1994 MIT Mystery Hunt Solutions

Shortly after the 2012 MIT Mystery Hunt, the 1994 Hunt was added to the archives. Previously, only a small portion of this Hunt had been archived. Like the 1996 hunt, it was posted without any solutions, save solutions for those few puzzles which had long been there. After we finished solving the 1996 Hunt as well as we could, we tackled the 1994 Hunt. In this case, the archives showed the complete solution to the final runaround and the list of answers to the other puzzles which went into it. It did not, however, say which one went with which other puzzle, nor how those answers are arrived at. We did our best.

The hunt's instructions tell us that each puzzle has a two-part answer. One of the parts is a word that can go before one of the placeholder words in the runaround instructions, and the other part should replace that word in the instructions.

0

The solution for the crossword is already posted on the MIT web site. Per the instructions, the last column contains the answer we need, SHORT = TEN.

1

We now have photos of the metal key used for this puzzle. The Hunt web site says you had to identify the letter of the drill bit which made each hole in it.

2

Whatever was available by telnetting to the server indicated is long gone. EYD's solutions describe how three solution pairs came from this puzzle: MEAN, 630 DEGREES; DECK, DEASIL; EYE, DOOR..

3

The answer to this puzzle is already posted on the MIT web site. The answer is BACK = END.

4

To solve this puzzle, replace each word with its same-length homophone, maintaining the alignment of the words:

 MAID
  GRATE
 WRITE
   TERN
  SINE
 FORE
    WON
GREASE
  WEAK
 IDOL
 DAZE
 ROAM

The answer is spelled out along the only column used in each word: DATE = NEW SALEM.

5

The answers to the questions in the first part are CO, AIR, KLM, GQ, TUX, NJ, VHF, WZ, SPY. In the second part, they are UPS, BQ, ZAX, MO, FW, KDL, JVC, YEN. Each answer appears in left to right order among the other letters in its corresponding scrambled alphabet. Removing these letters leaves BED in the first alphabet and RIGHT in the second, which are the answers.

6

The spoonternyms are:

• yam and Rue (ram and ewe)
• feel and rAke (real and fake)
• whack and bliGht (black and white)
• fad and suNny (sad and funny)
• caw and rOoked (raw and cooked)
• lied and cRaft (cried and laughed)
• west and bursT (best and worst)
• torte and sHawl (short and tall)
  

The indicated letters spell the answer, RAG = NORTH.

7

The paint-by-numbers puzzles lead to the following solutions, a picture of a CAR and the arrow shape in the negative space between the E and X of an EXIT sign.

8

The clue answers are:

1. AL LI A CEOUS
2. ISH ER WOOD
3. RU THE NI UM
4. MONT GOM ER Y
5. ES TRA GON
6. AN I SO MAST I A
7. NEUF CHA TEL
8. SIL HOU ETTE
9. O HI O
10. NAR NI A
11. TUT ANKH A MEN
12. HALF PEN NY
13. EXODUS
14. FEYN MAN
15. AT TO
16. RIK KI TIK KI TA VI
17. SUP ER MAN
18. IN SUL IN
19. DI AZ E PAM
20. EX CAL I BUR
21. OUA GA DOU GOU
22. FITZ GER ALD
23. TOP I AR Y
24. HAR RI SON
25. I TAL ICS
26. SEN A TORS
27. CONN ECT I CUT
28. OB LA DI
29. RIV ET ER
30. RE BEC CA
31. IS RA EL
32. DA TA
33. OS MI UM
34. ROO SE VELT

The acrostic of these answers gives the final answer: AIR MEANS ON THE FAR SIDE OF THIS CORRIDOR.

9

The original sayings are:

• Everyone's a critic
  
• Do as I say, not as I do
• One man's meat is another man's poison
• All's well that ends well
• Fight fire with fire
• It takes a thief to catch a thief
• He who hesitates is lost
  

And per the instructions, their last letters spell the answer, CON = LEFT.

10

The solution for this puzzle is already posted on the MIT web site, giving the answer WIND = PANE.

