Dance Dance Rebus Solution

How It Works

The printed pieces were all of the same image, just cropped differently to match the calculated coverage values based on their chosen difficulty and accuracy. When teams had enough sections of sufficient size, they were able to piece them together to recreate the original image.

Solution

CUP - C + PEARL + LEFT
+ CORN + HERD - D +
OVEN - N + DIFF + PICK - P
+ SKULL - S + TEA + GRAPH = ?

UP + PERL + LEFT
+ CORN + HER +
OVE + DIFF + ICK
KULL + TEA + GRAPH = ?

UPPPER-LEFT CORNER OF DIFFICULTY GRAPH = ?

The difficulty graph, also known as the "groove radar", is a five-pointed rating system for individual songs. The upper-left point in this system is VOLTAGE, the answer to this puzzle.

Design Notes

The expectation was that every team would have at least one pair of players who could find a song/difficulty level that was manageable, and be able to generate useful pieces of the puzzle. To keep the system from being unfair to brand new players, we implemented a "persistence bonus" that kicked in after 30 minutes or do, and essentially multiplied the piece size by some value from 110-200%. This bonus was applied manually by on-site staff, depending on how well the players were doing. The idea was to be hands-off for the first half hour, so teams had a chance to figure out the system and find players/songs that were compatible. After that, bonus was applied as necessary to ensure that the pieces being printed represented at least 20% of the overall image. From there, every 10-15 minutes resulted in another 20% bonus (roughly, some fudging was done based on how well the players were assembling the puzzle). Teams that were able to generate 45%+ coverage themselves received no bonus.