1.11.04 (REDACTED) Redaction Agency Puzzle

From DoctorWhen

Status

::FINAL-READY::

Location

  • Act I: Schroeder's Restaurant. (See Consolidator 1)
  • Act II: Gym (See Consolidator 2)

GC Point of Contact

Location Notes

Type

Optional Puzzle (GOVERNMENT)

Plot Setup

(See Consolidator 1 or 2)

Props

  • Act I: 9 copies of Trenchwood version of Redaction Agency Puzzle internal email [1]
  • Act II: 16 copies of Peach Frontier version of Redaction Agency internal email [2]
  • 48 copies--A page from a scientific paper [3]. Give out three copies per team.
  • 16 copies--A bunch of strips that assemble to form the first page of the secret agent's instruction document [4]. 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

(See Consolidator 1 or 2)

Staff Instructions

(See Consolidator 1 or 2)

Where To Get Materials: GC HQ

Handout Instructions:

If a team is directed to this puzzle over the phone, then they will ask the onsite lab assistant for the puzzle by name. Give it to them (and don't forget to enter it in the "Teams Vs. Role Puzzles Grid" online document)

If you're assigning this puzzle to them in person, then say words to the effect of,

FOR GOVERNMENT TEAMS:

We're run into a problem that could really benefit from the special expertise of you and your colleagues:

CONTINUE FOR ALL TEAMS:

One of our tech writers at the lab has suddenly disappeared. We suspect he might have actually been a secret agent working for some other organization. This handout will tell you everything you need to know.

SUPPLEMENTAL EMAIL

Research Project Title: Redaction Agency
Objective: Find out what information has been compromised and who the secret agent is working for
Upon Completion: See the lab assistant onsite or call the lab and speak with any lab assistant

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

Answers: Teams may give answers to either onsite staff or GC HQ. Say words to the effect of,

Ah, so Mr. Molson was a mole! (And not just the son of one!) I should have expected he was a Canadian--those Canadians are always stirring up trouble. Lucky for us those northern barbarians wouldn't know a working time machine if it blew up in their faces! Not that a time machine is likely to blow up. Well, you know what I mean.

Whenever a team correctly answers a puzzle be sure to replace the slash with an "X" in the online Teams vs. Role Puzzles Grid.

Site Close Down: See Consolidator 1 or 2

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 effects 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, 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 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 profits 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

(See Staff Instructions)

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.

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.)

