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Your online guide to the zaniness of the 2015 Post Hunt!
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When: 5/31/2015
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. Amber and Dylan decide to get married. Dylan wants a simple, inexpensive wedding with pizza and beer. Amber wants a “traditional” wedding with 850 guests in a chateau in the South of France, catered by famed Belgian chef Piet Huysentruyt, with her gown made of brocaded silk spun by rare Indonesian spiders. When Dylan starts to object, a small tear begins to bead up in the corner of Amber’s left eye, her chin trembles and she stammers out something about “my special day.” What is the most likely result?
F. Amber and Dylan will find a sane compromise because they are so very much in love.
G. Dylan and Amber will find a sane compromise because, after all, it is only a wedding.
H. Piet Huysentruyt’s menu will feature dishes cloyingly named for the bride (example: “Amber-osia”).
Answer: H
2. Which of the following persons did not recently play college football?
A. Silverberry Mouhon
C. Taco Charlton
F. Munchie Legeaux
J. Cassanova McKinzy
L. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Answer: L
3. Which of the following would be a legitimate reason “The Redskins” is NOT an offensive name for an NFL team:
F. It is honoring Native Americans by referring to them as if they were entirely defined by skin pigmentation.
H. A group of Native Americans to whom the owner gives lots of money officially supports the use of the name.
O. Hey, calling a football team Redskins is no worse than giving a baseball team this logo: (picture of baseball player wearing Cleveland Indians hat)
P. The franchise has relocated to DC Comics’ Bizarro World, on the planet Htrae.
Answer: P
4. A joke appears in The WashingtonPost. It begins: “Rosa Parks, Anne Frank, an indomitable person with mental retardation and a proud transgender teenager walk into a bar. ...” Who is most likely to be the butt of the joke?
E. Rosa
A. Anne
D. the indomitable person
C. the proud teenager
B. Egyptian strongman Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
Answer: B
5. Bob wishes to travel from 14th and K streets NW to the U.S. Capitol. What means of transportation should Bob probably NOT take?
T. Metro
N. taxi
Z. Uber
J. gyrocopter
Answer: J
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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 Debate
Location:
Description:
Caitlin the debate moderator started by saying that "We have a big problem for which we need a solution, and to do that we have to start at the root, face the music and go forward from there." She then introduced the two debaters (Dan and Rachel) and said, "Let's take our directions from them." Our moderator also said that they will take questions in the appropriate order.
A Hunt volunteer carrying a stick with...and we're trying to be gentle here...a pile of smiling poop that was also wearing a hat...takes questions from the audience, in addition to the questions from the moderator. Between the debaters, one or the other answers with one always answering with some version of extreme conservatism and the other always answering with extreme liberal rhetoric.
After a few rounds, the moderator says, "Okay, that should get us to the solution!"
Related puzzle photos and materials...
Puzzle Answer: 13
How to get the answer:
Hunters had to figure out that the initial comment from the moderator was pointing at the map. On the map is a tree, and the roots of the tree are where you need to begin. There's a jazz saxophonist on the map with notes coming out of the sax. So you go to the root and face the saxophonist (the music). Then you go forward, turning right or left depending on the order in which the two debaters answered the questions.
So, beginning at the root you'd proceed toward the music, you make the following turns: left, right, left, right, left, taking you to 11th Street, just below F. At that location, Hunters founda truck parked with a big ad for "LEFTY'S IODINE" in "13% SOLUTION." The answer to the puzzle was 13.
Puzzle: The Nose
Location: McPherson Square
Description:
In McPherson Square, there was a giant inflatable nose sticking out of the ground, as if a person were underground and buried up to the bridge of the nose.
Also at this location were volunteers handing out "FIND ME" buttons, with a sign showing where to attach the button (in the midsection, above the belly).
Related puzzle photos and materials...
Puzzle Answer: 40
How to get the answer:
Hunters looking at the map should have seen a pair of giant feet, sticking up from the ground just like the nose. The feet are drawn near 11th St. NW. Hunters needed to figure out the feet and nose represented body parts of the same giant body, with the button they received telling them to "find" the "belly button." So they had to go halfway between the nose and feet, which was in Franklin Square. Once there they received a handout that said the following:
Choose only the appropriate verbs, and add up their SCRABBLE word values:
gamble
perambulate
laugh
tumble
rub
finagle
ache
dance
trip
flop
buy
steam
The "appropriate verbs" are the ones commonly used with "belly" (Hunters went there because of the belly button):
laugh (Scrabble word score of 9)
rub (Scrabble word score of 5)
ache (Scrabble word score of 9)
dance (Scrabble word score of 8)
flop (Scrabble word score of 9)
9 + 5 + 9 + 8 + 9 = 40
The answer to this puzzle was 40.
Puzzle: The Spelling Bee
Location: Main Hunt Stage
Description:
At the main Hunt Stage, a spelling bee was in progress. The moderator told to the competitors, who keep messing up: "First of all, you have to remember what you are competing in! Secondly, you need THE RIGHT LETTERS." And the right letters will spell "fifty-two", but 52 is not a possible answer.
Related puzzle photos and materials...
Puzzle Answer: 260
How to get the answer:
Spread across the Hunt map were a dozen vehicles of all sorts — trains, race cars, submarines, planes, etc. — all with numbers and letters on them. None of the numbers alone is a possible answer. One of them is a B-52 — the iconic bomber jet. This is what the spelling bee is telling you: "BEE 52". The number on the plane's fuselage says X5. The answer is 52 times 5, or 260.
Puzzle: Bubbli
Location:
Description:
Hunters were given a handout with a link to Bubbli image, which was a 360 degree photograph of F Street at the intersection with 9th Street. The handout also said "Check out this place. Find the hidden number."
