From 918c82906d46da7091e89d54a9204e43fbdb0990 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Devin AI <158243242+devin-ai-integration[bot]@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2026 10:39:04 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 1/4] Add BmMT Puzzle Round guidance blog post Co-Authored-By: Oliver Ni --- .../2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md | 26 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 26 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md diff --git a/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md b/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1b820db --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ ++++ +title = "BmMT Puzzle Round Guidance" +authors = ["BmMT Team"] + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["advice", "bmmt", "puzzle-round"] ++++ + +Dear BmMT competitors, + +We're looking forward to seeing you this weekend! This post is intended to help you approach the Puzzle Round and give some tips on effective puzzle-solving strategies. + +The Puzzle Round is a 75-minute team-based test with puzzles designed to promote lateral thinking and deductive reasoning. There is a 15-minute reading period for you to learn the puzzle rules and try out some small examples. Understanding the rules well is extremely important for solving puzzles, so we strongly recommend reading the rules carefully and doing all examples. After the reading period, you will have 60 minutes to solve the puzzles. + +The puzzles will be divided into variants which all build on the rules of the base puzzle type. While puzzles within variants are sorted by difficulty, your team may find the puzzles in some variants easier than in other variants, so we encourage you to try puzzles in all the different variants. There will be a selection of challenge puzzles at the end of the test. Challenge puzzles may be attractive due to their high point values, but attempting them before completing the easier puzzles in a variant will be very difficult. We think prioritizing puzzles with lower point values is the best strategy because these puzzles tend to be much easier and faster to solve than challenge puzzles. + +Again, we emphasize the importance of understanding all the rules of the puzzles. Every puzzle will have exactly one solution, and reaching that solution will not require any guesswork or assumptions. We have prepared walkthrough videos demonstrating the process of using logical deductions to solve puzzles with no guessing, and they will be posted to our YouTube channel soon. If you reach a contradiction, make sure you are properly applying every rule to different parts of the puzzle. No partial credit will be given, so even a minor mistake in your understanding of the rules could be extremely problematic. We recommend double-checking all of your solutions to make sure they follow all the rules. + +Learning to solve a new kind of puzzle can be challenging. We think the best way to prepare for the Puzzle Round is to practice! Our website has an [archive of previous Puzzle Rounds](https://berkeley.mt/resources/archives/) that are great for practice. We also have a website where you can solve last year's Puzzle Round online! Recent Puzzle Rounds most accurately reflect the style and difficulty of this year's puzzle round, but any practice is good practice! Another important thing to prepare ahead of time is a strategy for dividing the puzzles with your team. There are many different ways to do this, and we generally recommend some amount of divide-and-conquer and checking each others' work. + +Finally, don't forget to have fun! Just like the rest of BmMT, our goal with the Puzzle Round is to give you something interesting to think about. If you find yourself getting stuck or frustrated with a puzzle, take a step back! Talk it out with a teammate, or take a look at a different puzzle instead. We hope you enjoy the round and come out of it having explored something new. + +Feel free to email us at team@berkeley.mt if you have questions about the Puzzle Round or any other aspect of BmMT. See you soon! + +Best,
+BmMT Team From 4edc788211a45067783f39a918f9cfb451658f64 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Devin AI <158243242+devin-ai-integration[bot]@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2026 11:02:53 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 2/4] Add section headings to blog post and show blog card on home page Co-Authored-By: Oliver Ni --- content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md | 10 ++++++++++ templates/index.html | 2 +- 2 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md b/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md index 1b820db..04528a7 100644 --- a/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md +++ b/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md @@ -10,14 +10,24 @@ Dear BmMT competitors, We're looking forward to seeing you this weekend! This post is intended to help you approach the Puzzle Round and give some tips on effective puzzle-solving strategies. +### Round Format + The Puzzle Round is a 75-minute team-based test with puzzles designed to promote lateral thinking and deductive reasoning. There is a 15-minute reading period for you to learn the puzzle rules and try out some small examples. Understanding the rules well is extremely important for solving puzzles, so we strongly recommend reading the rules carefully and doing all examples. After the reading period, you will have 60 minutes to solve the puzzles. +### Strategy Tips + The puzzles will be divided into variants which all build on the rules of the base puzzle type. While puzzles within variants are sorted by difficulty, your team may find the puzzles in some variants easier than in other variants, so we encourage you to try puzzles in all the different variants. There will be a selection of challenge puzzles at the end of the test. Challenge puzzles may be attractive due to their high point values, but attempting them before completing the easier puzzles