About
What is the Key Clues Challenge?
The Key Clues Challenge is a puzzle hunt for the University of Waterloo community, which includes students, alumni, faculty, staff, and postdocs, as well as those at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. It is run by members of the University of Waterloo community, and is supported by the Faculty of Mathematics. Despite this, none of the puzzles will require any specialized mathematics knowledge to solve.
A puzzle hunt? What's a puzzle hunt?
It's a puzzle-solving competition! A puzzle hunt typically features a series of puzzles and a final meta puzzle. Usually, the meta puzzle is not solvable without solving most (if not all) of the other puzzles first. For a more comprehensive description of a puzzle hunt, check out this blog post. Anyway, Key Clues is a puzzle hunt.
How can I find out if this is for me?
Drop by the Key Clues kickoff party in the DC Fishbowl on 19 January 2026 at 17:30. You'll get a sneak peek at two of the competition puzzles, and you can speak to some of the Enigmatologists (the writers of the puzzles). If you decide it's something to try, you can register then. You may even find other people like you, looking for a team!
While waiting for the kickoff party, you can check out some past puzzles in our archives.
I played in the past but the puzzles were too hard. How will you redeem yourself?
This year we have introduced Launchpad Puzzles which are carefully written to (hopefully) be more accessible. One puzzle from each batch release will be a Launchpad Puzzle. These will be indicated with the following icon:
Does my team have to be physically on campus to participate?
No. But you cannot win the grand prize without finding the location of the final box on campus. There may also be a few puzzles which are unsolvable without having at least one member of your team on campus. You can still compete for glory on the leaderboard though!
Sounds great, but none of my friends want to solve puzzles with me. How can I find better friends?
You can register as an individual here. Before the hunt begins, we'll place you in a team with other people like you.
Awesome! When can I register?
Registration is open now, and you can register any time until the end of the competition ().
These puzzles don't have any instructions! What do I do?
Figuring out what to do is part of the puzzle! Remember that the end goal of every puzzle is to get a short phrase or one-word answer — how you do that is up to you. If the puzzle has pictures, try starting by identifying them. If the puzzle looks like a more traditional puzzle (word search, crossword, maze, sudoku), try treating it like a traditional puzzle. For more tips on solving these kinds of puzzles, check out our resources page.
Will we need the story to solve the puzzles?
The story will not be needed to solve any of the non-meta puzzles.
In the past, there were physical keys. Where are the keys this year?
We will not be using physical keys this time.
There's a mistake in one of the puzzles. What do we do?
Email us at keyclueschallenge@uwaterloo.ca and we will tell you whether or not there is an error. If there is an error, we will fix it as soon as possible.
I have an infrequently asked question. How do I ask it?
First, check the rules page to see if it is answered there. If it is not, reach out to us at keyclueschallenge@uwaterloo.ca and we will answer your question. Hey, maybe you asking the question will change its status from infrequently asked to frequently asked!