Solution to Bingo

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Answer: IN PROGRESS

by Azalea Weisblat, Joanna Sands, and Rahul Sridhar

Upon opening the page we are provided with a bingo board with a table of statements, in the style of Alex Irpan’s mystery-hunt-bingo generator. Above the given board is a number in the range 1–25.

Refreshing the page changes both the board and number, but as we refresh, we’ll notice that the statements for a board with a given number do not change (i.e., board #5 will always contain the same statements in the same order), and that some statements are repeated across multiple boards.

Eventually we must realize that all of the statements can be answered as unambiguously true or false when applied to the current Mystery Hunt. Some of the statements reference our own team’s progress, but these can be answered definitively as well (we generated these statements dynamically when teams first loaded the puzzle based on their unique puzzle progress).

StatementValueNotes (spoilers!)
Puzzle requires cooking something to receive the final answer.TRUEBake Off requires baking a cookie.
Puzzle references previous Mystery Hunts.TRUEUnraveling the Mystery, Circles, and Chromolume Drawing #305 all reference past Mystery Hunts.
Puzzle uses an anime that started airing in the past 2 years.TRUEFoundation’s Collection references Cells at Work! and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind
Puzzle uses a TV show that stopped airing before 1980.FALSE
Puzzle involves playing a video game.TRUEDivided is Us, You Will Explode if You Stop Talking, and Super Mystery World all require playing video games
Puzzle uses a video game released in the past 2 years.TRUEDivided is Us uses Baba Is You, which was released in 2019, and Game Ditty Quiz uses The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, also released in 2019.
Puzzle involves matching puzzle content to a location on MIT campus.TRUEHockfield Court involves filling out a crossword on the paths of the real Hockfield Court
Puzzle secretly references a board game.TRUEDisorder is secretly about Diplomacy and Clueless is semi-secretly about Hanabi
Puzzle uses grad-level math or higher.TRUEComplexity Evaluation requires advanced complexity theory.
Puzzle where teams must create a video for HQ.TRUEIt’s Tricky requires teams to send us a TikTok video.
Puzzle about Magic: the Gathering.TRUEMusical Theatre Guild is about Magic: the Gathering
Puzzle data is embedded in something produced months ago.TRUEHow to Run a Puzzlehunt embeds puzzle data in the gph-site repository, You Learn Something New Every Day embeds puzzle data in a LearnedLeague One-Day Special, and MIT Confessions embeds puzzle data on the MIT Confessions Facebook Page.
Puzzle uses blockchains in some way.FALSE
Puzzle uses ternary in extraction.TRUESlitheɹlᴉuʞs uses ternary in extraction.
At least five puzzles involve rearranging trigrams.TRUEA subpuzzle of Cafe Five involves rearranging trigrams, and there are 10,000 instances of Cafe Five, which is certainly more than five. Incidentally, Disorder, Extensive, and perhaps Relitasti also involve rearranging trigrams.
At least three puzzles involve cryptic clues.TRUEAgain, since Cafe Five involves cryptic clues, at least 10,000 puzzles have cryptic clues. (Circular Reasoning, PClueRS, and Tunnels also do).
Puzzle's answer is contained in a QR code.TRUESee below.
Puzzle must be backsolved.TRUETwins, Level One, and ⊥IW.nano must all be backsolved (indeed, this is the main conceit of the ⊥IW.nano round).
Hunt contains at least 20,000 puzzles (base ten).TRUEThe Infinite Corridor round has at least 50,000 puzzles, making this true. This statement is a reference to the 2015 Mystery Hunt titled 20,000 Puzzles Under the Sea, which claimed to have 20,000 puzzles in base 3.
Puzzle involves translating puflantu.FALSEOne of the gifs in 🤔 is from a puflantu-version of a Steamed Hams video, but solving that clue does not require translating puflantu.
Puzzle involves calling a phone number.FALSE✏️✉️➡️3️⃣5️⃣1️⃣➖6️⃣6️⃣6️⃣➖6️⃣6️⃣5️⃣5️⃣ involves texting a phone number, but no puzzle requires calling a phone number.
Puzzle content appears in The Tech.TRUEStata Center uses a crossword in the latest edition of The Tech.
Metapuzzle involving fewer than four answers.TRUEMacGregor House is a metapuzzle using only two answers.
Metapuzzle involving greater than sixty-five answers.TRUEThe Infinite Corridor meta involves 50,000 answers.
At least 1 puzzle that changes when you refresh the page.TRUEThis puzzle (among many others) changes when you refresh the page.
Puzzle is self-referential.TRUESee above.
Hunt takes at least ten minutes.TRUE
Puzzle requires setting a physical object on fire to solve.FALSE
Puzzle involves solving a slitherlink.TRUESlitheɹlᴉuʞs unsurprisingly involves solving a slitherlink.
