I've started down the 'City of the Spider Queen' adventure rabbit hole. It's loaded with many hack-and-slash moments. The thing is, combat is in some cases tedious and does not offer any problem solving moments other than a minor strategy element. To make things worse, my players are a bunch of intellectuals and they thrive on intellectual stimulation. Rolling dice, albeit fun, does not offer that sort of stimulation.
I'm asking, if you have any suggestions on how I can get the party to use their brains. Or, how can I make this hack-and-slash adventure a little bit more cerebral?
EDIT: I was thinking of throwing a few puzzles into the game, but in a dungeon crawl adventure, it might seem out of place. I had limited success with an encounter in the Dordrien Crypts (my take on it, not stock). I had a room where the doors auto-shut on them. It was more of a mishap that they didn't find the trap, especially since their resident ranger/rogue is skilled at it. Anyway, they talked and debated (all four of them) and came up with a rather elegant solution. The barbarian smashed the doors until they cracked a bit. The Duskblade used Dimension Hop to teleport the ranger to the other side of the door so that he may pick the lock. Since that spell is line of sight, he peered through the crack and initiated the spell. Ignoring the fact that the ranger tripped the trap and almost died, the encounter livened up the group. I think it entertained them, to say the least.