2.07 Art History

Status

::FINAL-READY::

Location

Name And Address: Kaffeehaus, 92 E. Third Ave., San Mateo, CA

Parking: free street parking

Bathroom: Yes

Food: Yes

GC PoC: Erik (415) 475-8463, lab@peachfrontier.com

Site PoC: Val Sarabashyan--owner, (650) 347-4242 general # 650-814-3770 Val's cell

Type

Mandatory Puzzle

Plot Setup

All evidence of Trenchwood Institute and its timeline has mysteriously disappeared.
Peach Frontier Laboratories has taken its place
Iconoclast scientist Prof. Chronos has attempted to demonstrate her time machine before an audience of VIPs.
But it malfunctioned due to faulty key components--four "quantum chronomentometers."
The malfunction is causing the Professor to bounce around randomly in time from era to era, facing untold dangers!
The players have submitted designs for replacement chronomentometers--a key step towards fixing the time machine
The players have discovered the password to Prof. Chronos's supercomputer
The time machine seems to be mostly working again (although the View-o-Scope remains broken)
We still don't know where Professor Chronos is or how to get her back – the situation is getting serious!
The Lab has detected a nexus of quantum time vibrations at the International Museum of Pretentious Art ("The Louvre Of San Mateo"). Perhaps Professor Chronos somehow managed to send us a message there! That would fit her because she loves art almost as much as science. And the place would be on her mind--she had just inspected it this morning!

Props

Exterior sign
Interior exhibit sign ("The Muse of Painting")
11 paintings
Painter's tape
Museum wax
$5 food/drink coupons (88 first weekend, ? the second)
checklist of teams, denoting which teams have received information about the audio tour and which teams have borrowed phones.
Audio tour materials
- 11 unattached "audio tour target" signs
- 18 copies of "audio tour transcript e-mail"
- 18 copies of "How to download audio tour" instructions
- 10 loaner Android phones and headsets
- Phone charger

How To Give To Teams

Teams might come from two possible puzzles after a phone call; the contents of the phone call are described on those respective pages:

In either case, send the following canned email:

SUPPLEMENTAL EMAIL

Research Project Title: San Mateo International Museum Of Pretentious Art
Objective: Explore the museum to see if somehow Prof. Chronos has left a message to the present while she was bouncing around the past
Location: San Mateo International Museum Of Pretentious Art (www.imopa.info), 92 E. Third Ave., San Mateo
Upon Completion: Email your findings to lab@peachfrontier.com
Parking: Street
Personnel Required: All
Bathrooms At Location: Yes
Snacks At Location: Yes
Notes: Based on the intensity of the Quantum Time Vibrations we're sensing at this location, we think that the chances of time paradox here are DANGEROUSLY HIGH. If, as we suspect, Prof. Chronos is changing the past, you'll see the effects of her changes most strongly at this location while the changes are still propagating outwards to other locations. Therefore, we'd request that you DO NOT ACCESS THE INTERNET FOR INFORMATION while you are within 1 mile of the museum; rely on your own knowledge and memory. If you attempt to look things up on the Internet, any dissonance between your local observations and external information would, in the worst case, damage the integrity of time and destroy the universe, or, in the best case, lobotomize you and turn you into a drooling vegetable. You can contact us by e-mail, of course; we'll be careful in what information we give to you.

Teams go the museum and interact with GC there.

Plot Point to Convey

Chronos wants to go back to... the same date & place as When did in Act I, but slightly (15 minutes) later.

Short Description

Prof. Chronos has managed to insert herself into famous works of art to "tell" the teams where she wants them to send her next.

Open Time Period

Sunday, setup at 2:30 AM, open 3 AM - 6 AM

Staff Instructions

Your Role: You are a docent. NOTE: This role is rather complicated. Please read the sections below thoroughly.

What To Wear: IMOPA name badge

What Your Character Knows: Prof. Catherine Chronos, patron of the arts (and head of some mysterious research facility called "Peach Frontier Laboratories") has arranged for a private reception at the Museum to celebrate a successful demonstration at her laboratory. The attendees have been delayed a bit, but you don't mind. There is also an audio tour that was going to be ready but isn't ready yet (much to your embarrassment), but if a team asks about it you're willing to help them.

Puzzles At This Site: Art History

Where To Get Materials: GC HQ

Site Setup:

Greet Val, the owner
Call GC when you arrive
Carefully remove current artwork from walls and carefully store it
Arrange paintings on walls, attach with blue painter's tape or museum wax so that walls aren't marked up
Put up interior "Muse of Painting" sign and exterior sign
Have the audio tour stuff handy but not visible to teams

Handout Instructions:There is only one puzzle here. Greet each team in a hushed voice with words to the effect of,

Welcome, welcome! We're so excited to host your reception. Prof. Chronos wouldn't tell me exactly what the demonstration was, but I'm sure it was a great time. Please come in and enjoy our special exhibition. Take a look at the beautiful paintings. And please enjoy a coffee or a pastry while you’re here! Here's a $5 coupon for each of you.

