2011 Mystery Hunt

[Suspence]

While we wait for the 2013 Hunt, we can try out the 2011 Hunt for practice. This is my first time seeing these, so I'll participate in the solving. If we call in an answer, I'll check the solution. If it's not right, I'll then recuse myself from further solving until that puzzle is complete.

Intro Page:
http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/11/

Puzzle Home Page:
http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/11/puzzles/

Mega Man Intro Page
http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/11/puzzles/mega_man/introduction.html

Mega Man Home Page:
http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/11/puzzles/mega_man/introduction.html

Unsolved Puzzle(s):

Current Puzzle:
Blackberry Man: Expletive Deleted - http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/11/puzzles/mega_man/expletive_deleted/

____________________

Collected Answers from MEGA MAN:

Blackberry Man
SOURCE

Bio Man > DNA DESTROYER
FIERY SERPENT
CLAP
KILLER COLD
CREEPING INFECTION
PLAGUE

Bebop Man > BLUE SHIFT
BELLADONNA
CRESCENDOS
BACKSOLVER
ACTAPILATI
FAMILYNAME

____________________

Collected Answers from MARIO:

Mario World 1-1 > PARASOL
OYSTER
ORANGE PEEL
CHARCOAL BURNER
PANTHER
CANNONBALL
JACK O'LANTERN
FRIED CHICKEN

Mario World 1-2 > PIRANHA
VERNON DURSLEY
BARRY ALLEN
JACK DAWSON
DOMINIC SOREL
ECHO
CONNOR MACLEOD
WINTHROP PAROO

Mario World 1-3 > POLARIS
HANK AARON
SAFETY LAST
VEGANISM
SALTAIR
URI GELLER
WASATCH
ASHAMED

Mario World 1-4
AIRSHIP
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

Question Mark

???????? - Cause of a high-pitched squealing noise (8)
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR - His 82nd birthday is tomorrow (6 6 4 2)
COMEDIAN(?) / JOKESTER(?) - One who makes witty remarks (8)
XAVRAS WYŻRYN - 1997 novel by Jacek Dukaj (6 6)
CORNED BEEF - Reuben ingredient (6 4)
KING JOHN - He wanted an india-rubber ball for Christmas (4 4)
COMPLEX POLYNOMIAL - It has four roots (7 10)
VAUZS'S SWIFT - Chaetura species named by J. K. Townsend (4'1 5)
NEBUCHADNEZZAR - Fifteen liters of wine (14)
HALF-JOKING(?) - Only partially serious (4-6)
PROM QUEEN - Most popular girl in the senior class, often (4 5)
EXECUTIVE POWER - It is vested in the President (9 5)
????? ????? - Madly in love with (5 5)
EIGHTFOLD - Like Buddhism's path (9)
JACK KLUGMAN - Tony Randall's longtime costar (4 7)
EASTER FLOWER - Pulsatilla (6 6)
HUDSON RIVER EXPRESSWAY - Proposed I-487 in New York City (6 5 10)
?????? ???? - Neal Stephenson title craft (6 4)
KING OF JUDAH - Rehoboam, Jehoshaphat, or Josiah, e.g. (4 2 5)
GOLF EQUIPMENT - Clubs, tees, etc. (4 9)
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - Reporter's scoop with a celebrity (9 9)
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO - Joseph Shabalala's choir (9 5 7)
BOMBER JACKET - It keeps pilots warm (6 6)
QUANTUM COMPUTING - Data processing using superposition and entanglement (7 9)
WAVE FUNCTIONS - They obey Schrodinger's equation (4 9)
ZAXBY'S - Restaurant chain founded in Statesboro, Georgia (5'1)
CHIEF JUDGE - District court head (5 5)
KLEPTOMANIA - Shoplifting urge (11)
EVERQUEST - Game set in Norrath (9)
WAXY MAIZE - Corn variant containing no amylose (4 5)

Pretty non-normal letter distribution in these answers, seems to be a good place to start looking for a commonality.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[jadesmar]

COMPLEX POLYNOMIAL - It has four roots (7 10)
BOMBER JACKET - It keeps pilots warm (6 6)
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - Reporter's scoop with a celebrity (9 9)
WAVE PARTICLES (is that a thing?) - They obey Schrodinger's equation (4 9) novice's is better

[novice]

WAVE FUNCTIONS - They obey Schrodinger's equation (4 9)

[L'lanmal]

Lots of consecutive letters in each answer.

[gftt*]

4 roots -> QUARTIC POLYNOMIAL not complex polynomial.

