2.02 Core Dump 2

Order

2.02

Status

::POLISH::

Location Status

Reserved

GC Point of Contact

Erik & Melissa

Location Notes

Prof. Chronus's laboratory

Type

Mandatory Puzzle

Plot Setup

Prof. Chronus is bouncing around the timeline and needs help to return. Machine is malfunctioning for reasons unknown. Doctor When suggests reading the core dump (as in Part 1).

Plot Point to Convey

• The problem with the time machine is that one of the "quantum chronomentometers" is all screwed up.
• Luckily Doctor When is an expert in such matters--he did his dissertation on the topic.
• Moreover, he's not surprised that Prof. Chronus screwed it up; she never was any good at mentometry.

Short Description

Teams receive the "core dump" from the time machine, and try to figure out why it's broken.

Detailed Description

In contrast to Act I's Core Dump puzzle, a set of apple cores are presented as a pun on the phrase "core dump". The solution to puzzle points toward the quantum chronomentometer as the problem.

Players arrange a jigsaw puzzle of apple core shapes, guided by some ASCII-art printouts, to reveal a plain-text message.

How To Give To Teams

Doctor When hands out in person using the lines on pp. 31-32 of the script.

Puzzle Answer

GREAT SCOTT BAD QUANTUM CHRONOMENTOMETER

Puzzle Solution

Group the puzzle pieces by color. They anagram to the following words, each with one letter missing:

• Black: HE(A)RT MONITOR
• Brown: (S)QUID
• Red: BA(S)SOON
• Orange: COMMENC(E)MENT
• Yellow: (M)UTANT
• Green: HONEYCOM(B)
• Blue: BATT(L)E AXE
• Pink: ROCKING HORS(E)

There is an ASCII image for each word, to help solve the anagrams.

The missing letters spell "ASSEMBLE".

The tiles of each color must be assembled into a connected shape, where each tile has a neighbor on one of its four sides, and the lines drawn on the tiles flow from the first letter to the last. The rules are as follows: All tiles are oriented "right-side up," based on the letter, which is in normal orientation. Some tiles are found to be "horizontal" apple cores with the apple stem on the left, and some are "vertical" with the apple stem towards the top, while others are edge tiles or corners. The line segments indicate where the next and previous letters (and tiles) are to be found, and they must be continuous, not changing direction even at a corner. That is, if a line segment extends northeast, then the next letter will be found up and to the right, and the incoming line segment on that tile will enter from the lower left. Diagonals may cross each other, Boggle-style (in a nice parallelism with the sister puzzle from Act I). Assembly should be easy and unambiguous once the pattern is recognized.

Assemble the colored multi-tile shapes into an 8x8 square, with the border letters around the outside. Ignore the border letters; the remaining ones spell the final message:

GREAT SCOTT BAD QUANTUM CHRONOMENTOMETER

Credits

Design and fabrication by David Greenspan.

Manager

David Greenspan

Hints

• Sort (group) tiles by color

• Can you match a group of tiles to a picture and spell something? Not quite? For example, players may notice they have a picture of a SQUID and a group of tiles that anagrams to QUID.

When players are starting to spell words missing a letter:

• What do the missing letters spell? (This isn't strictly necessary for players to notice, as the clue "ASSEMBLE" may be obvious.)

• Can you assemble each word/color by itself? If players are not sure whether they've assembled a color correctly or think there are multiple ways, they may need help with the assembly process. For example, they may have some of the apples upside down, not having realized the letters should be properly oriented, or they may have diagonal line segments that meet at a corner but don't continue straight through it. Proper assembly should be unique and satisfying.

After color-group assembly:

• Can you put it all together? If each color is assembled properly, the final assembly into a square should be straightforward, as there is no ambiguity about which edge or corner is which.

• The non-apple tiles with straight edges are border tiles, four of which are corners (shaped like squares).

Once the final square is formed:

• Great, you've assembled the core dump! What does it say?

• Players must read the letters on the 36 apple tiles, ignoring the border, in normal top-to-bottom left-to-right order to spell the answer.

Response to Correct Answer

Doctor When and Buffy deliver lines on pp. 32-33 of script.

To Do

• Print ASCII art
• Laser cut new tiles
• Hints