in a variant will be very difficult. We think prioritizing puzzles with lower point values is the best strategy because these puzzles tend to be much easier and faster to solve than challenge puzzles. +### Understanding the Rules + Again, we emphasize the importance of understanding all the rules of the puzzles. Every puzzle will have exactly one solution, and reaching that solution will not require any guesswork or assumptions. We have prepared walkthrough videos demonstrating the process of using logical deductions to solve puzzles with no guessing, and they will be posted to our YouTube channel soon. If you reach a contradiction, make sure you are properly applying every rule to different parts of the puzzle. No partial credit will be given, so even a minor mistake in your understanding of the rules could be extremely problematic. We recommend double-checking all of your solutions to make sure they follow all the rules. +### Preparation + Learning to solve a new kind of puzzle can be challenging. We think the best way to prepare for the Puzzle Round is to practice! Our website has an [archive of previous Puzzle Rounds](https://berkeley.mt/resources/archives/) that are great for practice. We also have a website where you can solve last year's Puzzle Round online! Recent Puzzle Rounds most accurately reflect the style and difficulty of this year's puzzle round, but any practice is good practice! Another important thing to prepare ahead of time is a strategy for dividing the puzzles with your team. There are many different ways to do this, and we generally recommend some amount of divide-and-conquer and checking each others' work. +### Have Fun! + Finally, don't forget to have fun! Just like the rest of BmMT, our goal with the Puzzle Round is to give you something interesting to think about. If you find yourself getting stuck or frustrated with a puzzle, take a step back! Talk it out with a teammate, or take a look at a different puzzle instead. We hope you enjoy the round and come out of it having explored something new. Feel free to email us at team@berkeley.mt if you have questions about the Puzzle Round or any other aspect of BmMT. See you soon! diff --git a/templates/index.html b/templates/index.html index 6145cee..0309861 100644 --- a/templates/index.html +++ b/templates/index.html @@ -77,7 +77,7 @@

{{ title }}

{% endfor %} {% set blog_section = get_section(path="blog/_index.md") %} - {% set blog_posts = blog_section.pages | slice(end=0) %} + {% set blog_posts = blog_section.pages | slice(end=1) %} {% for blog_post in blog_posts %} {{ self::post_notification( title=blog_post.title, From 76a26bd97bab0e527e0a281de522e3d17155ed88 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Devin AI <158243242+devin-ai-integration[bot]@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2026 11:07:18 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 3/4] Restyle blog post: remove letter format, clean up transitions Co-Authored-By: Oliver Ni --- content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md | 9 ++------- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md b/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md index 04528a7..2ddfcbe 100644 --- a/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md +++ b/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md @@ -6,8 +6,6 @@ authors = ["BmMT Team"] tags = ["advice", "bmmt", "puzzle-round"] +++ -Dear BmMT competitors, - We're looking forward to seeing you this weekend! This post is intended to help you approach the Puzzle Round and give some tips on effective puzzle-solving strategies. ### Round Format @@ -20,7 +18,7 @@ The puzzles will be divided into variants which all build on the rules of the ba ### Understanding the Rules -Again, we emphasize the importance of understanding all the rules of the puzzles. Every puzzle will have exactly one solution, and reaching that solution will not require any guesswork or assumptions. We have prepared walkthrough videos demonstrating the process of using logical deductions to solve puzzles with no guessing, and they will be posted to our YouTube channel soon. If you reach a contradiction, make sure you are properly applying every rule to different parts of the puzzle. No partial credit will be given, so even a minor mistake in your understanding of the rules could be extremely problematic. We recommend double-checking all of your solutions to make sure they follow all the rules. +We emphasize the importance of understanding all the rules of the puzzles. Every puzzle will have exactly one solution, and reaching that solution will not require any guesswork or assumptions. We have prepared walkthrough videos demonstrating the process of using logical deductions to solve puzzles with no guessing, and they will be posted to our YouTube channel soon. If you reach a contradiction, make sure you are properly applying every rule to different parts of the puzzle. No partial credit will be given, so even a minor mistake in your understanding of the rules could be extremely problematic. We recommend double-checking all of your solutions to make sure they follow all the rules. ### Preparation @@ -28,9 +26,6 @@ Learning to solve a new kind of puzzle can be challenging. We think the best way ### Have Fun! -Finally, don't forget to have fun! Just like the rest of BmMT, our goal with the Puzzle Round is to give you something interesting to think about. If you find yourself getting stuck or frustrated with a puzzle, take a step back! Talk it out with a teammate, or take a look at a different puzzle instead. We hope you enjoy the round and come out of it having explored something new. +Don't forget to have fun! Just like the rest of BmMT, our goal with the Puzzle Round is to give you something interesting to think about. If you find yourself getting stuck or frustrated with a puzzle, take a step back! Talk it out with a teammate, or take a look at a different puzzle instead. We hope you enjoy the round and come out of it having explored something new. Feel free to email us at team@berkeley.mt if you have questions about the Puzzle Round or any other aspect of BmMT. See you soon! - -Best,
