MIT Mystery Hunt 2020/Penny Park Convention Center

Penny Park Convention Center
MIT Mystery Hunt 2020
Spaceopolis
Author(s)	Martin Reinfried, David Andre
Answer	Click to revealPARTNERS IN CRIME
Statistics
No. solves	40
No. total guesses	69
Links
Puzzle	Link
Solution	Link

People come from all directions to offer contracts.

Penny Park Convention Center is a [INSERT PUZZLE TYPE] puzzle from the Spaceopolis round of the 2020 MIT Mystery Hunt. It [INSERT BRIEF DESCRIPTION] TO DO

Puzzle Elements

Clues - The puzzle has clues in two varieties: the same five images of bridges at the top and bottom and a large number of crossword clues in between.

 

Indexing - Indexing into the names of the bridges using the respective numbers yields the letters C, D, H, S, and NT.

Knowledge Required (Card games - Bridge) - Between the bridges, the title talking about conventions, the flavortext talking about contracts, and the indexing results being the first letters of the four suits and NT, solvers must realize the puzzle is about bridge conventions.

Initial Letters - Every clue starts with a compasspoint letter (NESW); in particular, the first clue always starts with S.

Just Like the Others - Every clue's answer turns out to have exactly one type of these letters, occurring anywhere between 1 and 6 times, allowing it to clue a bid in bridge. For instance, the third clue, answering to MISSISSIPPI, has four Ses; this clues a bid of 4S.

Identification (Card games - Bridge) - Solvers must now identify each bridge convention; the ones used are relatively common and can be found by scouring a bridge glossary.

Indexing - Indexing into the name of the conventions provides the answer.