1.11.04 (REDACTED) Redaction Agency Puzzle

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Order

1.11.05

Status

::PROTO::

Location

Status: something

GC PoC: someone

Parking: N/A

Notes: None


GC Point of Contact

Location Notes

Type

Optional Puzzle (GOVERNMENT)

Plot Setup

A task from the lab.


Props

  • Printout of e-mail to teams [1]. This would be better if delivered via actual e-mail, but because of our placement of the puzzle this is not as practical.
  • A page from a scientific paper [2]. Give out three copies per team.
  • A bunch of strips that assemble to form the first page of the secret agent's instruction document [3]. This should be printed out, the upper-left corner cut off and thrown away, and the rest run through Wei-Hwa's paper shredder. These strips are in a ziplok bag.

Plot Point to Convey

None

Short Description

Optional role puzzle--government. Teams are told that there is a suspected mole at the lab.

Open Time Period

When?

Staff Instructions

Your Role: Lab Assistant.

Handout Instructions: Hand out teams the two sheets. Tell them that the lab suspects there's a secret agent at the lab masquerading as a tech writer and that the team needs to find out what information has been compromised and who the secret agent is working for. Also tell them that the mail from the lab has everything they need to know.

Hints: Teams may call in for hints. But if you familiarize yourself with the attached hint document, feel free to give hints.

Answers: There are five messages hidden in the document: "REQUESTING RETURN", "MISSING MR. BIG", "SUBJECT IS NUTS BUT HARMLESS", "CLIMATE UNCOMFORTABLY HOT", and "ANIMAL FRIES POOR SUBSTITUTE FOR POUTINE". The team should be able to give you these messages and interpret them -- meaning that the agent hasn't found any important data, and has fled the lab to his home country of Canada. (Mr. Big is a brand of candy bar, and poutine is a cheese and shredded potatoes dish.)

Site Close Down: N/A

Other Instructions:

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

Detailed Description

Optional role puzzle--government. Teams are told that there is a suspected mole at the lab and is given enough information to find the mole's secret message. Each team receives a (printed) e-mail message that says:

A small crisis has just come up at the lab that we think your group would be able to help with.

One of our tech writers, Antoine Molson, has suddenly disappeared. We have reason to suspect that he might have been a mole from some external group, possibly connected to some government agency that is trying to keep tabs on our groundbreaking work.

Mostly we base this suspicion on the fact that we couldn't ever understand the documents that he revised for us in preparation for publication to scientific journals (he just assured us that that's what professional scientific writing looks like).

We're sending you two copies of a sample of some recent writing he did for us, and some awfully suspicious stuff we found in his office shredder. If he's trying to send some secret messages to his superiors we bet it's in there somehow. See if you can find any secret messages and, ideally, deduce who he's working for.

They also receive three copies of a page of a scientific paper filled with technobabble:

Whereas, the redirection of the muons are of no consequence to the build, virtually reappearing in their preassigned loci near the neutron. The experiments are immensely and largely underlain by minimizing the stationary compressors that momentarily produce conducive energy to the semipermeable tanks.

Determining the sensitivities of the particles is not a complex issue. Interestingly, the oversensitiveness eff�ects a painful task; as variegating vicissitudes can produce femtometers of defects, they must then be appropriately counterbalanced by a sustainable abridgement of joules to exploit topographical complexity.

Chiefly�y, the logistics of execution is also subject to exhibited vulnerabilities. To conjoin any indispensable extractions, many roentgens of particles must necessarily be prominently demodulated as extra fission, division, or multiplication would undoubtedly trump any resistances tightly sighted near some of the �finickier obstacles. Generally, decontaminating the chronological e�effects needs corrected plausible tests at present.

It is deducible that as technological sophistications proportionately increase, initial estimates of variables often upset the careful amounts of substantiated yet precise correspondences that are paramount to the safer profi�ts of this project. The unaccounted decay of neutrinos means that if a numerical pattern of substantial tangibility is superabundant, then redeploying nonphysical methods becomes vital so as not to implant any defects.

Problematically, a funny and curious sight can be seen when a fermion (that is, an individual top quark) is seen to combine with a buildup of close to eighty transformed neutrinos. Traditionally, perpetual composition of such deceptive groupings would, by analogous reasoning, override the neutrinos' necessarily natural default �effects and imbue the boson with electrons and similar leptons. But here, as their energy is bound to that of at most eighty microteslas, the excess can bleed off� and the certifiably perfect cloud of neutrinos is betaken by receptive muons. Our reckoning is that a gluon entity is automatically birthed, and we suspect that such morbidity is substantively different, yet artificial.

