The Duck Konundrum was a hilarious puzzle from the MIT Mystery Hunt a number of years ago which featured a complex set of rules to be followed among several players, using chairs (one of them an armchair), colored paint to paint letters on the chairs, and a duck. In 2002 there was a followup to this puzzle, using board games. The creators of this hunt failed to post a solution, but the puzzle is here. This page presents my solution.
I have gathered the following games: Clue, Scrabble, Trivial
Pursuit, Chess, and Escape from Zyzzlvaria.
Each turn, I will present the action occurring on each board in a
table, one game per row, with the board image/description at the end of
that action
and a description of the actions taken during the turn. In the last row
I will indicate any end-of-turn moves, mainly the
action of the duck, and show any changed gameboards. The action from
each game happens simultaneously (and conditions are checked based on
the conditions before any actions), but actions from one game which
affect another board and actions of the duck happen at the end of the
turn.
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Set up the chessboard for the
start of a normal game, and move each pawn once legally so that no pawn
is on a square matching its color. |
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Spell NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST
at the appropriate ends of the center column and row. Put an X on the
center square. For reference: Letter values: A:1 B:3 C:3 D:2 E:1 F:4 G:2 H:4 I:1 J:8 K:5 L:1 M:3 N:1 O:1 P:3 Q:10 R:1 S:1 T:1 U:1 V:4 W:4 X:8 Y:4 Z:10 Initial letter distribution: A:9 B:2 C:2 D:4 E:12 F:2 G:3 H:2 I:9 J:1 K:1 L:4 M:2 N:6 O:8 P:2 Q:1 R:6 S:4 T:6 U:4 V:2 W:2 X:1 Y:2 Z:1 blank:2 Remaining letters: A:8 B:2 C:2 D:4 E:10 F:2 G:3 H:0 I:9 J:1 K:1 L:4 M:2 N:5 O:6 P:2 Q:1 R:5 S:1 T:2 U:3 V:2 W:1 X:0 Y:2 Z:1 blank:2 |
| Harold: Immunity Zone Ralph,Leah: Lazyr Zone Zoe: Sector J Captain Blastoid: Core Reactor |
Place Harold on the Immunity
Zone, Ralph and Leah on the Lazyr Zone, Zoe on Sector J, and Captain
Blastoid on the Core Reactor. |
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Place each pie on the wedge
space on the opposite side of the board from the wedge space matching
the color of the pie. (Since the rules don't seem to care about the
arrangement of the wedges, I am using some rather non-standard looking
pies to make the graphics easier to draw.) |
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Place each character in a
different room, starting in the Conservatory and proceeding clockwise,
in alphabetical order by last name of the actor who played them in the
movie Clue. This order is:
Brennan (Peacock), Kahn (White), Lloyd (Plum), McKean (Green), Mull
(Mustard), and Warren (Scarlet). Of the three empty rooms (Ballroom, Kitchen, Dining Room), place the Wrench and Gun in the smallest room (clearly the Kitchen), the Rope and Knife in the room that comes first alphabetically (Ballroom), and the Lead Pipe and Candlestick in the third room. |
| None of the conditions for the
Duck to act are satisfied at this point. |
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Make the four legal,
non-en-passant captures. Then make a legal move with each knight,
choosing the square closest to h1 is there are multiple choices. WQxP(h5), BQxP(h4), WBxP(b5), BBxP(b4) WN-d2, BN-d7, WN-h3, BN-h6. |
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Four tiles are between pairs of
DLS squares. Place tiles on each of the eight DLS squares to make four
runs of three consecutive letters, reading left-to-right and/or
top-to-bottom, treating ZA as a consecutive pair. This occurs at the
third letter from each edge, so we form the sequences QRS, RST, ZAB,
and TUV. For reference: Letter values: A:1 B:3 C:3 D:2 E:1 F:4 G:2 H:4 I:1 J:8 K:5 L:1 M:3 N:1 O:1 P:3 Q:10 R:1 S:1 T:1 U:1 V:4 W:4 X:8 Y:4 Z:10 Remaining letters: A:8 B:1 C:2 D:4 E:10 F:2 G:3 H:0 I:9 J:1 K:1 L:4 M:2 N:5 O:6 P:2 Q:0 R:4 S:0 T:0 U:3 V:1 W:1 X:0 Y:2 Z:0 blank:2 |
| Harold,
3 Dollarbucks: Immunity Zone Ralph,Leah, 8 Dollarbucks: Lazyr Zone Zoe, 3 Dollarbucks: Sector J Captain Blastoid, 3 Dollarbucks: Core Reactor Moon Counter: Last Quarter |
Place 3 dollarbucks on the same
area as each character, unless there are 2 characters in an area in
which case put 8 dollarbucks there. Set the Moon Counter to Last
Quarter. |
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Move each pie clockwise the same
number of spaces as there are letters in the name of the pie's color.
