Penny Park Convention Center
by Martin Reinfried, David Andre
Answer: PARTNERS IN CRIME
This puzzle is based on the card game bridge, as clued by the title (convention), flavor (directions, “offer contracts”), and the strip of 5 pictures of bridges, which have numbers that indicate the bold letters below.
The bridges are, in order:
QUEBEC, GOLDEN GATE, HELIX, SUNNIBERG, and KINTAI
The clued letters denote the possible bids in bridge (C for Clubs, D for Diamonds, H for Hearts, S for Spades, and NT for No Trump), in order of their rank.
The solutions follow a similar pattern to the bridges, though they sometimes have multiples of the letter in question (or NT). These sets are meant to be bidding sequences, with the number of instances denoting the level of bid, e.g. 2 Cs in the word means a 2 Clubs bid. In addition, all of the clues begin with S, W, N, or E, denoting the table position of the bidder.
The title suggests solvers are looking for common conventions that fit the patterns of bidding in the sets. Each set has one clue that is bolded in blue, the color of the Alert card, used to alert a convention, and this turns out to be the bid that signals the convention.
Each set then maps to a particular convention, and the numbers below the sets show which letters to take from the name of the convention. The answers, associated bidding, conventions and letters are:
RAISE, DANA DODD, MISSISSIPPI 1S P 4D P 4S SPLINTER P PREVENTION, THIGH HIGH, ASSISTS 1NT P 4H P 4S TEXAS TRANSFERS AR ANTE, CINCINNATI, WADED, VOLUNTEER INFANTRY REGIMENT 1NT P 2C P 2D P 3NT STAYMAN T WANT, DEAD, HIGHWAY 1NT P 2D P 2H JACOBY TRANSFERS NE CUP, SEA, PAINT, TWIDDLE, MASS, ASSESSOR 1C P 1S P 1NT P 2D P 2S P 4S NEW MINOR FORCING R SUN, UNINTENTIONALLY, ODD BIRD 1S 2NT P 3D UNUSUAL NT S DEAL, SANE, CIVIC, HEALTHY, LASSIE, ASSASSIN 1D P 1S P 2C P 2H P 2S P 4S FOURTH SUIT FORCING IN AHA, HELL OR HIGH WATER, INTENTIONALLY INTELLIGENT, JAGGED EDGE / P DIDDY, HEATHER GRAHAM HIGHLIGHT 1H P 3H P 4NT P 5D P 6H BLACKWOOD C COCCYX 3C PREEMPTIVE BID RI FENCE, OCCUPATION, HAUGHTY 1C 2C P 2H MICHAELS M ENTER, ELECTRIC BICYCLE, HAH HAH, INTERMITTENT ENTERTAINMENT 1NT P 4C P 4H P 4NT GERBER EThis spells the answer: PARTNERS IN CRIME
Background and Credits
David Andre and I have been playing bridge together for at least 20 years, so a bridge puzzle seemed mandatory for the Mystery Hunt. The basic idea was forged as we ate dinner at our usual pre-bridge spot, La Tortilla in the Castro district of San Francisco.
Thanks to Todd Etter for suggesting some improvements, including beginning the clues with N, S, E, or W to show who is bidding, which allowed the use of conventions that start with overcalls, and marking the clue that signals the convention in Alert card blue.