11

The jigsaw pieces assemble as follows:

COBALT RADON
ERBIUM IS THE
MELTING POINT
OF LITHIUM ON
CELSIUS SCALE

The atomic symbols of cobalt, radon, and erbium spell CORNER, and the melting point of lithium is 180 DEGREES.

12

The solution to this puzzle is already posted on the MIT web site, giving the answer BASE =  BOSTON.

13

The 4-digit numbers given should each be broken into two 2-digit blocks. Each resulting pair of numbers gives the X and Y coordinates of a pixel to illuminate to spell the answer, SOFT = T.

14

In the crossword, each theme entry needs to drop the letter sequence EAR one or two times (not necessarily near the highlighted letters) to fit into the grid.

LAIC CLOAK ENDS HEAPS
ORNO RUBLE TOUR OSHEA
NUCLFAMILY HTTOHTTALK
INADAZE  HAIRY ORATES
   FRET FORCE MOOT
SPREAD MALTA BADDEBT
LIVED JAMESLJONES NOB
EXIT EAVE   AXES BAKE
DYE ONMEDBANDIT BAILS
  WANTIN ALIEN KANSAS
 UMPIRE FLOGS WASTES
PRINCE AIMEE SIRIUS
AGREE DRESSREHSAL AIR
NERA SEEN   MEET PURE
ENO STANDARDBER ROCKS
 TRALALA QUEEN LOWEST
   TENT LUNAR HIDE
EOZOIC BAAED  OVERATE
RRANGEMENT STATEOFTHT
RANCH ANDI EASEL UNIT
SLEET DESC APPLY LOSE

The first answer is the missing word EAR. The second answer is spelled by the letters in the shaded squares, in the order of their numebrs, spelling ON THE RIGHT.

15

The criss-cross has an error. The given letter R should actually be one square lower, as should the shaded square above it.

KABLO O PRAVA
R L PIPRI L B
ABELA O KLIFO
B K LINCO A N
OPERO I JAMBO
 A E L I
TROVI   PIANO
 T U R D
NENIA E MISIO
A E BOMBO T V
SIGMO I LEONA
K R LARGE P L
AROMI O OLIVO

The shaded letters, in clockwise order, spell the first answer BRAIN.

In the word search, the constellations ANTLIA, ARA, AURIGA, CANCER, CETUS, CORVUS, DORADO, DRACO, FORNAX, GRUS, HYDRA, INDUS, LACERTA, LEPUS, LIBRA, LYNX, LYRA, MENSA, MUSCA, NORMA, OCTANS, ORION, PAVO, PEGASUS, PERSEUS, PHOENIX, PICTOR, PUPPIS, PYXIS, SCORPIUS, SERPENS, SEXTANS, TAURUS, TUCANA, and VIRGO are hidden. This leaves the following unused letters, spelling the second answer WIDDERSHINS:

SLWNPUPPISUPELXINEOHP
XNYLOIDIADSSSAILTNARA
 SARDIOMCNUUNUEBRSRO
 AUTAURUSTARSNEPRESV
 MSDCOAOEUOCHAOSCAIA
 IUNNODCRFVRUCGNRRXP
  RSEIOIHYDRATAEGEY
  GNCMGSUIPROCSOPSP
   SNATXESDLACERTA

16

The cryptic crossword solution is as follows:

CHIEF F C
A N EARTH
NATAL A A
D E TOTEM
I R   E E
DEFOG R L
A A RANGE
CACTI A O
Y E NYLON

Across: 1. CHI + EF. 5. HEART anag. 6. initials (Nurses Are The Attendants Legitimately) 7. TOT + EM 8. FED reversed + GO reversed (somewhat irregular wordplay) 9. DANGERS - DS anag. 10. CA(C)T + I 11. hidden in raiNY LONdon.
Down: 1. ACID anag. in CANDY 2. REINFECT A anag. 3. RATE + RNA in FL (Florida) 4. CLONE ME HA anag.

Per the instructions, the letters in the two unclued words can be anagrammed to spell the final answers, RING = LEFT.

