What a Mystery Is Art

Those who create mysteries are those that are best suited to solving them . . .

Pick one or more genres, one or more characters, and one or more props, then use them to create a mystery. Props and characters can be constructed or portrayed in any way the creative team chooses. Points will be awarded for each genre, character, or prop that the judges identify. Genres may span media (e.g. comic strips are generally drawn, while mime is performed live, and photo novellas are, well, photographed). Feel free to mix genres, so long as each one is identifiable. Characters and props should be of some relevance to the mystery (i.e., you can’t just have a half-empty can of Red Bull sitting on a table, it needs to have something to do with the story).

Points	Genre	Characters	Props
1	Slapstick comedy Comic strip Runyon-esque short story Soap opera Limerick	Bob Woodward Angry soccer mom Sleepwalking kleptomaniac Dr. House Irate DMV clerk Lindsay Lohan Simon Cowell Dizzy blond painter with amnesia	Chain saw Long black veil Set of dice Ill-fitting glove Poisoned dart Cop whistle Vintage British sports car Stolen credit card Box cutter Blank envelope
2	Choose Your Own Adventure Mime Photo novella Film noir Children’s theater	Home Shopping Network host Gladys Kravitz (from Bewitched) Pickpocket with Tourette’s Syndrome Drunk environmental lobbyist Ron Paul Drill sergeant with a speech impediment Recently unemployed department store Santa Noam Chomsky	Possessed tricycle Pair of heart-shaped sunglasses Copy of Strunk & White’s Elements of Style Bust of Elvis Ocarina Silly Putty A half-empty can of Red Bull Pair of castanets Any squeaky toy The Clapper
4	Episode of 60 Minutes Kabuki Sonnet(s) Animated flip book Grand opera	Mediocre lounge singer Cathy Guisewite Libertarian busboy Caligula Nicholas Negroponte An extra from the film Birth of a Nation Charles de Gaulle	1974 issue of National Geographic Children’s tea set Reproduction of Michelangelo’s David A web site at least two years out of date A Segway A girdle Receipt for 26 8'x4' sheets of dry wall from Home Depot A can of Pam Converse high tops Photograph of a baby seal

To complete this task you must receive at least the following number of points:

Team Size	Minimum Points
<10	5
10-15	8
16-20	10
21-30	15
31-40	20
41-50	25
51-75	35
76-100	45
>100	55