PUZZLE DAY
Rules
1. Competitors may work in teams of up to 4 people.
2. Outside reference material including that found on the internet is allowed.*
3. All problems must be solved by the contestants.*
4. The answers to all of the puzzles will be single words or short phrases.
5. The judges will provide clarification on puzzles but will not help you solve them.
6. Each team will be awarded one point for each puzzle correctly solved.
7. For an answer to count it must be submitted via the online submission system.
8. Teams submitting more than 5 incorrect answers in under 2 minutes will be temporarily blocked
from the submission system.
9. The team with the most points at 6 p.m. will be declared the winner.
10. In the event of a tie, the team to complete their final problem first will win.
*This means you may use the internet to look up information about the puzzles but you cannot post on forums
or message boards asking for help. Likewise, you cannot contact friends who are not competing and ask
them for help.
Common Encodings
Alpha Numeric Mapping
Mapping numbers to letters. For instance:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
ASCII Encoding
The internationally recognized ACII table is an 8-bit encoding of control and printable characters.
You can find a copy of the table here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascii#ASCII_printable_characters
Morse Code
1. A dash is equal to three dots.
2. The space between parts of the same letter is equal to one dot.
3. The space between two letters is equal to three dots.
4. The space between two words is equal to seven dots.
Braille
Braille is a system of writing designed to be read by the blind. Each character is represented by a 2x3 grid of
dots. A character is defined by which of those dots are present. In the following, a big dot indicates the
presence of a dot, while a small dot indicates a dot space left empty.
Pigpen Cipher
The Pigpen Chipher, developed by the Freemasons for secret communication, encodes each letter as a
symbol. The encoding is described by the grids below: each letter is encoded by replacing it with the symbol
corresponding to the part of the grid that contains the letter.
For example:
Semaphore
Semaphore is a system for conveying information at a distance by means of visual signals with two hand-held
flags. There are eight possible positions for each flag: up, up-right, right, down-right, down, down-left, left,
and up-left. Each character is defined by a unique position for two flags, as follows:
Rainbow Order
Rainbow order is the order that colors appear in the color spectrum. A common mnemonic to remember the
order is Roy G. Biv: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
Resistor Color Codes
Electrical resistors use color bands on them to indicate their resistance values.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor_colors for reference.
Base Encodings
Base 10 encoding is used most often, but you’ll frequently see other base endings in puzzles.
Maritime Signal Flags
The system of international maritime signal flags is one system of flag signals representing individual letters
of the alphabet in signals to or from ships.
Biology Lab
You’ve been given a centrifuge to spin large words into two related
parts.
Laryngites = Large + Tiny
Popcorn
Globalism
Liveried
Letdown
Fireballs
Goodie
Kaiserins
Mandates
History Class
Pop quiz time. What major event in world history happened on each
date?
Points
1
2
2
3
3
4
6
6
7
7
10
10
11
12
12
12
13
13
13
14
14
17
17
22
24
Date
April 15, 1912
March 24, 1989
March 31, 1889
April 17, 1961
June 13, 1900
October 4, 1957
July 13, 1985
May 26, 1232
February 14, 1929
October 25, 1854
October 24, 1929
November 4, 1979
April 18, 1775
June 25, 1876
May 29, 1453
November 19, 1863
April 30, 1803
December 16, 1773
May 27, 1937
October 28, 1943
September 30, 1452
August 24, 1920
June 28, 1919
July 4, 1776
January 1, 1863
Music Class
It’s time for class and you’re learning to read sheet music. Your teacher
has some helpful words of advice:
1. Pay extra attention to the melody.
2. Don’t forget the articulation. 8th notes should be played staccato.
3. Get the rhythm right first, the pitch will follow.
American Literature
Your professor has given you a curious piece of text to study:
“"And then," said the friend who had whispered, "there was Boullard, the tee-totum. I
call him the tee-totum because, in fact, he was seized with the droll but not altogether
irrational crotchet, that he had been converted into a tee-totum. You would have
roared with amusement to see him spin. He would turn round upon one heel by the
hour, in this manner- soBut our man of business is in no hurry to conclude a contract with any- no man of
business is ever precipitate- and it is not until the most rigid catechism in respect to
the piety of each young gentleman's inclination, that his services are engaged and his
fifty dollars receipted for, just by way of proper precaution, on the part of the
respectable firm of Bogs, Hogs, Logs, Dogs, and Company.
Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should
have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded --with what caution -with what foresight --with what dissimulation I went to him! I was never kinder to the
old man than during the whole week before I killed him.
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—
'Tis the dark and nothing more."
We drank. The company followed our example without stint. They chatted- they
jested- they laughed- they perpetrated a thousand absurdities- the fiddles shrieked- the
drum row-de-dowed- the trombones bellowed like so many brazen boys of Phalarisand the whole scene, growing gradually worse and worse, as the wines gained the
ascendancy, became at length a sort of pandemonium in petto.
I do not attempt to defend my remark on the score of profundity; I did not think it
profound myself; but I have noticed that the effect of our speeches is not always
proportionate with their importance in our own eyes; and if I had shot Mr. D. through
and through with a Paixhan bomb, or knocked him in the head with the "Poets and
Writers of America," he could hardly have been more discomfited than when I
addressed him with those simple words: "Dammit, what are you about?- don't you
hear?- the gentleman says 'ahem!'"
I married early, and was happy to find in my wife a disposition not uncongenial with
my own. Observing my partiality for domestic pets, she lost no opportunity of
procuring those of the most agreeable kind. We had pigs, gold fish, a fine dog, rabbits,
a small monkey, and a cat.
The words "strange!" "singular!" and other similar expressions, excited my curiosity. I
approached and saw, as if graven in bas relief upon the cold surface, the figure of a
gigantic cat. The impression was given with an accuracy truly marvellous. There was
a rope about the animal's neck.
For many hours the immediate vicinity of the low framework upon which I lay, had
been literally swarming with rats. They were wild, bold, ravenous; their glowing eyes
glaring upon me as if they waited but for motionlessness on my part to make me their
prey. "To what food," I thought, "have they been accustomed in the well?"
What, in the name of everything hideous, did this mean? Could I believe my eyes?could I?- that was the question. Was that- was that- was that rouge? And were thoseand were those- were those scars, upon the visage of Eugenie Lalande? And oh!
Jupiter, and every one of the gods and goddesses, little and big! what- what- whatwhat had become of her teeth?
It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it
haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the
old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his riches I
had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture --a
pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so
by degrees --very gradually --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and
thus rid myself of the eye forever.
The vibration of the pendulum was at right angles to my length. I saw that the crescent
was designed to cross the region of the heart. It would fray the serge of my robe — it
would return and repeat its lacerations — again — and again. Notwithstanding
terrifically wide sweep (some thirty feet or more) and the its hissing vigor of its
descent, sufficient to sunder these very walls of iron, still the fraying of my robe
would be all that, for several minutes, it would accomplish. And at this thought I
paused. I dared not go farther than this reflection.”
Chess Club
It’s puzzle time at chess club. White to play and mate in two (but not
one).
Physical Education
2 8
3 6
6 4
3 6
9 1
8 2
5 2
2 3
7 3
8 2 9
1 0
7 3
4 6
4 6
0 9
1 9
2 8
2 7
0 1
4 6 4
3 1
1 9
5 5
4 6
0 10
5 3
7 3
4 6
9 1
5 5 4
6 4
2 8
5 5
8 1
8 2
9 0
7 3
4 3
3 2
9 1 8
7 3
2 7
1 0
0 10
3 7
4 1
2 3
5 5
9 1
5 5 4
5 5
0 1
2 8
4 1
10
3 7
2 3
8 1
2 5
6 2
Geography Class
Here’s some points you might find of interest:
33.41528 -112.38284
41.95397 -87.89865
38.89014 -77.03540
40.90787 -81.44131
21.97331 -159.34828
35.23682 -97.47522
32.73642 -117.20132
38.03827 -87.53677
40.82064 -96.70566
33.52041 -112.29887
34.08192 -118.03719
36.19529 -95.89825
37.79549 -122.40323
42.19638 -83.35124
43.50306 -112.08472
34.84121 -82.34882
39.67829 -75.61925
27.97082 -82.53532
47.65022 -122.30122
Accounting Class
The IRS has given you the most complicated form to fill out. Your only
instructions are that the numbers below each space show the difference
between adjacent letters.
