Operation (MIT Mystery Hunt 2020)

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Operation
MIT Mystery Hunt 2020
Spaceopolis
Author(s)Justin Graham
AnswerClick to revealTRACHEOSTOMY
Statistics
No. solves40
No. total guesses210
Links
PuzzleLink
SolutionLink

Even the first aid station in Spaceopolis has a science-fiction theme...

Operation is a [INSERT PUZZLE TYPE] puzzle from the Spaceopolis round of the 2020 MIT Mystery Hunt. It [INSERT BRIEF DESCRIPTION]

Puzzle Elements[edit | edit source]

The "Disorders" section of the puzzle is an image of Operation's Cavity Sam. Lines point to several spots on Sam's body, and provide names for a number of conditions, much like the real game.

Video - The "Procedure" section of the puzzle contains 8 videos...

Content Warning - ...of medical procedures. A content warning is supplied due to this imagery.

 

Hint in Flavortext - Even the first aid station in Spaceopolis has a science-fiction theme. The decor suggests you are on an interplanetary outpost on a faraway planet covered in ice and snow. Med Core can perform robotic procedures if you can type in the right codes.

Identification (Medicine) - Each of the funny names is a description of an actual disorder, identified by a partial SNOMED-CT code. Each of the videos is an actual medical procedure used to treat one of these disorders; these also have codes with the indicated checksums.

Caesar Salad - Taking the missing number from the disorder code and subtracting its value from the letter occupying its slot...

Diagonalization - ...and ordering them by which position was replaced provides a word, BLOCKAGE—another "funny name" for a disorder. The real disorder isn't specified directly, but diagonalizing the procedure codes instead provides the procedure code for something that can treat a blockage.

Synonym - After finding this procedure code, one simply needs to find a 12-letter synonym, the answer to the puzzle.