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The Final Hedge Maze (Runaround)

After solving the first three phases of the final runaround -- the Duchess, the Queen of Hearts, and the Lion and the Unicorn -- teams now have three new objects which correspond to Alice's weaknesses: a mirror from the Duchess (for EISOPTROPHOBIC), a down pillow from the Queen of Hearts (for ALLERGIC TO DOWN), and a giant chess piece from the Lion and the Unicorn (for BORED TO PIECES BY GAMES). At this point, the Cheshire Cat says:

Lovely! Those gifts are quite interesting, aren't they? I do believe that they might be useful in running that beast of a girl out of Wonderland. Or maybe not. You never really know, do you? That's life! We'd certainly appreciate it if you tried, though. Would you like to try to use these objects to get rid of Alice? [Pause to let teams cheer and say yes... we hope] I believe she was last seen that way [points wrong way] -- no wait, this way [points up]. No, no, no... oh, just follow me.

At this point, teams are led to Lobby 7 (or perhaps Lobby 13) where a hedge maze is set up on the checkerboard pattern on the floor.

The Cheshire Cat explains what is about to happen:

We hear that Alice is headed this way - she should be here any minute. If you're going to get her out of Wonderland, you've got to prepare. Alice loves to play in this hedge maze, but a rabbit hole has opened up at the end of it. If you clever folks can get Alice through this maze, she'll be back at MIT and out of Wonderland's hair. Be careful, though - we need to keep the poor White Rabbit here in Wonderland. It would be such a shame to lose him. But of course, as this is a Wonderland maze, it's not quite like your ordinary mazes. Following these rules should help you get Alice through while saving the White Rabbit.

Rules and Instructions

Alice enters the hedge maze at the blue arrow walking East (up in the image), holding the White Rabbit.

Goal: Get Alice into the rabbit hole without the White Rabbit.

Task: Place one mirror, one down pillow, and one chess piece into squares of the maze.

Movement Rules

Alice with rabbit: When holding the rabbit, Alice will take one step every clock tick. She will try in the following order: { forward, right, left, backward } relative to the direction she is facing, as the hedges and walls allow. After stepping, she turns to face the direction in which she stepped.

Alice without rabbit:: When Alice is not holding the rabbit, she will take one step closer to the rabbit, moving East / West if she can, otherwise North / South. If she cannot take any single step to get closer to the rabbit, she will stand still, facing the rabbit.

If Alice and the rabbit are ever in the same square, she will grab him, even if she is stunned or sleeping.

Rabbit: The rabbit will hop one square every other clock tick, moving before Alice. After hopping, he turns to face the direction in which he hopped. He prefers to alternate hopping to the right and left. That is, if his last turn was right, he will try to hop { left, right, forward, backward }; if his last turn was left, he will try to hop { right, left, forward, backward }. On his first hop after being dropped by Alice, he prefers hopping to the right. He never enters the rabbit hole, which effectively presents a wall for him. He is unaffected by the placed obstacles.

Obstacles

Alice's movement is affected any time she steps into a square with an obstacle. A square can only contain a single obstacle.

Chess piece: If Alice ever enters into a square with a chess piece, she will yawn and take a nap [ stay in the same square ] for the next clock tick.

Mirror: If Alice ever enters into a square with a mirror, she will scream, turn 180 degrees, and run one square straight forward [ putting her back in the square she came from, facing away from the mirror ].

Down pillow: If Alice ever steps into a square with a down pillow, she will sneeze:

  • If she is holding the white rabbit, she will drop him in that square, facing forwards.
  • She will stumble one step { forward, right, left, backward }.
  • She will pause the next clock tick to clear her head.

So for example:

  • <tick>
    • Alice enters a square with a pillow
    • Alice sneezes and drops the rabbit
    • Alice stumbles forward
  • <tick>
    • Rabbit hops
    • Alice stays put
  • <tick>
    • Alice steps
  • <tick>
    • Rabbit hops
    • Alice steps
  • <tick>
    • Alice steps
  • <tick>
    • Rabbit hops
    • Alice steps
  • et cetera

When Alice enters a square with the rabbit, she picks up the rabbit and resumes her default motion from the next tick.

Obstacle Interactions

If Alice runs away from the mirror into the chess piece: She will take a nap on the following clock tick.

If Alice stumbles into the chess piece after encountering the down pillow: She will take a nap to clear her head. She will pause for only one clock tick thereafter.

If Alice stumbles into the mirror after encountering the down pillow: She will scream, turn, and run back into the down pillow, sneezing again and stumbling again, all in one clock tick. She will pause for only one clock tick thereafter. If she was carrying the White Rabbit at the time, the rabbit will end up facing away from the mirror.

Placing the items

Teams are located on one of the upper floors of building 7, looking down at the hedge maze in the lobby (or looking at a piece of paper with the hedge maze recreated on it as above). When they think they know the proper placement of the three obstacles, they inform the Cheshire Cat. She will then let three people run downstairs and place the items. Teams head back upstairs and Alice will enter the Maze with the rabbit.

If the goal is not met after 10 minutes, Alice and the rabbit will be removed from the maze, at which point the obstacles are returned to the teams and they are allowed to regroup and try again. They may also request a reset by asking the Cheshire Cat to summon the Gryphon to run Alice off at any time.