BAPHL 21, written by the team of Fleens? YOU'RE Not Fleens!, ran on Saturday, July 13th, 2019. 52 teams registered, with a grand total of 50 playing overall. The hunt took place in Downtown Boston; things began and ended at the Bandshell on the Boston Common, with stops at Tufts Medical Center, the Downtown Crossing Ampitheatre, the Massachusetts State House, and the Edgar Allan Poe statue outside of the Public Garden.
The proposed theme of BAPHL 21 was “Bostonian Alternative to Purchasing High-Priced Leaguetickets,” apparently a response to the NPL Convention running in Boulder, Colorado the same weekend as the hunt. However, when Fleenior (Fleen Senior) Christian tried to present the various puzzles, they had vanished! One moment of panic later revealed that Carmen Sandiego herself (last seen menacing the M.I.T. Mystery Hunt back in 1999) had returned to Boston with a vengeance, stealing the Hunt and sending her V.I.L.E. minions to snatch other landmarks around the city.
The "twist" of Carmen's attack was secretly foreshadowed twice. On the initial website, running the cursor over the blank spaces revealed puzzling clues: "Geese shape?": V; "Latin 1": I; "Failure's forehead fashion": L; "Sign of hunger in a car?": E; "It follows Batman and The Cat..."; Returns. This spells VILE RETURNS--V.I.L.E. (the Villains' International League of Evil) is Carmen's gang. The final e-mail sent to teams also contained invisible text that, when highlighted, read SHE IS COMING. THEY ARE NOT SAFE.
After Carmen escaped, the Chief strode onto the scene and announced that all of the solvers had been enrolled in the Boston branch of A.C.M.E.’s Detective School, and announced the true theme: Boston ACME Pursuing Heisting Lady! To save the day, solvers had to travel to four “classrooms” around the city, receiving puzzles based on various subjects. These puzzles, ostensibly written by ACME agents, contained clues (the answers) to deducing what four objects had been stolen. Completing all of the puzzles earned solvers the chance to pursue Carmen herself!
36 teams played the “Private Eye,” or veteran, division, while 14 competed in “Gumshoe” mode. Unfortunately, no teams were able to complete the hunt. That’s on us, folx. Many did come close, though! And we thank you all for being so patient with us first-timers. :D
History, Anne Throposine (M.Wickham)
Geography, Skye Miles (S.Dion)
Public Health, Dr. Violet Rahlagy(C.Krenek)
Political Science, Cameron Payne (LOCATION PUZZLE) (A.Thomas, C.Krenek)
Child Psychology (Meta), Cyrus Kohsis, LICSW (S.Dion, M.Wickham, C.Krenek)
Grammar, Lynn Terjekshian (S.Dion)
Phonics, Sylvia Ehbull (C.Krenek)
Literature, Calliope Dee Caht (C.Krenek)
Translation, Rose and Etta Stone (LOCATION PUZZLE) (C.Krenek)
Vocabulary (Meta), Miriam Webster (S.Dion, M.Wickham, C.Krenek)
Mathematics, Polly Nohmeyal (A.Prentice)
Computing, Jacqueline Ardlum (C.Krenek, F.Krenek)
Chemistry, Molly Denim (M.Wickham)
Zoology, Matt Ahzoha (S.Dion, Snuggle Marie Dion, C.Krenek)
Genetics and Statistics (Meta), Eva Lushun (A.Prentice, A.Thomas, C.Krenek)
Visual Arts, Minnie Mahlyssym (E.Roberts, J.Minklei)
Gym, Byron and Triton Sepps (A.Prentice)
Library, Dewey Dessmal (A.Bonaccorsi, S.Dion)
Performing Arts, Ivan Tanosker (LOCATION PUZZLE) (C.Krenek)
Lunch (Meta), Deandra Vower (E.Roberts, C.Krenek)
Phone Tap, Alexandra Grambelle (All Fleens!)
Let's Go to the Map!, CARMEN SANDIEGO (All Fleens!)
Our websites and art were prepared by the incomparable Circe Rowan, who did this in addition to the approximately 75,614 things she has going on daily. Christian Krenek would also like to thank Erin Roberts, Mistress of the Clue Flail, for the crash course in programming!
Our puzzle-writing team, the FABULOUS Fleens? YOU'RE Not Fleens!, consisted of Andrea “Big Mama” Bonaccorsi, Sara “Cat Lady” Dion, Snuggle Marie “Nom Machine” Dion, Christian “Rainbow Away” Krenek, Frank “SpongeBob” Krenek, Julius “Tagalong Kid” Minklei, Andrew “Jack Skellington” Prentice, Erin “Cereal Killer” Roberts, Circe “Dancing Queen” Rowan, Andrew “Green Monster” Thomas, and Meg “Ten to Places” Wickham.
We couldn't have run the hunt without our onsite teams. In addition to Andrea Bonaccorsi, Sara Dion, Meg Wickham, and Christian Krenek, our “guest star party members” were Amanda Davis (who staffed the Science and Maths section alone having never done a puzzle hunt before--that takes chutzpah!) and Joe Aubrey (our resident movie expert).
The on-site cast included Christian Krenek as Christian the Hapless BAPHL Organizer, Meg Wickham as The Chief, and Sara Dion as the double-dealing diva herself--Carmen Sandiego!
The amazing folks of Phlog-a-zither were our guinea pigs, and provided invaluable support. Thank you especially to Jenny G., Ben, Brie, Aaron, Katie, Marleigh, Ryan, Phil, Kevin, and Susie! We would also like to extend a special thanks to the members of The Natural 1s, who were our mentors throughout the process (and even on the day itself).
The uniformity and smoothness of our pretty puzzle sheets is all thanks to Erin Roberts, who took on a Staples printer and won. Thank you, Erin!
...goes to YOU! We wouldn't have felt comfortable running our first BAPHL without all of you alongside us. We'll see you all soon--until then, keep those pencils sharp! Yours sincerely, the FABULOUS Fleens!