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +5 +7 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +5 +7 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +5 +7 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +5 +7 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
+3 +13 -17
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-12 +10 -13 +0
___ ___ ___ ___
-21 +13 -3
___ ___ ___
-1 -9
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-12 +1 +9 +2 -15 +0 +9
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-12 +1 +9 +2 -15 +0 +9
___ ___ ___ ___
-5 +5 -9
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
+7 -7 +17 -17 +9
___ ___ ___
+3 -8
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
-5 +5 -9
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +5 +7 -2
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-14 +17 -17 +9
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___
+3 -8
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
+3 +13 -17
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +5 +7 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
-5 +5 -9
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
+3 +13 -17
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
+4 -2 +1 +12
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +5 +7 -2
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-14 +17 -17 +9 +6 -15 +0 +9
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
-5 +5 -9
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___
-10 +15
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +5 +7 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
-4 +9 -2
___ ___ ___ ___
+3 +13 -17
___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-12 +10 -13 +0
Astronomy
Below is a map of the sky. As class goes on your teacher points out
constellations. There’s Canopus, Betelgeuse, Arcturus, Aldebaran, Vega,
Altair, Sirius, and Achernar. I wonder how much of the sky they take
up….
Chemistry Lab
Your teacher has given you some very interesting isotopes to study. Do
you see a pattern in the electron positions? Maybe the elements can be
changed into something else.
Math Class
Pop quiz time!
1. 19 * a - 475 = 0
2. 23 * b - 391 = 0
3. 21 * c - 126 = 0
4. 11 * c - 132 = 0
5. 3 * d - 87 = 0
6. 3 * e - 24 = 0
7. 2 * e - 28 = 0
8. 7 * e - 210 = 0
9. 3 * f - 12 = 0
10. 12 * f - 108 = 0
11. 17 * f - 170 = 0
12. 16 * g - 352 = 0
13. 16 * h - 32 = 0
14. 25 * i - 75 = 0
15. 26 * i - 286 = 0
16. 21 * i - 273 = 0
17. 3 * i - 63 = 0
18. 26 * i - 598 = 0
19. 8 * l - 208 = 0
20. 25 * n - 375 = 0
21. 14 * n - 336 = 0
22. 2 * o - 14 = 0
23. 11 * o - 209 = 0
24. 23 * o - 621 = 0
25. 2 * r - 40 = 0
26. 20 * r - 560 = 0
27. 17 * r - 527 = 0
28. 11 * s - 11 = 0
29. 21 * t - 105 = 0
30. 24 * t - 384 = 0
31. 18 * y - 324 = 0
Film Study
Here are some ideas submitted by your fellow students for film plots.
They seem familiar but a little off…..
An eccentric female relative wants to defect from a Soviet submarine.
When a girl meets a guy in a hockey rink after their summer romance, he acts as if he doesn’t care about her.
Things go horribly awry at a theme park serving genetically engineered bacon.
A video game champion falls from a building.
A man spends 30 days eating nothing but the native cuisine of ancient Babylonia.
A Czech factory owner yields to his inflamed sexual desires.
A mysterious swordsman’s prodigious weight gain becomes a serious problem.
Captured chocolates make a daring break for freedom.
A nun rescues a sanctuary for unwanted dogs from Nazis.
An FBI agent must reluctantly get inside the head of Tibetan Monks.
An isolated man eliminates a cancerous growth on his body.
Moles in the Mob and FBI are returned to their native countries by the INS.
A boy wakes to discover that his wish to be transformed into a gnat has been granted.
An Egyptologist accidently releases an ancient, immortal infant whose stomach is cursed.
A pair of hyperactive, impulsive, and easily distracted friends become unlikely roommates.
Decals advertising major metropolitan attractions show up along a southwestern cattle drive.
