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'Scavwedding' Highlights Annual U. of C. Scavenger Hunt

By Sam Cholke | May 8, 2015 12:57pm | Updated on May 11, 2015 8:45am
 The list for the 2015 scavenger hunt that went up Thursday night revealed that at least 11 of the 334 clues relate to the Friday night wedding for Emily Pelka, the “Scavvenbride,” and Christian Kammerer, the “Scavvengroom.”
The list for the 2015 scavenger hunt that went up Thursday night revealed that at least 11 of the 334 clues relate to the Friday night wedding for Emily Pelka, the “Scavvenbride,” and Christian Kammerer, the “Scavvengroom.”
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HYDE PARK — The University of Chicago’s Scavenger Hunt will be legally binding this year with a Friday night wedding as part of the three-day pursuit.

The list for the 2015 scavenger hunt that went up Thursday night revealed that at least 11 of the 334 clues relate to the Friday night wedding for Emily Pelka, the “Scavvenbride,” and Christian Kammerer, the “Scavvengroom.”

“Dress code is Scav Tie, by which we mean wear whatever the f--- you want but probably your team t-shirt tbh [to be honest],” reads the wedding invitation and preamble to this year’s "scav" list.

Scav Hunt is traditionally a cryptic and puzzling affair that challenges U. of C. students to decipher clues and often create bizarre contraptions to rack up points.

The list of matrimonial clues seems perfectly aligned with all of the traditions, which is unsurprising from Kammerer, a scientist at U. of C. who has participated in 16 Scav Hunts, and Pelka, a teacher and linguist who has also participated in many hunts, according to the wedding announcement.

“Muldoon claimed that raptors could move '50, 60 miles per hour' over open ground, but that’s a tad generous from what we know of theropod biomechanics. You know how they could go that fast, though? If they were being dragged behind a moving car!” reads the first clue, likely written by the paleontologist groom. “Construct a small velociraptor made of tin cans, to pursue the 'Just Married'-mobile.”

The couple could not be reached for comment, but Kammerer tweeted Friday:

 The University of Chicago's annual Scav Hunt is one of the weirdest scavenger hunts, pitting teams against each other to decipher often cryptic clues.
The University of Chicago's annual Scav Hunt is one of the weirdest scavenger hunts, pitting teams against each other to decipher often cryptic clues.
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In a video invitation posted online the couple told how they loved the scavenger hunt and assured, "This is not a joke."

From the list of clues released Thursday, they appear fully invested in a Scav Hunt wedding.

Teams have been enlisted to form a choir to sing the “gooey Muppets dreamhymn,” “He’ll Make Me Happy,” from “The Muppets Take Manhattan.”

Another clue asks teams to bring a Scav Hunt-themed wedding cake to Rockefeller Chapel Friday night.

Three points will be awarded to teams that help the couple crowd-surf down the aisle and 15 points will go to the teams that read the best two-minute passage on love from a fantasy or science fiction novel or film.

“A team member dressed as a Viking bearing an (electric) torch to lead the couple to their chariot after the judging of the cakes, to ensure that this bruðlaup [Old Norse for wedding] is blessed in the eye of Odin,” reads the final wedding clue.

Scav Hunt continues through the wedding, ending on Sunday and there are a plethora of non-matrimonial clues for teams to rack up points.

The clues are, as always, impenetrably cryptic at times.

Item 179 simply reads, “>” and is worth five points for the team that can decipher it.

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