Hand each visitor a $5 coupon.

Giving the Audio Tour:

If teams are making progress on the puzzle, they will eventually get a message that says "REQUESTTOUR" and can go no further. Therefore, each team will eventually ask you for a tour.

(NOTE: they must specifically ask for a "tour" - a team that simply sees other teams with headsets or transcripts and says something like "can I get one of those?" - does NOT get the audio tour elements below; encourage them to enjoy and study the paintings!)

When the players request the tour, respond:

I'm sorry, we're understaffed at this time of night and can't really give out personal tours. We were going to have a self-guided audio tour available, but you know how it is, we've been so busy just opening the place up that we never quite got the audio tour set up.

Pause for a bit, giving teams a chance to ask more about the audio tour. Regardless of how they respond, continue with

I can tell you really want to know more about the audio tour. Well, you seem like nice and trustworthy fellows, so I'm going to let you have a sneak peek at what the audio tour would've been like.

Bring out the 11 "audio tour target" signs and show them to the teams (but don't let them take them). Also give them a "Installing Audio Tour" sheet for them to keep.

See these signs? These were originally supposed to be posted, one next to each painting. I don't remember which sign was supposed to go with which painting though. Then you were supposed to download our Audio Tour App on your phone using these instructions and that would give you a self-guided tour for the paintings. I think the app still works though, so go ahead and download it.

The team will probably start downloading the app, or ask you about what to do if they don't have an Android device, or possibly ask you if it's safe to access the Audio Tour App (as they aren't supposed to be accessing the Internet). While they are busy (or waiting for your answer), act as if an idea has suddenly occurred to you:

Oh, I know what would totally help. There's an e-mail that our guys sent to the guys who were developing the Audio Tour App for us; I think it has a transcript of all the text in the audio tour! Lemme see if I can find it.

As you start "rummaging" for the e-mail, mention this in an off-hand comment -- this information isn't strictly necessary for puzzle-solving reasons but does stave off the plot-related question on whether Catherine is the voice on the recordings:

Melissa who runs the day shift recorded all the audio commentary for the tour; she has such a nice voice. I think they got the text from the first run of the exhibit some time in the '70s. Ah, here we go!

Hand a copy of the "audio tour transcript e-mail" to the teams, and check off on the sheet that they've been given the audio tour information.

(If the team doesn't have an Android device, mention:

We do have a few spare Android devices; not enough for everyone to get one, but your group can share this one. You can borrow one if you want, but don't let it leave this museum, and don't disturb the other patrons with the noise from the tour!

Then make sure that you've logged that they have borrowed a device, and make sure they return it to you before the end.)

Thanks, and enjoy the tour!

How to respond to questions:

Here are some questions teams may ask and here is how you should respond to them. Feel free to improvise or adjust as necessary.

"Is it safe to download the Audio Tour?": (Teams might be worrying about one of two things -- either the rule that they weren't supposed to access the Internet, or because the Audio Tour is asking for a lot of strange network permissions.)

Yes, the Audio Tour should be perfectly safe; it's hosted on a server in the back room there. I know that the Tour claims it's going to access the Internet or hijack your phone and what-not, but it doesn't really; it just plays a bunch of sound files. Those warnings and because it's not on the Android Market is kind of why it we weren't ready to have it available yet.

"Is there any difference between the transcript and the audio in the tour?"

No, they should be completely identical. I think we got the transcript from the first time this exhibit was done in the '70s. Of course we don't have a recording of whomever did the commentary from way back then; what you're listening to is just Melissa from the day shift. Doesn't she have a wonderful voice?

"Can we look at the number signs?"

Uh, sure. Here they are. I don't see why you would care, though; they're just numbers.

"Can we take these number signs?"

No, I better not let you. Those are the actual signs we're going to use when the final version of the audio tour is ready in a few weeks.

"Are the paintings supposed to have the number signs on them?"

Yeah, when we get the audio tour working for reals. Right now we don't want to put them up because then people would ask about them.

"Do you know which numbers go on which paintings?"

Not really. I think the transcript I gave you might say something about that? I think it's alphabetical order of the artist's last names or something.

"Can we look at the other apps on the phone?"

There won't be anything useful. I don't recommend it.