Finally, team also receives a bag of shredded paper.

How To Give To Teams

Over the phone a lab assistant tells them words to the effect of,

foo.

If the puzzle is being given in the Role 1 slot, lab assistant then says

Please go to the Noisebridge Laboratory at 2169 Mission Street in San Francisco. Tell the lab assistant you need help with the Canadian Redaction Agency. There is metered street parking nearby as well as the garage on Hoff Street between 16th and 17th, and the Mission Bartlett Garage at 3255 21st Street.

If the puzzle is being given in the Role 2 or 3 slot, lab assistant then says

Please go to the lab assistant at your current location and say you need help with the Canadian Redaction Agency.

If the puzzle is being given in the Role 4 slot, lab assistant then says

Please go to the steps of the California Academy of Sciences San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Tell the lab assistant you need help with the Canadian Redaction Agency. There is some street parking on John F. Kennedy Drive as well as the Golden Gate Park Garange, one entrance of which is at 800 10th Avenue.

No matter what, the lab assistant continues:

blah


SUPPLEMENTAL EMAIL ROLE PUZZLE SLOT 1

Research Project Title: Canadian Redaction Agency
Objective: Blah
Location: Noisebridge, 2169 Mission Street in San Francisco; entrance is through a nondescript metal gate; there's a red graphic on black vinyl above the gate; the gate is just to the left of the Mi Ranchero produce market; use buzzer if gate is closed; walk up to the third floor
Upon Completion: Call the Institute and speak with any lab assistant
Parking: Metered street parking nearby (some free, some $2/hour coin meters) as well as the garage on Hoff Street between 16th and 17th, and the Mission Bartlett Garage at 3255 21st Street
Need To Park: Preferred
Bathrooms At Location: Yes
Food At Location: Numerous stores, restaurants, and cafes on Mission and Valencia Streets, as well as every side street

SUPPLEMENTAL EMAIL ROLE PUZZLE SLOTS 2 OR 3

Research Project Title: the Canadian Redaction Agency
Objective: Blah
Location: current
Upon Completion: Call the Institute and speak with any lab assistant

SUPPLEMENTAL EMAIL ROLE PUZZLE SLOT 4

Research Project Title: the [REDACTED] Redaction Agency
Objective: Blah
Location: Front steps of California Academy Of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park
Upon Completion: Call the Institute and speak with any lab assistant
Parking: Some street parking on John F. Kennedy Drive as well as the Golden Gate Park Garange, one entrance of which is at 800 10th Avenue
Need To Park: No; if parking is difficult one colleague may obtain the materials while the others drive around the block
Bathrooms At Location: No
Food At Location: No

Lab assistant on site says something to the effect of:

blah.

The assistant then hands the team the paper.

Puzzle Answer

The solver should find out that the mole has sent these messages to his headquarters, the (??)daction Agency: 

"REQUESTING RETURN"
"MISSING MR. BIG"
"SUBJECT IS NUTS BUT HARMLESS"
"CLIMATE UNCOMFORTABLY HOT"
"ANIMAL FRIES POOR SUBSTITUTE FOR POUTINE"

From this, they should be able to infer that the mole works for the Canadian Redaction Agency, and that he has left the lab and has not given away any sensitive data to his headquarters.

Puzzle Solution

First, the team must assemble the shredded paper to get the first page of a document. Unfortunately the upper-left corner of the page is missing, so the team cannot figure out the entire contents of the paper (which would reveal what agency the spy is working for). Also, the team only has the first page, so they do not have the last step of decoding, which is extracting the data. Here is the text of the assembled paper, with (M) representing missing text: 

March 2012

(M)daction Agency

(M)nalysis Redaction Annotation Procedure

(M)g!
(M)hly-secure document intended only for the eyes of any agents working for
(M)ian Redaction Agency. Pleease familiarize yourself with the procedures
(M)his document and then shred it as soon as possible to avoid giving away your

