The Eggs Files II: Step I, Gather Information.

[tablesaw]

The yellow eggs held clues reading: etching, hanging, holy men, up, down, staircase, illusion, and frame. These clues suggested the print of M.C. Escher's "Ascending Descending" hanging in my living room. When the framed picture was removed from the wall, a sheet of paper was found taped to the side. It was a communication from the aliens researching Earth: "Step 1: Gather Information". (Remember, for best results install Catharsis Cargo.) The instructions from Lieutenant Skit-Tee ask Cadet Grumk to find the information listed below, compress the findings using a set of formulae, then call back for further instructions.

To make sure that people didn't try to solve this by jumping onto my computer, I expressly told solvers not to use the "In-tor-net" in their research. The trick here, was that all of the information was findable within my living room, most of it on my coffee table. In fact, solving at home may be impossible because at least one item is definitely not on the Web, and another answer was taken from a cute, but outdated resource.

The formulae have been removed from the online version of the puzzle because they manipulated the numbers to create a phone number. Specifically, the phone number of a very appreciated journal reader, skitty. At my request, she had modified the outgoing message on her voice mail, giving the solvers a final equation. That equation led solvers to my next-door neighbor's house and to the golden egg underneath the decorative numbers of her address.

Background and Construction
The idea of coffee-table trivia came pretty early, and festered for a while. While looking at one of the books which would become a reference, I thought that a Calculatrivia-style quiz would be good, because it would help me narrow down the answers I was looking for around my house, and it would allow me to easily manipulate the answers into an answer-ish form. I collected answers as I cleaned my house. Anytime I found something that was interesting, likely to contain numbers, or that seemed appropriate for my coffee table, I would flip through it looking for some good digits. I collected a small list, and they managed work into the parts of the phone number very well.

Agents in Action
This was the third puzzle found, and it was found pretty easily. My mother and a young cousin picked up on what it meant pretty easily, and they directed my father to take down the picture. I was helping some people get Step Three started, and when I turned around, my father was swinging the print around, showing everyone (except himself, of course) the hidden sheet. Bartok looked at it and said, "Oh great, we're going to have to use the Internet for this one." Alarmed, I pointed out that actually, they probably didn't.

I lost track of this puzzle for a while, and so I can't tell exactly what happened. Most people were focusing on the other puzzles, but after a while, agents returned to it. A few tentative answers had been put in, but most were mysteries. As more people started working on the puzzle, people started to realize that they'd seen related objects before. You see, when DeB and Bartok got arrived earlier than everyone else, they amused themselves by looking at the strange and interesting items on my coffee table. So many of the questions seemed very familiar.

This was the last puzzle completed, and it ended with my mother reading off questions and having everyone else scour my coffee table for books likely to have the answer. When it came time to do the formulas, however, there were some problems. First, I had forgotten to bring a calculator. I thought I had one, but it turned out to be a remote control to a stereo system I never used. So there multiplication bits took a little while. Second, there were two typos in the formulas, causing two of the numbers to be slightly off.

A Digression on Puzzlers and Nonpuzzlers
After this year's roundly criticized MIT Mystery Hunt, one poster on the Grey Labyrinth Forums tried to write about what makes a puzzle "fun" (you have to scroll down to post 63.) I disagreed with much of it, but couldn't quite understand why. After running this mini Hunt geared to nonpuzzlers, I think I can answer.

My first goal, when considering how to ensure that nonpuzzlers would enjoy themsleves, was to focus on action. Every puzzle and part came from me thinking, at some point, "Wouldn't it be cool to do blank!" Emphasis on the do. When designing for puzzlers, often the focus is on subtle variations requiring modifications in the way one thinks or solves, hopefully with pleasing results. But I felt that this approach would fail to grab the interest of already wary nonpuzzlers. If I created a word search with a clever twist (like this one), that won't stop many people from looking at it and thinking, "It's just a word search."

Puzzlers focus on the solution and on the artistry required to bring a solver to the solution. That's what makes puzzles "fun" instead of merely "diverting". Many people do crosswords, a lot of people enjoy the exercise of solving a crossword, but only a few like to talk about how they are made, which ones are best, which ones are innovative, or why some are lacking. Most people see puzzles as obstacles to an answer, rather than a process to enjoy.

All of this is part of why I felt that many of the puzzles cited as "not fun" on On Anon's post about MITMH puzzles were fun. They weren't fun on their own, perhaps; they had boring or tedious parts, perhaps; but they were couched ably in between interesting pieces. I'm a puzzler, and a completionist, and I'll work through parts that aren't singularly thrilling because they are part of a more interesting whole. I'll stress about filling in the last corner of a crossword puzzle long after I've solved the suprising and interesting clues. I'll ponder trivia questions even after the answer from the metapuzzle has been puleld out. But I didn't want to count on nonpuzzlers to do that. It can start to get more of a feel of homework than of a treasure hunt. So I developed a principle on the fly while shepherding the agents (puzzlers and nonpuzzlers alike) through the obstacles: Keep Them Moving

In this instance, I didn't try to find my typos and make the agents resolve the necessary equations. They'd done the fun work. They'd rummaged around my house looking in unlikely places for the answers to unlikely questions. The last bit was just a technical segue. For the hardcore puzzlers, solving the equations correctly would be, if not itself fun, then an integral part of the fun. But for nonpuzzlers, the fun was past. Better for me to quickly play the deus ex machina and hurry them to the answer than force them to focus on the actionless moments of the puzzle.

So, finally armed with the correct phone number, the agents called Commander Skit-Tee. It took them two calls to get the message correctly, but the directions and the number led them clearly down the street. It didn't take long for them to swarm onto my neighbor's yard and grab the egg.

(The puzzle can be solved without being in my living room, but I would say it's decidedly less fun. Anyway, the answers are available, regardless.)