The Oracle

Owner:

Greg

Solution:

INTUITION

Partial Answers

N/A

GC Notes:

GC to update day-of-game.

Presentation:

Teams enter a room with a bunch of things:

• A 100x18 grid of Wingdings on the wall

• A monitor that displays a blank white screen

• A touch screen with buttons representing the symbols present on the wall.

They're given a mask, and told that one team member must wear the mask until they're told to switch.

Walkthrough:

This is a communication puzzle, with the twist that the team isn't physically separated. The person who puts on the mask can (by magic) see what's on the blank monitor. The goal of each step is to communicate what they see, figure out what symbol the ? represents, and touch that symbol.

The two mandatory switch points separate the symbols into three "phases." In Phase 1, they see a configuration of symbols with one or two question marks, and they have to find those symbols on the wall. In Phase 2, they see a configuration of question marks, and they have to find a place where a single symbol appears in that pattern. In Phase 3, they see clues that indicate a column, and they have to touch the top symbol of the column.

After they do all that, the touch screen will be replaced with some odd markings that are similar to the ones on the mask, and the monitor will show a picture of the mask. They need to superimpose the symbols on the screen with the symbols on the mask. The mask as shown is in the correct orientation, but they need to realize that the eyeholes of the mask and the stylized eye in the center are also parts of letters (I's, as it would happen) Doing so will give the answer, INTUITION.

Hinting:

Common places where teams struggle / suggestions for hinting them through it.

Data:

All the steps:

Prompt	Answer	Notes
		This introduces the ? rule, touch what you see
		Find the pattern on the wall. (left of center, near the bottom)
		The two boxes here are different. (at the right edge, near the top)
		The symbol appears twice in the pattern (left of center)
		Switch
		This introduces the "configuration of ?s" rule. Find four in a row horizontally (right of center)
		At the bottom, on the left
		This pattern has a gap in it. (at the bottom, near the middle)
		Switch
		This introduces the "top of a column" rule. These are symbols 2-8 in the column. (middle-right)
		Find the column with five flags. (middle-right)
		Find the column with three squares and three waves. (middle-left)
		Find the symbol that doesn't exist anywhere on the wall.

Final step image they see on the monitor:

Final step image they see on the touch screen: (inverted- it's white on black in the original)

Superimposed: