Filming on Location (MIT Mystery Hunt 2020)
| Filming on Location | |
|---|---|
| MIT Mystery Hunt 2020 | |
| Creative Pictures Studios | |
| Author(s) | Mark Gottlieb |
| Answer | Click to reveal🧜♀️ |
| Statistics | |
| No. solves | 16 |
| No. total guesses | 33 |
| Links | |
| Puzzle | Link |
| Solution | Link |
Use the same 56% of available locations.
Filming on Location is a Criss-Cross puzzle from the Creative Pictures Studios round of the 2020 MIT Mystery Hunt.
Solve Path[edit | edit source]
Doing the math on "56% of available locations" and the fact that the criss-cross has 28 entries, the number of available locations turns out to be 50, which just so happens to be the number of states in the US. Since the puzzle asks to use the same locations again, this hints that the grid must be filled in twice, once with the states, and once with a location associated with every state: its capital.
The crisscross contains the following lengths:
| Length | Count (Grid) | Count (States) | Count (Capitals) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 7 | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| 8 | 6 | 11 | 7 |
| 9 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| 10 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 11 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| 12 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 13 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
The states contain the following lengths:
| State | Len | Capital | Len |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO | 4 | COLUMBUS | 8 |
| IOWA | 4 | DESMOINES | 9 |
| UTAH | 4 | SALTLAKECITY | 12 |
| IDAHO | 5 | BOISE | 5 |
| TEXAS | 5 | AUSTIN | 6 |
| MAINE | 5 | AUGUSTA | 7 |
| OREGON | 6 | SALEM | 5 |
| ALASKA | 6 | JUNEAU | 6 |
| KANSAS | 6 | TOPEKA | 6 |
| HAWAII | 6 | HONOLULU | 8 |
| NEVADA | 6 | CARSONCITY | 10 |
| MONTANA | 7 | HELENA | 6 |
| NEWYORK | 7 | ALBANY | 6 |
| ARIZONA | 7 | PHOENIX | 7 |
| GEORGIA | 7 | ATLANTA | 7 |
| WYOMING | 7 | CHEYENNE | 8 |
| ALABAMA | 7 | MONTGOMERY | 10 |
| VERMONT | 7 | MONTPELIER | 10 |
| FLORIDA | 7 | TALLAHASSEE | 11 |
| INDIANA | 7 | INDIANAPOLIS | 12 |
| DELAWARE | 8 | DOVER | 5 |
| COLORADO | 8 | DENVER | 6 |
| MICHIGAN | 8 | LANSING | 7 |
| NEBRASKA | 8 | LINCOLN | 7 |
| VIRGINIA | 8 | RICHMOND | 8 |
| KENTUCKY | 8 | FRANKFORT | 9 |
| MARYLAND | 8 | ANNAPOLIS | 9 |
| ARKANSAS | 8 | LITTLEROCK | 10 |
| ILLINOIS | 8 | SPRINGFIELD | 11 |
| OKLAHOMA | 8 | OKLAHOMACITY | 12 |
| MISSOURI | 8 | JEFFERSONCITY | 13 |
| MINNESOTA | 9 | STPAUL | 6 |
| NEWJERSEY | 9 | TRENTON | 7 |
| NEWMEXICO | 9 | SANTAFE | 7 |
| WISCONSIN | 9 | MADISON | 7 |
| TENNESSEE | 9 | NASHVILLE | 9 |
| LOUISIANA | 9 | BATONROUGE | 10 |
| WASHINGTON | 10 | OLYMPIA | 7 |
| CALIFORNIA | 10 | SACRAMENTO | 10 |
| SOUTHDAKOTA | 11 | PIERRE | 6 |
| MISSISSIPPI | 11 | JACKSON | 7 |
| CONNECTICUT | 11 | HARTFORD | 8 |
| NORTHDAKOTA | 11 | BISMARCK | 8 |
| RHODEISLAND | 11 | PROVIDENCE | 10 |
| NEWHAMPSHIRE | 12 | CONCORD | 7 |
| PENNSYLVANIA | 12 | HARRISBURG | 10 |
| WESTVIRGINIA | 12 | CHARLESTON | 10 |
| MASSACHUSETTS | 13 | BOSTON | 6 |
| NORTHCAROLINA | 13 | RALEIGH | 7 |
| SOUTHCAROLINA | 13 | COLUMBIA | 8 |
A few facts are evident simply from counting lengths:
- None of the four-letter states (OH, IA, UT) can be used.
- All five-letter states (ID, ME, TX) and capitals (ID, OR, DE) are used.
- Besides the just-eliminated OH, the other eight-letter capitals (HI, WY, VA, CT, ND, and SC) are all used.
- Both ten-letter states (WA, CA) are used.
- Besides the just-eliminated UT, the 11, 12, and 13 letter capitals (FL, IL, IN, OK, MO) are all used.
- The 11 and 13-letter states for the grid have already been selected (CT, ND, SC). As such, the remainder (SD, MS, RI, MA, NC) cannot be used.
From here, start trying to fit things in the grid to reduce the options. A good place to start is the two ten-letter states. Putting CALIFORNIA in 74D puts an F in 110, which is not satisfiable by a 12-letter state; therefore it must be WASHINGTON, with CALIFORNIA in 141A instead. This forces 153D to be KANSAS, which forces 14A to be MARYLAND, which forces 117D to be NEW HAMPSHIRE. This fills the 8-letter state quota (DE, VA, MD, IL, OK, MO), eliminating the others (MI, NE, CO, KY, AR) and forcing TN in to satisfy the nine-letter capitals.
On the capitals grid, start with JEFFERSON CITY, which forces placements of SPRINGFIELD and INDIANAPOLIS; 74D in this grid is thus forced to be HARRISBURG, since PROVIDENCE was eliminated earlier. The 10s in the capital grid are thus HARRISBURG and SACRAMENTO; the others (NV, AL, VT, LA) are eliminated. Since a 6-letter state was eliminated, the other four (more specifically, AK) must be in the grid, and ALASKA fills 23D (crossing PENNSYLVANIA). 23A must thus be ARIZONA (since ALABAMA was eliminated earlier).
Filling out the grid a bit more reveals ATLANTA (GA) in 44D. 105A could be MINNESOTA or WISCONSIN; using MINNESOTA renders 97D impossible to fill, so it must be WISCONSIN/WYOMING. Placing GEORGIA in 51A makes 148D impossible to fill, so it must be 148D, with NEW YORK in 51A. Filling out the capital grid from here is easier.
Having obtained two solutions, sum the values of the two letters on any given cell and color the corresponding cell a color using the key on the left; this draws out the answer.
Puzzle Elements[edit | edit source]
Criss-Cross - The puzzle is transparently identifiable as a criss-cross. Nothing to fill it with yet, though...
Hint in Flavortext - Doing the math on "56% of available locations" and the fact that the criss-cross has 28 entries, the number of available locations turns out to be 50. There's also a hint that the grid needs to be filled in twice with the same set of locations.
Knowledge Required (Geography, US) - 50 just so happens to be the number of states in the US. On the other hand, the flavortext and extraction mechanism also clue that the grid needs to be filled in twice with the same set of locations; the uniquely-identifiable aspect of every state that is also a location is its state capital.
Logic Puzzle - From here, it becomes a puzzle of figuring out which set of states to use.
Paint-By-X - Every cell in the criss-cross is labelled with a number. Each one is now also associated with two letters by the criss-cross; adding the alphanumeric values of the two letters together yields a number that can then be associated with a color using the key. Painting each cell its associated color draws out the answer.
