Teams

Metropolitan Odyssey: Walk the Gotham Strait and Narrow
Official Rules

Boundaries:
Manhattan is involved, but it might not be the only borough involved. Perhaps you can glean a little something from the title of the event. Details to be revealed later. For the purposes of the hunt, in Manhattan the avenues run north-south, and streets run east-west. If other segments of the hunt happen take you into another borough, we will avoid using the cardinal points in the clues, since it’s not on the same kind of grid system. Like, if you ended up in Brooklyn, for instance.

Check-In:
Registered teams may check in at the registration area beginning at 8:30 AM, May 6, 2006. The registration area is currently pending approval from us as well as the actual people who control the area. When that’s finalized we’ll let you know. Each team will be given an orientation packet at this time, which will include several items that may help along the way.

We will distribute the task list to team captains, and then right at 9:00, or really close to it, we’ll give the signal for captains to open the task list and being the hunt. The signal will likely be one of us shouting “Go!” or “Now!” or “Okay, open your packets now!” or something like that.

Cameras:
TEAMS MUST PROVIDE THEIR OWN CAMERAS. This means you can use digital cameras. But all photos must be turned in as printed photos - not as disks or jump drives or anything like that. Polaroids are also fine.

Team Costumes:
We recommend you devise some sort of costume, uniform, or emblem. Not only will it help your score and possibly garner you a prize at the end, it will aid us in identifying you at the all-important midday rendezvous. Feel free to peruse the archive to see what other teams have worn.

The Tasks:
Each task is assigned a certain number of points based on its difficulty or our whimsy. In general, it is up to the team to decide which tasks they want to try and complete within the allotted time. There will be a list of COMPULSORY tasks that MUST be completed by each team. You see, that's what "compulsory" means. These tasks will be clearly identified on the list and CANNOT be skipped. Any team which does not complete the COMPULSORY tasks will be penalized.

Teams may split up to cover more territory if they desire, but you just might find we’ve been diabolical in making it detrimental to separate. We want people to stick together as much as possible. Sure, you’re competitive and want to win, but we want people to have fun and discover things together.

All tasks have been designed such to be both SAFE and LEGAL, as far as we could figure. If you feel as though you or a teammate is engaging in unsafe or illegal activity, STOP! You are off-track and this activity is not helping your cause. It’s probably not helping ours, either. We cannot be held responsible for participants' behavior. Unless, of course, you save somebody’s life during the hunt, in which case we claim full credit.

Turning It All In:
All materials must be turned in no later than 4:00 PM Saturday, May 6, 2006. Late materials will result in the team being penalized. The materials have to be turned in all together, all in one envelope. We will only accept ONE completed task list, so if you've made copies make sure you transfer all the answers to ONE list. No materials will be accepted after 4:30 PM. Whining will not be tolerated.

Judging:
Bo Bigelow, Brady Richards, Will Sakran, and their appointed minions will be responsible for judging you. We mean, judging each team's material set. The team that accumulates the most points wins, as that seems to make the most sense. In the event that there is a tie, the winning team will be the team that turns in their material set earliest. There is no official bribing structure in place. The judges' ruling is final. Whining will not be tolerated.

Afterparty:
We will give you the afterparty details on the day of the hunt. Only people who did the hunt can come to the afterparty. No spouses, friends, out-of-town guests, etc.

Electronics:
Use of the Internets, cell phones, blackberries, blenders, electric tie racks, etc. is up to the teams. However, be forewarned that we gear this hunt to be done on foot, so what information you discover without observing it firsthand yourself may be erroneous. For instance, a web search might give you a different answer to a clue than you would get if you went there in person. If you are simply using the Internets to solve the clues, then you have signed up for the wrong hunt. Whining will not be tolerated.

Other Notes:
It will be helpful for each participant to bring a backpack or messenger bag in which to carry around collected materials, as well as any small gifts you might want to get separately for the judges. Gifts probably have no bearing on a team's final score.

You will be doing a lot of walking, probably more than you've ever done on a single day in Manhattan, unless you’ve done our other hunts, or unless you’ve been court-ordered to walk everywhere. Therefore, wear good shoes or sneakers and bring water with you or be prepared to buy it along the way.

It is also perfectly okay to wear a hat.

Mongolia is supposed to be a cool place to visit. This is good information.

If you do not already have an unlimited ride Metrocard, you might want to buy one first thing Saturday morning, though this year’s hunt takes place in a notoriously un-subwayed part of town. A One Day Fun Pass Metrocard is $7.00 and is good from the time that you buy it until 3:00 AM the following morning. It's good on subways and buses, and includes transfers.

The show will go on regardless of the weather. Please dress appropriately.

Refunds:
We can refund money through April 21. Then we can’t. Oh, and we can only refund money that has already been paid, so don’t try anything funny.



FAQ
Why four people to a team?
- Because three is not enough and five is too many.

What does the $25 go to?
-Here’s what you get for that money: a daylong hunt, various goodies, trinkets and maps in your packet, a rented-out bar with three free drinks and free ziti (usually), and top-notch prizes if your team does really well or has the best costume. That stuff, as well as the printing costs, website maintenance, and design costs adds up, but we do our best to keep the price down by baking the granola bars ourselves and stealing what we can from children.

What is a Pay Night?
-We like to have teams come pay registration in person. That way, we can get to know you guys and you can get to know us. And we can have a couple of beers together. Also, teams that come to Pay Nights will receive specific hints about answers to the hunt. How’s that for incentive?
-Pretty good.

Tell me more about the costumes. What’s the scoop?
-Costumes are extremely encouraged¬ but not mandatory – they will help out with your final score, and there will be rewards. Keep in mind that there is some law about wearing masks , but apart from that, go crazy.

I knew about the hunt for a really long time, but I didn’t get around to signing up, and now the deadline has passed. I might be very good friends with Bo, Brady, or Will. I might have lots of money to throw around. I might be really cool and fun and worth spending time with. Maybe I’m attractive and flirty. Can I sign up late?
-No.

What’s the deal with cameras? Can we use digital?
-TEAMS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING THEIR OWN CAMERAS. And, by extension, their own pictures. You can turn in any printed photo that you’ve taken, whether it be regular film, Polaroid, or printouts from a digital camera. We will not accept disks or jump drives or things like that – each picture must be its own item, submitted with the rest of the packet.

What if we don’t get our pictures developed in time?
-You lose a lot of points. A LOT of points.

How do I get a Metro Metro t-shirt?
-We are going to have a new t-shirt design out shortly. Stay tuned.

Can we use a car or bike or something to navigate the city during the hunt?
-Sure. Fat lot of good it will do you. Well, maybe the bike will do you some good, but a car? Come on. That’s a little excessive. Oh, if you use one of those Segway dealies, you must let us try it out. Extra points. Seriously.

Do you know what time it is?
-As of this writing, it is 8:42.

What happens if the solution to the clue is missing, damaged, or non-existent?
-We try to double-check all of the clues before the day of the hunt, but there remains the chance that construction, graffiti, or the like will make a clue unsolvable. We are reachable by phone on the day of the hunt, so if the issue comes up we will be able to check it out. As for damage to a clue, we hope that our participants are not selfish enough to vandalize what we put a lot of work into, but that is not always the case. If you see someone messing with a clue, let us know.

Will whining be tolerated?
-Whining will not be tolerated.

If our team wins the hunt, will Bo name his baby after us?
-You bet.

Did you hear the one about the pilgrim, the pirate, and the badger?
-Nope. We hope you’ll tell us.

Sample Questions (from previous hunts)

Take a photo of two team members dancing with two other people not on your team under the awning of “the hottest spot north of Havana.”

At the U.S. Customs House, there is a rotunda. Stand in the center of the rotunda. Look up. See the paintings by Reginald Marsh? We are looking for the name of one of the ships. Not the land of Rouen and Caen, it shares a space with a boat named for a state that was inducted into the union one July many years ago. What ship are we looking for?_______

Go to the R. H. Sangster painting on Franklin west of West Broadway. The sun shines directly on where you must go next. Now go there. Find the building with all the numbers on it. What number has no little box above it? _______

We love bolts. I mean, how can you not? They hold so much stuff together!
Please tell us how many bolts are on the face of the t-shaped sign at the Zipper Theater. _______
And isn’t it funny that the Zipper Theater would need to use bolts? _______

Questions? Email us

Thanks to Brooklyn Industries for supporting to this year's hunt!

Thanks to NFT Guidebooks for supporting to this years hunt!	Thanks to Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex for supporting to this years hunt!
Thanks to The Girl Scouts of New York for supporting to this year's hunt!	Thanks to Mimeo for supporting to this year's hunt!

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