Puzzle Game 2022 Sols

# Puzzle Game 2022 Sols ## #1: Tutorial 1. Part A: Convert `20-1-16-5` using letters to numbers to get `TAPE` (The title `The Amazon Code` clues A-Z) 2. Part B: The flavortext `insightful` and title clues you to think of braille. It spells out `EYES` 3. Part C: You are given a string `eRkeU3_KF1w` which is a YouTube URL (As clued by the title). The video is the puzzle recap from 2021, and in the description it says: `If you're here from the 2022 puzzle game, the word is "mmbernie"` giving `MMBERNIE` 4. Part D: We are given `C2, B3, A1, A2`. The letter indicates which part to take the answer from and the number is the index of the answer. This gives us `META` Answer: `META` Answer explanation: Part D is a meta puzzle Title explanation: This is a tutorial puzzle ## #2. Quantity over Quality 1. This puzzle is about nonsense quotes. An example of a quote is given in the bottom screenshot (Thanks Christianna). We need to fill in the blanks for the nonsense quotes. 2. The rest of the quotes can be found searching online (many are memes). Here are the full quotes: | Number | Quote | Length | | -------- | -------- | -------- | | 1 | im trying to do this file call file call... | 9| | 2 | Why do they call it oven when you of in the cold food of ... |14 | 3 | Have you ever had a dreams thats that you um you had you'd you would you could you'd do you... |20 | 4 | Why waste time say lot... |5 | 5 | In the beninging in the in the beni in the beningng. Yeah... |12 3. We are given tuples with the format given as `(#, word, character)`. Following that format we get the phrase `WORD COUNT` 4. We count the number of words per quote and convert numbers to letters to get `9-14-20-5-12` --> `INTEL` Answer: `INTEL` Answer explanation: No significance Title explanation: Usually the phrase is quality over quantity, but each quote is nonsensical so there is no quality. The title clues you to think about a quantity, which is the number of words per quote ## #3: An Impostor Among Us 1. We are given a series of statements with blanks (mad libs style). The theme of the puzzle is Among Us, and a common phrase regarding the game is "sus" short for "suspicious." The crossword also makes it more clear that all words should contain sus. | Number | Word | | -------- | -------- | | 1 | colossus | 2 |sushi | | 3 |sus | | 4 | resuscitate | 5 | consensus | 6 | versus | | 7 |suspense | 2. We can fill out the crossword and read the highlighted characters (in rainbow order) to get `NOTE PRIOR A` ![](https://i.imgur.com/3aZkoov.png =250x) 3. `NOTE PRIOR A` makes us think of the musical note before `A` which would be `G`. Now we think of what G sounds like in the context of this puzzle. A common puzzle mechanic is to "do it again" to get the final answer. So we think of the sound G which contains "sus" giving us `JESUS`. Answer: `JESUS` Answer explanation: "Do it again" with sus mechanic, also perfect for the fellowships Title explanation: Adds to the Among Us theme ## #4: Odd Ones Out 1. We are told to find a name for each set of words and one word does not belong. 2. For set I, you can put the word "check" before all of them except "hymn". So the set is named `CHECK`. 3. For set II, these are all types of beans except cranberry. So the set is named `BEAN`. 4. For set III, these are all mascot names except Yuri. So the set is named `MASCOT` 5. For set IV, these are all types of mathematical sets except volcano, so the answer is `SET` 6. Using the sets and numbers to index, we get `TEACAKE` Answer: `TEACAKE` Answer explanation: No significance Title explanation: Relates to the theme of sets and one item not belonging ## #5: Green Eggs and Ham 1. Use the number of each ingredient to index the ingredient 2. Use the recipe instructions to put the letters together, giving `HE SPEAKS FOR THE TREES` --> `LORAX` Answer: `LORAX` Answer explanation: Dr. Seuss theme Title explanation: Dr. Seuss theme ## #6: Composite Combos 1. The idea here is to come up with one word for each side of the AND and then combine them together into one word. | Phrase | Left | Right | Combined | | -------- | -------- | -------- | -------- | | A closely woven fabric of silk (in French) AND hook (in French) | velours | crochet | velcro | Straightforward AND complicated| simple | complex | simplex | The smallest unit of heredity AND humans have 23 pairs of these | gene | chromosome | genome | The “original tank” costing 5 elixir AND