I Spy Solution

How It Works

Overview

Teams try to identify which photos have been taken from or near US 2 along the route that they will be driving, crossing them off as they are identified. The assumption is that all should be visible from their car as they drive by. The remaining data is a LOGO program which draws a map with x marking the destination.

How the Data is Encoded

  • Each photo has a line of LOGO code attached
  • Photos identifiable from US 2 have bogus code
  • After eliminating bogus code, the remaining LOGO code draws a map of Leavenworth with an X
  • The X is on an island in Waterfront Park, where they will find Tom and get directions to next puzzle
  • After reaching Leavenworth, teams should be able to solve the puzzle even if they missed a few photos through some deductive reasoning/fuzzing
  • Observant teams should be able to solve the puzzle after processing about half the LOGO code, in case they are doing so by hand (and to relieve general tedium)

Puzzle Details

  • There are 12 pages, each with 8 photos
  • Photos are in geographical order per page (to help with self verification)
  • Photos are grouped roughly by subject (to ease spotting and alleviate stress)
  • Each page contains 4 valid lines of LOGO code (to help with self verification)
  • Each pair of pictures (a single column when the paper is held in landscape mode) contains one valid and one invalid picture (to help with self verification)
  • A bounding box is drawn in the first page of code (to help with self verification)
  • All valid angles (turn commands) are in multiples of 45 degrees, the others are bogus (to help with manual execution of the code)
  • All lengths are short whole units that are divisible by 10 (to help and encourage manual execution of the code)
  • The X is drawn on the map on page 6 (to help enable short-circuit/fuzzing)
  • Only full symbols are used rather than abbreviations (to help identify the code as LOGO)
  • A special symbol has been introduced for repeats, meaning put the next full caption in place of the symbol, this is pretty clearly stated in the directions, but people still mess it up

LOGO software

  • The Windows Phone app "Pocket Turtle" was developed specifically for this puzzle, and teams were directed to use it if they asked
  • Despite being a vectored language, most LOGO applications are raster, and therefore suck if the scale is not correct
  • Most LOGO applications are not written by professionals, and therefore suck in general
  • AUCB Logo is a little less sucky than most for the PC

Solution

The true answer is a location on a map; teams go there. Tom should be sitting near the blackberry sign at the center of the island, and will give them an answer based on what they're doing next.

BLACKBERRY / BLUEBERRY

Design Notes

Construction Notes

GC Notes