Cryptex Hunt 2022/Are you smarter than a robot?

Are you smarter than a robot?
Cryptex Hunt 2022
Author(s)	Darren Miller
Links
Puzzle	Link

Are you smarter than a robot? is a maze-based spatial puzzle and the second puzzle of the 2022 Cryptex Hunt. It's presented as a black and blue maze filled with letters, accompanied by the text "Can you help this little lost robot find a route through the maze?"

Solve Paths

As the text implies, solvers should attempt to solve the maze. If done correctly, the most direct route takes the robot through five letters, which spell the final answer.

Part 1 Final Answer: Click to revealASIMO.

Keeping the maze in a solved state, solvers may notice that the remaining letters do seem to spell partial words in place (such as NOBLE going down the first column). The trick is to start in the top left corner and read the letters in a counterclockwise spiral. This is also clued by the spiral above the robot's head in the lower left corner. Doing this results in the final clue phrase of NOBLE GAS OF ATOMIC NUMBER FIFTY FOUR.

Part 2 Final Answer: Click to revealXENON.

Puzzle Elements

Part 1

Hint in Flavortext - Not much of a hint, mind you, but the flavortext does say to solve the maze.

Maze

Marked Letters - By solving the maze, certain letters are marked by the path that goes through it.

Part 2

Maze - Assuming solvers completed it in Part 1, they don't need to re-solve it at all, but it does need to be done correctly to extract this part properly.

Unused Information - There's a lot of letters in the maze that don't get used in the first part, implying use here in the second part. Picture Hint - The robot in the bottom left corner has two symbols over its head. While the question mark may or may not clue the first part's extraction, the spiral certainly clues the second part's extraction. Spiralled Text - Once the maze is complete, reading the remaining letters in a counterclockwise spiral is all solvers need to do.

Final Clue Phrase - "NOBLE GAS OF ATOMIC NUMBER FIFTY FOUR"