diff --git a/blackboard.html b/blackboard.html
index f905f2575..1c02c8e20 100644
--- a/blackboard.html
+++ b/blackboard.html
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ <h1 align="center" class="bb-blackboard-h1">
       <span class="bb-hide-when-narrower">Codex</span></span> <span class="bb-hide-when-narrow">Puzzle </span><span class="bb-no-wrap">Blackboard
       </span>
     </h1>
+  {{> starred_messages canModify=canEdit}}
   <table class="table table-bordered table-condensed bb-puzzle">
   <thead>
     {{#unless compactMode}}
diff --git a/chat.html b/chat.html
index c53555a46..f1bab9ce1 100644
--- a/chat.html
+++ b/chat.html
@@ -51,9 +51,38 @@
       {{/if}}
 </template>
 
+<template name="starred_messages">
+  {{#if messages}}
+  <div class="bb-chat-messages bb-starred-messages {{#if canModify}}can-modify-star{{/if}}">
+    <h3>Starred Messages</h3>
+    {{#each messages}}
+      {{> media_message }}
+    {{/each}}
+  </div>
+  {{/if}}
+</template>
+
+<template name="media_message">
+<div class="media{{#if message.to}} bb-message-pm{{/if}}{{#if followup}} bb-message-followup{{/if}}" data-nick="{{message.nick}}" data-pm-to="{{message.to}}">
+  {{gravatar id=email image="wavatar" size=48 classes="media-object pull-left img-rounded" }}
+  <div class="media-body bb-message-body">
+    <div class="pull-right timestamp">{{pretty_ts message.timestamp}}</div>
+    {{#unless message.to}}
+      {{! can't star a PM. }}
+      <div class="bb-message-star {{#if message.starred}}starred{{/if}}"></div>
+    {{/unless}}
+    <h5 class="media-heading"><span title="{{message.nick}}{{nickLocation message.nick}}" class="{{#if nickNear message.nick}}near{{/if}}">{{nickOrName message.nick}}</span>
+          {{#if message.to}}
+    <small>(Private message to {{nickOrName message.to}})</small>
+          {{/if}}
+    </h5>
+    {{body}}
+  </div> 
+</div>  
+</template>
 
 <template name="messages">
-  <div id="messages" class="row-fluid bb-chat-messages">
+  <div id="messages" class="row-fluid bb-chat-messages {{#if nick}}can-modify-star{{/if}}">
     {{#if ready}}{{#if prevTimestamp}}
       <p align="center">
         <a href="{{prevTimestamp}}" class="chat-link">See earlier messages</a>
@@ -79,18 +108,7 @@
      <span title="{{message.nick}}{{nickLocation message.nick}}" class="{{#if nickNear message.nick}}near{{/if}}">{{nickOrName message.nick}}</span> {{body}}
 </div>
         {{else}}
-<div class="media{{#if message.to}} bb-message-pm{{/if}}{{#if followup}} bb-message-followup{{/if}}" data-nick="{{message.nick}}" data-pm-to="{{message.to}}">
-  {{gravatar id=email image="wavatar" size=48 classes="media-object pull-left img-rounded" }}
-  <div class="media-body bb-message-body">
-    <div class="pull-right timestamp">{{pretty_ts message.timestamp}}</div>
-    <h5 class="media-heading"><span title="{{message.nick}}{{nickLocation message.nick}}" class="{{#if nickNear message.nick}}near{{/if}}">{{nickOrName message.nick}}</span>
-          {{#if message.to}}
-    <small>(Private message to {{nickOrName message.to}})</small>
-          {{/if}}
-    </h5>
-    {{body}}
-  </div>
-</div>
+          {{> media_message }}
         {{/if}}
         {{#if isLastRead message.timestamp}}
 <div class="bb-message-last-read">read</div>
diff --git a/chat.less b/chat.less
index 965e6d874..663e0a91b 100644
--- a/chat.less
+++ b/chat.less
@@ -47,6 +47,37 @@
         .media-heading { display: none; }
       }
   }
+  &.bb-starred-messages {
+    padding: 0px;
+    clear: both;
+  }
+  .bb-message-star {
+    display: inline-block;
+    width: 14px; height: 14px; margin-top: 1px; line-height: 14px;
+    vertical-align: text-top;
+    @mask_image: url("/packages/bootstrap/img/glyphicons-halflings.png");
+    -webkit-mask-image: @mask_image;
+    mask-image: @mask_image;
+    float: right;
+    &.starred {
+      -webkit-mask-position: -120px 0;
+      mask-position: -120px 0;
+      background: palegoldenrod;
+    } 
+    &:not(.starred) {
+      -webkit-mask-position: -144px 0;
+      mask-position: -144px 0;
+      background: lightgrey;
+    } 
+  } 
+  &.can-modify-star .bb-message-star {
+    &.starred {
+      background: gold;
+    }
+    &:not(.starred) {
+      background: black;
+    }
+  }
   .media {
     position: relative; /* establish context for arrow placement */
     margin-bottom: 6px;
diff --git a/client/chat.coffee b/client/chat.coffee
index 20254ae40..9b6afd3ce 100644
--- a/client/chat.coffee
+++ b/client/chat.coffee
@@ -122,6 +122,47 @@ nickEmail = (nick) ->
   n = model.Nicks.findOne canon: cn
   return model.getTag(n, 'Gravatar') or "#{cn}@#{settings.DEFAULT_HOST}"
 
