Solution to FedEx
We start by finding the answers to the clues in the word search.
| Clue | Answer |
|---|---|
| Turn a square-rigged ship, in naval jargon | BOXHAUL |
| Where the last Enigma message was sent during WWII | CUXHAVEN |
| Disinter | EXHUME |
| Endless | INEXHAUSTIBLE |
| "Yourselves" case | REFLEXIVE |
| 1729 is this kind of number | TAXICAB |
| Lord _____ (Twitch Plays Pokémon meme) | HELIX |
| Able, super, or uni, e.g. | AFFIX |
Each of these answers contains the letter X, which is always adjacent to either I or H. The word search is also in a square font that leaves no separation between neighboring letters. Upon examining the whitespace between X and I (when horizontal) and X and H (when vertical) in the answers, we notice that each whitespace is shaped like an arrow, similar to the whitespace arrow in the FedEx logo. The 8 arrows are identical except for orientation, and reading them in order gives the directions “up up down down left right left right”.
These directions hint toward the Konami code, a cheat code found in many video games. Solvers must input the full Konami code on the puzzle page: “up up down down left right left right B A”. Once this is done, a doorbell rings, the arrows in the word search that were previously whitespace become colored, and a line of colored numbers appears.
The colors of the arrows correspond to the colors of the numbers: 3 2 5 5 4 5 6 3. For each color, we begin at the corresponding arrow and count letters in the indicated direction equal to the number (including X). This yields the letters B U D A P E S T, which is the answer.
Note: the whitespace between H and V (when vertical) is also shaped like an arrow, but it is not identical to the arrows in the clue answers and therefore not used.