Saahiti Kiran Chamala/Fourth Estate

A secretive trio unites students in a midnight puzzle-solving tradition

BY SAAHITI KIRAN CHAMALA, CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

[Editor’s Note: All members of GMU Hunt have chosen to remain anonymous. Each organizer has requested to be referred to under a specific alias.] 

On the evening of March 22, the GMU Hunt, organized by a Mason grad student and his non-Mason-affiliated friends, was a first-time campus-wide puzzle. The puzzle was designed “to bring some joy and curiosity to campus,” said one of the organizers, Alcuin, choosing to remain anonymous.  

“We really are pretty harmless,” laughed Alcuin. “There’s no secret agenda—just puzzles, fun, and a dash of mystery.”

The inspiration behind the GMU Hunt arrived from a longstanding tradition of student-organized hunts at Virginia Tech. 

Days leading up, the flyer posted about campus, listed a meeting time and GPS coordinates “38° 49 ‘45.3”N 77° 18’ 36.4”W.” Students were intrigued yet wary when navigation apps pinned the coordinates near a campus statue in the middle of Mason Pond. 

“We saw the flyer, noticed it was at midnight in this shady spot on campus, and thought, ‘What are we really getting into here?’” recalled one participant who arrived at 11:45 p.m.

With roughly 60 participants at the Confucius Statue of Mason Pond, teams were formed and later handed their first clue. The puzzles referenced campus landmarks, cryptic riddles, and logic challenges. “We were shocked by the turnout,” said Orpheus, self-described as the puzzle platform’s “web-guy.” 

“We expected maybe five people would do this. Suddenly, we’re watching a crowd of 50 tearing around campus at 1 a.m. It was wild,” Orpheus said.

To add more mystique, the organizers mingled discreetly among the participants. They wore hoodies, slipped in and out of puzzle locations, and offered the participants motivational hints  without revealing themselves.

“At one point, everyone was stumped at the Mason House puzzle. We were there, listening in, but trying to keep a low profile,” Alcuin said. “ Some folks suspected we were among them, but they never directly called us out.”

Saahiti Kiran Chamala/Fourth Estate

Many participants reported seeing bystanders who seemed oddly enthusiastic and well-informed. Before long, rumors spread that the “strangers” were the GMU Hunt’s masterminds.

Prior to the hunt, the GMU Hunt website was briefly blocked on the official campus Wi-Fi, resulting in an error message, leaving participants to rely on mobile data. 

“We had no clue that was possible,” said Alcuin. “We weren’t prepared for it at all. It had never happened at Virginia Tech, and we didn’t realize Mason’s firewall or guidelines would block us..”

One surprise that shook the organizers were the teams’ speed at solving puzzles normally intended to take days or even weeks. “We didn’t expect folks to finish so many clues by dawn,” said Alcuin. “One participant we’ve been calling ‘Green Hoodie Guy’… just tore through the riddles like a pro. We stood back amazed, wondering if he was hacking the site or something!”

According to the organizers, one group finished the hunt by around 3 or 4 a.m. with photo-proof, highlighting their puzzle-solving prowess and social connections building skills. 

“We’d love to get officially recognized by Mason or work out [a] partnership,” said Virgil, who manages social media and puzzle difficulty calibration. “At Virginia Tech, we worked closely with faculty and staff to ensure the campus was on board. Our hope is that the GMU administration might embrace it in the same way.”

Planning to conduct a “victors’ meeting” to celebrate the winning teams, the organizers will gather feedback and share statistics about the puzzle answers. 

“We’re here to encourage creative problem-solving and build camaraderie. We want to show people that puzzle hunts are a healthy, intellectually stimulating activity that can become a tradition,” said Alcuin. “From the Wi-Fi ban to the puzzle pacing, it was all brand-new territory. But seeing everyone come out and have fun was the best reward.”

Participants found themselves forging new friendships in the early hours of the morning, tackling cryptic riddles together and creating a shared memory that few will soon forget.