1.02 Core Dump 1

Order

1.03

Status

::BUILD::

Location

Status: something

GC PoC: someone

Parking: N/A

Notes: None Reserved

GC Point of Contact

Erik & Melissa

Location Notes

Doctor When's laboratory

Type

Mandatory Puzzle

Plot Setup

Time machine has malfunctioned, but no one knows why. Prof. Chronos knows that the time machine can do a core dump for diagnostic purposes. Unfortunately, when she checks it it has been corrupted (turned into a puzzle!) by the very same malfunction. So she needs the players to decode the core dump so she knows what to fix.

Props

• Physical core boards, one for each team.
• Printout of "core dump" word list, two for each team.

Plot Point to Convey

One of the "tachyon midi ether co-keypads" is broken. Luckily, Prof. Chronos is an expert in such matters--she did her dissertation on the topic! Moreover, she's not surprised that Doctor When screwed it up; he never was any good at tachyon midi ether co-keypads, going all the way back to high school. However, she is only good on their theory. To actually create a new one she needs the help of someone with implementation experience. Doctor When isn't available, so the nearest alternative is Dorian Claire in San Francisco.

Short Description

Each team is given a corrupted diagnostic core dump board to decode in order to figure out what's wrong with the time machine.

Open Time Period

When?

Staff Instructions

Your Role: Lab Assistant.

Handout Instructions: Do something.

Site Close Down: Clean up.

Other Instructions:

• Stay in character.
• Except ... if a team says "time out," break character and help them.

Detailed Description

The core dump is actually a physical circuit board with little rings attached to resemble an old computer memory core module. The rings are thumb-sized, much larger than real cores, so that letters printed on them are legible to the unaided eye.

How To Give To Teams

Prof. Chronos will give live speech to all teams at once and then hand out boards. See script. Note that she will ask teams to leave Institute to solve and only to return once they have a solution.

Puzzle Answer

CO-KEYPAD IS RUINED

Puzzle Solution

1) The title "TOGGLE BURNER" is printed on the puzzle. This is a spoonerism of "Boggle Turner", a hint that the rings should be turned so that the letter grid, if played as a 4x4 Boggle board, would yield all the words on the accompanying printout.

The correctly-solved grid is:

CHAN
GETO
BACK
SIDE

which reads, left-to-right and top-to-bottom,

CHANGE TO BACK SIDE

2) This instruction means that every ring should be flipped 180 degrees to reveal the letters on the back. Doing so yields this grid:

SIDF      STHE
LAEL  or  LPFD
AGHI      AILI
NOTP      NOGA

which reads, either zig-zagging up and down or spiraling outward,

FLIP THE DIAGONALS

3) Flipping the 8 diagonal rings back to how they were reveals a final message, not on the face, but around the sides:

COKEYPAD IS RUINED

4) Orthogonally to the above steps, each ring has one letter printed in a slightly different typeface than the others. They constitute a hint that may be discovered at any time, spelling out the phrase:

LOOK AT EDGES LATER

Budget

• $45 circuit boards
• $45 plastic tubing, 43 feet
• $20 copper wire, 200 feet
• $20 stick-on letters

Credits

• Dwight - concept, logic design, presentation design
• Wei-Hwa - logic suggestions

Manager

Dwight

Response to Correct Answer

When a team has a solution it will re-enter the Institute and approach Prof. Chronos. She'll give them the text starting on p. 7 of script.

Send email to team...see "How To Give To Teams" within Midi Ether Co-Keypad Ring A

To Do

Print and apply lettering labels.

Other Notes

Dwight's daughter hired to construct the boards needed for the full run.

Previous iteration notes at: Boggle