A new form of exercise emphasizing breath control gains popularity in Jamaica, Haiti, and neighboring islands
until one practitioner dies from thoracic injury.
A New England beach town is terrorized by Israelis.
A crippled priest trains his Southern Baptist congregation in the use of their superhuman powers.
A respiratory disease strikes and is ultimately eliminated by yodeling.
A cursed prince falls in love with an actor from Deliverance.
An angel shows a man what would have happened if he’d never become deputy of a small North Carolina
town.
A brilliant British car struggles with mental illness on its way to winning a Nobel Prize.
An out-of-work actor discovers that only way he can get cast is by flirting with directors under the table.
A male nurse endures the paperwork behind all of his girlfriend’s inventions in order to ask her to marry him.
A horde of exhausted, bored zombies invades a shopping mall.
Punxsutawney Phil becomes a father over and over and over again.
A charismatic edamame magnate defends an alternate 1930s New York against an attack by giant robots.
Two musicians disguise themselves as flatfish to hide from the Mob.
When World War II threatens to shut down professional baseball, a candy maker recruits nocturnal birds into
a new baseball organization.
A wizards’ civil war sweeps through the American South.
A mock documentary about inner city musicians with scoliosis.
In the future, Caucasians are not allowed at a spa that relaxes clients before they become stressed.
A human soldier and an alien foe crash on the same hostile planet and share a good rectal cleansing.
Seeking a pretext for war, a ruler arranges for his fiancée to be pickled.
A man comes down from a mountain with God’s rules for handling poultry.
In the mid nineteenth century Manhattan, conflict erupts over the use of heavy percussive plates.
A group of simpletons find acceptance among the Sioux on the American frontier.
Teens come of age at a school for the flatulent.
An army broadcaster raises the morale of troops by pulling down his pants.
When a young emperor is captured by divers, his worried father searches for him.
A Baroque composer must make sure his parents kiss before he fades out of existence.
A radical with personality issues starts an underground society of full-contact board game players.
A Detroit mega corporation grafts cybernetic implants onto a dairy animal that was gunned down and left for
dead.
A crippled man’s life touches upon many key events in modern American history and culture.
A homicide detective investigates a sexy novelist with a primal need for pesto.
Astronauts land on a future Earth where humanity is enslaved by beer.
A year after a drunken post-graduation eBay binge goes horribly wrong, a group of teenagers are stalked and
killed one by one.
A cab driver protects a dirty, foul-mouthed, disgusting companion who may be the universe’s only hope.
A hard-boiled detective is hired to recover a bird made of pure, white sugar.
An isolated hotel’s caretaker drives his family crazy with his endless complaining.
A hard-rocking, head-banging bumbling detective pursues a stolen diamond.
A falsely-imprisoned convict fights for his life in a futuristic televised wordplay competition.
Culinary School
A. If you find you cannot sleep
Then you should try and count some ______ (6)
B. How now,
Brown ______ (4)
C. The bull might be too big by half
So maybe you should try the ______ (4)
D. Have no fear
I bagged a _______ (7)
E. The tortoise didn't trip my snare,
But that's ok, I caught a ________ (6)
F. If you don't mind their muddy digs,
Then you can go and grab some _____ (4)
G. Don't break a nail
When you open that ______ (8)
H. For nothing more than fifty quid
The sailor sold a giant _______ (8)
I.
When you're rationed but a smidgeon,
You might have to eat some ______ (5)
___
B4
___
I3
___
G8
___
A2
___
F3
___
B2
___
H7
___
C3
___
A1
___
E5
___
G2
___
D5
___
E6
___
D4
___
H3
___
C4
___
I4
Hydrology Lab
You’ve taken some reading on geographic formations and you need to
reconstruct what they used to look like. In each row and column of the
grids below there will be four distinct rocks and one pocket of water. The
water has flowed away so now each row and column has a blank square
where the water used to be. The pictures on the outside indicate which
rock you see from that position. Remember, you may be seeing the rock
across an open waterless space. For example:
Determine where the 20 rocks and thus where the 5 water pockets are.
S
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Civil Engineering
Civil Engineers know two things: make it flat and make it square. The
world would be made of right angles if they were in charge.