It is a weeklong puzzlehunt competition that combines problem-solving with computer hacking.
In October 2004, Don Schmidt and Dan Sledz took over as heads of Puzzlehack.
In 2005, the contest returned under a new name, PuzzleCrack, and was run by past winner and UIUC alumnus Bert Johnson of Allbase, Inc. Google and ACM provided prizes.
Prizes were provided by Amazon.com and Microsoft, and both viewership and participation broke the previous year's records.
It was last run by "The Big Enchilada" on April 26, 2008, with Amazon.com and Microsoft providing prizes.