of postdocs is regulated).
Prizes are limited to postdocs on a team by UTSW financial rules; prizes are being negotiated and the winning team will be featured in the Postdoc Informer.
The hunt will run from Sunday, September 20th and end on Thursday, September 24th before ~1pm. The QR code for the first puzzle will be posted in the NG Cafeteria by 9:00 am on Sunday. Because it is a weekend, the initial QR code will also be sent out by email at 12:00 pm (noon).
The scavenger hunt itself consists of solving one puzzle or game each day to find a location on North or South campus. The clue flyers are the same style as last year and have QR codes linking you to the next puzzle on their backs. There will be red herring flyers distributed all around campus to prevent random search strategies.
Each new location will not have a clue flyer posted immediately; the flyer for the next puzzle will be put up sometime before 9:00 am the morning after the clue revealing that location is given.
Each morning, a clue will be revealed to help anyone still unable to solve the previous day's puzzle. On the second day after each puzzle, the location will be revealed directly or in a very non-subtle hint.
On the final day (Thursday), additional clues will be given every hour starting at 10:00 am to help teams cross the finish line.
Upon scanning a QR code, IMMEDIATELY fill out and submit the web form at the bottom of the page before beginning the next puzzle (this may be used to identify winners based on times ;) ).
Some puzzles will require/be easiest when using a computer.
DO NOT take QR codes or flyers UNLESS told otherwise in the puzzle instructions.
Some puzzles have rudimentary instructions, others do not; these puzzles are all meant to be challenging, but should be intuitable.
Teams are allowed to use web resources to solve puzzles, including AI.
In the puzzles that are embedded mini-games, it is cheating to inspect the game code to bypass doing the puzzles.
Please direct any questions to Kelli Fenelon on Teams.
