Good News, Everyone. It's time for Puzzle #5 and the last one before the back half! What's the back half? Well... its the back half of the puzzles.

Everything is FLYING by, and we're excited to hit this midway point! Not even 40 days left til Summer Camp, and the Annual Subreddit Meetups! What is the meetup? Well, click that link... but the jist of it is Wednesday (Aug 5th) and Thursday (Aug 6th) from 7pm until whenever come hang out with us at the Link 3535 / Circle Bar! Come meet some great people, and hang out in a non stressful environment with u/Killroy7777, myself and u/MetaN3rd along with a few hundred of your new friends. It's an annual tradition afterall!

So. Here. We. Go!

LINK: https://puzzledhackers.org/challenges/2026/05

To submit your solve go to https://ctf.puzzledhackers.org/ and select the "Bite My Shiny Metal Hex" puzzle. Submit your answer, and if its right... profit!

Have questions or need help? Just ping myself or u/Killroy7777 and we'll be happy to help you out!

FAQ's:

Do we need to use the submission system?

• No, only if you want to have your ongoing solve score used for potential SubReddit Meetup Giveaways.

Why the submission system?

• We've been giving away more and more swag to Puzzle Participants, those who went last year saw the line, and we're trying to streamline the claim process. The system is only used to track how many solves you have, and when you solved it for tie breakers instead of manually tracking it in an Excel sheet. Plus it lets us give you a QR code for the giveaway portion for fast claiming when we're at the meetups! The top X solvers will be able to claim their swag via said QR code much more rapidly so the line should move much much faster. Same with any pre-purchase/reserved badges. The QR system will speed that up. That's it. Simple as that. Also if there is any premium swag (working on it, like last year for extras) you can find the info on the site too when it goes live.

PRIOR PUZZLE STATS ON COMPLETION:

• PUZZLE #1 - 176
• PUZZLE #2 - 117
• PUZZLE #3 - 74
• PUZZLE #4 - 57

Haven't done the prior puzzles? Dont worry. Just go the CTF system, and when you click the puzzle the link is there! So get those solves in!

https://ctf.puzzledhackers.org/challenges

Lets keep it going!

Thanks for participating, and more information on the meetups will be coming soon.

The PuzzledHackers Team,

u/MetaN3rd, u/Killroy7777 and u/digitard

Alrighty kiddos. We're a few weeks into the puzzles so its a good time to do the first pass at the Unofficial Annual "r/DEFCON Meetup" details. While this is possible to change... it likely won't as it worked really well for everyone in the past, and it's a historically great environment to be social.

WHEN: Wednesday 8/5 & Thursday 8/6 from 7pm til whenever people stop wanting to be social!

WHERE: Linq Hotel 3535 Bar (also known to many as the Circle Bar). Just take the Monorail to the HARRAHS / LINQ stop, hang a left into the Linq at the end of the hallway and just walk til you're in the casino... its the bar smack in the center!

For quite a while its been a kind of annual thing to have everyone meetup. The Linq bar has always had a place due to the past Caesars roots, and last year we had both nights there that worked out really well.

What is It About?

- Whether you're a DEF CON veteran, or this is your first time and you just want to socialize... its been a great activity to all meetup, and hangout and BS with like minded peeps. We tend to have some random swag to give away, deliver the badges you can win from your PUZZLE performance or if you pick up extra's (purchase info coming soon) and whatever else people drop at the tables wanting to give away.

Often people will show up with their own swag to drop (u/palm12341 came last year and did an early drop of the LASER*TAG badge, and the place erupted into an all night laser tag game!) as well! Think of about 100 people running around the Linq and the nearby area starting the first night of what became a huge weekend Laser Tag battle 24/7!

HOW DO I GET YOUR BADGE?

- Just compete in the Puzzles and the top X will get one FOR FREE! Plus we'll put sales of a handful of them (this helps us continue to keep doing this) up to sell to get to our break even + a beer point, and then honestly... its likely we'll just be giving them away to random people! Cause we're all about the good memories and good peeps!

For those who get them (purchase or puzzle) before the event we'll give you more info closer to DEF CON about the claim process will work, but the CTF system we put in play for claiming the flag should make this MUCH faster than last year (thanks for those who stood in those lines for your free stuff!)

DO I / YOU NEED TO BRING ANYTHING?

- Nope! Just show up, come hang out, BS with people, say hi to u/MetaN3rd, u/Killroy7777 and I (we'll never turn down a drink with good peeps!) and meet new people. My FIRST DEF CON it was one of my favorite things to just get to BS before the convention actually started and get to know some people that I said hi to and hung out with throughout the hallowed halls of the LVCC!

We'll be posting more information as we get closer including the badge reveals, come on international shipping!, and other stuff as we get it... but we wanted to lock it down for those of you who've asked if its happening!

If you have any stories, questions or comments... leave them below! We're at 48 days and counting til we get to hang at the meetup and kick off Summer Camp and we're REALLY excited!

Thanks from the PuzzledHackers.org Team,

u/digitard, u/killroy7777 and u/MetaN3rd