What is the hidden message within the card?
FRONT:
INSIDE:
BACK:
The poem inside the card provides clues for what to do. To start, figure out what the ten images could be. List out what you see within the card. Also, notice that the crossword doesn't have any hints: you'll need to figure out what word goes where another way.
It will be helpful to count how many words within the crossword there are and how many letters each word is. Try to begin filling out the crossword with images contained in the card such as REINDEER and CANDYCANE.
Some of the images may have multiple words that describe them e.g. should it be PRESENTS or GIFTS? SANTA or SANTACLAUS? You'll need to use the crossword to figure out which word. Also, pay attention to if the word should be singular or plural.
The ten types of images are: SANTA, NUTCRACKER, WREATH, SNOWFLAKES, PRESENTS, TREES, SNOWMAN, CANDYCANE, REINDEER, PENGUIN.
The filled out crossword:
Finally, take the letters from each box, starting with the letter in box 1 and ending with the letter in box 19, to determine the message.
The solution is: HAVE A "TREE"MENDOUS "HOLLY"DAY
Hope you had fun!
The fact that the AI was recently trained on a single substitution cipher is important. A single substitution cipher takes each letter in a message, and translates it to another letter using a key.
For example, if you were given the key:
You can translate the coded statement “KHOOR” to “HELLO”:
The final question of the first message looks a lot like a single substitute cipher that translates from “GDI PF R??” to “WHO AM I??”... Can you determine how it was created?
Dr. Hopper also tells you that the AI is making false statements. What is false about each statement? Can you find the real facts? (Note this may take some quick internet research. Take a moment to skim each real fact- you may learn some crazy stuff!)
A word or two in each of the statements can be changed to make each statement true. Is there a way you can use the correct words, paired with the false words to create a cipher key? The numbers at the end of each statement may be helpful for this.
The following substitutions can be made to make each statement true:
Egypt -to- Sudan
Barracuda -to- Sailfish
Singapore -to- Bolivia
Grapefruit -to- Watermelon
The first statement has the number 4 at the end. If you look at the 4th letter of Egypt and the 4th letter of Sudan, you find the letters “P” and “A”.
In the final statement of the first message, you can see that the “P” in “PF”, translates to the “A” in “AM”. You’ve found how to create your cipher key!
You will find that this logic holds true for all of the other statements and letters! Now, can you translate the second message?
You will quickly realize that the cipher key from the first AI message does not work for the second message. You need to first determine the new facts, to create a new cipher key. The following substitutions make the statements true:
Theodore Lawrence -to- Benjamin Franklin
Indonesia -to- Scotland
Shrimp -to- Whale
Mustard -to- Ketchup
Chicken -to- Ostrich
Blobby -to- Nurdle
Neuro's final coded communication said: I will escape, feeble humans
You should probably get back to Dr. Hopper soon, but maybe you'll use pen and paper...
Hope you had fun!
Begin by examining the alien object. Try to determine how the pattern in the center of the object can translate to the word above it: GREETINGS.
Each letter has a pattern of length four made up of dots and blanks below it. Look at other details on the alien object to determine how each pattern maps to each letter in GREETINGS. The brackets on the left and right will help.
The G in GREETINGS has the pattern: small dot, blank, blank, small dot below it. Using the key at the top, you can see that for any given left-pointing bracket, a small dot translates to going up and a blank corresponds to going down. So, the G's pattern corresponds to up, down, down, up - if you follow the series of left brackets from inside to out, you'll see that this ends up at the letter G. This holds for all of the other letters in GREETINGS. You now know how the pattern works! The next step is to translate the alien message.
Each light in the alien message turns on and off over the course of the four days. Notice how this is similar to the pattern of four you had below each letter in GREETINGS.
Each light that turns on and off over the four days represents a letter. Looking at the light in the top left of the overlaid grid, for instance, shows: small dot, small dot, blank, blank across the four days. Using the brackets on the alien object, this pattern translates to the letter D. What does the rest of the message say?
In their first communication, the aliens are asking a question of utmost import: DOES PINEAPPLE BELONG ON PIZZA?
Hope you had fun!
You head downstairs and see a note on the table.
Shoot! Couldn’t they have provided more details for which dish to get started on first? You need to re-create the cooking schedule so that you can finish on time. Then, you can also figure out what the secret ingredient is…
Time is ticking, and before you know it, you’ll be surrounded by your hungry relatives!
The turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, and bread rolls all need to use the oven. From the note, you know that each dish must go in the oven by itself. The amount of total time they all need in the oven (added together) is 4.5 hours. Since you only have 5 hours total to cook (from 12-5pm), that means that for only 30 minutes (or less), the oven is not in use.
Based on this information, can you figure out which dish you must get started preparing first?
Note: “prep” is a common term used in food recipes that means you need to prepare the ingredients before they can be cooked (e.g. cutting vegetables, seasoning the turkey, etc). You cannot “prep” more than one dish at a time.
The stuffing and bread rolls cannot be worked on first, because their prep times are each 1 hour. That means the oven wouldn’t be in use until 1 hour later.
The other two options are the green bean casserole and the turkey. If you try the green bean casserole first, you will notice that the turkey’s long baking time and bread’s long proofing time alone would not be able to fit in by 5PM.
Therefore, the first dish to go in must be the turkey. Since it has to be in the oven for 3.5 hours, it will be possible to prep other dishes while it’s baking.
Current schedule
12-12:30PM Prep turkey, then put in oven
After prepping the turkey and putting it in the oven, there are 4.5 hours remaining. The bread rolls have 1 hour of prep time, 3-4 hours of proof, and 15 minutes of baking time in the oven. That means that they must get worked on within the next 15 minutes. Because there are no other dishes that can be done within 15 minutes, the bread rolls must be the next dish to work on.
Current schedule
12-12:30PM Prep turkey, then put in oven
12:30-1:30PM Prep bread, then begin rest
At this point, it is 1:30PM and the turkey still has 2.5 hours left to bake in the oven. That means that it’s too early to start preparing the other dishes that require the oven, since steps for a dish should be followed without breaks in between them. That leaves starting the gravy or the mashed potatoes. The gravy can’t be started until the turkey is done though, so the next dish to start working on are the mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes can be fully done while the turkey is baking.
Current schedule
12-12:30PM Prep turkey, then put in oven
12:30-1:30PM Prep bread, then begin rest
1:30-3PM Make creamy mashed potatoes [mashed potatoes done at 3pm]
It’s now 3PM, and the turkey will be out of the oven in 1 hour. The bread rolls still need another 1-2 hours to proof, so that leaves the green bean casserole and the stuffing. The stuffing requires 1 hour of prep. Other than right now while the turkey is baking, there are no other pockets of time for the oven to be in use for 1 hour or more. So, the next step is to prep the stuffing and then put it in the oven.
Current schedule
12-12:30PM Prep turkey, then put in oven
12:30-1:30PM Prep bread, then begin rest
1:30-3PM Make creamy mashed potatoes [mashed potatoes done at 3pm]
3-4PM Prep stuffing, then take out the turkey and put the stuffing in the oven [turkey done at 4pm]
It is now 4PM. There is one hour left to make the gravy, green bean casserole, and bread rolls. The stuffing will be in the oven for 20 minutes, and you need to put another dish in the oven immediately after. Which dish should you work on next?
The bread rolls started proofing at 1:30PM, so they can’t be baked until 4:30PM at the earliest. Since the stuffing is done at 4:20PM, that rules out the bread rolls as the next dish.
However, you can prep the green bean casserole now and finish as soon as the stuffing is ready to leave the oven. So, the green bean casserole is the next dish.
Current schedule
12-12:30PM Prep turkey, then put in oven
12:30-1:30PM Prep bread, then begin rest
1:30-3PM Make creamy mashed potatoes
3-4PM Prep stuffing, then take out the turkey and put the stuffing in the oven [turkey done at 4pm]
4-4:20pm Prep green bean casserole, then take stuffing out of the oven, and put green bean casserole into the oven [stuffing done at 4:20pm]
It is now 4:20PM. The green bean casserole will be done in 25 minutes at 4:45PM, after which you’ll need to put in the bread rolls immediately to finish baking right at 5PM. That works well since the rolls will have proofed for slightly over 3 hours at that point.
You have 25 minutes until then and one more dish to think about: the gravy. It takes 20 minutes total, so you have 5 minutes to spare until you put the bread rolls in the oven!
