by Jeff Roberts, John McLaren, and Nancy Taubenslag
Answer: USE RESALINATION PLANT
Answers Used
  • RECURSIVE
  • SIGNALIST
  • IDEALISM
  • CAPTAIN HOOK
  • KILLIAN COURT

At completion of each event, teams had an answer and received an object made of cubes. These objects were labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4 for the first four events, but the final event’s object was somewhat different. It was labeled 10, and had an extra dome shape on it.

The dome and the numbering are both hints about how to assemble the objects. They can be arranged and interlocked with each other to form the buildings on MIT’s main campus around Killian Court. Instead of being in normal numeric order, the pieces are in the order 1, 3, 10, 4, and 2, working clockwise around Killian Court.

The total height of each column of cubes provide an index into the answer that corresponds with that building. When two pieces overlap, the answer used corresponds to the answer belonging to the blocks on the bottom row. Indexing into the five event answers in this manner gives the answer USE RESALINATION PLANT.