(M)rview
(M)ommunication among agents must be “hidden in plain sight,” only decodable
(M) the procedures outlined in this document. We cover decoding first.
(M)edacting Short Words
(M)y words that are shorter than five letters should be redacted.
(M). Redacting Greek
(M)ny words that contain a substring that is a spelling of a Greek letter should be
redacted.
4. Redacting Homophones
Any words that are a homophone of another English word should be redacted. It is not
necessary that both words be in the same document.
5. Redacting Letter Sounds
Any words that sound like a series of letters read out loud should be redacted.
6. Redacting Consecutive I’s
Any word containing three or more I’s without any intervening vowels (this includes
Y’s) should be redacted.
7. Redacting Stress-changing Words
Any words that change their syllabic stress depending on the part of speech of the word
(such as noun vs. verb, or noun vs. adjective) should be redacted.
8. Extracting the Message
After you have carefully carried out all six previous steps (don’t make any mistakes!),
you should notice that all the remaining words in the document will have a length that
page 1 of 3

From this, the team should be able to figure out that they need to cross out the words from the document according to rules 2 through 7. They need an "aha" to infer that the remaining words all have an odd number of letters, and that the messages can be read by taking the center letter of each of those words. Here is a table of all the words, along with a note of what step it gets redacted, and if not redacted, which letter it produces:

r whereas KEEP
the [2]len < 5
e redirection KEEP
of [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5
muons [3]greek
are [2]len < 5
of [2]len < 5
no [2]len < 5
q consequence KEEP
to [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5
build [4]homo:billed
u virtually KEEP
e reappearing KEEP
in [2]len < 5
their [4]homo:there
s preassigned KEEP
loci [2]len < 5
near [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5
t neutron KEEP
the [2]len < 5
i experiments KEEP
are [2]len < 5
n immensely KEEP
and [2]len < 5
g largely KEEP
r underlain KEEP
by [2]len < 5
minimizing [6]i i i
the [2]len < 5
stationary [4]homo:stationery
e compressors KEEP
that [2]len < 5
t momentarily KEEP
produce [7]stress
u conducive KEEP
energy [5]lett:NRG
to [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5
r semipermeable KEEP
n tanks KEEP

}

m determining KEEP
the [2]len < 5
sensitivities [6]i i i
of [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5
i particles KEEP
is [2]len < 5
not [2]len < 5
a [2]len < 5
complex [7]stress
s issue KEEP
s interestingly KEEP
the [2]len < 5
i oversensitiveness KEEP
effects [5]lett:FX
a [2]len < 5
n painful KEEP
task [2]len < 5
as [2]len < 5
g variegating KEEP
vicissitudes [6]i i i
can [2]len < 5
produce [7]stress
m femtometers KEEP
of [2]len < 5
defects [7]stress
they [2]len < 5
must [2]len < 5
then [2]len < 5
be [2]len < 5
r appropriately KEEP
b counterbalanced KEEP
by [2]len < 5
a [2]len < 5
i sustainable KEEP
g abridgement KEEP
of [2]len < 5
joules [4]homo:jewels
to [2]len < 5
exploit [7]stress
topographical [3]greek
complexity [3]greek

}

chiefly [3]greek
the [2]len < 5
s logistics KEEP
of [2]len < 5
u execution KEEP
is [2]len < 5
also [2]len < 5
subject [7]stress
to [2]len < 5
b exhibited KEEP
vulnerabilities [6]i i i
to [2]len < 5
j conjoin KEEP
any [2]len < 5
e indispensable KEEP
c extractions KEEP
many [2]len < 5
t roentgens KEEP
of [2]len < 5
i particles KEEP
must [2]len < 5
s necessarily KEEP
be [2]len < 5
n prominently KEEP
u demodulated KEEP
as [2]len < 5
t extra KEEP
s fission KEEP
division [6]i i i
or [2]len < 5
multiplication [3]greek
would [4]homo:wood
b undoubtedly KEEP
u trump KEEP
any [2]len < 5
t resistances KEEP
h tightly KEEP
sighted [4]homo:cited
near [2]len < 5
some [2]len < 5
of [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5
finickier [6]i i i
a obstacles KEEP
r generally KEEP
m decontaminating KEEP
the [2]len < 5
l chronological KEEP
effects [5]lett:FX
needs [4]homo:kneads
e corrected KEEP
s plausible KEEP
s tests KEEP
at [2]len < 5
present [7]stress

