DaVinci Code Quest

friends, you know how I love puzzles and treasure hunts. so does google! the article below is from scifi.com. here is the link to the davinci code quest: http://flash.sonypictures.com/movies/davincicodequest/

Da Vinci Game Goes LiveColumbia Pictures and Google announced the launch of The Da Vinci Code Quest on Google, a 24-day game that began April 17, the 553rd anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's birth. Those who successfully complete the challenges and a series of follow-up puzzles will be eligible to win prizes, including first-class vacations to New York, Paris, London and Rome, as well as Sony televisions, computers, cameras, satellite navigation systems, home theater systems and more.

New puzzles will go live daily in the United States at 1 p.m. ET, aimed at fans of Dan Brown's best-selling book The Da Vinci Code and the upcoming film, starring Tom Hanks, based on it. Columbia Pictures worked with Wei-Hwa Huang, a four-time World Puzzle Champion and Google software engineer, to devise the puzzles. The puzzles borrow thematically from the Da Vinci Code movie and its lead character, Robert Langdon, professor of symbology at Harvard University, challenging players to use their skill and cunning to unlock various codes.

Once solved, the daily puzzles will introduce a riddle to the player that will engage one of an assortment of Google products, including Google Search, Google Maps, Google SMS and Google Video. The first 10,000 eligible challengers who complete all 24 puzzles correctly by May 11 will be contacted to run a gantlet of puzzles, using a "cryptex" replica like the one featured in the film, over the next 48 hours. The U.S. player who completes the final challenge in the least amount of time by 1 p.m. ET on May 21 wins.