2005-12-08: I contacted the winner, got a response back, and dropped his cards
in the mail. For everyone waiting in beathless anticipation, the winner is
Riiick! Because there was more than one person completing the trail, I had to
go to "Plan B" which involved selecting a random winner. Instead of doing
something high-tech like a little program to generate a random number or
an Excel spreadsheet, I went decidedly low tech. I located some old Dungeons
and Dragons dice hidden away in the back of a drawer, dusted them off (quite
literally; it took a damp towel), made a list of people, then kept rolling and
rolling and rolling the dice until I got a number that fell within the list:
 Congrats to Riiick and a special congratulations to everyone that finished the trail. This trail taught me a few things that I will know for next time (if there is a next time--I basically set up the trail as something to do while waiting for the next wave of cards). First, I discovered that shipping a small stack of cards overseas is almost not worth the shipping costs. The next contest will feature a "virtual prize" that can be delivered electronically (or, at the very least, be shipped by a 3rd party that is closer to the destination than I am.) Secondly, several people asked "why an Amazon gift certificate? Why not a Firebox one?" For that, I have to slap my forehead and say "DUH, why didn't I think of that?" I have given out so many Amazon gift certificates in the past and I had not noticed Firebox has "gift vouchers," so now I (and you) know for next time. Thanks to everyone who played! 2005-12-03: It took some time (I have been sick), but a the winner has been notified and an announcement will be made when I get a response. For those wanting to know what the solves were, try out the invisiclues. 2005-12-01: The contest is now closed. A winner will be selected and contacted this evening. This is a list of people that have completed the trail. Apologies, if I got your name a little incorrect (in a few messages, it was difficult to tell what you wanted as your nickname/pseudonym). Last updated 2005-11-30: SteveC, snowchyld, e3s6a6, WolverineFan, buzman, mannanin, c1023, doublecross, judderman, Avalix, ER123, Scott, beglee, jDoody, Riiick, Daffy, darklord, Paul, EGo, Lazarus, Josiah, uneasyjd 2005-11-08: In the last couple of days, snowchyld and e3s6a6 found the end of the trail. 2005-11-03: The first person to have successfully completed the trail is SteveC. 2005-11-03: A transcription error was discovered in the final puzzle and has been corrected. It is encouraging to note that 36 people have accessed the page containing the final puzzle. 2005-11-01: A couple of hints have been sprinkled through the pages. 22 unique IP addresses have gotten to the sudoku page; nobody has yet gotten further. Including this page, there are twelve puzzles. |