-BmMT Team From 9be88910343d98e3c4003f36517c7477d0ceef7d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Devin AI <158243242+devin-ai-integration[bot]@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2026 11:12:04 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 4/4] Add bullet points for better readability Co-Authored-By: Oliver Ni --- .../2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md | 25 ++++++++++++++++--- 1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md b/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md index 2ddfcbe..26cb1ab 100644 --- a/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md +++ b/content/blog/2026-04-06_bmmt-puzzle-round-guidance.md @@ -10,19 +10,36 @@ We're looking forward to seeing you this weekend! This post is intended to help ### Round Format -The Puzzle Round is a 75-minute team-based test with puzzles designed to promote lateral thinking and deductive reasoning. There is a 15-minute reading period for you to learn the puzzle rules and try out some small examples. Understanding the rules well is extremely important for solving puzzles, so we strongly recommend reading the rules carefully and doing all examples. After the reading period, you will have 60 minutes to solve the puzzles. +The Puzzle Round is a 75-minute team-based test with puzzles designed to promote lateral thinking and deductive reasoning. + +- **15-minute reading period** to learn the puzzle rules and try out small examples. Understanding the rules well is extremely important for solving puzzles, so we strongly recommend reading the rules carefully and doing all examples. +- **60 minutes** to solve the puzzles after the reading period. ### Strategy Tips -The puzzles will be divided into variants which all build on the rules of the base puzzle type. While puzzles within variants are sorted by difficulty, your team may find the puzzles in some variants easier than in other variants, so we encourage you to try puzzles in all the different variants. There will be a selection of challenge puzzles at the end of the test. Challenge puzzles may be attractive due to their high point values, but attempting them before completing the easier puzzles in a variant will be very difficult. We think prioritizing puzzles with lower point values is the best strategy because these puzzles tend to be much easier and faster to solve than challenge puzzles. +The puzzles will be divided into variants which all build on the rules of the base puzzle type. Here are some things to keep in mind: + +- While puzzles within variants are sorted by difficulty, your team may find some variants easier than others — we encourage you to **try puzzles in all the different variants**. +- There will be a selection of **challenge puzzles** at the end of the test. They may be attractive due to their high point values, but attempting them before completing the easier puzzles in a variant will be very difficult. +- We think **prioritizing puzzles with lower point values** is the best strategy because these puzzles tend to be much easier and faster to solve than challenge puzzles. ### Understanding the Rules -We emphasize the importance of understanding all the rules of the puzzles. Every puzzle will have exactly one solution, and reaching that solution will not require any guesswork or assumptions. We have prepared walkthrough videos demonstrating the process of using logical deductions to solve puzzles with no guessing, and they will be posted to our YouTube channel soon. If you reach a contradiction, make sure you are properly applying every rule to different parts of the puzzle. No partial credit will be given, so even a minor mistake in your understanding of the rules could be extremely problematic. We recommend double-checking all of your solutions to make sure they follow all the rules. +Every puzzle will have exactly one solution, and reaching that solution will not require any guesswork or assumptions. Here are some important things to remember: + +- We have prepared **walkthrough videos** demonstrating the process of using logical deductions to solve puzzles with no guessing, and they will be posted to our YouTube channel soon. +- If you reach a contradiction, make sure you are **properly applying every rule** to different parts of the puzzle. +- **No partial credit** will be given, so even a minor mistake in your understanding of the rules could be extremely problematic. +- We recommend **double-checking all of your solutions** to make sure they follow all the rules. ### Preparation -Learning to solve a new kind of puzzle can be challenging. We think the best way to prepare for the Puzzle Round is to practice! Our website has an [archive of previous Puzzle Rounds](https://berkeley.mt/resources/archives/) that are great for practice. We also have a website where you can solve last year's Puzzle Round online! Recent Puzzle Rounds most accurately reflect the style and difficulty of this year's puzzle round, but any practice is good practice! Another important thing to prepare ahead of time is a strategy for dividing the puzzles with your team. There are many different ways to do this, and we generally recommend some amount of divide-and-conquer and checking each others' work. +Learning to solve a new kind of puzzle can be challenging. We think the best way to prepare for the Puzzle Round is to practice! + +- Our website has an [archive of previous Puzzle Rounds](https://berkeley.mt/resources/archives/) that are great for practice. +- We also have a website where you can **solve last year's Puzzle Round online**! +- Recent Puzzle Rounds most accurately reflect the style and difficulty of this year's puzzle round, but any practice is good practice! +- Another important thing to prepare ahead of time is a **strategy for dividing the puzzles** with your team. There are many different ways to do this, and we generally recommend some amount of divide-and-conquer and checking each others' work. ### Have Fun!