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MITMH2022
Public Access

Solution to Magically Delicious

The Quest Coast

Answer: TONGUE
by Ben Smith and Deborah Levinson

Since this Hunt is remote and wouldn't allow for a "Send Ben Smith cookies" puzzle, we developed a virtual baking competition inspired by The Great British Bake Off. The first step is to solve the logic puzzle, which yields the following grid:

Initial logic puzzle results
PlaceNameDozenFantasy BiscuitFlavor element
1Alvin1GORGONOSIrish cream liqueur
2Briony9FUDGE LEMBASGinger
3Jonathan3RUBIESNutella
4Diana10GREMLINBROTOrange zest
5Candice1BASILISK SPINESRose water
6Jason8WITCHY WILESEspresso
7Glenn6WOLVESScotch bonnet peppers
8Crystelle16SUMMERHALL SUGAR CRINKLESElderflower cordial
9Brendan12NIPHREDIL BOUQUETSAlmonds
10Rosie5BAT BITESStar anise
11Lottie3ENTMOOT LEBKUCHENOuzo
12Liam8SERPENT STRIPESNectarines

The grid provides two important clues: indexing the number of dozens into the cookie each baker made spells out GBBO BISCUITS to tell solvers they'll need information from The Great British Bake Off, and reading down the list of flavors spells IGNORE SEASONS as a hint that solving the rest of the puzzle will not involve diving deeper into episode number by season, etc.

The flavortext points to GBBO's technical challenges, in which using limited instructions, contestants must all make the same cookie as precisely as possible, to be judged in a blind taste test. Looking up the names of the bakers and determining which biscuit they made for their technical during Biscuit Week yields the following information (note that biscuit names match fantasy biscuit enumerations, providing additional confirmation solvers are on the right track):

GBBO correspondence
NameGBBO Biscuit Week PlacementTechnical Biscuit
Alvin6ARLETTES
Briony2WAGON WHEELS
Jonathan1SCONES
Diana7FLORENTINES
Candice8VIENNESE WHIRLS
Jason1BRANDY SNAPS
Glenn2TUILES
Crystelle10SANDWICHED JAMMY BISCUITS
Brendan2CHOCOLATE TEACAKES
Rosie5FIG ROLLS
Lottie8COCONUT MACAROONS
Liam7FORTUNE COOKIES

Indexing the contestant's ranking in the technical challenge into the biscuit made during that technical challenge provides TASTEBUD HOME, and therefore the final answer TONGUE.

Authors' Notes

Ben: The day after we wrapped up testing of this puzzle, I got the following fortune inside a fortune cookie. It felt right.

Handmade paper fortune from fortune cookie reading 'Some men dream of fortunes, others dream of cookies'