Related puzzle photos and materials...
Puzzle Answer: 31416
How to get the answer:
Hunters had figure out they have to go to that corner and compare the image with the reality. The most significant difference is that in the ime, the Pi symbol in the sign above the Pi Pizzeria has been altered into a big check mark. The hidden number is the Pi symbol. Pi equals 3.1416 (etcetera), so the solution was 31416.
Puzzle: Jump Rope
Location:
Description:
At this location Hunters received a jump rope and directions which read:
"Hunters: These directions will tell you how to solve this puzzle.
We're giving you a length of rope. Be sure to use it correctly. Never jump in front of speeding vehicles. Never jump out of windows. Never use this rope to discipline your children. This rope is not for flossing or other uses in dentistry. Dispose of this rope properly if you must dispose of it."
Nearby, under a small tent, a person was using a jump rope. Two others chanted:
Don't jump the gun
Don't jump on me.
All you need to win's
Between A and B.
Don't jump the shark
Don't jump into the sea
All you need to win's
Between A and B.
Don't jump to conclusions
Don't jump from a tree
All you need to win's
Between A and B
Related puzzle photos and materials...
Puzzle Answer: 77
How to get the answer:
Hunters needed to realize that the refrain of the chant, "all you need to win's between A and B" actually means what you need to win is between "a" and "be" in the directions. That would be "length of rope." On the left side of the Hunt map was a ruler. Hunters had to use this to measure the length of the jump rope, which was 77 inches, so the solution was 77.
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The Clues
Googol. Google.
8. Good! Now find the 10th!
9. You don’t want the red one, but you do want the card-carrying one.
11. (picture of dock at sunset) (picture of paper folded in infinity loop)
12. /bgr2@
13. Tim and Dancer both follow it.
15. Start with the 11th. Double the 13th. Stop at the 23rd.
16. When you are their you will no what to do.
21. Breakfirst of Champions.
22. What are the odds, people, what are the odds?
27. So if you are a knish, does that mean you are just kind of like a kn?
40. This sentence is missing something important
48. Wahrheitsgemäß beantworten
51. Faster than a speeding pullet.
64. If you’ve solved IT and THEM correctly, you will know what to subtract from the last-given clue.
65. Not the (picture of a red cardinal bird) The OTHER type of number.
66. At the given time, you will actually need to talk to a man about a horse.
77. It’s “blind” if you want to hide having sent it.
88. Avoid the double snowman.
96. Winter son of our glorious Now by York discontent of is made the this.
106. $/568vKL
112. (picture of Mona Lisa with mouth blurred out)
124. Quel est le mot français qui sonne comme le mot anglais qui veut dire le blé.
130. Dysprosium + Protactinium - Argon
145. The third is first. The 23rd is the only one that doesn’t count.
201. You can beat the rap, but you can’t beat the ride.
206. It’s the Big W. Again. And again.
259. Think, Mully and Sculder.
260. /23y3vx
271. DO NOT USE 52 OR 5!
293. Grab me some giggle water, dollcakes. Everything’s hunky-dory.
299. It’s short for a big rig and, more to the point, a punctuation mark.
394. You want shell shock? We got MORE SHELL SHOCK.
400. Only if one of the bottles should happen to fall.
444. In art as in hunting, what’s missing is what’s right. Everything else is what’s left.
501. (square of four photos of Gene Weingarten, Gene Tierney, Gene Siskel, Gene Hackman) - (picture of Levi’s jeans tab)
550. Let your inhibitions run wild.
661. 717%|/
666. The power of The Lord compels you! The power of The Lord compels you! The power of The Lard cowbells you!
1097. Love of two is one. Here but now they’re gone. Baby, don’t fear the wrapper.
2498. /xyb/xab
7003. If you reverse the order of the five real clues you will discover a sixth is implied. But only after 3.
17890. Use your intelligence as guided by your experience, inevitably hobbled just a little by your perverse appetites.
31416. This answer stands alone. It won’t be of value until 3 o’clock. Its size should suggest what to do with the clue you’ll get at the main stag
34777. When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the final answer.
41994. What’s wrong is right
55051. If you are thirsty, get a drink. If you are firsty, get some ink.
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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 p.m., two actors walked on stage dressed as Groucho Marx and Bozo the Clown. "This is where the final clue is at," Gene told the crowd.
Final puzzle photos and materials...
Solving the Hunt:
After correctly solving the main five puzzles, Hunters had five clues which led to an online link. There, hunters saw a picture of two dead beetles. This was meant to indicate the two members the band The Beatles that are dead: John and George.
"This is where the final clue is at," meant to be a hint to look at Twitter.
On the account @grouchobozo, hunters found a tweet that said, "Here's another clue: How many U.S. vice presidents does the photo in the website represent?" It meant: how many U.S. Vice Presidents had the names John and George?
The answer (found in a quick online search) is 8. Hunters went back to the clue page of the magazine, and next to the number 8, it said, "Good! Now find the 10th!"
The 10th vice president was John Tyler. On a map inside the magazine, there was a small picture of a man placing tiles on a roof. A tile-er. A Tyler.
They ran to that location on the map. At this location, Hunters found two Hunt volunteers with a sign which read:
"Found me.
Now take a photo of this sign, and email it to my partner's famous nickname @washpost.com. "
To win, hunters had to take a photo of the sign and send it to ____@washpost.com. What went in the blank? The nickname of Tyler's running mate, William Henry Harrison. AKA "Tippecanoe."
The first team to send the photo to tippecanoe@washpost.com were the winners.
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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