Robert Tang


The casual visitor may have spotted the images located on the right hand side of the screen on several of my pages. The curious visitor will have deduced that these link to another webpage. The super sleuth will have clicked on said link and be transported to this very page! But that's never enough, is it? What lies beyond?

The ΣUMS Puzzle Hunt

In 2009, a group of students from the Sydney University Mathematics Society (including myself) decided the world was in need of more puzzles. Inspired by the the formats of the CiSRA and MUMS competitions, we decided to put our creative energies together to see if we couldn't pull off our own puzzle hunt. Our efforts can be seen on our website - do go there to find out more! (Everything is held completely online.)

These aren't quite your standard newspaper puzzle page affair. Our puzzles come with no instructions - it's up to you to figure out what to do! This may sound bizarre, but it can be likened to solving a new mathematical problem - without needing to know any maths! One should look for patterns, make connections, interpret clues in different ways in order to reach those "Aha!" moments. The steps should feel intuitively correct as one proceeds, as the puzzles are intended to provide affirmation when on the right track. Finally, the answer (typically a word or a short phrase) should be thematically fitting and bring a sense of closure to the narrative. The best way to understand what I'm talking about is to check out the website and see for yourself!

My puzzles

Here are the puzzles I have contributed to previous ΣUMS Puzzle Hunts:
  • 2014: III.3 "A-Z"
  • 2012: I.3 "Hydra"
  • 2011: I.2 "Hair-Raiser", II.1 "Back to Basics", IV.1 "Location"
  • 2010: II.2 "Parrot", IV.4 "In-Shufflin' Feet", V.1 "Common Knowledge" (co-author)
  • 2009: II.4 "Over and Over", III.1 "From Far Far Away", IV.2 "Nearest Loser", Meta Puzzle "The Accusation" (co-author)





The logo of the inaugural ΣUMS Puzzle Hunt in 2009.