All The Wrong Places

Anand Sarwate

HINTS:
SOLUTION:

The words "list" and "connections" clue for craigslist.org, which has a category for "missed connections" in the personals area. If you went to .craigslist.org you'd see one of the 7 postings in below (appended at end for reference).

The hunters would then have to respond to the address in the personals ad. Once they responded, they would be sent a flirty email that reads: "I love smart puzzle solvers! I hope you know how to put two and two together," followed by one of these seven clues.

Chicago: Og said he wanted to find a digeridoo.
San Francisco: Fidgit wanted some vacuum tubes.
New York: Strutter told me he needed a blender.
Boston: Randall wanted a book on Mah Jong.
Los Angeles: Wally had to get a magenta Troll.
Philadelphia: Vermin really wanted a pirate hat.
Portland: Kevin thought he could use a snorkeling mask.

Those lines refer to other posts in the Craigslist for sale section, appropriate to that item. There are two bigrams at the end of each one. Putting them in order (first column is Chicago, etc):

HO UR OF 1/ 14 BL OG
RE AD AB OV EA SI NC
Craig Newmark of craigslist has a blog, on which he posted on 1/14 at 5. Thus the hour is 5. Looking "above" on the keyboard, we see "%". Read as if in C (the language), this is MODULO.


Here are the emails posted on craigslist:

(CHICAGO)

short pirate in bucktown -- board my vessel

I saw you at the Western stop.  I was wearing the bright pink coat
with the blue earmuffs.  You were wearing a pirate hat with an
eyepatch.  Did you see me?  Email me!


---

(SAN FRANCISCO)

 boi on castro shuttle

Those gold chains you were wearing were hot!  I'd like to
see more of your bling bling.  You're welcome to board my
ship anytime, you sexy pirate.  Want to meet at the Cafe
on Friday?

---

(NEW YORK)

arrr, shiver me timbers

You:  short guy with a cutlass between his teeth.
Me:  innocent and vulnerable booty on the corner of
     14th and greenwich st.

I liked what I saw -- did you?  Hit me up at the address
above.

---

(BOSTON)

bald bandit at braintree

You got off the Red Line train and almost knocked me down.
At first I was mad, but then I saw how cute you were in your
pirate costume!  I hope you're reading this.  Please write 
me back...

---

(LOS ANGELES)

nautical naomi missed her pirate pete

I really really wanted to dance with you at the Dresden Room
-- you were the perfect height for me (I don't like tall guys
at all), but you seemed to want to stick to drinking your
rum at the bar.

Maybe some day we'll sail the high seas together.

---

(PHILADELPHIA)

i want to look for buried treasure

You were at the zoo talking to the parrots, and it looked so cute with
your pirate hat on.  We talked about tropical birds for a little bit,
but I never got your number.  Maybe you want to get coffee sometime?
Write me back!

---

(PORTLAND)

short lost pirate

You came into the cafe where I was working, looking for the "land of
ports" which I thought was so cute!  Are you a foriegner visiting,
or do you live here?  Let's try and meet up while I'm here.  Write
me back, xoxo.

Answer: MODULO