}

it [2]len < 5
is [2]len < 5
c deducible KEEP
that [2]len < 5
as [2]len < 5
l technological KEEP
sophistications [3]greek
i proportionately KEEP
increase [7]stress
initial [6]i i i
m estimates KEEP
of [2]len < 5
a variables KEEP
t often KEEP
upset [7]stress
the [2]len < 5
e careful KEEP
u amounts KEEP
of [2]len < 5
n substantiated KEEP
yet [2]len < 5
c precise KEEP
o correspondences KEEP
that [2]len < 5
are [2]len < 5
m paramount KEEP
to [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5
f safer KEEP
profits [4]homo:prophets
of [2]len < 5
this [2]len < 5
project [7]stress
the [2]len < 5
o unaccounted KEEP
decay [5]lett:DK
of [2]len < 5
r neutrinos KEEP
means [4]homo:miens
that [2]len < 5
if [2]len < 5
a [2]len < 5
numerical [3]greek
t pattern KEEP
of [2]len < 5
a substantial KEEP
tangibility [6]i i i
is [2]len < 5
b superabundant KEEP
then [2]len < 5
l redeploying KEEP
y nonphysical KEEP
h methods KEEP
o becomes KEEP
t vital KEEP
so [2]len < 5
as [2]len < 5
not [2]len < 5
to [2]len < 5
implant [7]stress
any [2]len < 5
defects [7]stress

}

a problematically KEEP
a [2]len < 5
n funny KEEP
and [2]len < 5
i curious KEEP
sight [4]homo:cite
can [2]len < 5
be [2]len < 5
seen [2]len < 5
when [2]len < 5
a [2]len < 5
m fermion KEEP
that [2]len < 5
is [2]len < 5
an [2]len < 5
individual [6]i i i
top [2]len < 5
a quark KEEP
is [2]len < 5
seen [2]len < 5
to [2]len < 5
combine [7]stress
with [2]len < 5
a [2]len < 5
l buildup KEEP
of [2]len < 5
close [4]homo:clothes
to [2]len < 5
eighty [5]lett:AT
f transformed KEEP
r neutrinos KEEP
i traditionally KEEP
e perpetual KEEP
s composition KEEP
of [2]len < 5
such [2]len < 5
p deceptive KEEP
groupings [3]greek
would [4]homo:wood
by [2]len < 5
o analogous KEEP
o reasoning KEEP
override [7]stress
the [2]len < 5
r neutrinos KEEP
s necessarily KEEP
u natural KEEP
default [7]stress
effects [5]lett:FX
and [2]len < 5
b imbue KEEP
the [2]len < 5
s boson KEEP
with [2]len < 5
t electrons KEEP
and [2]len < 5
i similar KEEP
t leptons KEEP
but [2]len < 5
here [2]len < 5
as [2]len < 5
their [4]homo:there
energy [5]lett:NRG
is [2]len < 5
u bound KEEP
to [2]len < 5
that [2]len < 5
of [2]len < 5
at [2]len < 5
most [2]len < 5
eighty [5]lett:AT
t microteslas KEEP
the [2]len < 5
excess [5]lett:XS
can [2]len < 5
e bleed KEEP
off [2]len < 5
and [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5
f certifiably KEEP
perfect [7]stress
o cloud KEEP
of [2]len < 5
r neutrinos KEEP
is [2]len < 5
betaken [3]greek
by [2]len < 5
p receptive KEEP
muons [3]greek
our [2]len < 5
o reckoning KEEP
is [2]len < 5
that [2]len < 5
a [2]len < 5
u gluon KEEP
entity [5]lett:NTT
is [2]len < 5
t automatically KEEP
birthed [4]homo:berthed
and [2]len < 5
we [2]len < 5
suspect [7]stress
that [2]len < 5
such [2]len < 5
i morbidity KEEP
is [2]len < 5
n substantively KEEP
e different KEEP
yet [2]len < 5
artificial [6]i i i

Reading the letters for each paragraph (and adding spaces and punctuation) gives the hidden messages: 

"REQUESTING RETURN"
"MISSING MR. BIG"
"SUBJECT IS NUTS BUT HARMLESS"
"CLIMATE UNCOMFORTABLY HOT"
"ANIMAL FRIES POOR SUBSTITUTE FOR POUTINE"

From this, they should be able to infer that the mole works for the Canadian Redaction Agency, and that he has left the lab and has not given away any sensitive data to his headquarters. Mr. Big is a Canadian candy bar, and poutine is a type of french fry and cheese snack.


Budget

Credits

Wei-Hwa

Manager

Wei-Hwa

Hints

Response to Correct Answer

Over the phone the lab assistant says...

To Do

.

Other Notes
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