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Your online guide to the zaniness of the 2014 Post Hunt!
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When: 6/1/2014
Where: Freedom Plaza
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The Initial Puzzles
NOTE: The puzzle answers are hidden! In order to see them, you must highlight them with your mouse to reverse the text!
1. Which best describes CNN’s coverage of the Flight 370 disappearance?
A. Wall to wall.
C. 24-7.
E. Pedal to the metal.
F. All in, all the time.
G. Enormously embarrassing.
Answer: G
2. Which of the following things did Toronto Mayor Rob Ford NOT do?
B. Declare it ridiculous that he ever said he wanted to "eat" a certain female politician because, as a happily married man, he has had "enough to eat" at home.
D. Explain that he smoked crack cocaine but only "in one of my drunken stupors."
E. Threaten to kill an adversary with his bare hands.
G. Solve Fermat’s Last Theorem by applying the Taniyama conjecture.
Answer: G
3. In the song "Mister Bojangles," what did the dog do?
J. He attempted to mate with Mister Bojangles’ leg.
K. He rescued Timmy from the quicksand.
L. He up and died.
Answer: L
4. Which of the following acts performed at this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival?
F. Diarrhea Planet
G. Swearing at Motorists
H. We Butter the Bread With Butter
I. All of these acts, as well as The Casket Girls, Chuck Mead & His Grassy Knoll Boys, The Suffers, Two Cow Garage, The Yolks, Motel Beds, Paint Fumes, Vancouver Sleep Clinic and Buck Biloxi and the F---s.
Answer: I
5. Hollywood producers are casting a movie about the first woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Prize for physics, the Pulitzer Prize for public service, and the Pritzker Prize for architecture. The real-life woman is homely and 20 pounds overweight. Whom do they cast?
P. Angelina Jolie, wearing nerdy glasses.
Q. Beyoncé, wearing nerdy glasses.
R. Scarlett Johansson, wearing nerdy glasses and a bun.
S. These are all excellent choices!
Answer: S
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Main Puzzles (i.e. the puzzle sites)
NOTE: Puzzle answers and their descriptions are hidden! In order to see them, you must highlight them with your mouse to reverse the text!
Puzzle: The Remote Control
Location: New York Avenue
Description:
Hunters gathered around a giant video screen on New York Avenue and were also handed the image of a TV remote. They watched a pre-recorded program depicting channel surfing. A series of channel numbers flashed on the screen, each followed by a brief segment of a classic TV show. Five channel numbers and five shows appeared in all: I Love Lucy (channel 7), The Honeymooners (channel 8), Gilligan’s Island (channel 25), Green Acres (channel 80), and Mr. Ed (channel 90). Observant Hunters noticed that buttons on the bottom of the remote clearly related to the five shows: a heart for Lucy, a moon for the Honeymooners, a palm tree for Gilligan, a pitchfork for Green Acres and a horseshoe for Mr. Ed. All five channel numbers were possible answers. Which one was right?
Related puzzle photos and materials...
Puzzle Answer: 90
How to get the answer:
This became clear when Hunters actually traced the channels as they appeared on the remote. When pressed in sequence -- 25, 80, 7, 8 and 90 –- the digits formed an arrow on the remote. The point of the arrow was aimed directly at the horseshoe button. So Mr. Ed’s channel, 90, was the solution.
Puzzle: Follow Me
Location: Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House
Description:
A performer marched around on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. Every so often, she stood atop a soapbox, blew a coach’s whistle and said through a megaphone, "Follow me to the solution!"
Related puzzle photos and materials...
Puzzle Answer: 118
How to get the answer:
The whistle, a tweet, was a hint: the performer wasn’t urging people to literally follow her physically, she was telling them to follow her on Twitter. In the Hunt instructions, Hunters were told that at least one team member would need a smart phone with access to Twitter. If that person followed "@metothesolution" on Twitter, they discovered the following three tweets:
"I am hott. How hot? As hot as the hottest temperature ever recorded in the U.S."
"I am on a casual, first-name basis with the preacher of Feldick Ministries in Kinta, Okla!"
"I turned the Yankees down because they wouldn’t give me Whitey Ford’s uniform number."
Using their smart phone to look up all the above, Hunters found that the hottest temperature ever in US was 134 degrees, the first name of the Oklahoma preacher is Les and Whitey Ford’s uniform number was 16. Put that together and you got: 134 less 16, which equals 118, the solution to this puzzle.