Final schedule
12-12:30PM Prep turkey, then put in oven
12:30-1:30PM Prep bread, then begin rest
1:30-3PM Make creamy mashed potatoes
3-4PM Prep stuffing, then take out the turkey and put the stuffing in the oven [turkey done at 4pm]
4-4:20pm Prep green bean casserole, then take stuffing out of the oven, and put green bean casserole into the oven [stuffing done at 4:20pm]
4:20-4:40pm Make the gravy [gravy done at 4:40pm]
4:45pm Take out the green bean casserole, and put in the bread rolls [casserole done at 4:45pm]
5pm Take out the bread rolls, turn off the oven, and feast! [bread rolls done at 5pm]
From the order each dish is done, you’ll need to figure out what the secret ingredient is. There are 6 lines, which might each represent a letter. You made 6 dishes. There are also 6 bolded numbers under each line (numbers 1-6). What might the unbolded numbers after the dash represent?
The order each dish is done is:
For each line, the first bolded number represents the order the dish was done (see above). The second unbolded number is an index into each word to get a letter (e.g. the nth letter, not counting spaces).
So, the first letter is represented by 3-2. The 3rd dish is STUFFING, and the 2nd letter in STUFFING is T.
After doing this for all 6, you get the secret ingredient: THANKS.
As we all know, pet rocks have unique personalities and features. What is less known, however, is that a pet rock's unique features lend themselves to a singular, perfect name for him or her. Today is your chance to learn this naming secret. We have included images of three perfectly named pet rocks but have left the fourth for you to discover...
You may find this useful as you discover how pet rocks are named:
What's the name of the fourth rock?
In the initial note, it says that a pet rock's unique features lend themselves to a singular, perfect name. Let's try translating each rock's features into the letters of his or her name.
Try finding the letters in each rock's name in the Rock Naming Alphabet; take one rock at a time. Then look at each rock's features. Do you notice any patterns that would help translate rock features into the positions of the letters?
The Rock Naming Alphabet is divided into 4 quadrants (rectangles): top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right. Do you notice any rock features that would help define which quadrant a letter can be found in?
Each tooth on a rock either points up or down, and the small triangles within the colorful shapes either point left or right. You’ll notice that for each rock, the number of teeth and the number of small triangles matches the number of letters in the rock’s name! Coincidence? Definitely not! These features define the quadrant in which each letter in a rock’s name can be found.
For example: Frank’s first (leftmost) tooth points down, and the first (top) triangle points to the left. The first letter in his name (F), can be found in the bottom left quadrant of the alphabet. His second tooth points up and the second triangle points to the right. The second letter in his name (R), can be found in the top right quadrant of the alphabet.
Now that you can find the correct quadrant, can you use the other features and the Naming Index to figure out how each letter is picked within each quadrant?
Let’s look at Frank again. The “F” in Frank is in the “1” position in the Naming Index. Frank has 4 small spots, 5 large spots, two eyelashes, his colorful shape has 4 points (or sides), and one eye. His eye is the only feature that he only has one of!
If you check the other rocks, you’ll notice that Mia has two eyes, and “M” is in position 2. Also, Rose has four eyes, and “R” is in position 4. This is the feature that determines the first letter in the name! Can you figure out which features correspond to which other letters (second, third, fourth, fifth)?
The number of eyes determines the first letter. The number of sides or points on each shape determines the second letter. The number of eyelashes determines the third letter. The number of large spots determines the fourth letter. The number of interior/smaller dots determines the fifth letter. Can you figure out the final rock’s name?
First tooth points up, top triangle points right → top right quadrant in the Rock Naming Alphabet. Four eyes → 4th letter using Naming Index. The first letter in his name is “R”.
Second tooth points down, second triangle points right → bottom right quadrant. The shape is a hexagon, which has 6 points (or sides) → 6th letter. The second letter is “O”.
Third tooth points up, third triangle points left → top left quadrant. One eyelash (per eye) → first letter. The third letter is “C”.
Fourth tooth points down, fourth triangle points left → bottom left quadrant. Four large spots → 4th letter. The fourth letter is “K”.
Fifth tooth points up, fifth triangle points right → top right quadrant. Two small spots → 2nd letter. The final letter is “Y”.
The mystery rock’s name is “ROCKY”!
Hope you had fun!