Bang 17

Results, Photos, Aftermath

• Kenny (The Platonic Solids) posted some photos: [1]
• Scott (The Smoking GNU) posted some photos: [2]

Announcement

Hear ye, hear ye:

The Platonic Solids seek brave knights (of all genders) from across the land to quest for the Holy Grail in BANG 17: Knights of the Round Table!

When and Where

Your quest will begin on Saturday, April 28, at the west gate of UC Berkeley. Registration opens at 12:00 noon, pre-game activity around 12:30, and the adventure begins at 1 pm. Puzzles will end at 6:30 pm, and we will aim to be done with wrap-up and prizes by 7:00. There is no post-game dinner, but see below for restaurant recommendations.

What to Bring

Each team should bring the following stuff. (Note that the list has been revised!)

Required:

• paper
• pencils with erasers
• tape
• a roll of aluminum foil
• a bicycle helmet which fits an adventurous team member
• $15 registration fee
• a cool gift (roughly $10)

Recommended:

• a transparency or dry-erase marker
• hard surfaces to write on (notebooks, clipboards) for every team member

Code books and the like will not be useful. It is against the spirit of the grail quest to use electronic devices, though you can bring them for other purposes (like documenting your quest for posterity, or getting your CrackBerry fix).

Teams are encouraged to come in Arthurian costume, and prizes will be awarded for particularly fine costuming.

Mellow / Hardcore

Some aspects of the format of this BANG will be different from prior events. One of the differences is that teams may, depending on their level of experience and bloodthirst, compete in either of two divisions: Mellow and Hardcore. Both divisions will solve the same puzzles for the most part, but the hint systems are quite different. If your team typically takes hints on one or fewer puzzles in a BANG, you should sign up as Hardcore. If your team normally takes hints on several puzzles, sign up as Mellow.

Prizes

Prizes will be awarded to the top finishers in both divisions, as well as the teams with the best costumes, best coat of arms (see below), and best performance in the pre-game activity.

Sign Up

BANG 17 is completely full. The following teams are signed up:

Mellow Knights Who Say Ni* Saturday Knight Fever Watermelon Sundial Inspector Gadget Bill Brasky Snakes on a Bang Dumbledore is Dead Medieval Cowboys Meat Wagon* Kittens Kittens Kittens King of the County Very Knight! The Wishful Order of Gluck Dry Ice Andalusional Tag & Release Shakakaka Avast, Ye Scurvy Landlubbers* Shock and Awe Forks on Fire (name unknown)

Hardcore The Smoking GNU Continental Breakfast Boar Cowbell Order of the Knights of the Whacktogon BANANAPHONE Get on a Raft with Taft* The Burninators Desert Steed Evil Wizards For A Better Tomorrow* XXcalibur Coed Astronomy Destroy Monaco! Unibangers

^*Please send your team's coat of arms as a 240 by 240 grayscale JPEG to ari@math.berkeley.edu. Do it the next few days, or we will make one for you. It will be terrible, and all the other teams will laugh at you.

Parking

Street parking is legal on Saturday, but it might be crowded. If you google "parking" and "berkeley", then you'll find several parking lots right near the west gate of campus. Depending on where you live, rather than hunt for parking, you might want to take BART, which comes out just two blocks west of west gate, at Center and Shattuck.

Food

Lunch can be gotten cheaply and quickly at a variety of places along Shattuck, and between Shattuck and Oxford, especially on Center. If you want to go slightly farther afield for dinner, a good list of places is available here:

[3]