24
votes
Oh no! Can you find our unicorn? (Note: event has ended)
Since Winter Bash 2021 is over now, I'll now describe how I solved this puzzle to get the Defender of the Unicorn hat, in case anyone in the future is wondering.
Starting our search for Sparkles the /...
- 4,798
24
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
The Sparkles the Unicorn game is only fun if you can find the beginning.
To clarify the OP, it starts here:
You can also join us in the Winter/Summer Bash 2022 chat room to discuss Sparkles' plight. (...
- 838
22
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
Here's the full solution to the Sparkles adventure.
This is what you'd get from going to winterbash2022.stackexchange.com/visit-sparkles
It’s that time of year. Sparkles the Unicorn has been enjoying ...
- 27.5k
17
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
bug status-completed
At some point in checking in on Sparkles, you need to know the number of SE moderators. This page claims that there are 539 moderators, but "539" is not an accepted ...
- 4,798
17
votes
16
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
Write-up
Note at Sparkles' house
Visiting winterbash2022.stackexchange.com/visit-sparkles reveals:
It's that time of year. Sparkles the Unicorn has been enjoying a year of bliss and vacation, and now ...
- 351
15
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
Thanks to the powerful magic of online anagram solvers, almost no one actually noticed that the solution to the first riddle in this game actually had at least two valid solutions.
The string "...
- 34.8k
13
votes
Can you help a poor unicorn to find its way back home?
Nice challenge! Since this is kind of an announcement, I hope it's OK to use this space for questions. I just completed the challenge, and I got a hat; the dropdown says I earned it on Meta Stack ...
GlorfindelMod
- 256k
12
votes
Oh no! Can you find our unicorn? (Note: event has ended)
bug status-completed
This question:
Approximately how many page views do the Stack Exchange network get per month?
Treats all of these answers as wrong:
"838.7M", "838M", "...
- 4,798
12
votes
Accepted
Has there ever been a picture of Sparkles the Unicorn?
There have been multiple sighting of unicorns on the Winter Bash site, yet no one knows if any of those was meant to be "Sparkles".
Our tale probably starts back in 2013, when for the first ...
- 34.8k
11
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
bug status-completed
When your visit to Sparkles is successful, you receive the message:
- 2,931
11
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
feature-request status-deferred
Can the error message for not being logged in change from
Please log in to participate
to
Please log in to https://winterbash2022.stackexchange.com/ to participate
...
- 833
11
votes
Hat Dash Strategy and Mechanics 🏃♂️🦄🎩
Multiple Obstacles at High Speeds
When the speed gets high enough, obstacles will start coming very quickly. A common way to end the game is when you jump over one obstacle, but you hit the next ...
- 7,743
10
votes
Accepted
What is the "signal-to-unicorn ratio"?
It's just a play on the common term signal-to-noise ratio, which here means the number of high quality posts vs. low quality/off-topic posts. Unicorns have many fans under developers (and rightfully ...
GlorfindelMod
- 256k
10
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
If you pass the quiz, you get the message:
But if you fail you get:
Note: If you pass without fail, you don't recieve "Yes, a Robot" hat. Luckily, you can go back to the quiz and fail. ...
- 796
9
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
feature-request status-deferred
Disallow web crawlers on the challenge sites. Possible solutions:
Modify robots.txt "accordingly"
Use Basic Authentication for the challenge sites (this ...
- 351
8
votes
Oh no! Can you find our unicorn? (Note: event has ended)
possible-bug status-completed
According to Area 51, there are ten site proposals that are currently in beta:
However, when I enter 10 as the answer, it's judged as incorrect. I randomly entered a ...
8
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
Rescuing Sparkles the Unicorn, again
So, get this: after getting Sparkles the Unicorn out of trouble last year, I was looking forward to visiting her this year. I'm sure you can imagine my shock when ...
- 4,798
8
votes
Has there ever been a picture of Sparkles the Unicorn?
(posting this separately for sake of completion)
While this is not directly tied to Sparkles, this may still be related somehow as the idea for Sparkle could be an homage to this one.
Once upon a time,...
- 34.8k
7
votes
Let's check in on Sparkles the Unicorn!
feature-request status-completed: Auto-focus the answer input in the Unicorn Quiz.
Because it kills me to move my mouse or press the tab-key once /s
- 29.2k
7
votes
Can you help a poor unicorn to find its way back home?
This was fun! I did experience one moment of weird behavior though:
After answering the first question, the second question opened in a new tab, while the first tab's submit button got stuck in a ...
- 1,435
7
votes
Can you help a poor unicorn to find its way back home?
Can we have some stats when the event is over? Like:
How many people completed the challenge and how many finally got the hat (those who tried it, but didn't have an account on MSE)?
Which was the ...
- 6,341
7
votes
Oh no! Can you find our unicorn? (Note: event has ended)
There seem to be several inconsistencies with the question
First,
Second,
I may be wrong, of course.
- 4,996
7
votes
On which site was the default example question in the tour page asked?
I believe it's an intentionally made-up question that exists only in the /tour page.
First, unicorn is a fantasy creature that does not really exist in this world.
Second, given the tags on that ...
6
votes
Hat Dash Strategy and Mechanics 🏃♂️🦄🎩
Touchscreen Device makes Game Easier
When playing on a touchscreen enabled device, you don't have any method to duck. To get around this, the game seems to reconfigure the flying down arrows to never ...
- 7,743
6
votes
Moderators should be notified if the tour reverts to the unicorn question
While there would be benefits to having a feature specifically for this purpose, there is one feature that mods can use as a workaround: The "follow" button. Use it on the question and its ...
- 56.5k
5
votes
Oh no! Can you find our unicorn? (Note: event has ended)
bug
server-side is misspelled as sever-side in one question.
- 36.3k
5
votes
🦄 Winter Bash 2020: The return of the unicorn
A little time after,the two new friends were running in the snow, happily jumping over those punny confused humans that were looking at them with surprised faces. A dinosaur joined them for a little, ...
- 34.8k
5
votes
Oh no! Can you find our unicorn? (Note: event has ended)
possible-bug status-completed
The question:
How much reputation do you need to earn in order to be able to downvote?
Meta Stack Exchange differs from the other sites. Since the question doesn't ...
- 1,435
4
votes
The Rescue of The Winter Unicorn Of The Bash
There is a Defender of the Unicorn hat!!!
Yaakov just got it.
And there is a page (no spoiling):
<Redacted by Yaakov, in order to ensure security for the unicorn>
- 8,878
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible