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 recyclables, can B has garbage, can C has recyclables, and can D has garbage. (Can C was empty, but Chronos put the envelope - recyclables - 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.

- Having found the shortest route through the maze, players must trace the path the envelope took. It turns out that it's currently in the principal's office can.

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

1) RGRG

2) RGBG

3)

Puzzle Answer

The envelope is inside the garbage can in the principal's office. The players will also need to know that the locker hallway can is empty, the principal's office can contains garbage and recyclables, and the two other cans contain garbage 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.

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