3.13 Lunch puzzle

From DoctorWhen
Revision as of 13:54, 15 February 2012 by Onigame (talk | contribs) (Text replace - "==Detailed Description==" to "==Open Time Period== When? ==Staff Instructions== '''Your Role''': Lab Assistant. '''Handout Instructions''': Do something. '''Site Close Down''': Clean up. '''Other Instructions''': * Stay in character)

Order

3.09.01

Status

::POLISH::

Location

Status: something

GC PoC: someone

Parking: N/A

Notes: None Finalized

GC Point of Contact

Erik

Location Notes

At gym.

Type

Optional Puzzle

Plot Setup

None required

Props

Whiteboard, rainbow colors of dry-erase markers, Ms. Pac-Man arcade game, Ms. Pac-Man cookies

Plot Point to Convey

None

Short Description

Doris the Lunch Lady will give a special prize to anyone who figures out what the Mystery Meat really is.

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

When they get to lunch on Sunday, there's a whiteboard with the school lunch menu, written in several colors and covering all weekdays, weekends, a special, and beverage. It also says that Doris will give a prize to anyone who figures out what the Mystery Meat really is.

Puzzle Answer

ROADKILL

Puzzle Solution

Each item on the menu includes one of the "fruits" in Ms. Pac-Man. Those fruits are, in order of appearance in the game:

1. Cherries

2. Strawberry

3. Peach

4. Pretzel (yes, this counts as a "fruit")

5. Apple

6. Pear

7. Banana

The titles (Monday, Tuesday, Weekends, Liquids, etc.) are written in the colors of the rainbow. Taking the menu items in ROYGBIV order and indexing the "fruit number" into the title gives the answer: ROADKILL.


Lunch items
Menu item Menu title Color Fruit index Letter
Sloppy Joes... (pretzel) Thursday Red 4 R
Mac & cheese... (strawberry) Monday Orange 2 O
Tacos & beans... (pear) Tuesday Yellow 6 A
Cheese pizza... (banana) Wednesday Green 7 D
Assorted sandwiches... (pretzel) Weekends Blue 4 K
Fish sticks... (peach) Friday Indigo 3 I
Mystery Meat... (apple) PMHS Lunch Special Violet 5 L
Cherry Coke... (cherries) Liquids Violet 1 L

Budget

Credits

Erik Stuart

Manager

Erik

Hints

-The scrawled "Forgot to pac your lunch, Missy?" suggests a Ms. Pac-Man theme.

-Each item contains one Ms. Pac-Man "fruit". There is a Ms. Pac-Man game at the high school, which players can go play in order to figure out the orders of the fruit appearing.

- The word "Liquids" (instead of Beverages or Drinks), the colored titles, and the all-caps titles all suggest that the title words are important data.

- Combining the fruits as index with the titles, and ordering with the canonical ROYGBIV color order, gives an easy answer.

Response to Correct Answer

(Doris, in a sarcastic, scratchy voice): "So ya solved my frickin' puzzle. Whaddya want, a cookie? ... okay, here: have a cookie." She hands each player a cookie resembling Ms. Pac-Man.

To Do

Playtest version 2.

Other Notes

The ROM image is mspacmnf. It's a hacked ROM where Ms Pac-Man runs really fast!