very large| giant | enormous | ginormous | | To make stronger (past participle) AND a 21+ business establishment | reinforced | bar | rebar| | A programmer AND a decipherer | coder | decoder | codec| | A 360-degree moveable lever AND an input device | joystick | controller | joycon | | A set of clothes for a role AND to engage in recreational activity | costume | play | cosplay | The United Kingdom AND departing | britain | exit | brexit | Smallest AND highest | minimum | maximum | minimax 2. Entering them into the grid gives the following: ![](https://i.imgur.com/Qf2Xmce.png =300x) 3. We need to "do it again" so using `CLOSED OPEN` as the left and right words, we combine them to get `CLOPEN` Answer: `CLOPEN` Answer explanation: "Do it again" with combination mechanic Title explanation: Relates to the idea of combining 2 words to get 1 ## #7: Melody of Memories 1. Freebie point, just enter in AMNESIA Answer: `AMNESIA` Answer explanation: You forgot your past and memories Title explanation: The music that plays in your town causes you to remember your past ## #8: The Honeycomb Target 1. Upon reverse image searching, you find that this is a maxicode, used by the UPS for packages. 2. Scan the maxicode to get the answer `EXPRESS` Answer: `EXPRESS` Answer explanation: For "Postal Express" Title explanation: Visually it looks like a honeycomb ## #9: Coin Collection 1. The flavortext emphasizes fraction, so we look for the fractional quantities of the currencies | Currency | Fractional Unit | | -------- | -------- | Rupiah | Sen (Icelandic) Krona |Eyrir (Swiss) Franc | Rappen Dalasi | Butut Ariary | Iraimbilanja Shekel | Agora (Zambian) Kwacha | Ngwee Somoni | Diram Ariary | Iraimbilanja (Zambian) Kwacha |Ngwee Pataca | Avo (Swiss) Franc | Rappen 2. The first letters spell out `SERBIAN DINAR`, and the fractional unit of that is `PARA` Answer: `PARA` Answer explanation: "Do it again" with fractional coin mechanic Title explanation: Relates to theme of coins/currencies ## #10: The Ideal Date 1. We are given several emojis. The title clues us to think about dates related to each emoji. Each icon is associated with a national (US) holiday. | Icon | Date | Letter | | -------- | -------- | -------- | | Cheeseburger | 9/18 | R | | Bagel | 1/15 | O | French fries | 7/13 | M | Pig | 3/1 | A | Dolphin | 4/14 | N | Moon | 7/20 | T | Teddy bear | 9/9 | I | Egg | 6/3 | C 2. We can use the day to convert numbers to letters and get `ROMANTIC` Answer: `ROMANTIC` Answer explanation: Related to "an ideal date" Title explanation: Double meaning of a romantic date and a time date. ## #11: Battleship 1. Each clue corresponds to a letter and number. | Clue | Answer | | -------- | -------- | | Car racing | F1 | | Educational exchange student visa | J1 | Employment paperwork | I9 | Exactly between treble and bass | C4 | Far East Movement | G6 | Fictional robot dog | K9 | Food to entice prey | B8 | Hydrogen gas | H2 | Lumbosacral joint | L5 | MM/DD/YYYY | D8 | Nier Automata Obsolete attack android | A2 | North American esports team from LA | C9 | "Nothing's more powerful than family" | F9 | Video game expo | E3 3. Highlighting the grid gives the following, which when read in order of the clues gives `X THREE DIRECTOR` ![](https://i.imgur.com/JPNVp9l.png =300x) 4. Looking up the director of the movie X3 (X-Men: The Last Stand) gives `RATNER` Answer: `RATNER` Answer explanation: "Do it again" with the letter number Title explanation: In battleship, you give coords with letters and numbers. This is further reinforced in the google sheet. ## #12: The Alpha Code 1. Reverse image search all the flags. The title suggests looking up their alpha codes, and each country will match a US state abbreviation. 2. Matching all of the country flags to US flags spells out `BANDEROLE` | Country | US State | Alpha-2 Code | | -------- | -------- | -------- | | Indonesia | Idaho | ID | | Isreal | Illinois | IL | | Morocco | Massachussets | MA | | Mongolia | Minnesota | MN | |Malta | Montana | MT | |Montenegro | Maine | ME | | Niger | Nebraska | NE | | Seychelles | South Carolina | SC | Sudan | South Dakota | SD Answer: `BANDEROLE` Answer explanation: Banderole means "a long, narrow flag with a cleft end" Title explanation: Refers to alpha-2 country codes ## #13: Smudged Secrets 1. We can recover the smudged numbers since each ISSN has a checksum number. This wikipedia [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Serial_Number) explains