A Puzzling Experience: Harvard Puzzle Day

Mr. Smith hosted the 4th annual CS50x Puzzle Day in the computer programming room all day last Friday. He welcomed all his computer programming students as well as anyone that had a free block. Puzzle Day consists of multiple puzzles brought together by Harvard computer programming students. Every year Mr. Smith’s class solves around 4-5 puzzles.

“Puzzle Day is a great way to think hard about interesting puzzles with other people. None of it involves coding but it’s the same type of thinking you do for coding,” Mr. Smith says.

During each block students attending puzzle day eagerly worked on their puzzles. The room was filled with a sense of frustration and confusion. At each table students sat shoulder to shoulder focused on different puzzles, yet they shared the focused expressions on their faces.

For many students, this was their first Puzzle Day due to Covid.

“It’s really fun and way better than normal school,” Senior Liam Brennan says about his first Puzzle Day. He also has some advice for students thinking about participating in the future, “Go for it, there’s no downside.”

Freshman Jack Quicker also started his first puzzle day last Friday. With his face buried in a puzzle Jack says, “I think the hardest part is that I don’t really know how to answer the puzzles. I’m just trying to find patterns.” Jack says that it’s the first of many puzzle days he’s going to attend.

At one of the tables filled with students, Senior Morgan Meyers sat working on her second puzzle. “I think it’s really fun. I love doing hard puzzles that require a lot of work,” Morgan says.

Like Jack and Liam, this is also Morgan's first puzzle day.

Morgan’s biggest take away from the puzzles she’s worked on is to “try everything ‘she’ can, and that if there’s a possibility it’s worth exploring.”

Unfortunately since she’s a senior this is her first and last Puzzle Day but she urges other students to “Come do puzzle day, it's so fun. Especially if you like problem solving and collaborating with your peers.”