17

The first group of transadditions forms world capitals: CONA(K)RY, ALGI(E)RS, NIAME(Y). The second group of transadditions forms countries: GAM(B)IA, SING(A)PORE, (S)YRIA, S(E)NEGAL, DEN(M)ARK, SW(E)DEN, IRELA(N)D, (T)OGO. The added letters spell the answers, KEY = BASEMENT.

18

Each phrase has a word hidden in it, as in a hidden word cryptic crossword clue:

• asSAM PLEsiosaur
• jesSE VENtura
• wEIGH Tons
• burN IN Effigy
• whiTE Noise
• hANS WERschten
• aSK Yourself
• mundanE ASTrology
  

The first several are just examples to give you the right idea. The answer is hidden only in the last two phrases, SKY = EAST.

19

We obviously could not solve the scavenger hunt, but the only four-word answer not used in another puzzle is HAND = OVERHEAD LIGHT FIXTURE.

20

The grid solution for the pictorial criss-cross is:

GOLDFISH  APPLE
U  E   O C  I I
I  N TORCH  Z G
TURTLE S E  Z H
A  I L ELEPHANT
ROOSTER  S A A
 N T V QUEEN I
 I   I U   DOLL
GOAT SPIDER   O
 N R I L R W  L
   U O TEABAG L
DIAMOND  S L  I
A  P  ROSE L  P
R  E  U  R E  O
TOOTH MOUSETRAP

The letters in the numbered squares, in numerical order, spell the answer FIRE = WEST.

21

The riddle gives the first part of the answer, FREE, clued several times over by means of words that form compound words or phrases with free (freeway, freestyle, carefree, freeload, freehand, pain-free, free lunch).

In the logic problem about house numbers, Cajix must have a square house number, or else Alice would have more than two possibilities for his house number regardless of what she believed about Bob. Since its squareness, and that Cajix's house number is more than Bob's, are the only things she knows about Cajix's house number, her two possibilities for Cajix's house number must be 49 and 64. Therefore, Alice must believe Bob has a house number less than 49, but at least 36. Since her conclusion was wrong, she didn't get to this conclusion because her own house number forced Bob's to be 36 or more. Therefore, she must have wrongly believed Bob's house number was a multiple of 23, and her own house number was at least 23, forcing her to believe Bob's house number was 46.

Since she came to a wrong conclusion, Bob's actual house number must be less than 36, and Cajix's actual house number must be 36, since if it was 25, there is not enough room for the difference-of-4 clue to be true. Alice's house number must be at least 8 less than Cajix's, so Alice's house number is between 23 and 28 (inclusive), and Bob's is between 27 and 32.

Bob has an exact guess for Alice's house number based only on his incorrect belief that it is a cube. This means Bob must think Alice lives in house 8, which means Bob himself lives in house 27. Therefore, Alice lives in house 23.

To confirm the last part of the clue, Cajix also wrongly believes Bob lives in a multiple-of-23 house and Alice lives in a cube house, producing the results 23 and 8, respectively.

Then, 3(23) + 3(27) + 36 = 186 for the second part of the answer.

There was an erratum given out for this puzzle that stated to add 5 to this answer. That was incorrect, maybe based on a mistaken belief about one of the numbers in the final path that this number was used with.

22

Since there are 30 equations in 25 variables (S is not used), it is probably possible to just plug the whole set into a linear equation solver and get the answer out. Since that is boring, the solution will not be presented in that way. Instead, here is a feasible path to solve the puzzle by hand:

• GOLDENROD - RED - GOLD = NO = 22
• ORANGE - NO = RAGE = 78
• MAGENTA - TAN = MAGE = 67
• RAGE - MAGE = R - M = 11
• PURPLE + TAN - TAUPE = PRLN = 49
• PLUM + (R-M) - PLRN = U - N = 17
• TAUPE - TAN - (U-N) = PE = 42
• BROWN - NO = BRW = 27
  
