2000 Meta

by Mike Sylvia

ANSWER: NIKOLI LOST IN Y-TWO-K

 

The answers from this round are:

Number/NameAnswer
6.1. (missing)
6.2. A Potential ProblemISAK
6.3. Quick PawsOCD
6.4. (missing)
6.5. (missing)
6.6. Doctor of ThinkologyTO
6.7. Hot IceBIO
6.8. The RainbowKIND
6.9. Side by Side by SideTONYS
6.10. (missing)
6.11. (missing)
6.12. Bits and PiecesBIN
6.13. (missing)
6.14. A Letter to the Prince of KongISCI
6.15. Card TricksLAD
6.16. (missing)
6.17. The Capricious TypeS

The hint puzzle spells out SET THREE PASSWORD:

  • SE (Japanese kana)
  • TTH (NYSE symbol for exchange traded fund)
  • R (see A Word a Day for example)
  • EEP ("Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah" from The Jetsons)
  • AS
  • SWORD

This refers to the password from Set 3 of the real 2000 Mystery Hunt which is HOURGLASS. This hint and the short, sometimes strange answers suggests crossing them to form an hourglass shape. Keeping them in the order presented, using the first 9 (including missing ones) for the rows and the rest as diagonals, you get:

_ I L _ S
 I S A K
  O C D
   _ I
    _
   T O
  B I O
 K I N D
T O N Y S

Filling in the missing bits gives the long diagonal as LION WOODS, the name and password that would have been required for the 2000 Hunt structure. However, the flavor text tells us to look beyond this:

L I L O S
 I S A K
  O C D
   N I
    W
   T O
  B I O
 K I N D
T O N Y S

The missing answers are LILOS, NI, W, T, KO, TINY, and OK. When ordered with the flavor texts they spell the answer NIKOLI LOST IN Y-TWO-K.

  • NI (quotes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
  • KO (as in knockout)
  • LILOS (a brand of air mattress)
  • TINY
  • T
  • W (Oliver Stone film)
  • OK

Upon completing this meta, the following link to supplementary information is revealed on the index page: