110324 Solution Phrases, Etc.

25 Weeks to go!

Allen, Erik, Melissa, and Sean met.

PUZZLE STATUS

A revised version of Lisa's yearbook puzzle is ready to test.

Sean will draft a list of milestones with which we can categorize the status of every puzzle under development. This should allow us a sort of shorthand way to track our progress.

RECRUITING STATUS

Allen and Dan continue their work on recruiting a technical director. They have identified a bunch of relevant drama schools, independent theaters, and web sites, and have contacted many of them. Allen has just posted in a few.

SOLVE PHRASES

Several puzzle authors have requested more guidance on the precise solve phrases we want. So we reviewed solve phrases for the puzzles identified so far, as well as brainstormed a list of random phrases that can be used for the optional, non-plot critical puzzles.

What follows is a list of all the puzzles identified so far and the status of their solution phrases. I've put a "+" in front of the ones I suspect need the most attention:

Act I

Core Dump -- phrase done Midi Ether Co-Keypad Ring A -- phrase done Password to Doctor When's laptop -- phrase done Calibration -- phrase probably done; right now it points to the Big Bang, but we haven't agreed that that is where Doctor When is stranded.

+Send Me Back -- phrase not done -- it needs to specify both a place and a date, such as "HIGHSCHOOL6/6/86". The puzzle author has the freedom to modify this as long as it communicates the basic idea. (If we use something like 'PAINEHS6/6/86" we have to make sure that the players are previously told that "Paine" is the name of their high school. But that could easily be done in the opening speech.) The solution does need to communicate a date, which probably means it needs to include numbers, not just letters.

We weren't positive we needed to also include the time, such as "HIGHSCHOOL2PM6/6/86". Since this is the first time the players have seen anything like it, we could probably get away with not including it.

+Retrieve The Letter -- phrase not done...but this *may* be an activity, not a puzzle, in which case no phrase is necessary. Right now we're tentatively having Doctor When lose the envelope during a scene from "Vertigo" at Fort Point (we can substitute a different Bay Area movie clip if we want). We couldn't yet come up with a brilliant reason that the envelope survived 50 years there, especially since that scene implies it was dropped in the water!

Perhaps Doctor When had enclosed it in a plastic bag...which didn't exist 50 years ago. So when someone found this anachronistic artifact it got placed in the local equivalent of Area 51. Or maybe Doctor When wrote an address on it. So when someone found it 50 years ago it got mailed to someplace. Or maybe it had an address, but insufficient postage, so it is languishing in the dead letter office in 2011. Or maybe the players find a collection of "interesting" flotsam collected from each year. They have to figure out which year to search through.

Wherever it is, the players will have to do *something* to retrieve it. That may be a clever form of breaking and entering. Or it may be that there is some sort of guardian of the letter (Tireseas?) who demands that the players do something to "earn the right" to receive the letter.

Act II Core Dump 2 -- phrase done +Mentometer Repair A -- phrase not done. We're not sure if this is a +puzzle (in which case we could just make some technobabble solution +phrase) or an activity (like a late night dumpster dive at the Computer +History Museum) Mix Tape -- phrase done

+Quantum Time Vibrations -- phrase sort of done. If the various pieces of art are not going to be in a fake art history book that we give the players, then we'll have to use a real or fake art gallery. In that case the solution phrase will be the name of the gallery.

If we go the non-book route, then it could be very fun (and practical for a 2 AM activity) to make our own art gallery, such as renting a café or storefront, and posting our own doctored paintings (a special exhibit). Two other ideas this inspired: if we make a fake gallery, we could go a step further and create a web site for the gallery--the players are probably going to Google the name anyway! (And perhaps we could even make part of the puzzle involve the web site.) Also, if we make a fake gallery, we could have some of the characters' earlier speeches mention it...which might even provide a bit of in-character logic of why Prof. Chronos chose *those* particular paintings to alter...she knew the special exhibit was in town!

Art History -- phrase done, just as with Send Me Back above, except this time the solution should definitely mention the time: 2:15 PM. Fix The Viewfinder -- phrase done, just use some technobabble from the list below

Overheard Conversations -- phrase sort of not applicable. As currently conceived, this will be a logic puzzle. The snippets of conversation from the 1986 teachers' holiday party can be pieced together to reveal that the locker combos are stored in the principal's office. (And it might be fun to have the conversations reveal other silly things, like the French teacher is having an affair with the gym teacher, the lunch lady extends the sloppy joes with ground up shoe leather, etc.) Finally, this might be another fun place to insert Tireseas; he could direct the players to head to the teacher lounge to hear the voices and/or they could mention him in the voice snippets.

Locker Combo Puzzle -- phrase done

Act III Core Dump Redux -- phrase done Pep Ring A Redux -- phrase done Password Puzzle (Doctor When) Redux -- phrase done +JiffyPop Solve -- phrase sort of done; something like "To break time lop send Doc to 1986. Then change right to left in envelope." Calibration Redux -- phrase not really applicable Send Me Back -- n/a, the players will just watch the Doc on the View-O-Scope and he'll tell them to send him to 1986 Retrieve The Letter In 1986 -- Not sure whether this is a puzzle or an activity. Perhaps Tireseas tells the time-traveling players, "Oh, you were looking for something in that trashcan? I just emptied all the trashcans. But you're welcome to go to the janitorial room where I put all the combined trash and look." (Of course, there's some puzzle or activity in the janitor's room.) +JiffyPop Puzzle, Closing The Loop -- still uncertainty about the nature +of this puzzle

And here are just some technobabble phrases we brainstormed, especially for use in the non-plot critical puzzles: Flux capacitor 3.1 gigawatts 5 gigawatts by mid-May In like Flynn Reverse the polarity Heisenberg compensator Chronosynclastic infundibulum Adidasnikepuma Rubik's wavulator

PUZZLE IDEAS

Allen described the germ of an idea for two different puzzles. The group gave helpful suggestions.

RANDOM IDEAS

Might be fun to claim the weekend of the time machine demonstration is the same weekend as their 25th high school reunion. (If the name of the high school becomes "Paine Memorial," then the theme of the reunion could be "remember the Paine!") Gives a double excuse why the person from the East Coast is visiting. Might be fun to send the players to the reunion hall (before the guests arrive), which would, of course, be the same location as the science fair. Maybe have a puzzle or activity there.

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As always, please reply with your questions, corrections, revisions, amplifications, etc.

Allen