• PERIWINKLE + TAN - PE - BRW - TEAL = IINNK - B = 15
  
• BLUE + TAN - TEAL = BUN = 37
• ECRU + MAGE - CREAM = UGE = 62
• BEIGE + BUN - UGE = BBEIN = 58
• BRICK + MAGE - CREAM = BIKG = 32
  
• PERIWINKLE + INDIGO + CREAM + BBEIN + (R-M) - PE - BROWN - BLACK - GREEN - RED = IIIIIN = 40
• Since U-N = 17, N is at most 9. Since IIIIIN=40, N is a multiple of 5. Hence N = 5, I = 7, and U = 22.
• From BUN=37, B = 10.
• From NO=22, O = 17.
• From IINNK-B = 15, K = 1.
• From BIKG = 32, G = 14.
• From UGE = 62, E = 26.
• From PE = 42, P = 16
• From BLUE = 73, L = 15.
• From PLUM = 55, M = 2.
• From MAGE = 67, A = 25.
• From R - M = 11, R = 13.
• From CREAM = 75, C = 9.
• From RED = 45, D = 6.
• From TAN = 54, T = 24.
• From BRW = 27, W = 4.
• From WHITE = 81, H = 20.
• From BUFF = 54, F = 11.
  
• From YELLOW = 95, Y=18.
• From JADE = 78, J = 21.
• From AQUA = 75, Q = 3.
• From VIOLET = 112, V = 23.
• From FLAX = 63, X = 12.
• From BRONZE = 90, Z = 19.
• By elimination, S = 8.
  

This yields the following solution:

The final clue 6789 = SPECTRUM is interpreted by taking the letters representing 6, 7, 8, and 9, which spell DISC, as the first part of the answer, and the sum of the values of SPECTRUM, or 120, as the second part.

23

The dice have the letters AKNOUW, BCDEHI, FGMTXY, JLPRSV. Extracting and ordering the indicated letters spells the first part of the answer, SOME.

The alphametic has the unique solution:

    3074
  x 9895
   15370
  27666
 24592
27666   
30417230
+   3865
30421095

0123456789 = OYTFREVUIN, but what we need is EI = 58.

24

This is a standard cryptogram, without spaces. The solution is:

SPACE THE FINAL FRONTIER THESE ARE THE VOYAGES OF THE STARSHIP ENTERPRISE ITS CONTINUING MISSION TO EXPLORE STRANGE NEW WORLDS TO SEEK OUT NEW LIFE AND NEW CIVILIZATIONS TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE -- NIGHT BLACK

Most of this is just filler. The answer is at the end, NIGHT = BLACK.

25

Break the text into groups of three letters and reverse each group. It spells I COULDN'T MAKE ALL OF THEM TOO HARD OR YOU'D GIVE UP RIGHT AWAY SO HERE'S AN EASY PAIR. SUN IS THE FIRST WORD AND BLAST FURNACE IS THE OTHER. So SUN = BLAST FURNACE.

26

This is Braille, with 0s for dots. The answers are RAP and ACROSS THE HALL.

27

The answer to this puzzle is already posted on the MIT web site. The answer is HORSE = DOWN.

28

The knight's tour can be solved to spell THE WHITE OF XMAS EQUALS CONSERVATIVE WING, meaning SNOW = RIGHT.

29

The solution to the maze is shown. Yellow sections are walking on the paths, pink sections walk through walls, and orange sections are where you pass the same square once each way.

The letters you cross after each circle spell the answer, LIFE = MANOMET. The errata page confirms you are supposed to stop when you reach the last dot rather than pass through another letter.

30

The letters are all taken from the titles of magazines:

• BYTE
• ANALOG
• READER'S DIGEST
• NEW YORKER
• SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
• OMNI
• U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
• TV GUIDE
• HARPER'S

The initial letters of the titles spell the answer, BARN = SOUTH.

31

The answer to this puzzle is already posted on the MIT web site. Instead of giving you another pair, this one gives you an instruction: If two steps of the path begin with the same word they must be interchanged before you start.

Final Path

The answer to this puzzle is already posted on the MIT web site.