Puzzle containing no alphabetic characters.TRUE✏️✉️➡️3️⃣5️⃣1️⃣➖6️⃣6️⃣6️⃣➖6️⃣6️⃣5️⃣5️⃣ contains only emoji.
Puzzle that only works in dark mode.FALSE
Puzzle references a local Cambridge restaurant.TRUEWorld Search references Clover Food Lab
Puzzle referencing Steamed Hams.TRUEOne of the gifs in 🤔 is from a puflantu-version of a Steamed Hams video.
Jigsaw puzzle with no printing on pieces.FALSE
Fewer than 8 errata.FALSE
Puzzle whose answer is at least 40 characters long.FALSEThe longest, DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, has 37 characters including spaces.
Puzzle whose title is at least 80 characters long.TRUE1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001000000000000116 has 85 characters.
Puzzle whose title is the same as its answer.FALSE
Puzzle involves a crossword with at least 600 squares.FALSE
Puzzle involves an esoteric programming language.TRUEBefuddled involves Befunge, among several other esolangs.
Puzzle is a diagramless crossword.TRUEFiller Puzzle is a diagramless crossword.
Puzzle involves solving a sudoku.TRUEFun With Sudoku unsurprisingly involves solving several sudokus. For Your Eyes Only also contains a sudoku.
Puzzle requires building a Nintendo Labo.FALSE
Puzzle titled 50/50.FALSE
Page on the hunt website plays Rock Lobster.TRUERock Lobster is played in the Projection Device as you approach the Rock Star in the Pirate Ship event. It's also part of the solve sound for the Charles River round.
Puzzle with a crossword that involves filling anything other than letters in its cells.FALSE🤔 has emoji in it, but does not involve actually writing any additional emojis in the cells of the crossword.
Erratum issued in the first ten minutes.FALSE
Puzzle involving state flags.FALSE
Event involving estimation.FALSE
Puzzle about Pokémon.TRUEWho's that Pokémon? is (surprise, surprise) about Pokémon.
At least 5 events.TRUE
Puzzle that is secretly a physical runaround.FALSE
Puzzle that is secretly not a physical runaround.TRUERunaround Training is secretly not a runaround.
Puzzle that is a text adventure.TRUEOh, the Places You'll Go! and Help I'm Trapped in a Computer are both text adventures.
Puzzle involving solving a crossword.TRUE
Puzzle involves texting a phone number.TRUE✏️✉️➡️3️⃣5️⃣1️⃣➖6️⃣6️⃣6️⃣➖6️⃣6️⃣5️⃣5️⃣ involves texting a phone number
Puzzle involving great circle mapping.TRUETwins involves great circle mapping.
Puzzle about chess.TRUEMaseeh Hall is about chess.
Puzzle involving knitting.FALSECross-Stitched Words is about cross-stitching, which is not knitting.
Puzzle involving liquids distributed to teams.TRUEWater Bottle involves this.
Puzzle involving long division.FALSE
Puzzle involving Huffman coding.TRUEA subpuzzle of Extensive involves Huffman coding (specifically kah.lua).
Puzzle about combinatorial game theory.FALSE
Puzzle without any words other than the title.TRUE✏️✉️➡️3️⃣5️⃣1️⃣➖6️⃣6️⃣6️⃣➖6️⃣6️⃣5️⃣5️⃣, Enclosures, Circles, Common Knowledge, Things and many other puzzles all have no words beyond their titles.
Puzzle involves solfège.TRUEBaker House involves solfège.
Puzzle involves rearranging trigrams.TRUEAs discussed above, several puzzles involve trigram rearrangement.
Puzzle page without any content other than the title.TRUE✏️✉️➡️3️⃣5️⃣1️⃣➖6️⃣6️⃣6️⃣➖6️⃣6️⃣5️⃣5️⃣ has no other content on the puzzle page itself.
Puzzle about sewing.TRUECross-Stitched Words is about cross-stitching, a form of sewing.
Puzzle involving more than five Taylor Swift songs.FALSERecursion, several instances of Unchained, and Dorm Row do involve Swift songs, but no puzzle involves more than five.
Puzzle includes vowels but no consonants.FALSE
Puzzle about K-Pop.FALSE
Puzzle is a murder mystery.FALSE
Puzzle page includes at least 3 different IATA airport codes.TRUEBad Air Day includes many IATA airport codes.
Puzzle printed on a face mask.FALSE
Puzzle involving gather.town.FALSE
Puzzle involving Among Us.FALSE
Puzzle involving resistor color codes.TRUEA Bit of Light involves resistor color codes in extraction.
Puzzle with multiple answers.FALSE
Puzzle about Mahjong.FALSE
Puzzle is a Duck Konundrum.FALSEEverybody Dance Now is a dance conundrum, but there are no Duck Konundra.
Puzzle about bridge or poker.FALSE
Puzzle references the US 2020 election.FALSE
Puzzle using information embedded in an email sent before hunt.FALSE
Solved a puzzle in less than 5 minutes after unlocking it.TRUERule of Three is solved immediately upon unlocking the ⊥IW.nano round.
Puzzle involving tangrams.FALSE
Puzzle involving stock symbols.FALSE
Puzzle referencing the MBTA subway map.TRUERunaround Training references the MBTA subway (along with many other subway systems).
Puzzle involving Bacon's cipher.FALSE
Puzzle involves the FAQ page.TRUEOver 9,000: an Abbreviated Yet Awesome Tour Of Your First Equally Excellent Puzzle Mechanic involves indexing into an entry in the FAQ page.
Puzzle involves constructing an electronic circuit.FALSE

