July 2024 - Road Trip

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Location puzzle

In the flavor text, what do you think “mixed up” refers to?
If you anagram the headlines, you should get words or phrases that match what the highlighted portions of story synopses.
For example, SOD OF FAT anagrams to FAST FOOD.
DESTINATIONS, FAST FOOD, INTERSTATE, TOGETHER
These four road trip related words fit into the four overlapping “roads,” but which one goes where?
Did you notice that two of the words have unique lengths?
Once you have them all filled in, can you figure out what “along those lines” might refer to?
ON THE ROAD AGAIN

What code comes to mind when you read “none left” and “one right?”
Can you think of a way to spell out “P-L-I-N-K-O-P-L-I-N-K-O-G-O-C-H-I-P-G-O” in binary?
As you drop the first chip, the first letter, P (10000 in binary), would mean that chip bounced right, left, left, left, left. Where would that chip end up?
This first “P” chip would end up in the second column from the left and would go all the way to the bottom where it would cover the letter “L.” What about the remaining 19 chips?
The letters get covered in this order: LAST LETTER OF EACH LINE
Reading top to bottom the very last letter in each line of flavor text gives the solution: “FALL WHERE THEY MAY.” (As in “Let the chips fall where they may.”)

What does rule #2 tell us about the path we must take through this maze?
Since we must alternate – over-under-over-under, there are certain paths that lead to dead ends: two overpasses in a row or two underpasses.
Other dead ends occur when they force you to violate rule number 1.
The correct path passes over these letters in this order: O N L H Y W T T E M O H O N E S W E H E W E X E N W E D C T O M W I O O E T X O I T. But that’s not how you’re supposed to read it!
Did you keep track of every time you re-crossed your own path in the order that it was re-crossed?
WHEN WE COME TO IT

What letter in WHITE could be exchanged for one of the letters in SCALD (same location) to make a valid 5-letter word?
WHITE -> WHILE… What would the rest of this series be?
WHITE -> WHILE -> WHALE -> SHALE -> SCALE -> SCALD, and what replacement order does that have?
The replacement order for WHITE -> -> SCALD is 4,3,1,2,5. That’s important!
Ladder-matched pairs: BEAST-> -> LATCH WHITE -> -> SCALD KNACK -> -> SLIME CLAMP-> -> FLESH ROMAN -> -> WAKED PLATE -> -> BENCH TERSE -> -> CHARM THICK -> -> SCONE
Have you drawn nice straight lines connecting these pairs? What do you notice?
See how each line cuts across 5 letters? And see how the remaining letters are in clusters separated by the lines?
Read each cluster left to right
READ EACH LINE IN THE ORDER IN WHICH LETTERS WERE CHANGED
USE ONLY THE THIRD CHANGED LETTER IN EACH SERIES
SWAP MEET

Cut out and examine all eleven heptominoes. Which one would be the easiest to start with?
Try the “snake-shaped” one which has “= 18 ÷ 6” in it. Since that equals 3, can you find one or two other pieces that might go to the left of it that would also represent 3?
One piece has “20 –” and a second piece has a “17” that together could fit with the “= 18 ÷ 6” piece.
The bottom five equations read top to bottom are: 20-17=18÷6 10=4x9-26 22÷2-7=4 14+15=8+21 and 5=20÷20+4
The top six equations read top to bottom are: 16÷4 =1+3 25=2x12+1 7x4-23=5 22-9=1x13 21=2xSQRT25+11 24+3-19=8
What do you think “fifth” refers to in the flavor text?
What code do you think could be used on the numbers that run down the fifth column of the math fact grid?
ALWAYS RIGHT

What do you think “four, five, maybe six letters” in the flavor text refers to?
Take all the words from the four puzzles that are 4, 5 or 6 letters long and add them to the list of other words already started.
ALIENS, ALWAYS, CHIP, COME, EAGER, FAKE, FALL, HAZY, MATH, MEET, RIGHT, SWAP, THEY, WHEN, WHERE, WIPE
Can you find all those words in the word search? What else do you find?
You should be able to find a few of them. What else can you find?
You should find these in the word search as well: THESE WORDS WILL GET LOST FOLDING and FOLDS SHALL COVER UP THESE WORDS ALSO
Can you fold the word search table so that those two areas are not visible anymore. This should take just four creases total – two vertical and two horizontal.
Now can you find the rest of the words from the list?
What do you think “pretty pitiful Big Ben" refers to?
The found words, together with some of the graphics from the grid should form shapes of a recognizable code.
Read the pig pen code “west to east.”
DETOUR

To determine the order in which the pool balls are shot, how many different ways can you break up IIVIVIIIIIVIIIIVIXIV into Roman numerals for 1-9 with no repeats?
Believe it or not, there are only two ways to break up IIVIVIIIIIVIIIIVIXIV into Roman numerals for 1-9 with no repeats.
The two possible sequences that the pool balls were shot into their pockets are: 2 6 7 3 8 4 9 1 5 or 2 6 7 3 8 1 5 9 4. Which of these can be ruled out using the other clues.
The sequence of shots is 2->RS, 6->BLC, 7->RS, 3->TLC, 8->BLC, 4->TLC, 9->TRC, 1->TLC, 5->BLC
In the flavor text, what do you think the word “flag” refers to?
This puzzle uses semaphore code.
What do you notice about the path followed by the cue ball and the ball it hits?
The first shot has the cue ball traveling NE, and then the #2 ball after bouncing off the top cushion travels SE into the left side hole. What semaphore letter matches this combined path?
The semaphore letters in order of shots taken: NEROEODSK
What would be another way to order the letters?
SNOOKERED

What indication is there as to whether or not the letters in the license plates are significant?
The letters read in order: THESE LETTERS DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING!
What specific body part is prominently featured in the puzzle?
What is the child's index finger touching?
What could be used to index into the state names?
Indexing 4, 2 and 8 for example in the first license plate into the word NEBRASKA gives REA...
READ THIRD LETTER OF MOTTO IN ORDER VISITED
What is the order in which these thirteen states were visited?
CONTIGUOUS FUN