Clue ) ) 3
A Game Control member standing outside Kepler’s Bookstore ) ) in Menlo Park gives each team a miniature statue of Michelangelo’s ) ) David. Players break open the statue and extract taped-together ) ) strips of chip bags. They determine the length of each ) ) strip, then use that number to find the corresponding letter ) ) in the ) ) brand name: for example, a 7-centimeter piece of a Cheetos ) ) bag yields an S; a 5-centimeter length of a Doritos bag, ) ) a T. The result: Stanford Oval.
Clue 7
Each team finds an envelope at Fremont’s Gomes ) ) Park that contains four sheets of fake $50 bills. Teams ) ) notice that the ) ) last three characters of each bill’s serial number ) ) correspond to the first three characters of another, ) ) and reorder the bills ) ) accordingly. They then turn to the three-character ) ) code beneath each serial number and notice that one character ) ) is in the ) ) previous bill’s code, one is in the subsequent bill’s ) ) code, and one is in neither. The unduplicated characters ) ) spell out the solution, which suggests venturing forth ) ) to a Milpitas ) ) address.
Clue 8
At the Milpitas home, teams spot one glove hanging ) ) on each side of the garage. On the fingertips are ) ) Braille letters ) ) that ) ) spell, “Hold hands.” Forming an unbroken ) ) chain of people and gloves across the garage triggers ) ) LEDs to flash ) ) in a series of pairs. Players come to realize that ) ) the midpoint between each pair of flashing lights ) ) indicates a Braille dot. ) ) Eventually, the dots spell out, “Go to Berryessa ) ) Community Center.”
Clue 13
Teams rushing to a Los Gatos address are rewarded ) ) with a piece of paper with 10 nonsensical lines ) ) of words (e.g., “assets ) ) ewoks allergies”). They convert each letter into ) ) a number based on its position in the alphabet, ) ) then sum each word (assets=83, ) ) ewoks=73, allergies=88). Looking up each sum’s ) ) ASCII value begins to reveal a phone number (83=S, ) ) 73=I, 88=X, so ) ) assets ewoks allergies=SIX). An answering machine ) ) at that number directs teams to the Lexington Reservoir.
Clue ) ) 20
Each team finds a bag at Pescadero State Beach ) ) that holds polyhedral dice of varying colors. ) ) The lining of the ) ) bag depicts colored circles that enable teams ) ) to put the dice in order, ) ) plus a map. One number on each die is colored ) ) red or black. Teams figure out that if the ) ) number is ) ) black, they add it to ) ) the number of sides on the die; if it is red, ) ) they subtract it. The corresponding letters ) ) of the alphabet ) ) spell out ) an intersection found on the map.
