The Big Treasure Hunt - Hints
Feeling a little lost? Click on the sections below to reveal the hints for each puzzle.
Puzzle 1
1. Looking at the example, what is special about the word “camouflage?” Why might it go under “silver”?
2. Notice the word “periodically”!
3. Each of the answers will contain either “Au” or “Ag”.
4. Put all the “silver” words together and the “gold” words in the right category, keeping the order the same.
5. Notice that the word “first” is bolded!
ANSWER: Take the first letter of each word to get the answer: CHINATOWN GATE.
Puzzle 2
1. Look around. Are there any plaques that contain a sun that looks like the one on the page?
2. The “Chinatown Gateway” plaque has a sun with a corresponding grid of Chinese words below.
3. What might “spaces and punctuations” suggest?
4. Take the letters that correspond to the positions that have spaces and punctuation marks on the actual plaque.
5. Don’t forget to read top to bottom, right to left!
ANSWER: Taking all the letters and reading in the appropriate order gives the answer: SOUTH STN
Puzzle 3
1. Stand a few feet away from one of the entrances to the MBTA South Station stop. Does anything look familiar?
2. Look up!
3. All of the triangles map to one of the structures above the four entrances to the South Station. The bottom right triangle corresponds to station #4
ANSWER: Take the first row of the triangle that maps to 1, the second row of the triangle that maps to 2, and so forth to get the answer: FIRE DEPT.
Puzzle 4
1. Looking at the station, how could you determine the numbers that go with TOWER LADDER, ENGINE, DIVISION, COLLAPSE RESCUE, and RESCUE?
2. Using the numbers for each team, solve the equations.
3. For those only using equations #1 and #2, you will need to use the quadratic equation.
4. PARTIAL ANSWER: X = 2 and Y = 5
ANSWER: Solve the equations in the table and match the numbers back to the alphabet to get the answer: FOG
Puzzle 5
1. As a reminder, 1 is not a prime number!
2. Using clue #3 and #5, we can place numbers 10-14.
3. Using clue #4, we can place numbers “1”, “4”, and “9” in column C.
4. Using clue #5, we can deduce that the prime numbers in column C cannot be “2”. Row 2, Column C is a “3”.
5. Row 4, Column C is either “5” or “7”. If it were “5”, “6” would be unplaceable following all of the rules. Because of this, Row 4, Column C is a 7.
6. Take the letters in the order of the numbers that you’ve figured out.
ANSWER: THE MERRY GO ROUND
Puzzle 6
1. What animals do you see on the outer ring of the carousel?
2. Place the animals in order, bringing the letters with them. The two rabbits can help orient you!
ANSWER: Read the letters to get the answer: THE GREENWAY!
