Mystery Hunt 2012 Recast: COMPLETE!!!

[LordKinbote]

[Scurra]

I have just noticed that there is at least one wrong number in there just from the very few that I am fairly certain of, so it can't be right. But hey, sometimes you take a leap in the dark and fall horribly to your death...

The number associated with #7 (Queen's Arcade) is 6 not 3. (Which gives an S not an E.)
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_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Suspence]

If I've understood everything correctly, Middle Heights would fit the alpha for the station on the Tech Nickel Plate Railroad.
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[Suspence]

#2 ? Thomas and Friends (Crovan's Gate) Davis
#4 ? Harry Potter and the whatever (Hogsmeade) Harvard
#8 7 Dark City (Shell Beach) Central
#3 3 Hickory Dickory Dock (Hickory Road) Kendall
#7 4 Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockford) Charles/MGH
#1 ? The Fugitive (Balbo) Park
#9 2 Ghostbusters II (Van Horne) Downtown
#5 ? Tech Nickel Plate Railroad (Middle Heights) South
#6 6 Doctor Who: Rose (Queen's Arcade) Andrew

??ECK?A?S
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[Suspence]

Call in CHECK BAGS, just in case.
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[LordKinbote]

[Suspence]

It seems like we've solved the essence of the puzzle, but can't complete it without physical proximity to Boston.

I'd be OK with moving on, but I'd probably wait for Scurra and/or gftt to agree/disagree so we have a majority vote (based on who's been working on this one).
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[Scurra]

Do you think we could have the numbers at least (since they could be got by going to Boston)? I realise that we might have misidentified some of the stations, but at least we could have a shot at seeing if we could extract the answer.

Always assuming we're looking in anything like the right place, of course!!
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[LordKinbote]

The numbers, in the original presented order, are 2,1,3,5,2,6,4,7,3.

[novice]

[LordKinbote]

Correct.

How about Pacific Overtones by Patrick Blindauer and Jonathan Wang...

[Suspence]

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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

Not sure what to do next, but there are seven Chinese characters within the clues (actually six, since one is used twice). When translated, they served as normal words in the clues.

They were:
16A) 王 = KING [“王 of ___” (1930 film starring Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra)] JAZZ
21A) 名 = NAME [“I ___ a 名” (Croce song)] GOT
35A) 字 = WORD [3-字 sandwich] BLT
70A) 母 = MOTHER [“Does Your 母 Know” band] ABBA
10D) 填 = FILL [Tray that one may 填 with food] PLATTER
11D) 猴 = MONKEY [猴-faced ___ (Cebidichthys violaceus, commonly)] EEL
50D) 字 = WORD [3-字 company] AOL

There are also 8 gray squares that would normally be black
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[gftt*]

I suspect that the central word Sun Wukong - the Monkey King - is a hint.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Wukong

One might interpret the Chinese characters as asking us to fill the blanks with the 3-word name of the Monkey King's mother, but unfortunately it seems he does not have one.

[gftt*]

Might the two Japanese words - REIKI and ONKYO, symmetrically placed - also have something to do with it?

[Suspence]

When you combine the characters in order in Google Translate, you actually get something more like:

Fill monkey (first) name letters
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[gftt*]

[gftt*]

Shade in the letters SUNWUKONG wherever they appear in the grid, in grey. This gives a Chinese character zu, which means foot.

Call in FOOT

[gftt*]

[Scurra]

Oh joy. I miss a day and not only is the previous puzzle solved but the next one as well.
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[LordKinbote]

FOOT is right.

Next: Panorama by Kai Huang.

[novice]

I recognize one of the more obscure locations...

Second from the bottom, to the right, is the Vigeland Park in Oslo. (Where I live)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigelandsparken#Vigeland_Sculpture_Arrangement

[gftt*]

Panoramic photos:
#2 is Istanbul.
#4 is Kuala Lumpur.
#5 is Niagara Falls.
#6 is Iguazu Falls.

[novice]

#3 is Berlin.

Small pictures:
#4: Washington D.C: http://dcpages.com/gallery/Cherry-Blossom-Flower-Update/Washington-Monument-03-31-10-A.jpg.html
#9: Oslo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigelandsparken#Vigeland_Sculpture_Arrangement
#10: Rio de Janeiro: http://www.travelstripe.com/cristo-redentor/
#12: Tokyo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Tower

[gftt*]

[gftt*]

#2 looked Thai, and searching for images of Thai Buddhist temples gave me this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bangkok_Temple_2.jpg

#7: If you click on it you see "Fountain of Five..." on the sign, which turns out to be the Fountain of Five Blessings on Jeju Island, South Korea. http://icapillas.xanga.com/735416028/fountain-of-five-blessings/

[novice]

Panoramic photos:
#1 is Kyoto.
#2 is Istanbul.
#3 is Berlin.
#4 is Kuala Lumpur.
#5 is Niagara Falls.
#6 is Iguazu Falls.

Small pictures:
#1: Athens, Greece: Olympian Zeus temple: http://www.123rf.com/photo_12860281_columns-of-olympian-zeus-temple-athens-greece.html
#2: Bangkok: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bangkok_Temple_2.jpg
#3: Brugge / Bruges, Belgium: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brugge
#4: Washington D.C: http://dcpages.com/gallery/Cherry-Blossom-Flower-Update/Washington-Monument-03-31-10-A.jpg.html
#5: Chicago. (Cloud Gate aka "The Bean")
#6: Dubrovnik, Croatia. http://www.best-of-european-union.eu/2012/08/02/3-things-you-must-do-when-visiting-croatia/dubrovnik-port-night-croatia/
#7: Jeju Island, South Korea. Fountain of five blessings. http://www.flickr.com/photos/zohreh/2269863385/
#9: Oslo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigelandsparken#Vigeland_Sculpture_Arrangement
#10: Rio de Janeiro: http://www.travelstripe.com/cristo-redentor/
#11: Singapore - Merlion statue: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=34664899
#12: Tokyo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Tower

[gftt*]

Panorama #1: Apparently the Golden Pavilion is the icon of Kyoto, since it is the first image that pops up when you search for Kyoto...

[novice]

I identified #3 as Brugge after a long time spent identifying the flag shown in the picture's right edge.

[Scurra]

Panoramic photos also have letters in the bottom right hand corners.
#1 is Kyoto. (WbS)
#2 is Istanbul. (NWbN)
#3 is Berlin. (SEbE)
#4 is Kuala Lumpur. (SE)
#5 is Niagara Falls. (EbN)
#6 is Iguazu Falls. (ESE)

Are you positive about #4 being Washington D.C.? The others seem to be in alpha order and that one looks oddly out of place.
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Suspence]

[gftt*]

I was going to say that they mis-alphabetized stuff before (eg., Gifford City on that last puzzle about train stations) but I recalled that the Washington Monument is out in the middle of open space and wouldn't be viewable with buildings in the foreground like that. Plus Buenos Aires fits well.

[Suspence]

Seems like we've ID'd all the pics, but I have no idea what to do next. The letters seems to indicated compass directions, but I've stalled there.
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[novice]

Plot the places in a map, draw lines in the indicated compass directions, see what they show.

We still need to identify small picture #8.

[Suspence]

Hadn't noticed that one was missing. It looks like a big toy story, which makes me think of FAO Schwarz in New York City...fits alphabetically, too.
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[Suspence]

This pic is a bit different, but the ceiling and outer wall are the same, so that should confirm FAO in NYC - http://www.newyorkjazzevents.com/images/images_blog/FAO%20Schwarz01BrightenedMoreAndReduced.jpg
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[Scurra]

I quite fancy NYC because then the small pictures can be paired with the big pictures in rough geographical terms:

#1 is Kyoto. - #7 (Jeju) / #12 (Tokyo)



#2 is Istanbul. - #1 (Athens) / #6 (Dubrovnik)



#3 is Berlin. - #3 (Bruges) / #9 (Oslo)



#4 is Kuala Lumpur. - #2 (Bangkok) / #11 (Singapore)



#5 is Niagara Falls. - #5 (Chicago) / #8 (NYC)



#6 is Iguazu Falls. - #4 (Buenos Aires) / #10 (Rio de Janeiro)


_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[gftt*]

Those angles look very suspicious...

[gftt*]

All the angles appear to be multiples of 45 degrees, so take them as semaphore, wherein the "up" direction is given by the direction marked on the panorama photo.

call in DONKEY

[gftt*]

This would have been cooler if the "up" direction had to be deduced as the direction the panorama photo was taken in.