+Template.starred_messages.onCreated ->
+  this.autorun =>
+    this.subscribe 'starred-messages', Session.get 'room_name'
+
+Template.starred_messages.helpers
+  messages: ->
+    # It would be nice to write a concatenation cursor, but it seems overkill
+    # for the number of starred messages we're ever likely to have.
+    r = []
+    for coll in [ model.OldMessages, model.Messages ]
+      c = coll.find {room_name: (Session.get 'room_name'), starred: true },
+        sort: [['timestamp', 'asc']]
+        transform: messageTransform
+      r.push c.fetch()...
+    r
+
+Template.media_message.events
+  'click .bb-message-star.starred': (event, template) ->
+    return unless $(event.target).closest('.can-modify-star').size() > 0
+    Meteor.call 'setStarred', this._id, false
+  'click .bb-message-star:not(.starred)': (event, template) ->
+    return unless $(event.target).closest('.can-modify-star').size() > 0
+    Meteor.call 'setStarred', this._id, true
+
+
+messageTransform = (m) ->
+  _id: m._id
+  message: m
+  # optional server-side follow-up info
+  followup: (( model.followupStyle() is 'server') and m.followup) or false
+  email: nickEmail m.nick
+  body: ->
+    body = m.body or ''
+    unless m.bodyIsHtml
+      body = UI._escape body
+      body = body.replace /\n|\r\n?/g, '<br/>'
+      body = convertURLsToLinksAndImages body, m._id
+      if doesMentionNick m
+        body = highlightNick body, m.bodyIsHtml
+    new Spacebars.SafeString(body)
+
 # Template Binding
 Template.messages.helpers
   room_name: -> Session.get('room_name')
@@ -148,28 +189,11 @@ Template.messages.helpers
     "/chat/#{p.room_name}/#{p.to}"
   messages: ->
     room_name = Session.get 'room_name'
-    nick = model.canonical(Session.get('nick') or '')
     p = pageForTimestamp room_name, +Session.get('timestamp')
-    serverFollowup = model.followupStyle() is 'server'
     messages = messagesForPage p,
       sort: [['timestamp','asc']]
-      transform: (m) ->
-        _id: m._id
-        # optional server-side follow-up info
-        followup: (serverFollowup and m.followup) or false
-        message: m
-
-  email: -> nickEmail this.message.nick
-  body: ->
-    body = this.message.body or ''
-    unless this.message.bodyIsHtml
-      body = UI._escape(body)
-      body = body.replace(/\n|\r\n?/g, '<br/>')
-      body = convertURLsToLinksAndImages(body, this.message._id)
-    if doesMentionNick(this.message)
-      body = highlightNick(body, this.message.bodyIsHtml)
-    new Spacebars.SafeString(body)
-
+      transform: messageTransform
+      
 selfScroll = null
 
