Domino Maze (MIT Mystery Hunt 2020)
| Domino Maze | |
|---|---|
| MIT Mystery Hunt 2020 | |
| Big Top Carnival | |
| Author(s) | Wei-Hwa Huang |
| Answer | Click to revealMAJESTIC PLURAL |
| Statistics | |
| No. solves | 17 |
| No. total guesses | 94 |
| Links | |
| Puzzle | Link |
| Solution | Link |
Domino Maze is a Physical Puzzle from the Big Top Carnival round of the 2020 MIT Mystery Hunt, involving a special version of its namesake game.
Solve Path[edit | edit source]
Puzzle Elements[edit | edit source]
Physical Puzzle - The puzzle asks solvers to visit HQ with a code to obtain a special copy of Domino Maze, which now features a deck of 44 "Mystery Cards".
Hint in Flavortext - The instruction card that comes with the special set contains clarifications on what precisely counts as repositioning. But repositioning isn't that helpful when solving a typical Domino Maze...
Missing Information - Each card has a solution printed on the back. The hidden information in this case is that each card also has an unprinted solution, with several differences from the printed solution.
Alphanumeric Substitution Cipher - Counting the pieces defined as "repositioned" between the two solutions and converting the numbers to letters reveals...
Intermediate Clue Phrase - ...the phrase SEARCH FOR UNIQUELY SOLVABLE WITH REVERSED TARGETS. As it turns out, there are some cards in the deck that have a unique solution that hits the targets in the reverse order (i.e. 3 to 1).
Final Clue Phrase - Taking only the letters extracted from those cards results in the phrase ROYAL WE. As the instruction card says, this is a seven-letter synonym for the 14-letter answer.