Dynamic Statements:

StatementValueNotes
Made more than {} guesses on a single puzzle.TRUEWe set this number to one less than the maximum number of guesses a team placed on any puzzle at the time they unlocked.
Requested at least three hints on one puzzle.TRUEWe included this statement if and only if it was true.
This puzzle unlocked before 6pm EST Saturday.?We set the value of this statement dynamically based on when the team unlocked this puzzle.
Solved our first puzzle within the first 10 minutes of hunt.?We set the value of this statement dynamically based on the time it took teams to solve their first puzzle.
Solved our first meta within an hour of unlocking it.?We set the value of this statement dynamically based on the time it took teams to solve their first metapuzzle.

As clued by one of the statements, if we fill in the true statements in the bingo boards and arrange the 25 grids in a 5 x 5 grid (thus making a 25 x 25 grid), we’ll produce a QR code which contains the answer to the puzzle: IN PROGRESS.

QR code decoding to the answer IN PROGRESS

We can use some of the standard features of QR codes (the finder patterns, timing patterns, and even the format info string) to confirm this theory and even disambiguate some statements. The code also has enough error correction built-in to withstand a handful of incorrectly answered statements.

Authors’ Notes

JS: When participating in Mystery Hunt, Rahul and I always look forward to rigging generating our Bingo board each year, and we thought it would be neat to turn this tradition into a puzzle.

RS: We intentionally set this puzzle as the last regular puzzle to unlock during hunt, hoping that teams would enjoy looking back on all the puzzles they had solved.