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 encoded, one message per paragraph, using
(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.  The
homophones here can be a bit rough.
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
If you have done all the other steps correctly, this last step is actually very easy to
carry out.  You should notice that all the remaining words in the document will have a length
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 m determining KEEP chiefly [3]greek it [2]len < 5 a problematically KEEP
the [2]len < 5 the [2]len < 5 the [2]len < 5 is [2]len < 5 a [2]len < 5
e redirection KEEP sensitivities [6]i i i s logistics KEEP c deducible KEEP n funny KEEP
of [2]len < 5 of [2]len < 5 of [2]len < 5 that [2]len < 5 and [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5 the [2]len < 5 u execution KEEP as [2]len < 5 i curious KEEP
muons [3]greek i particles KEEP is [2]len < 5 l technological KEEP sight [4]homo:cite
are [2]len < 5 is [2]len < 5 also [2]len < 5 sophistications [3]greek can [2]len < 5
of [2]len < 5 not [2]len < 5 subject [7]stress i proportionately KEEP be [2]len < 5
no [2]len < 5 a [2]len < 5 to [2]len < 5 increase [7]stress seen [2]len < 5
q consequence KEEP complex [7]stress b exhibited KEEP initial [6]i i i when [2]len < 5
to [2]len < 5 s issue KEEP vulnerabilities [6]i i i m estimates KEEP a [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5 s interestingly KEEP to [2]len < 5 of [2]len < 5 m fermion KEEP
build [4]homo:billed the [2]len < 5 j conjoin KEEP a variables KEEP that [2]len < 5
u virtually KEEP i oversensitiveness KEEP any [2]len < 5 t often KEEP is [2]len < 5
e reappearing KEEP effects [5]lett:FX e indispensable KEEP upset [7]stress an [2]len < 5
in [2]len < 5 a [2]len < 5 c extractions KEEP the [2]len < 5 individual [6]i i i
their [4]homo:there n painful KEEP many [2]len < 5 e careful KEEP top [2]len < 5
s preassigned KEEP task [2]len < 5 t roentgens KEEP u amounts KEEP a quark KEEP
loci [2]len < 5 as [2]len < 5 of [2]len < 5 of [2]len < 5 is [2]len < 5
near [2]len < 5 g variegating KEEP i particles KEEP n substantiated KEEP seen [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5 vicissitudes [6]i i i must [2]len < 5 yet [2]len < 5 to [2]len < 5
t neutron KEEP can [2]len < 5 s necessarily KEEP c precise KEEP combine [7]stress
the [2]len < 5 produce [7]stress be [2]len < 5 o correspondences KEEP with [2]len < 5
i experiments KEEP m femtometers KEEP n prominently KEEP that [2]len < 5 a [2]len < 5
are [2]len < 5 of [2]len < 5 u demodulated KEEP are [2]len < 5 l buildup KEEP
n immensely KEEP defects [7]stress as [2]len < 5 m paramount KEEP of [2]len < 5
and [2]len < 5 they [2]len < 5 t extra KEEP to [2]len < 5 near [2]len < 5
g largely KEEP must [2]len < 5 s fission KEEP the [2]len < 5 to [2]len < 5
r underlain KEEP then [2]len < 5 division [6]i i i f safer KEEP eighty [5]lett:AT
by [2]len < 5 be [2]len < 5 or [2]len < 5 profits [4]homo:prophets f transformed KEEP
minimizing [6]i i i r appropriately KEEP multiplication [3]greek of [2]len < 5 r neutrinos KEEP
the [2]len < 5 b counterbalanced KEEP would [4]homo:wood this [2]len < 5 i traditionally KEEP
stationary [4]homo:stationery by [2]len < 5 b undoubtedly KEEP project [7]stress e perpetual KEEP
e compressors KEEP a [2]len < 5 u trump KEEP the [2]len < 5 s composition KEEP
that [2]len < 5 i sustainable KEEP any [2]len < 5 o unaccounted KEEP of [2]len < 5
t momentarily KEEP g abridgement KEEP t resistances KEEP decay [5]lett:DK such [2]len < 5
produce [7]stress of [2]len < 5 h tightly KEEP of [2]len < 5 p deceptive KEEP
u conducive KEEP joules [4]homo:jewels sighted [4]homo:cited r neutrinos KEEP groupings [3]greek
energy [5]lett:NRG to [2]len < 5 near [2]len < 5 means [4]homo:miens would [4]homo:wood
to [2]len < 5 exploit [7]stress some [2]len < 5 that [2]len < 5 by [2]len < 5
the [2]len < 5 topographical [3]greek of [2]len < 5 if [2]len < 5 o analogous KEEP
r semipermeable KEEP complexity [3]greek the [2]len < 5 a [2]len < 5 o reasoning KEEP
n tanks KEEP finickier [6]i i i numerical [3]greek override [7]stress
a obstacles KEEP t pattern KEEP the [2]len < 5
r generally KEEP of [2]len < 5 r neutrinos KEEP
m decontaminating KEEP a substantial KEEP s necessarily KEEP
the [2]len < 5 tangibility [6]i i i u natural KEEP
l chronological KEEP is [2]len < 5 default [7]stress
effects [5]lett:FX b superabundant KEEP effects [5]lett:FX
needs [4]homo:kneads then [2]len < 5 and [2]len < 5
e corrected KEEP l redeploying KEEP b imbue KEEP
s plausible KEEP y nonphysical KEEP the [2]len < 5
s tests KEEP h methods KEEP s boson KEEP
at [2]len < 5 o becomes KEEP with [2]len < 5
present [7]stress t vital KEEP t electrons KEEP
so [2]len < 5 and [2]len < 5
as [2]len < 5 i similar KEEP
not [2]len < 5 t leptons KEEP
to [2]len < 5 but [2]len < 5
implant [7]stress here [2]len < 5
any [2]len < 5 as [2]len < 5
defects [7]stress 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

Ask teams what they have done, probing details if necessary (often this will get a team unstuck by themselves).


This puzzle should be pretty straightforward -- none of our playtest teams needed hints. Possibilities:

  • If a team feels they shouldn't be reassembling the shredded strips, hint that they probably should.

The biggest sticking point might be where a team has no idea what the last step is.

  • Suggest to them to count the letters in each of the remaining words.
  • Ask them if most, if not all, of those counts all have something in common.
  • Ask them what a really simple extraction mechanism that only applies to odd words could be.

If a team is unwilling to search for "poutine", prod them to.

If you see a team with almost all of the message but don't realize they're done -- try to help them realize they're done.

Response to Correct Answer

See Staff Instructions

To Do

.

Other Notes

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