[jadesmar]

I tried this:
MILI, CMDI, XV, CD, I, CMLXLMIL, VI, CD, LI, M, XCIV, ILD, CLM, L, DIVX, ID, LIM, XCLIVIVI, LDMILCMM, MC, MCMI, VCI, X, CID, LMI, V, XMI

Which is basically stripping out non-roman numeral letters. But didn't get anywhere.

[jadesmar]

Oh, the first letter has some distance from the next consecutive letter in the alphabet?

[novice]

All words consist of consecutive letters, with one or more outliers.

ZAXBY'S - S
CHIEF JUDGE - U

Etc

EDIT: Basically what L'lanmal said.

[Suspence]

Looks like the strings of letters carry over to the next word:

VWXYZA - XAVRAS WYŻRYN - 1997 novel by Jacek Dukaj (6 6)
BCDEF - CORNED BEEF - Reuben ingredient (6 4)
GHIJK - KING JOHN - He wanted an india-rubber ball for Christmas (4 4)
LMNOPQR - QUARTIC POLYNOMIAL - It has four roots (7 10)

Makes "Madly in love with" CRAZY ABOUT, and "squealing noise" is FEEDBACK.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[novice]

[Suspence]

ABCDEF - FEEDBACK
GHIJKLMN - MARTIN LUTHER KING JR
O
PQRSTU - QUIPSTER
VWXYZA - XAVRAS WYŻRYN
BCDEF - CORNED BEEF
GHIJK - KING JOHN
LMNOPQR - QUARTIC POLYNOMIAL
STUVW - VAUXS'S SWIFT
Y
ZABCDE - NEBUCHADNEZZAR
FGHIJKL - HALF JOKING
MNOPQR - PROM QUEEN
S
TUVWX - EXECUTIVE POWER
YZABC - CRAZY ABOUT
DEFGHI - EIGHTFOLD
JKLMN - JACK KLUGMAN
OPQRS - PASQUE FLOWER
T
UVWXY - HUDSON RIVER EXPRESSWAY
ZABCD - ZODIAC BOAT
E
FGHIJK - KING OF JUDAH
LMNOPQ - GOLF EQUIPMENT
RSTUVWV - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
YZABCD - LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO
EFGHIJKL - FLIGHT JACKET
MNOPQ - QUANTUM COMPUTING
R
STUVW - WAVE FUNCTIONS
XYZAB - ZAXBY'S
CDEFGHIJ - CHIEF JUDGE
KLMNOP - KLEPTOMANIA
QRSTUV - EVERQUEST
WXYZA - WAXY MAIZE
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[novice]

WAVE FUNCTIONS is correct.
EASTER -> PASQUE
BOMBER -> FLIGHT

[Scurra]

There is an S missing between PROM QUEEN and EXECUTIVE POWER.
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[novice]

ZODIAC BOOK - ?????? ???? - Neal Stephenson title craft (6 4)

[Suspence]

I think the Neal Stephenson one is ZODIAC BOAT
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Scurra]

Also, there is a V in EVERQUEST so it isn't missing.
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Suspence]

CALL IN OYSTER
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[novice]

EVERQUEST has a V, so OXYSTER.

Call it in?

Never mind

Good work, everyone.

[Suspence]

Yep...nice work all. Next puzzle:

Keyboard Cat
http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/11/puzzles/world1/keyboard_cat/

Unfortunately, the Java applet isn't working from this machine. I'll try another in a bit, unless others crack this one first.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[L'lanmal]

I've seen the next three, so I'm out for a bit.

[Suspence]

I can access now, and I'm not getting past Round 9 at the moment:

hypogl(y)cemia
tres(t)le
ca(r)rageenan
han(d)kerchiefs
hasenp(f)effer
curmu(d)geon
(x)erographical
cres(c)ent...aaaaaargh
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[SuperSlug]

Glad you got in and can get that far.

I hunt and peck and only got part of round 1:
cheeseburger (z -> s)
believe (a -> e)
frozen (w -> r)
stuffing (h -> f)
capital (k -> c)

All the new letters that I could see in this round are adjacent and form a path on the keyboard.
Any other patterns in what you've seen?
_________________
Some people are lost in the shuffle. I'm shuffling along with the lost.

