Fear: Solution

By James Douberley, Nathan Fung, Hubert Hwang, Kevin Hwang, and Henry Wong

Answer: BOLDLY GO

After solving the Fear memory puzzles, solvers are presented with the following answers (in alphabetical order):

EXCEPT
EXCURSION
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
NECESSARY
REGARDLESS
SOUNDS
STRATEGY
VOLUNTEER

As suggested by the flavor text (“consulted his guidelines”), each of these words occurs in the Health and Safety guidelines provided to all teams at the start of the hunt (and linked to from every page). The flavor text says that Fear “knew what…to do next”, so look at the word following the answer word or phrase:

Answer	Relevant snippet	Subsequent word
`NECESSARY`	“For your team to play, a completed quiz is necessary by Sunday, January 8th.”	`BY`
`VOLUNTEER`	“One volunteer on each team should be designated as the “Health & Safety Marshal.””	`ON`
`MEDICAL EMERGENCY`	“Contact HQ if a ‘real-life situation’ occurs and you don’t know what to do (medical emergency, lost team member, encounter with police, damage to MIT property, etc.).”	`LOST`
`SOUNDS`	“If an alarm sounds, do not continue working.”	`DO`
`EXCEPT`	“Please don’t enter restricted areas such as labs, except locations where events are scheduled or Hunt personnel explicitly let you in.”	`LOCATIONS`
`EXCURSION`	“Before sending team members on an excursion, you should ensure you can stay in touch with them (and vice versa).”	`YOU`
`STRATEGY`	““Work until burnout” is an unacceptable strategy. Getting sleep is non-negotiable.”	`GETTING`
`REGARDLESS`	“The MIT Mystery Hunt is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, age, race, or religion.”	`OF`

Reading the first letter of each of those next words provides the answer, BOLDLY GO.

Shortly after solving this puzzle, each team is visited by Fear.