(Colors are green, pink, brown, orange, blue, yellow.) Move any pie
that lands on Roll Again the same number of spaces again. |
 |
Switch the contents of each pair
of rooms that are connected by secret passages. Take the two characters
of the same gender who are in adjacent rooms and move them to the Hall.
(Note that Scarlet, White, and Peacock are female, so this (after the
swap) is Scarlet and White. |
 Harold, Mrs. White, 3 Dollarbucks: Immunity Zone Ralph,Leah, 8 Dollarbucks: Lazyr Zone Zoe, 3 Dollarbucks: Sector J Captain Blastoid, 3 Dollarbucks: Core Reactor Moon Counter: Last Quarter |
The queens are on adjacent
squares, so the white queen moves to the square opposite the one it is
currently on (reflected through the center of the board). Three Clue characters are in the same room, so the one whose last name comes alphabetically last (White) moves to the Immunity Zone.  |
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Remove from the board any piece
currently threatened by a piece in the lower left quadrant of the
board. This means: BB(b4) (attacked by pawns and queen) WP(a3) (attacked by bishop) WP(c3) (attacked by bishop) BP(a6) (attacked by queen) Move every piece in the 6th rank down one space. BP-c5, BP-e5, BP-g5, BN(h6)-h5 |
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Spell the word TONE using a T
already on the board in every place where this is a legal move. Replace
each T that you cannot use in this way with a G. (Since SO is a legal
word but VO is not, this is possible everywhere except for the two Ts
nearest to the bottom.) Interestingly, the replacements have made the
legal words GUV and SOUGH. For reference: Letter values: A:1 B:3 C:3 D:2 E:1 F:4 G:2 H:4 I:1 J:8 K:5 L:1 M:3 N:1 O:1 P:3 Q:10 R:1 S:1 T:1 U:1 V:4 W:4 X:8 Y:4 Z:10 Remaining letters: A:8 B:1 C:2 D:4 E:6 F:2 G:1 H:0 I:9 J:1 K:1 L:4 M:2 N:1 O:3 P:2 Q:0 R:4 S:0 T:2 U:3 V:1 W:1 X:0 Y:2 Z:0 blank:2 |
| Harold,
3
Dollarbucks: Immunity Zone 8 Dollarbucks: Lazyr Zone Zoe, 3 Dollarbucks: Sector J Captain Blastoid, 3 Dollarbucks: Core Reactor Ralph,Leah: Astro Jail Mrs. White: Outpost 9 or Sector N Moon Counter: Last Quarter |
Take every character on the area
with the most dollarbucks and move it to the Astro Jail (Ralph, Leah). If Captain Blastoid is less than five squares away from Zoe, move a piece which is sharing an area with Harold to Outpost 9; otherwise move it to Sector N. (We don't know how far the pieces are apart, so Mrs. White moves to an indeterminate place) |
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For each pie, put in a wedge of
each color such that the pie is exactly five squares away from a space
of that color. Green gets blue Brown gets orange Blue gets blue, yellow Orange gets blue, orange, green Yellow gets yellow, orange, brown Pink gets pink, brown Two pies now have wedges of the same color as the space the pies are now on. (Blue, Pink). Move each of those pies to the nearest wedge space and three spaces inward. |
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Move every nonmetallic weapon
one room counterclockwise. (Only the Rope is nonmetallic.) If Professor Plum is in a room with a weapon, place it in the kitchen; otherwise, place the Candlestick in the same room as Plum. (He is not in a room with a weapon, so the Candlestick moves to the Library.) |
| The duck is idle this turn. |
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If one white piece is removed,
the piece on c1 can move to the 8th rank in three moves without making
any captures. (This is the white knight on b4.) Remove that piece and
place it on f6. (The black king is in check.) Then move the piece on c1 three times to take it to the 8th rank (WB-b4-a5-d8). Use the piece on h4 to capture the most powerful piece it currently threatens. BQxWN(h3). |
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Move every A, B, C, D, and E one
square down and to the left. (one A, one B, and six Es are affected.) Switch the positions of the two consonants which are now one square up and one to the left of a TLS square. (The N at e9 and the V at I13.) The movement made quite a mess, but the swap has notably formed the word GUN. For reference: Letter values: A:1 B:3 C:3 D:2 E:1 F:4 G:2 H:4 I:1 J:8 K:5 L:1 M:3 N:1 O:1 P:3 Q:10 R:1 S:1 T:1 U:1 V:4 W:4 X:8 Y:4 Z:10 Remaining letters: A:8 B:1 C:2 D:4 E:6 F:2 G:1 H:0 I:9 J:1 K:1 L:4 M:2 N:1 O:3 P:2 Q:0 R:4 S:0 T:2 U:3 V:1 W:1 X:0 Y:2 Z:0 blank:2 |
| Harold,
3 Dollarbucks: Immunity Zone 5 Dollarbucks: Lazyr Zone Zoe, 1 Dollarbuck: Sector J Captain Blastoid, 3 Dollarbucks: Core Reactor Mrs. White: Outpost 9 5 Dollarbucks: Sector N Ralph,Leah: Astro Jail Moon Counter: Last Quarter |
Move 2 dollarbucks from the area
Zoe is on and 3 from the Lazyr Zone to Sector N. Move all characters on Sector N to Outpost 9. (Mrs. White's location is now certain.) |
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Put the brown pie halfway
between where it is now and where the orange pie is. Put the blue pie
halfway between where it is now and where the pink pie is. |
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Place the weapon that is in the
same room as the character who is a Reverend in Cluedo on the Stairway.
