When you solve the meta-puzzle based on the re-solved 2010 puzzles, you get the answer LOOK AROUND ALL PERIODS / AND FILL YOUR CALENDARS / MAKE EVERY SECOND COUNT. You should call this in and it will be confirmed, and you will be encouraged to act on this information. This answer is a puzzle in itself.
The LOOK AROUND ALL PERIODS instruction is to be applied to the supplemental information. Teams reaching this point should have 17 pages of it: 2 versions of the welcome letter from solving the 2010 meta twice, 10 pages about historical changes associated with the 10 historical meta puzzles, and 5 more historical changes associated with events.
Within each page of supplemental information, the letters before and after each period within a paragraph and the letter before each period at the end of a paragraph, in order, spell out an additional message cluing a specific string of text:
Year | Message (and comments) | String |
---|---|---|
2010 | ENTER BOARD FIRST NAMES | Imelda Stuart Kyle Jill Mike Joachim Patrick |
2010 revised | USE BOARD SURNAMES | O'Doul Emit Lamb Cotton Everett LeFay Merks |
2009 | ROOM PAGE PHONY TEAM | Ike "Sweet-Pea" Lacoste's Error of Hygiene |
2005 | EVERY OTHER QUOTE WORD, A FIRST | a simple you blame yes just up its a event |
2000 | ACRONYMS WRITTEN IN THEIR LONG FORMS | Absent Without Leave Department Of Energy Prime Minister World Trade Organization Ante Meridiem Data Encryption Standard American Crossword Puzzle Tournament Post Meridiem Personal Digital Assistant Personal Computer Environmental Protection Agency Central Intelligence Agency Royal Canadian Mounted Police North Atlantic Treaty Organization Columbia Broadcasting System |
1983 | ROT THIRTEEN NATO CHARACTERS (Romeo, Oscar, etc.) | ebbzilidcriewygebcihutltba |
1969 | THE COLORS IN THE LOGO NO LETTERS | aqua bisque violet papayawhip darkblue hotpink tan plum darkolivegreen peru linen salmon darkcyan |
1952 | EACH PLACE NAME PURGED OF FAR LEFT ELEMENT (delete first letters) | spen acoma ew Orleans alo Alto hode Island pokane viedo anhattan incinnati ashington ioux City |
1926 | BEST PICS, NEWEST FIRST | Frost Nixon Michael Clayton Babel Capote Ray Sea Biscuit Chicago In the Bedroom Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon The Sixth Sense Life is Beautiful Titanic Fargo Sense and Sensibility Four Weddings and a Funeral The Remains of the Day Howards End JFK Goodfellas Field of Dreams Rainman The Last Emperor Platoon Witness Amadeus Tender Mercies Tootsie Reds Tess Kramer vs Kramer An Unmarried Woman The Goodbye Girl Bound for Glory Nashville |
1903 | SCRABBLE-LEGAL CODES | AFT OPS AZO EAR MAY WAW OCA BUB INN TIP MAR UGH BEG HET |
1871 | SENTENCES WITH COMMUNARDS TRACK (tracks are Disenchanted, Don't Slip Away, Heavens Above, Forbidden Love) | Especially disenchanted by constant food shortage class division and military disasters its citizens found themselves once again on the brink of revolution In hindsight they may have realized thousands of bureaucrats dont slip away discreetly without anyone getting wind of it A large hat was solemnly raised to the heavens above and from it chosen a random slip of paper Their onetime forbidden love was now by decree de rigueur |
1845 | USE WHOLE PARAGRAPH | Special secret to tell you See damn table What an unfortunate botch Operationally my symbols are fine but those blasted things will set out a heretical term if extended under prevailing protocol Ergo I must pursue this clear step Announcement of novel symbols will follow later this year A chart below contains the new atomic naming Rest assured I will pitch this as a clearer way to write a formula Provoking table sales may also raise cash |
1804 | USE FULL NAMES SW AT ET AC TJ SK AT GD PB RF TH NG SW RD TJ HZ ET SW TF GW DI WH (these are initials, as in the corresponding 2010 puzzle) | Stephanie V Wence Allessandro T Tunheist Eoripedes Thomslot Alfie Salomon Corlik Thomas Jefferson Sinclare F Knerp Allessandro T Tunheist Gramm Dopfel Presbert Ballishar Roger Maw Fretplace Trigg Houfbrow Nevill Graybaark Stephanie V Wence Renee Gia Dowie Thomas Jefferson Herodatus H Zerfby Eoripedes Thomslot Stephanie V Wence Tom Fuprosody George Washington Dick Igraticus Walter D Heelseed |
1786 | WORKS THAT LACK I | Seascape at Brest Baskets of Flowers Dynasty Snowy Grave |
1773 | BEN'S NEWLY MINTED VIRTUES IN ORDER | stench love randomness lust life joy twang zeal hate fame inertia paganism bigamy |
1752 | WORDS THAT REALLY START WITH F (not long s) | federal fifty from furor find fair flipping failure forbid fury forget for future |
1710 | FIRST WORDS OF L F G C E D G A K B H F E H L C H B H D I H D (refers to bridge names) | Watertown Western John Harvard River Cottage John Craigie North Longfellow Anderson Western River Anderson Watertown Harvard Anderson Longfellow Anderson Cottage Eliot Anderson Cottage |
Note that the supplemental information pages were all drafted as images to carefully manage the placement of periods, and never allow them to fall at the end of a line unless they were at the end of a paragraph.
This text then needs to be written into the calendar for the corresponding year in effect in Massachusetts in the year in question. Some of the years are leap years, 1710 is in the Julian calendar, and 1752 is partly in the Julian calendar with a short September when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. Somehow we didn't manage to include one of the calendars from 1800 or 1900 which are not leap years per Gregorian calendar rules, but we have 2000, which was a leap year. If the text is too short, it gets repeated until the calendar is full.
Click to see all calendar fills.
Then the letters that fell on the second of each month must be read. These spell MAKE TIME JUMP / DETECTOR FROM for the two versions of 2010, and a list of the following items for the other supplemental information:
When they call in MAKE TIME JUMP / DETECTOR FROM, they are encouraged to collect the items revealed by the other rounds, but not to actually try to build anything yet. We confirm each item when they call it in, and when they have a complete list and have acquired all the items, they are told "Okay, great! This should be everything we need. Bring all those things to the lab at 34-301, and I'll use them to build the time jump detector for you. You should bring your whole team; history may be in the making!"
Continued in The Final Runaround.