Maintaining the Phones:

We only have a few chargers, so keep phones turned off if they aren't on a charger, but try to have one phone on the charger at all times.
To turn on the phone, hold down the power button (at the top short edge of the phone) down for about half a second, then let go.)
To turn off the phone, tap the power button. A menu should show up asking you whether you want to reboot or turn off the phone.
To see how much power a phone has, hit the menu button at the main screen, scroll all the way down to "About Phone", then click on the second option (which is "Phone Status").

Other Instructions:

Stay in character.
Except ... if a team says "time out," break character and help them.
Do not let anyone play anything over speakers (as opposed to headphones) in the Museum (don't want them to spoil puzzles for other teams)
Teams have been instructed not to look things up on the Internet, although your character doesn't know that. If you do see a team doing that, try to point it out in character but in such a way that they are aware of what they are doing.

Hints: A team that is frustrated because of an inability to identify the artists may eventually get assistance from you on identifying the artist names. (Don’t aid a team that’s arrived recently - tell them to “not worry about names yet and enjoy the paintings!) Once they’ve started listening to the audio tours, though, you can help them if they ask. The artists are:

A Coquettish Foreplay - Pierre-Auguste RENOIR
Abstract Nude Descends Forever - Marcel DUCHAMP
As Courtesans Luxuriate - Pablo PICASSO
Female with a Parasol to Shade Her - Claude MONET
Intensify Reality - Andy WARHOL
Ready Hearts Won by a Smile - Leonardo DA VINCI
Strict, Saturnine Man & Daughter - Grant WOOD
Tensions Surging - Edvard MUNCH (pronounced "Moongk")
Unreal Wonderland - Salvador DALI
Working to Win the War (Cathie the Carpenter) - Norman ROCKWELL

Answers: Teams have been instructed to e-mail their answer to the Institute. If they try to give you the answer, act a bit clueless but remind them to follow instructions.

Site Close Down:

Pack up
Replace original artwork on walls
Thank host
Find out from host:
- Total sales over period
- Total change in cash in register
- Total number of $5 coupons used
Call GC
Return paintings, tape, leftover coupons, androids, headsets, charger, and signs to GC HQ
Return your name badge(s) and lanyard to GC HQ at the end of your shift

Detailed Description

Prof. Chronos has, while bouncing through time, managed to insert herself into famous works of art, in order to convey a message to the teams (without risking "screwing up the time sequence" by trying to create an overt message). Examples include her face on the Mona Lisa, her standing in American Gothic, and so on. Solving the puzzle reveals the time to which she wants to be sent.

Puzzle Answer

May 31, 1986, 2:15 PM.

Puzzle Solution

The paintings all have changed titles, each of which has the homophone of a number embedded in it. Ordering by years and using the number homophone to index into the title yields the message REQUESTTOUR.

Step 1
Title	Year	Number homophone	Number	Indexed letter
Ready Hearts Won By A Smile	1513	Won	1	R
Female with a Parasol to Shade Her	1875	to	2	E
A Coquettish Foreplay	1876	For	10	Q
Tensions Surging	1893	Ten	10	U
As Courtesans Luxuriate	1907	ate	8	E
Basics of Love	1908	sics	6	S
Abstract Nude Descends Forever	1912	For	4	T
Strict, Saturnine Man and Daughter	1930	nine	9	T
Working to Win the War (Cathie the Carpenter)	1943	to	2	O
Unreal Wonderland	1944	Won	1	U
Intensify Reality	1962	Ten	10	R

Each clip on the audio tour matches to a painting. The pairs are:

Step 2
1st two words of clip	Painting
Names can't	Unreal Wonderland
Of all	Ready Hearts Won By A Smile
Artists and	Abstract Nude Descends Forever
As you	Basics of Love
Well-lit	Female With a Parasol to Shade Her
As uncomfortable	Tensions Surging
Numbers of	As Courtesans Luxuriate
Hidden details	A Coquettish Foreplay
In the	Working to Win the War (Cathie the Carpenter)
These striking	Intensify Reality
Words can	Strict, Saturnine Man and Daughter

The "About the Tour" feature in the Android app contains a quote from Kat Timely that emphasizes getting "the first word" right. The first words of the commentaries, in order, say NAMES OF ARTISTS AS WELL AS NUMBERS HIDDEN IN THESE WORDS.