(Character is Green, so this is the Rope.) Move the character closest to the Billiard Room into the Dining Room. (This is Professor Plum.) |
  |
GUN was spelled on the Scrabble
board, so the Gun moves from the Study to J13 on the Scrabble board. The blue pie is on the hub, so the blue Zyzzlvaria piece (Leah) moves to the hub.  Harold, 3 Dollarbucks: Immunity Zone 5 Dollarbucks: Lazyr Zone Zoe, 1 Dollarbuck: Sector J Captain Blastoid, 3 Dollarbucks: Core Reactor Mrs. White: Outpost 9 5 Dollarbucks: Sector N Ralph: Astro Jail Moon Counter: Last Quarter |
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Castle as both black and white,
one king-side and one queen-side. (Since there are pieces in the way on
the queen-side of the black king, do the king-side castling for black.
Black remains in check.) Legally capture a piece that cannot move diagonally with a rook. BR(f8)xf6, breaking the check. Remove every piece that is currently threatened by two pawns. This is: BP(e5) - threatened by d4 and f4 WP(d4) - threatened by c5 and e5 WP(f4) - threatened by e5 and g5 |
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Legally play four of the
following words, placing only ten tiles: AXED, BRAIN, CROWN, SOUP,
STAKE, and WASTE. This is WASTE across 8a, SOUP down I3, STAKE down N8, and AXED across 8G (or possibly across 12A or 12L using a blank for the X, but for now assume no blank is used.) Place a U in every empty square immediately to the left of an A, unless it is on the left half of the board. (Only two As have empty squares to the left, the ones at G8 and N10, and the one at G8 is in the left half of the board.) For reference: Letter values: A:1 B:3 C:3 D:2 E:1 F:4 G:2 H:4 I:1 J:8 K:5 L:1 M:3 N:1 O:1 P:3 Q:10 R:1 S:1 T:1 U:1 V:4 W:4 X:8 Y:4 Z:10 Remaining letters: A:5 B:1 C:2 D:3 E:4 F:2 G:1 H:0 I:9 J:1 K:0 L:4 M:2 N:1 O:3 P:1 Q:0 R:4 S:0 T:1 U:1 V:1 W:1 X:0 Y:2 Z:0 blank:2 |
| Harold,
3 Dollarbucks: Immunity Zone 5 Dollarbucks: Lazyr Zone Zoe, 1 Dollarbuck: Sector J 7 Dollarbucks: Core Reactor Mrs. White, Captain Blastoid: Outpost 9 5 Dollarbucks: Sector N Ralph: Astro Jail Moon Counter: Last Quarter |
Since no area with an even,
non-zero number of dollarbucks exists, move Captain Blastoid to the
westernmost area which contains a character from another game (only
Mrs. White is here, in Outpost 9). Add 4 dollarbucks on the Core Reactor. |
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Move each piece on the board to
the space closest to the hub which is the same color as the space the
piece is currently on. If a piece is already on the hub, move it to the
wedge space of the color opposite the color of the piece on a standard
color wheel. (The blue hub and Leah move to the orange wedge space.) |
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Move each weapon (except the one
on the stairway) clockwise two rooms, unless the weapon's name contains
a K, in which case move it two rooms counterclockwise. (The Knife and
Candlestick contain Ks. The gun is not in a room, nor in a place where
is can move clockwise or counterclockwise, so it does not move.) Move Mr. Green to the only empty room that has a secret passage. (The Study) |
| The duck is idle this turn. |