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So far, I've unlocked one of the secret hats. I'm wondering what other secret hats are out there and how to earn them?

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  • 54
    now the question is: do an unicorn hat exist? Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 9:12
  • 2
    also, if the count is correct, there must be one more secret hat around Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 11:20
  • 1
    @SPArchaeologist What count?
    – Eran
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 12:04
  • 1
    @Eran: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/245213/2014-secret-hats-count
    – Cerbrus
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 12:05
  • 1
    seems that based on core.js there are 8 secret hats. Which seems few to me, considering 3 star wars hats... Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 12:05
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    @SPArchaeologist There are 8 secret hats on this page, so it sounds like we have found all of them. Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 19:41
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    Will a list of the secret hats and their exact triggers be released after WB14 ends? Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 18:11
  • @Qix If they follow last year's example, then yes.
    – Air
    Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 20:50
  • 2
    Gosh, there really should be a [spoiler] system for SE... now I can never get the "Eureka" hat because I've seen the 'secrets' :cries:
    – pepoluan
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 4:44
  • 1
    @pepoluan There are spoilers. Head over to a Sandbox post and type in !> something something something. Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 15:49
  • 3
    en.wiktionary.org/wiki/secret Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 23:06
  • @TheGuywithTheElfHat, aah, that's news to me! Unfortunately, can't unsee what I already have seen... :-/
    – pepoluan
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 9:44

2 Answers 2

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Now that Winter Bash 2014 is over, a wrap-up blog post has been written: So long Winter Bash 2014


Chameleon

Chameleon was supposed to be awarded to users when they change their avatar, but a bug triggered it in other situations, such as editing other profile fields or creating a linked account.


Eureka!

Eureka! was manually awarded by the Stack Exchange staff to users who independently guessed how to get any secret hat (except Eureka! itself, which first appeared during Winter Bash 2013).


Fascinating

Fascinating was earned by upvoting an accepted answer that had a score of at least 5.


enter image description here

Fascinating, Ma'am

Fascinating, Ma'am was earned by upvoting a question that had a score of at least 25 and 10K views.


Hairboat

Hairboat was earned by commenting on one of abby hairboat's posts or replying to one of her comments.


enter image description here

Time Lord

Time Lord was earned by editing five questions that were posted more than a year ago.


Waffles

Waffles was earned by downvoting a question, editing it (approved suggested edits count) and then changing your downvote to an upvote.


Warm Welcome

Warm Welcome was earned by upvoting any user's first post.


Please note that I (The Guy with The Elf Hat) did not figure out any of these hats by myself; I merely compiled all the information into one answer.

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    Thanks for this. Not related to award conditions, but worth noting that the comments on at least one of abby's recent posts are being cleaned up (presumably to avoid Abby Overflow).
    – Air
    Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 17:02
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    I really appreciate you creating a canonical list, Guy with the Elf Hat!
    – Kevin
    Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 20:58
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    I upvoted a few 25-score questions but didn't get Fascinating, Ma'am.
    – Scimonster
    Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 21:01
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    I find the “warm welcome” in a bad taste. A hat with a communist symbol that looks like it could possibly belong to a border patrol or gulag guard uniform? Shouldn’t such a thing rather be awarded for shooting new users’ posts on sight? Are we going to get hats with Hakenkreuze, too? Commented Dec 16, 2014 at 23:18
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    Just leaving this here for reasons.
    – hairboat StaffMod
    Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 1:14
  • 3
    and I'm very interested in hearing more about your reasons. How can I sign up for your newsletter? Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 15:43
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    @abbyhairboat Do you want to get spammed with notifications? Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 16:01
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    @abbyhairboat you are really bad at playing hide and seek. You could have at least hid in Expatriates meta or something.
    – jmac StaffMod
    Commented Dec 18, 2014 at 17:05
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    I just got a "Warm Welcome" for upvoting a 2-year-old post on StackOverflow (this one) Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 4:13
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    Arguably useful information: Fascinating is Spock (obviously). Fascinating, Ma'am appears to be Tuvok. "Ma'am" because he would be saying it to Janeway, I suppose.
    – hobbs
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 7:00
  • 1
    @Chenmunka Interesting . . . I tried several questions on Blender.SE (3D application) and I did not get the hat. So I decided to try it again, and after making sure it fit the criteria, I got it within a few minutes.
    – J Sargent
    Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 15:04
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    @Sompuperoo Of course it's a real separate hat! Commented Dec 20, 2014 at 14:31
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    @Sompuperoo You already got it. It's a weird hat in that it's automatically worn as soon as you earn it. However, because it's a secret secret hat, it doesn't show up in the hat list. Commented Dec 20, 2014 at 15:56
  • 2
    Hm, I've also been wearing the Chameleon hat upside down for quite a while and I see no separate hat. If it doesn't count in the hatcount, why is there a separate hat name for it? :/ Commented Dec 20, 2014 at 16:19
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    @Ahaan If you're not privy yet, the Praying Mantis "hat" is a joke. The Chameleon hat looks like a bug upside-down, but you don't actually earn a new hat for it.
    – Kevin
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 21:16
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enter image description here

I've noticed a mod with this hat and he recently did a roll back on a question. Seems like an appropriate action for a time lord.It seems like edits to old questions instead of rollback based on comments below, but how old is TBD.

See Martijn Pieters's answer.

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    Rollback on a question as a non-mod is not enough. Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 9:27
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    can't be mod only. Look here. stackoverflow.com/users/2221895/don-chakkappan Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 9:47
  • Answering a old question doesn't get you a tardis, either
    – Cerbrus
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 11:57
  • Let's put that to the test, @MartijnPieters :P
    – Cerbrus
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 12:52
  • @MartijnPieters: No luck so far...
    – Cerbrus
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 13:03
  • @MartijnPieters: Oh, that edit was on my own old post
    – Cerbrus
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 13:27
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    @Cerbrus: Oh, you sly wolf, who did you get to upvote that post? Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 13:30
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    Who loves hats more than any of us? Gaben.
    – Cerbrus
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 13:34
  • I edited an old post of mine and it was updated: no tardis :(
    – fredley
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 13:53
  • @fredley I upvoted your edited question on Arqade to see if it would make a difference. Looks like you got the hat, so maybe it did :)
    – Eran
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 15:26
  • @Eran Maybe it was the upvote that made the difference! Still no waffle though... :(
    – fredley
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 15:28
  • 1
    How old has to be the post?
    – Math
    Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 16:04
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    I edited very old question (not mine) and within 5 minutes, I got this hat. may be 3 years. Commented Dec 15, 2014 at 16:15

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