[Suspence]

Looks like the same pattern in present in the corrected letters from Round 9. I didn't track the rest:

YTRDFDCX
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

Back to the beginning:

ROUND 1
S - cheeseburger
E - balieve
R - fwozen
F - stuhfing
C - kapital
X - zylophone
S - kittenz


ROUND 2
B - brample
H - stomack
U - qwickly
I - invisable
K - bloccage
J - congecture
H - kaaki
J - fyords
M - enpathic

ROUND 3
V - knifes
G - lauphing
Y - analisis
H - farrenheit
N - emforce
H - veeicle
G - marjarine

ROUND 4
Z - pitza
S - rezult
E - manatey
D - ajjective
C - cappuchino
F - efecient
T - soffener

ROUND 5
I - happyly
U - rooge
H - logorriea
N - autumm
M - comiencement
K - spaccle
J - gingoism

ROUND 6
T - debue
R - airogance
E - elimental
S - imposcible
D - ambassator
S - plazma
Z - magasine
X - ecceed
C - eukharist

ROUND 7
B - caribiean
H - exsaust
U - miniscule
I - receave
K - cangaroo
J - egection
H - fascionable

ROUND 8
O - wumanhood
I - releeving
U - tyrannosauris
H - spaggetti
J - marihuana
H - gierkin
B - plummer
N - condembed
M - imeunology

ROUND 9
Y - hypoglicemia
T - tressle
R - cairageenan
D - hanckerchiefs
F - hasenpheffer
D - curmuggeon
X - zerographical
C - cressent
V - woila

I can't get all the way through VOILA to see if there's anything else
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

If I trace the letters on the keyboard, I get ORANG.....
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[SuperSlug]

ORANGEPEE...

So:
orange peel
orange peels
orange peeler

something like that maybe
_________________
Some people are lost in the shuffle. I'm shuffling along with the lost.

[Suspence]

I'm guessing ORANGE PEEL, but I'd like to complete Round 9 and then possibly 10 to see what happens.

EDIT: You know what - let's call in ORANGE PEEL. If that isn't it, I'll let someone else go through the tedious bits (or call in other guesses)
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[SuperSlug]

Go for it. I totally lack the ability and bow to your keyboard prowess.
_________________
Some people are lost in the shuffle. I'm shuffling along with the lost.

[Suspence]

ORANGE PEEL is correct.

Next Puzzle:
Squared Key
http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/11/puzzles/world1/squared_key/
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

[gftt]

going up:
ANCHOR
BALLOT BOX
CHURCH
LIBRA

left to right:
CHAINS
EARTH
HOT SPRINGS
GEAR
PICK
WOLF SEX TILER??? (or FLOWER going right to left)

down:
CLOUD
WARNING SIGN

right to left:
SHAMROCK
FLOWER
WHITE FLAG
PISCES
FLEUR DE LIS
FERRY
EIGHTH NOTE
RAINY

southeast to northwest:
BASS
COUPS

southwest to northeast:
CASTLE
SKIER

[Suspence]

These seem like they could be images in a font set like Webdings, possibly.

Trying some groupings:

PLANETS - Saturn, Earth, Pluto
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[gftt]

Good call

searching for pisces eighth note hot springs yielded

http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/block/miscellaneous_symbols/list.htm

[gftt]

going up:
ANCHOR (U+2693)
BALLOT BOX (U+2610)
CHURCH(U+26EA)
LIBRA(U+264E)
CERES (U+26B3)
CHIRON (U+26B7)

left to right:
CHAINS (U+26D3)
SATURN (U+2644)
EARTH(U+2641)
HOT SPRINGS(U+2668)
GEAR(U+2699)
PICK(U+26CF)
SEXTILE(U+26B9)
ALEMBIC(U+2697)

down:
COMET (U+2604)
NO ENTRY (U+26D4)
CLOUD(U+2601)
WARNING SIGN(U+26A0)
ADI SHAKTI (U+262C)
COFFIN (U+26B0)
ARIES (U+2648)

right to left:
JUNO (U+26B5)
SHAMROCK(U+2618)
FLOWER(U+2698)
WHITE FLAG(U+2690)
PISCES(U+2653)
FLEUR DE LIS(U+269C)
FERRY(U+26F4)
EIGHTH NOTE(U+266A)
RAIN(U+26C6)
YIN YANG (U+262F)
HOT BEVERAGE (U+2615)
SUN (U+2609)
PLUTO (U+2647)
NEUTER (U+26B2)

southeast to northwest:
BASS [not a symbol?]
COUPS [not a symbol?]

southwest to northeast:
CASTLE(U+26EB)
SKIER(U+26F7)

nw to se:
CHI RHO (U+2627)

ne to sw:
ANKH (U+2625)

[Suspence]

There's also COFFIN (U+26B0), down in Col 13
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

Are you doing the obvious and marking out the grid, looking for unused letters? I haven't started on that yet.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[gftt]

Not yet. Kept finding new words. Go for it.

[Suspence]

Starts out SORRY BRWUDDY BUT, which makes me think the R and W under CHAINS need to get used to yield SORRY BUDDY BUT.

Also makes me think that this could be a dead end.

SPRRYBRWUDDYBUTSNRETUENITHINGSPSUZZLEHAISENTASUBTLETY
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[gftt]