Sprint III — October 2026
City Unknown
The race
The third Sprint runs in October. The city is already chosen. It is not named here and it will not be named anywhere public — the city is revealed inside the pack, and the pack arrives by email.
Seven ciphers, drawn from the city’s own history, and a meta that is built from their answers. Eight fields at the portal, all eight scored. Seats go by the two clocks, set out in the Letter. Entry is free, and it always will be.
The purse
$645
September’s second seat was vacated under the one-seat-per-solve rule and rolled into this purse. That is the rule, not a gesture: a purse no one takes is owed to the next field.
The head start — earned in the hall
October’s head start is earned in the Oracle hall. Any correct answer on an open door, first or late, puts a solver’s name in the record for the next Sprint. Solvers holding a door received the pack on October 1 and enter the portal on October 2, ahead of the public release on October 4 at noon Eastern. A door claimed before that line still counts.
The clock is fair to both tiers. October ranks on a weighted score — seventy parts each solver’s own clock, from the moment the pack reaches them, and thirty parts the race clock from the portal’s opening. The head start moves a window earlier; it does not shorten anyone else’s course.
Schedule
The pack
Ten pages. Seven ciphers and the meta. Everything you need is inside it and nothing else is required — no account and no purchase. Put your email in and the pack comes to you. The email is your receipt: your own clock starts the moment it is sent.
Already holding the pack? Go to the portal.
Enter the record
The pack is above and it is free. The record is for what comes after it — the Letter on the fifteenth, and the next city when it opens.