Blown Away Puzzle Solutions 13 December 1994 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents * Access Panel * TV Game * Video Poker * Hostage Clues * Fuse Box * Lab Room Maze * Mercury Puzzle * Phone Game * 4 x 4 Puzzle * Intelligence Puzzle * Code Word/Audio Scramble * Grid Game * Detonator * 1-3-5-7 Switch Game * Slider Puzzle --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Access Panel 20 points Use a 3 x 3 magic square: [Image]Access Panel --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TV Game 0 points SIGHT --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Video Poker Left: TOY Center: LOCK Right: DAME --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hostage Clues Bookcase: Elephant, Answering machine, Bird book Keys: City key above plant, Bookshelf, Rebecca book Bookcase: Duck, Airplane, Coffee table: Stamp book --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fuse Box One of many solutions: 1 3 4 8 5 7 6 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lab Room Maze 110* 114 144* 142 163 141* 199 HMC* --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mercury Puzzle [Image]Mercury Puzzle >: Set valve pointing right before blobs begin flowing R: Select this valve direction for red blob Y: Select this valve direction for yellow blob B: Select this valve direction for blue blob Note: Cannot do anything about yellow blob to upper-right selection valve or blue blob to center selection valve, but strategy should account for sufficient number of blobs to empty source containers before detonating explosive. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phone Game 40 points Average the integers, or find the missing integer-group rotation. Use * to select digit, use * when finished. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 x 4 Puzzle 30 points Use a 4 x 4 magic square: [Image]4 x 4 Puzzle --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Intelligence Puzzle 30 points PILOT STEER COW STUFF PACK GROUP CIVIL FAIR LIGHT JOKE CRACK BREAK PREY GAME SPORT KITTY POT PAN Note: Trying all letters will eventually force the correct answer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Code Word/Audio Scramble 60 points Some code words: YAW, ROLL, PILOT, PITCH, GEAR, IMAGINE, JOYSTICK, FLIERS Press number key 1-3 times to select letter from triplet, press * when finished. Audio: Put all colors outside ("MONUMENT"), then press ENGINE ENGAGE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grid Game To move in a direction away from a wall, select a card having the wall suit. For example, to move up must select a club. Follow directions given by hostage. May not want to land on any previously-visited spot. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Detonator 20 points Code to enter is ACE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1-3-5-7 Switch Game 80 points In this game, you take turns with Justus turning on electrical switches until only one is left off. The player who is left with the last off switch loses. In each turn, each player can turn on one or more switches in any one of four switch boxes. It turns out that you can always force a win to this game since Justus always goes first. No matter what Justus does, you can always alter the arrangement he's left you so that ultimately he is left with the last off switch. The configuration of remaining off switches at the beginning of any turn can be completely described by four numbers ordered from smallest to largest. For example, 0224 indicates one switch box having no off switches remaining, two switch boxes with two switches off in each, and one switch box with four switches off. The strategy is not concerned with which boxes have these switches off, only that the numbers of off switches are 0, 2, 2 and 4 in increasing order. It is irrelevant whether the box with 4 off switches remaining has a total of 7 switches, or 5. Using this notation, the off-switch configurations range from 1357 (at the beginning of Justus' first turn) to 0001 (game over for whoever's turn it is), for a total of 142 different configurations. For any configuration you are faced with at the beginning of your turn, you need to turn switches on so that the configuration is converted into one for Justus' next turn that ultimately will result in him losing. For example, if you have configuration 0224 at the beginning of your turn, you can convert it to 0022 by throwing all remaining off switches in whichever box has the 4 off switches. It's easy to see that 0022 is a losing configuration for Justus: if he throws one switch to change the configuration to 0012, you will throw both remaining off switches in one box; if he throws both switches in a box to change the configuration to 0002, you need only throw one of the remaining off switches. Either way, Justus is left with the final losing configuration 0001. See 1357.TXT for a table of all possibilities. You have five minutes to win the game.