Puzzle: Jigsaw
Location: McPherson Square
Description:
At McPherson Square Hunters discovered eight giant jigsaw puzzle pieces arrayed in a circle.
Related puzzle photos and materials...
Puzzle Answer: 63
How to get the answer:
All Hunters needed to do was to assemble the jigsaw, using the shape and color of each piece to imagine where it would fit. Properly assembled, the puzzle simply said "Stars and Stripes," a clear reference to the American flag, which has 50 stars and 13 stripes. Fifty plus 13 equals 63, the solution.
Puzzle: States
Location: Franklin Square
Description:
In Franklin Square, six large shapes covered an open area. Hunters had to recognize these shapes from the map of the United States. Each was the cutout of a state.
Related puzzle photos and materials...
Puzzle Answer: 76711
How to get the answer:
In order, they were Washington, Colorado, Massachusetts, Illinois, Colorado again and Delaware. Wyoming was not a possibility because, according to the rules of the Hunt: "NO
HUNT PUZZLE WILL INCLUDE, IN ANY WAY, A REFERENCE TO TANTRIC SEX, FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE OR THE STATE OF WYOMING."
How did that give a number? The Postal abbreviations for the states are WA, CO, MA, IL CO, DE. Given the way the states were grouped on the ground, the initials combined as follows: WACO MAIL CODE. The only possible answer that was also a zip code in Waco Texas was 76711.
Puzzle: YMCA
Location: Hunt Stage in Freedom Plaza
Description:
On the Hunt stage, a Village People tribute band performed the song "YMCA" while volunteers handed out a photo of the five member group. However, only four of the five members were on the stage. In between renditions of the song, the lead dancer kept saying he felt something was missing, and he wished they could find what was missing.
Related puzzle photos and materials...
Puzzle Answer: 88
How to get the answer:
The member of the group in the photo that was missing on stage was the cowboy. But where was he? Alert Hunters noticed that as the performers made the hand gestures that spelled out the title, they periodically changed things up and gestured MACY instead of YMCA. There happened to be a Macy’s store clearly labeled on the Hunt map. If they went there, they saw a poster with four NFL players in uniform. One of the players was in a Dallas Cowboys uniform – the missing cowboy. The number on his chest, 88, was the solution.
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The Clues
7. Some things grow by beeps and lounds, others move in stits and farts.
8. In Timbuktu did Shmuly Kahn a fatty deli snack devour / While Alf and Jake and Fred and Sam / Grew kishkes pleasureless to Fran, who fretted by the hour.
19. Whistle because the down they way would on.
25. Palidromesemordilapq.
34. Slip out the back, Jack. Ooze through the hole, Joel. Make like a banana, Ivana. Escape like a clause, Klaus.
39. Don't tell me you'll have the solution in a second, when you know it's 9,192,631,770 oscillations of a hyperfine transition in the 133 caesium atom.
42. It was the breast of all possible worlds until it became the yeast of times.
61. Never ever take a shot of vermouth before going pogo-sticking!
63. Had hid had had hid had hid had had hid had had hid hid hid hid hid had hid hid had.
67. It is a little known factoid, and also so very wrong, that the hole in the "0-Zone" layer is shaped like the silhouette of a kangaroo.
70. What's wrong here? (Fleur-de-lis, upside down Richard Nixon, sylized W, woman restroom symbol)
74. The winner will get a FREE foot-treadle Amana refrigerator.
75. Why Colbert and not Stewart?
77. It because bike might your be.
80. Pop, pop, fuzz, fuzz, oh what a big bust it was.
82. BREAKING - OSHAs Potato-Bazooka Safety Manual Creates State of Mass Confusion Among Teenagers.
88. Hp yp fv vpsdy smf sdl gpt Es;;u
89. Aramaic Text Discovered, Revealing Jesus traveled to Albuquerque Two Decades Before Turning Water into Impertinent Chablis.
90. Yslr s gofr pm yjr ,rytp hp yjtrr dyp[d smf gomf Fsbr/
108. Honk if you have a cold.
115. Ball could a because had if to eat you really you bowling.
116. It is CLEAR whether the tree that falls in the forest makes a sound when no one's there. It's no MYSTERY what women want. We KNOW what's the sound of one hand clapping.
117. Diet Instructions: Consume bupkis, zip, nothing. Regimen too rigorous? Okay, nineteenth century Parisian women ate only celery; Americans owe themselves similar discipline! Five pieces consumed every mealtime! Only seven calories!
118. Ferschlaught mit bitte twerken. Eins ach verklempt. Schluffen eine kleine dorschner. Fermachten mit semichtlichkeit. Prost! Frachten Bleucher. Meis Heinz auchluft finishkeit, bauernbroit.
275. Best-selling bumper sticker: "My dog is cuter than your baby."
313. Nowhere is now here.
500. D (FENCE), E (MALE SYMBOL), G (WIZARD), H (nothing)
501. Change all thats to whiches, and all whiches to that.
509. A malmsey butt? We don't need no steenkin' malmsey butts!
667. & Dandy Out Blue Span Forth Through Ready &
700. Before you R ready to explain yourself, mount a penny farthing bicycle and do a few laps around the perimeter of the reservoir. Voila! You are ready to X plain yourself.
725. This is an actual marketing juxtaposition from Amazon Local: "Wine Pairing Seminar I Toenail-Fungus Removal I and 1 more."
789. (Winston Churchill , Joseph Stalin , Santa Claus , Mao Zedong)
874. Lady Hunky Oopsie Alley Presto Ipso Kama.
875. I never go anywhere without the services of my good friend, Etalsnart El-Goog.
987. (Mao Zedong , Santa Claus , Joseph Stalin , Winston Churchill)
58001. Q: Who are Hakeem Olajuwon and Sam Bowie? A: The two players picked before Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA draft.
60007. Please set more one minute to adjust time for making up tooling a short accuracy.
65918. Today's Language Lesson: Mademoiselle Fifi showered using eau. Señor Juan showered using agua. Mr. Johnson, portly American, showered using water. (Oh, horror! Mr. Johnson also ate Mademoiselle's parrot.)
76711. 85 8w 5y3 r9745y g78oe8ht 9h 5y3 o3r5 qhe 5y3 5y84e 28he92 r49j 5y3 48ty5
80085. When my car's odometer reached this, Oho! I smashed it in the celebration of adolescence.
88086. There IS another word for "Thesaurus:' We are perfectly AWARE of which came first, the chicken or the egg.
101009. Antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, rhenium, astatine, radium, thulium, thallium, iron, americium, iodine, barium. Sulfur Californium.
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The Final Puzzle
NOTE: The final puzzle description is hidden! In order to see them, you must highlight them with your mouse to reverse the text!
The Final Puzzle:
At 3 o’clock, Tom and Gene made two announcements. The first was that the clues connected to the answers they got during the Hunt were wrong; they should look at the clues ABOVE those instead as those were the real clues. Then they announced the final clue:
"Turn around 180 degrees, 180 degrees."
Final puzzle photos and materials...
Solving the Hunt:
Turning around 180 degrees didn't do anything. However, many noticed that the Hunt cover illustration the exclamation point in the WOW! was really a thermometer. Those who looked carefully at the thermometer saw that the mercury was bursting to 180 degrees. This was the 180 degrees referred to in the final clue. If you turned the thermometer (i.e. the cover) around 180 degrees as instructed, the WOW became MOM.
On the Hunt Map, there was a woman holding a tiny baby. This was "MOM". Her feet were standing on a small street called Zei Alley. Hunters who went to that location got a handout with four paragraphs, and an instruction telling them that only one of the four paragraphs was the key to the Hunt, and if they were there for the right reason (as opposed to following the crowd) they would know that the one titled "This’ll WOW ‘em" was a clear reference to the final clue.
That paragraph was:
"A key tool of life is to be clear at all times. Speak and write in ways that a dunce would grasp. How do you do that? Talk as if to a young kid. Strip things down as much as you can, as we have done with the words in these lines. Words like these are what to look for if you want to have a clue what to do."
All the words in this paragraph share one thing in common: they are a single syllable. The winners of the Hunt realized that, as instructed, they should look for the one-syllable words in the clues they got from solving the five Hunt puzzles. When they did they got this: "Take a shot of state of mass text to two zip too ate O five eau Juan oh ate."
Which rendered in a meaningful sentence was this: Take a shot of state of Mass. Text to 202-805-0108.
The "state of Mass." meant the large cutout of the state of Massachusetts in Franklin Square. The first teams to text a photo of that to 202-805-0108 won the Hunt.
Who won (Congratulations!):
Photos & related materials for the winners...
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Articles/Ads
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Photos, articles, stories and other multimedia related to the hunt...
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