 touchSelfScroll = ->
@@ -337,7 +361,7 @@ scrollMessagesView = ->
   touchSelfScroll()
   instachat.scrolledToBottom = true
   # first try using html5, then fallback to jquery
-  last = document?.querySelector?('.bb-chat-messages > *:last-child')
+  last = document?.querySelector?('#messages > *:last-child')
   if last?.scrollIntoView?
     last.scrollIntoView()
   else
diff --git a/lib/model.coffee b/lib/model.coffee
index 841f992ac..812bf3ebb 100644
--- a/lib/model.coffee
+++ b/lib/model.coffee
@@ -269,6 +269,7 @@ if Meteor.isServer
 #   presence: optional string ('join'/'part' for presence-change only)
 #   bot_ignore: optional boolean (true for messages from e.g. email or twitter)
 #   to:   destination of pm (optional)
+#   starred: boolean. Pins this message to the top of the puzzle page or blackboard.
 #   room_name: "<type>/<id>", ie "puzzle/1", "round/1".
 #                             "general/0" for main chat.
 #                             "oplog/0" for the operation log.
@@ -305,6 +306,8 @@ if Meteor.isServer
     M._ensureIndex {to:1, room_name:1, timestamp:-1}, {}
     M._ensureIndex {nick:1, room_name:1, timestamp:-1}, {}
     M._ensureIndex {room_name:1, timestamp:-1}, {}
+    M._ensureIndex {room_name:1, starred: -1, timestamp: 1},
+      partialFilterExpression: starred: true
   # watch messages collection and set the followup field as appropriate
   # (followup field should already be set properly when the field is
   #  archived into the OldMessages collection)
@@ -1170,6 +1173,26 @@ spread_id_to_link = (id) ->
       newMsg._id = Messages.insert newMsg
       return newMsg
 
+    setStarred: (id, starred) ->
+      check id, NonEmptyString
+      check starred, Boolean
+      # Entirely premature optimization: if starring a message, assume it's
+      # recent; if unstarring, assume it's old.
+      if starred
+        colls = [ Messages, OldMessages]
+      else
+        colls = [ OldMessages, Messages ]
+      for coll in colls
+        num = coll.update (
+          _id: id
+          to: null
+          system: $in: [false, null]
+          action: $in: [false, null]
+          oplog: $in: [false, null]
+          presence: null
+        ), $set: {starred: starred or null}
+        return if num > 0
+
     updateLastRead: (args) ->
       check args, ObjectWith
         nick: NonEmptyString
diff --git a/puzzle.html b/puzzle.html
index 1dd3f206d..e07e754d4 100644
--- a/puzzle.html
+++ b/puzzle.html
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ <h1 class="{{#if stuck}}bb-status-stuck{{/if}}">Puzzle <small>{{puzzle.name}}
 {{#with puzzle}}{{> blackboard_tags }}{{/with}}
 {{#if puzzle.solved}}{{#with puzzle}}{{> puzzle_correct_answer}}{{/with}}{{/if}}
 {{#with puzzle}}{{> puzzle_incorrect_answers}}{{/with}}
-
+{{> starred_messages canModify=nick}}
 {{#unless "true"}}
 <ul>
 <li>Round: {{link id=round._id}}</li>
diff --git a/server/server.coffee b/server/server.coffee
index 0151b4bcf..d2c159658 100644
--- a/server/server.coffee
+++ b/server/server.coffee
@@ -135,6 +135,11 @@ for messages in [ 'messages', 'oldmessages' ]
         timestamp: cond
         $or: [ { nick: nick }, { to: nick } ]
 
+Meteor.publish 'starred-messages', (room_name) ->
+  for messages in [ model.OldMessages, model.Messages ]
+    messages.find { room_name: room_name, starred: true },
+      sort: [["timestamp", "asc"]]
+
 Meteor.publish 'callins', ->
   model.CallIns.find {},
     sort: [["created","asc"]]