It’s the annual DASH stats post! Please find below an updated version of a table which details the number of teams on the scoreboard for each city in each edition of the DASH puzzle hunt to date.
| Location | DASH 1 | DASH 2 | DASH 3 | DASH 4 | DASH 5 | DASH 6 | DASH 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albuquerque, NM | – | – | – | 6 | 6+1 | 3+2+0 | 4+0+0 |
| Austin, TX | – | 2 | 11 | 12 | 13+4 | 10+4+0 | 17+6+0 |
| Bay Area, CA | Y(SF) Y(PA) |
7(SR) 59(LA) |
16(SR) 74(SM) |
73(SF) | 34+7(SF) 32+3(HMB) |
53+17+0(SF) 39+5+0(C) |
46+15+0(SF) 37+7+0(SJ) |
| Boston, MA | Y | 18 | 26 | 29 | 27+2 | 30+7+1 | 30+6+0 |
| Chicago, IL | – | – | 17 | 14 | 10+1 | 15+9+0 | 16+24+0 |
| Davis, CA | – | 16 | 15 | 16 | 13+7 | 8+7+1 | 13+7+0 |
| Denver, CO | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3+12+0 |
| Houston, TX | Y | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| London, UK | – | – | – | – | 6+2 | 8+13+0 | 14+9+0 |
| Los Angeles, CA | Y | 7 | 22 | 21 | 15+4 | 15+2+0 (Pasadena) |
12+7+0 (Sta Monica) |
| Minneapolis, MN | – | – | – | – | 8+7 | 7+4+0 (recast) |
9+7+0 |
| New York, NY | – | 12 | 24 | 25 | 30+7 | 26+15+2 | 29+15+0 |
| Portland, OR | Y | 6 | 17 | 19 | 19+2 | 11+7+0 | 10+10+0 |
| San Diego, CA | – | – | 7 | – | – | – | – |
| Seattle, WA | Y | 32 | 47 | 49 | 49+2 | 58+4+2 | 60+9+2 |
| South Bend, IN | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| St. Louis, MO | – | – | – | 2 | 2+3 | – | 7+8+1 |
| Washington, DC | Y | 14 | 22 | 33 | 31+1 | 27+5+0 | 26+9+0 |
Here are some initial interpretations:
1) Errors and omissions excepted, with apologies in advance. The Minneapolis DASH 6 recast figures came from the organisers by private e-mail.
2) The numbers are drawn from the scoreboards and may not reflect teams that participate but do not make the scoreboard for whatever reason, or other infelicities. DASH 1 does not have a public scoreboard on the web site and thus “Y” represents the hunt having happened there with an unknown number of participants. When there are pluses, the number before the first plus reflects the number of teams on the experienced track, the number after the first plus reflects the number of teams on the “new players” track (DASH 5, 6 and 7), and the number after the second plus reflects the number of teams on the junior track (DASH 6 and 7).
3) Interpret “Bay Area, CA” using the following key: SF = San Francisco (1, 4, 5, 6), PA = Palo Alto (1), SR = Santa Rosa (2,3), LA = Los Altos (2), SM = San Mateo (3), HMB = Half Moon Bay (5), C = Cupertino (6), SJ = San Jose (7). (Santa Rosa counts as Bay Area, doesn’t it?)
4) It’s not a competition to see whose DASH can be the largest; all DASH organiser teams are glorious, generous paragons of virtue, whether their event had one team or 70+, and the community at large thanks them all for the time and effort that they put in.
5) Phoenix, AZ and Pittsburgh, PA both talked about having locations at DASH 6, but it didn’t happen; however, both cities now host Puzzled Pint, so they aren’t doing too badly and surely their DASH time will come when someone there steps up to the plate. Toronto and Montreal seem likely expansions as well. Where else? Who knows! (This site is rooting for Australia and south-east Asia, but other countries are certainly possible as well…)
6) The overall numbers of teams has risen over the last two years from 295 to 307 to 333 on the “experienced” track and from 53 to 101 to 151 on the “novice” track, with every city but one featuring at least one team on each of the two tracks. The junior track dropped from 6 to 3 but it’ll get there and it’s great that there’s an event that’s proactive in this regard.
Interesting stuff.
I don’t think the junior track should exist any more. If the aim is to get younger people into puzzles, I think they would be better off having a separate day of puzzles run through schools or some other more appropriate environment than dragging 5 teenagers through streets of traffic.