Each audio clip contains two embedded words - the painter's name plus an additional letter, and a number in the painter's native language. Again in order of the commentaries - equivalently, in alphabetical order by painter's last name - the transcribed clips (highlighting the embedded pieces) are

Dali: (extra letter D, number FIVE); Names can't be found for the bizarre elements of this surrealist masterpiece, such as giant pomegranates, flying tigers, and a woman sleeping on some sort of tiDAL DIvide in the surF. I VEer between wonder and confusion when I view this painting.
Da Vinci: (extra letter A, number THREE); Of all masterpieces, this may be the most famous. It may seem to have portrayeD A VAIN CItizen of the nobility; wiTH REExamination, however, a woman of humbler serenity is revealed.
Duchamp: (extra letter T, number ONE); Artists and critics initially rejected this painting, but it's now considered a modernist classic. The painter, never willing to have his conDUCT HAMPered by conventiON, Examines both static and dynamic elements of the human form in this work.
Klimt: (extra letter E, number ONE); As you admire the sweet emotiON Evoked by the embracing couple, make sure to also examine the rich textures of this piece – particularly the gold leaf's sparKLE. I'M Thrilled every time I study this painting.
Monet: (extra letter A, number NINE); Well-lit fields, soft clouds, and the sunNINEss of a summer afternoon: I MOAN ETernally that I can't simply live inside the vista shown in this painting.
Munch: (extra letter N, number EIGHT); As uncomfortable as it may make us, this artist asks whether we will condeMN UNCHivalrous passions or acknowledge the hEIGHT of terror shown in this moving work.
Picasso: (extra letter D, number SIX); Numbers of sketches were made to perfect the details of these prostitutes' provocative figures - here a mask-like face, there an ePIC ASS. DOubters were shocked by the aggressive, quaSI-Xenophobic portrayal of the women.
Renoir: (extra letter T, number ONE); Hidden details of hats, clothes, and lights fill this work, which shows Parisians spending an afternoON Eating and socializing in MontmartRE. NOT IRonically, it is renowned for its masterful brush strokes and richness of form.
Rockwell: (extra letter I, number FOUR); In the war effort, Cathie the Carpenter represented a pillar of strength – a real ROCK. I – WELL, I have only admiration for the women who worked tirelessly for the preservation oF OUR freedoms.
Warhol: (extra letter M, number ONE); These striking faces are emblazONEd with a palette of bright colors, resembling those you might expect to find on a WARM HOLiday in the tropics.
Wood: (extra letter E, number FIVE); Words can barely capture the Spartan sternness of this painting, as shown by the plain clothes, the ready pitchfork, and the peaked rooF. I'VE long been tempted to think of the subjects' ceaseless toil as leading to WOE; ODdly, for these hardy farmers it's the opposite.

The extra letters spell DATEANDTIME, and the numbers translate to 5-3-1-1-9-8-6-1-4-1-5, giving a date & time of May 31, 1986, 2:15 PM.

Budget

Credits

Justin Graham, with additional input from Erik Stuart

Manager

Erik

Hints

Ask teams what they have done, probing details if necessary (often this will get a team unstuck by themselves).

- Step 1 (finding the number homophones in the altered painting titles) can be hinted at, if really necessary, by saying something like "These paintings are not just a delight to the eye! Breathe in their smell! Say the title aloud and let the words roll across your tongue!" ... or something equally odd that suggests reading the titles aloud.

- Players don't need to know the painters of each painting from memory (though it will help with the embedded-names step).

- If players don't know what to do with the audio tour, ask if they've examined the app. If they're still stuck, say that the About the Tour feature is always a good place to start (pointing them toward the "first words" clue).

- If they're very unfamiliar with the names of painters, they may have trouble recognizing some of the embedded words (Munch, Klimt, Duchamp are some of the tougher ones). A team that has the audio text and still can't find the embedded name can ask the museum docent for help identifying the painter for each painting.

- Some teams might think the Monet painting is by Manet, leading to a wrong letter.

- Teams may start looking for number homophones embedded in the audio clips, just like they did in step 1. They might even try something like "adding together the number homophones" - e.g., counting the "to's" in a given clip. This isn't the right idea - ask if they've examined the app (and eventually point them toward the About the Tour as mentioned above). In fact, there's a parallelism between step 1 (reading the written titles aloud to find an embedded homophone) and the later step (writing the spoken words down to find embedded text).

- Of course, the final solution - 5/31/86, 2:15 pm - is almost identical to the date & time (15 minutes later) to the date & time Doctor When wanted to go to in Act 1.

Response to Correct Answer

A lab assistant emails them,

Doctor When seemed very excited by what you found at the International Museum Of Pretentious Art. By luck we happened to have a lab camera running when he received the information.

Please enter access code 812580 into your View-O-Scope Computer Remote Access Program and you can view the recording.

After viewing the recording, please check your email again for further instructions.

Note that you must send a second email shortly after this one. So check what puzzle you're sending them to next, find the appropriate email within that puzzle's "How To Give To Teams", and send it.

To Do

Other Notes

Some of the art might show her with her crowbar, and some without - TBD.