3.11 TRASH

Order

3.08

Status

::MOCKUP::

Location

High School, 1986.

Type

Mandatory Puzzle

Plot Setup

Players have travelled to 1986 only to find the locker and the nearby trash can empty. The trash can has a sign on it directing players to another location at the school, where they find a complicated set of instructions dictating how trash gets moved around by Tiresias. They must figure out Tiresias' system to discover where the envelope currently is.

Props

The envelope, locker hallway garbage can with sign, poster with TRASH rules, whiteboard with the TRASH daily log, pile of blank paper, magnets or other 1"-diameter round objects in sets of 4, principal's office garbage can (with basketball hoop and some garbage inside), 1986-appropriate basketball poster for principal's office.

Plot Point to Convey

The players need to find the envelope so they can break the infinite time loop in which they're caught.

Short Description

Locate the letter after Chronos discards it.

Detailed Description

Present at the puzzle site are:

- A poster with some cute graphics, labels and locations for the four cans (A/B/C/D), and the rules of the TRASH (Tiresias Recycling And Sanitation Heuristic) rules.

- A whiteboard showing the Daily Log, which describes the starting position of the TRASH cans (can A has garbage, can B has garbage, can C has recyclables, and can D has recyclables. (Can C was empty, but Chronos put recyclables - namely, the envelope - in it.) The whiteboard also shows the daily ending condition, which is that can C must be empty.

- The TRASH rules form a four-dimensional maze. The assistant janitor has a detailed description of the maze. Janitors move from place to place in the maze by moving contents from one can to another.

- The goal of the maze is to get can C empty again. The shortest solution to do so takes 26 steps. Players must find the exact final position (i.e., know the contents of each can) to be allowed to look in one of the cans.

- After solving the maze, players must check the route that the envelope traveled to find its final location, then go to that location and search the can.

- Using the notation E, G, R, B for Empty, Garbage, Recycling, Both, the starting position is GGRR (for cans ABCD respectively). The correct route through the maze is:

0) GGRR (envelope is placed in C and remains here until step 22)

1) GGBR

2) GBBR

3) BBBR

4) BGBR

5) RGBR

6) RGRR

7) RGRB

8) EGRB

9) EGRR

10) EGBR

11) EBBR

12) EBRR

13) EBRB

14) RBRB

15) RRRB

16) BRRB

17) BRRG

18) BERG

19) BEBG

20) BRBG

21) BRBB

22) BRGB (envelope goes to can B and stays there)

23) RRGB

24) RBGB

25) RBGR

26) RBER

File:TRASH2.ppt

Puzzle Answer

The envelope is inside the garbage can in the principal's office. To get access to the can, the players will also need to know that can A holds recycling only, can B (the principal's office can) contains both garbage and recyclables, can C is empty, and can D holds recyclables only.

Budget

See props, above - probably about $100.

Credits

Erik Stuart

Manager

Erik

Hints

- This may be a fairly hard puzzle for many teams, so hints have been built in to the structure of the puzzle. Every 15 minutes, the assistant janitor will hand them a clue.

- The first clue is the assistant janitor's business card, which says "TRASH is AMAZING!" - a semi-subtle hint that the TRASH system is a (4-dimensional) maze.

- The second clue is Tiresias' business card, which lists as interests "The Fourth Dimension" and "Mazes", a strong hint that the system is a 4-D maze.

- The third clue is a flyer/brochure on how 4-D mazes work, and gives a strong example of how to represent the TRASH system as a maze.

- The assistant janitor will be able to provide further guidance for struggling teams.

- One key to the "four-grid" interpretation of the maze is that you don't interpret each grid as a can - you interpret cans A and B as the X and Y coordinates of the dot in the top left grid, and cans B and C as the X and Y coordinates of the dot in the bottom right grid. See the third clue for more context.

- Some teams may find the second-shortest path to the end goal, which is characterized by EGER (cans A and C empty, can B with garbage only, and can D with recycling only and the envelope). A team that suggests this answer should be told that "it sounds like you understand TRASH very well, but you're not quite EXPERTS yet - check the poster for what EXPERT janitors do. (But you're really close.)". If they show any sign of frustration or if they're behind, they should be told that they should back up four steps from their finish and find a slightly shorter route.

Response to Correct Answer

"Yes, you can look in this trash can". (The players will find the envelope, at which point they can change the writing on the newspaper and place the envelope in Wesley's locker.)

To Do

Create poster, get props