Convention
[update links to “upcoming convention” add links to archived conventions?]
The National Puzzlers’ League (NPL) holds a four-day convention every July, where many of the most puzzle-mad people in the world gather. We bounce around the United States (and sometimes Canada) in an attempt to equally inconvenience all members of the NPL. However, you don’t have to be a member of the NPL to attend. In fact, many people first learned about the NPL by showing up at the convention when we were in their home city and then decided to join. No, you don’t have to join afterward either, but you may find you can’t help yourself.
During the official convention program,
- We solve puzzles (created by our members),
- We play games (created by our members),
- On Saturday night, we break into teams for a grand puzzle extravaganza (created by our … well, you get the idea), which involves solving a wide range of different puzzles and then putting all their answers together in a meta-puzzle to get the final solutions.
The unofficial convention program, which generally runs to the wee hours of the morning, is even better!
- We solve more puzzles,
- We play more games,
- We usually have at least one more puzzle extravaganza.
Beyond either the official or unofficial program,
- Small groups head off to escape rooms or local attractions
- Larger groups have dinners out at local restaurants
- There’s usually at least one “walk-around” puzzle, which locals put together to show off their town
- Sometimes there’s even a hidden contest somewhere in the Con hotel!
As one NPL member wrote in a post on Wired Magazine’s Decode blog: “The annual conventions are lively and entertaining, deftly combining good conversation and puzzle-solving … Sleep, you’ll notice, is not on the agenda. There are 361 other days in the year for that sort of thing.” And you will meet the best friends you’ll ever have. Going to an NPL convention was the first time many of us met people from all over the world who were just like us. If this sounds like fun, you can read about our upcoming conventions, If you’ll be in the area when it’s happening, you can stop by the convention on Thursday or Friday night, which are always free to visitors. You might even decide to join the NPL!