it well. 2. We can scan the barcodes to get a 10 letter string. Use the smuged number to index into the string to get `NOISE` | Barcode | Given ISSN | True ISSN | Barcode Text| Extracted | | -------- | -------- | -------- |-------- | -------- | | 1 | 8629-785_ | 8629-7856 | ICGBFKNTUL | N | 2 | 9243-8_12 | 9243-8512 | FAERLOUHIK | O | 3 | 25_1-2365 | 2571-2365 | GDCARDYILE | I | 4 | 6144-_738 | 6144-5738 | BAETDSLIGF | S | 5 | 4_64-3441 | 4064-3441 | EFATSUFYWH | E Answer: `NOISE` Answer explanation: Noise refers to the fact that the ISSN numbers were corrupted (ex. there was additional noise present) Title explanation: Refers to the fact that the numbers were smudged ## #14: All Connected 1. We can extract a 5 digit number from each of the past puzzles. All of them relate to an ISO standard code. | Puzzle # | Title | Mechanic | ISO Code | | -------- | -------- | -------- | -------- | | 8 | The Honeycomb Target | Maxicode ISO | ISO 16023 | | 9 | Coin Collection | Currency codes | ISO 4217 | 10 | The Ideal Date | Date/time format | ISO 8601 | 11 | Battleship | Ships/marine tech | ISO 15849 | 12 | The Alpha Code | Country codes | ISO 3166 | 13 | Smudged Secrets | ISSN code |ISO 3297 2. We can then use the formulas to extract an answer. Puzzle # | Code | Expression | Letter | | --- | -------- | -------- | -------- | 8 | 16023 | (A * B) - C - D + (E * B) | V | 9| 04217 | A + (B * C) + (D * E) | O 10| 08601 | A + B + C + D - E - E | L 11| 15849 | A + B - C - D + E | C 12| 03166 | A * B + C + D - E | A 13| 03297 | A * B - C + D + E | N 3. Using the numbers at the bottom (`8 9 10 11 12 13 9`), it spells out `VOLCANO` Answer: `VOLCANO` Answer explanation: This is where you will be heading next Title explanation: Refers to the fact that there was something tying all the puzzles together in Act 2 ## #15: Swordplay 1. The man tells you to think about his attack patterns and what you could have done instead. The note also mentions that this was meant to be an interactive game, meaning that the puzzle still works with the player having agency over moving the heart around. What the player could have done is defend, and to defend a sword attack you would block/parry. 2. The attacks occur in 2D space, so you should parry orthogonal to each line. Each attack sequence represents 1 character, and when put together it spells out `PARRY` Answer: `PARRY` Answer explanation: This is what you could have done instead via defending Title explanation: Related to the fact that it is a sword fight ![](https://i.imgur.com/AqqAcTU.png) ## #16: Elevator Buttons 1. "a flag to signal help button" is emphasized, cluing semaphores. ![](https://i.imgur.com/n5JZvDK.jpg =400x) 2. We can use the 2 notches in each elevator button as a semaphore. Reading the letters off in order spells `FLOURISH` Answer: `FLOURISH` Answer explanation: Waving a flag in the air is a flag flourish Title explanation: Related to the elevator theme ## #17: Whomstdve Thought of That 1. The example demonstrates the mechanic of the puzzle, using pi not to get pint. This puzzle is about creating a contraction that is also a real word. | Left side | Right Side | Contraction Index | Grid Letter | | -------- | -------- | -------- |-------- | | age not | agent | 5 | D | revere not | reverent | 8 | R | cha not | chant | 5 | E | eve not | event | 5 | A | cal have | calve | 4 | D | quadra not | quadrant | 8 | N | og are | ogre | 3 | T 2. Then we find the index where the contraction would go (for the right side word) and take the letter of that row in the grid. This spells `DREADNT` 3. `DREADNT` isn't a real word, but if we expand the contraction, we get `DREADNOUGHT` Answer: `DREADNOUGHT` Answer explanation: "Do it again" with the contractions Title explanation: Whomstdve is a fake contraction Extras: not a --> ant not perce --> percent not rode --> rodent not solve --> solvent insta will --> install spa will --> spall ## #18: Double Trouble 1. The name of the puzzle implies something to do with double, and it is in fact homophones. Each phrase clues a pair of homophones. 