Following is a list of the nonsense words in the order in
which they appear on the sheet (before the interchanges specified by the
special puzzle). The first word of the solution pair is shown in front of each
nonsense word, with the replacement word following.
Note that "Red" and "herring" are missing from the list because step 15
is a red herring.
- BASEboard is replaced by BOSTON
- RAPport is replaced by ACROSS THE HALL
- FREEway is replaced by 186
- SKYlight is replaced by EAST
- SUNday is replaced by BLAST FURNACE
- CORNERstone is replaced by 180 DEGREES
- BRAINwash is replaced by WIDDERSHINS
- SOMEwhere is replaced by 58
- EYEsore is replaced by DOOR
- EARmark is replaced by ON THE RIGHT
- CARrot is replaced by EXIT
- DISCover is replaced by 120
- WINDfall is replaced by PANE
- RAGweed is replaced by NORTH
- SNOWshoe is replaced by RIGHT
- SOFTball is replaced by T
- BEDbug is replaced by RIGHT
- FIREfly is replaced by WEST
- BARNstorm is replaced by SOUTH
- HEADset is replaced by NEXT
- RINGside is replaced by LEFT
- BACKlash is replaced by END
- CONfuse is replaced by LEFT
- LIFEboat is replaced by MANOMET
- KEYnote is replaced by BASEMENT
- AIRlift is replaced by ON THE FAR SIDE OF THIS CORRIDOR
- SHORTcake is replaced by TEN
- HANDhold is replaced by OVERHEAD LIGHT FIXTURE
- HORSEplay is replaced by DOWN
- MEANwhile is replaced by 630 DEGREES
- DECKroom is replaced by DEASIL
- DATEline is replaced by NEW SALEM
- NIGHTtime is replaced by BLACK
The Path Around Campus
Start in MIT Lobby 7 (given in one of the puzzles).
- Walk east until you reach the blast furnace.
"Blast furnace" here refers to the wall display about blast
furnaces next to the door to 8-110.
- Add the zip code of New Salem to the number on the black door and find
the door with that number.
The number on the black door is 8-110, and the zip code of New
Salem is 01355, so the room we want is 9-465.
- The door across the hall is alpha, the final step on the path takes you
to omega; the coin is exactly 186 percent of the way from alpha to
omega.
Alpha is 9-466.
- Walk towards Boston.
"Boston" here refers not to Boston in reality, but to an aerial
photograph of Boston mounted on the wall at the end of the
corridor, through the double doors. (The organizers made sure
that the double doors were open so that you could see the photo
easily.)
- Turn right and follow the corridor.
- Until you have counted 58 doors on the right.
The doors here include the doors on the lockers. Note that the
lockers are stacked two high.
- Go through the door marked EXIT.
This door is on your left.
- Continue down completing a total of 630 degrees deasil.
"Deasil" is an obscure word meaning clockwise. In other words,
go down the stairs until you have rotated 630 degrees clockwise
about your own vertical axis. ("Clockwise" of course means from
the perspective of someone looking down at you from above.)
- Turn 180 degrees widdershins and meander along this pathway.
"Widdershins" is an obscure word meaning counterclockwise. You
are not supposed to do an exact about face in place; rather, you
are supposed to turn left twice in succession, taking you around
the wall.
- Upon arriving at the T turn right.
- Journey until you have passed ten overhead light fixtures.
Nine of these are fluorescent and one is incandescent.
- Pass through the door on the south.
It's the only door nearby.
- Enter the next door on the left.
- Follow this passage to the end and pass through the door there.
- (there is no longer a number 15!)
- Note the room number immediately ahead of you on the left, remove any
digits in the zip code of Manomet and go there.
Don't look at the door; look on the plaque on the wall, which has
the room number 37-241 on the left. The zip code of Manomet is
02345; removing these digits leaves 7-1, which is the number of
the elevator in Lobby 7 near the phones.
- Proceed to the basement and go through the double doors.
The "double doors" refer to the doors of the elevator.
- And reverse the digits of the number on the door on the far side of
this corridor and go there.
The number on the door is 7-014; reversing gives 4-107, which is
in the infinite corridor.
- Journey west.
- Continue in this direction until you have enumerated 120 panes on the
north side of this corridor.
There is some possibility of confusion here. One way of getting
the right number of panes is as follows: *don't* count the panes
of room 4-107 itself, the panes on the switchboard on the west-
facing wall fragment at the "kink" in the corridor, or any panes
*inside* the BayBank ATM room; also ignore building 13 and any
panes you see in there. *Do* count panes on wall displays and
notices and switchboards and on the door of the ATM room. The
120th pane will then be on room 3-101, which is a female toilet.
- Add the digits of the door together then go to that building and locate
the door that says the same thing as the door you were just at.
Adding the digits gives 5, and the female toilet in building 5
is room 5-116. This is omega. Where is the point 186% of the
way from 9-466 to 5-116? Do not try to do this geographically;
do it arithmetically: 186% of the way from 9466 to 5116 is 1375.
The coin, an Indian head penny, is located at room 1-375.
The End of the Hunt
The coin, an Indian head penny, was hidden in an envelope labelled "Tim Hunt: Sorry I missed you. A.P."
attached to the door to room 1-375.