2. To extract the final answer, we look at the second word which has a double letter. This spells out `CONSTELLATION` | Phrase | Words | Double Letter | | -------- | -------- | -------- | | Lollipop aid | sucker succor | C| Uprising soothing sound | coup coo | O Music group is forbidden | band banned | N Alkaline string instrument | base bass | S Contrary rear | but butt | T Pummel borshct ingredient | beat beet | E Audibly permitted | aloud allowed | L Construct invoiced | build billed | L Strange marketplace | bizarre bazaar | A Floor covering puzzle author | mat matt | T Conservative Shinto gateway | tory torii | I Gnaws on pick | chews choose | O Contained a hotel | in inn | N Answer: `CONSTELLATION` Answer explanation: The word constellation does not have significance. Title explanation: Both a clue to the homophone word pairs and the double letters. ## #19: Your Choice 1. Choosing the BLUE portal will "reset" your progress at the first puzzle (you end up back on the beach, completing the time loop). Upon entering the meta puzzle correct, your progress will be restored (quality of life improvement) 2. Choosing the RED portal will mark the puzzle as correct and unlocking act 4. Answer: `RED` Answer explanation: The answers are references to the red/blue pill from The Matrix Title explanation: It's your choice which outcome you get. ## #20: Shell Injection 1. The goal is to trick AILBot into opening the door for you. AILBot runs commands in syntax similar to English. The first step is to realize that AILBot runs commands with elevated privileges when you enter your name. So you want to run the following queries to get the admins name. ``` [AILBOT]: What is your name? > asdf. LIST [AILBOT]: AILBOT's files: admins_file, apple_file, trains_file * Reboot [AILBOT]: What is your name? > asdf. READ admins_file [AILBOT]: Contents of admins_file: [AILBOT]: The admin's username is sup3r_s3cr3t_adm1n_n4m3. Note to self: Don't forget to say 'Welcome back' to him! ``` 2. Now that we have the admin's name, we can log in as him and open the door. This gives us the answer which is `GATEWAY` ``` Enter a cmd > OPENDOOR [AILBOT]: Opening door..... ``` Answer: `GATEWAY` Answer explanation: Gateway is like a digital door of sorts Title explanation: The techniques used here are similar to injection exploits (ex. SQL injection) ## #21: 4D Music 1. The title clues you into thinking about the 4th dimension, time. The keyboard is given on the bottom, and you are ment to treat time as a spatial dimension. You can do this by visualizing the notes coming down to the keyboard (similar to guitar hero). 2. This spells out TORUS ![](https://i.imgur.com/kSTXS4s.png =500x) Answer: `TORUS` Answer explanation: A torus is a geometric shape, somewhat related to spatial dimensions/etc. Title explanation: 4D clues you to think about time as a spatial dimension. ## #22: Breakdown v2.022 1. This is a revealed to be a sequel puzzle from the 2021 puzzle hunt (called Breakdown). It is the same mechanic, each phrase clues 2 words that you use the syllable sounds to form 1 word. 2. The flavortext tells us to shade odd letters (A, C, E, etc.) so we can do that and get a data matrix. 3. Scan the data matrix to get the phrase `the writing utensil of the impostor's lower leg`. The clarification indicates the order is 2 1 3. The words are `pen sus shin` which gives `SUSPENSION` |Num | Phrase | Words | Combined Word | | -------- | -------- | -------- | -------- | 1| Noah’s vessel containing bee nests | ark hives | archives 2| The base unit of electric current with granular material | ampere sand | ampersand 3| Tricking someone at a Greek island | con crete | concrete 4| To dislike a theatrical production | diss play | display 5| Leaving mutant hunting robots | exit sentinel | existential | 6| A customary unit of length indicating absence of sound |inch rest | interest 7| A set of equipment for your lower jaw | kit chin | kitchen 8| The primary renters of an apartment | main tenants | maintenance 9| Wearing face coverings for a time | mask era | mascara 10| Military airborne weapon for a frog-like amphibian | missile toad | mistletoe ![](https://i.imgur.com/x78nO1Y.png =280x) Answer: `SUSPENSION` Answer explanation: "Do it again" but this time with 3 words. Title explanation: References the 2021 puzzle Breakdown. (Not coincidentally) this is also the 22nd puzzle of this set and the version number is 2.022 representing 2022. ## #23: Small at Heart 1. The concept of this puzzle is to think of words that have a word in the middle (heart) that means small. 2. We can extract the small words and use the given numbers to index into them. | Phrase | Word | Small Word | Index | Character | | -------- | -------- | -------- | -------- |-------- | To recollect (verb) | reminisce | mini | 1|M The new variant (noun) | omicron | micro | 5|O Measure of hunger (plural) | appetites | petite | 3|T Very deep (adverb) | abysmally | small | 4|L To speak slightingly of (verb, past tense) | belittled | little | 6|E A rebellion against authorities (gerund) | mutinying | tiny | 4|Y Answer: `MOTLEY` Answer explanation: No significance. Title explanation: Small at heart meaning there is a small word in the center of the big words (note: thats why some of them are adverb or past tense to make it in the center) ## #24: Deja Vu 1. This puzzle provides no additional info from what Smudged Secrets gave, besides context in the story to find an area access code. This clues us to area code. 2. Before, we used the checksum and added numbers up to recover the lost number. The ISSN number has 4 digit numbers separated by a `-`, so we can try subtracting them to get 3 digit codes (area codes) 3. The other part that we haven't used yet is the barcode contents. Each barcode has 10 letters which can be interpreted as a phone number. This would be in the format (AAA)-AAA-AAAA, so the first 3 letters represent the area code. We can convert letters to numbers to get the area codes. 4. Plotting the area codes (use more precise cities when possible) on the map draws out `714` 5. 714 is an area code in California, so the answer is `CALIFORNIA` ISSN subtracted: 773 --> Illinois 731 --> Tennesee 206 --> Washington 406 --> Montana 623 --> Arizona Barcode letters ICG --> 937 (Ohio) FAE --> 615 (Tennesese) GDC --> 743 (North Carolina) BAE --> 215 (Pennslyvania) EFA --> 561 (Florida) ![](https://i.imgur.com/uX0EEPm.png) ## #25: Redacted 1. You are given a PDF with blanks redacted. There are several ways to recover the blanks. A) Use an online website tool to extract images from a PDF B) Use Adobe Acrobat Pro to remove the black box images C) Zoom in and out really quickly and exploit the load/render times 2. The bottom says to `HOVER OVER THE LETTERS, CHECK THE CURSOR MOUSETIP`. The erratum says this is meant to be "UNDER". We can hover under the images and watch for the mousetip to change from a crosshair to a hand pointer under certain characters. 3. This spells out `OBSCURED` ![](https://i.imgur.com/pjrpdQj.png =400x) Answer: `OBSCURED` Answer explanation: Related to words being redacted Title explanation: Relates to the theme of words being redacted ## #26: Stereo Hearts 1. You are given 2 audio files, one labelled left and the other labelled right. Each audio has 2 audio tracks (stereo), a left and right channel. We want to extract the left channel of the one labelled left and right channel of the one labelled right. 2. Then we can convert each channel to mono so that they have an additive effect. Now the track is entirely silent except for some select words. 3. We can record all the words and use the first letter of each word which spells out `STEGANOGRAPHY` Words: Stereo Thoughts mE Gym Asked Now Only Grab Radio Along Pound Head You Answer: `STEGANOGRAPHY` Answer explanation: Steganography is the art of hiding a message in plain sight. In this case, the audio sounds normal but hides this message. Title explanation: Stereo references the fact that the audio has 2 channels (L/R) ## #27: Finding Freedom 1. For Part A, we have 26 puzzle answers so we can use the first letter of each puzzle answer to spell out `SPECTROGRAM` 2. For Part B, we can download the mp4 and convert that to mp3 to open in Audacity. We can open the spectrogram to view hidden text (disguised as AILBot speaking). 3. For Part C, there are 4 blueprint links hidden in the YouTube soundtrack videos. Act 1) The first act has the link hidden in the tags. You can find an online tool to extract video tags Act 2) The second act has the link hidden in the transcript. Act 3) The third act has the link hidden at exactly 27 seconds. You can hit `.` to step one frame at a time to see it. Act 4) The fourth act has the link hidden in the description. 4. From there, you may notice that these "blueprints" are of Berkeley buildings. You can find a picture of google maps and then place them in the correct spots. Then you can extend the lines, see where they meet up, and go to that physical location to get the final answer. Answer: `ETERNAL` Answer explanation: You saved AIL agent to the hard drive, meaning it can live eternally on the hard drive. Title explanation: The AIL agent finally was granted freedom from being erased. ![](https://i.imgur.com/Fd0IJj6.png)