Sanderson Puzzlehunt: Earth Round

[whattheHoid]

2 hours ago, Alvron said:

I'm teaming with Hoid??  We've got this in the bag.

Storms yeah, Alvron! I am a fount of knowledge and pizazz! (^o^)(^^)v(^^♪(^_-)＼(^o^)／

[NotarySojac]

I'm good with what team I'm on. (Also, I should probably sign up to get Aether of Night as well)

[MetaTerminal]

Sanderson Puzzlehunt Round 1: Earth

The first ever meeting of your local Sanderson Puzzle-Solving Fan Club just started. Local fans congregated to discuss books, do shared readings, eat some snacks, and argue about whether or not Moash was a terrible person. Afterwards, you were going to break out a bunch of crosswords and help each other solve them to end the event.
That was the plan, anyway, until a white-haired man crashed the party. 

Rules

Spoiler

In the Sanderson Puzzlehunt, participants are organised into teams who try to complete puzzles in order to gain points and move up the leaderboard in a given round. The puzzles will be released in waves to all participants at once, and further waves will be released once certain conditions are met.
The Hunt Moderator is MetaTerminal.

ORGANISATION
Each team has received a group PM and a Google Doc for them to work in. The Doc is for collaboration about solving a puzzle, including listing information that may be useful or identifying elements. The puzzles are designed to be completed in teams - we recommend against going it alone.
The Team PM is your main avenue for communication with the Hunt Moderator. You should submit answers, hint requests, clarifications, and possible errors through the Team PM. Do NOT submit any of these things through the thread.

PUZZLES
A puzzle can be anything with encoded or hidden information - a series of images, seemingly random letters, or a group of playing cards or game instructions. Solving a puzzle will require noticing, deciphering, and extracting this information.
The answer to each puzzle is an English word or phrase, usually between 3 and 20 characters. When a team thinks they have the answer to a puzzle, they should submit it in their Team PM (NOT the thread), and will receive confirmation as to whether or not they are correct. If they are correct, they will receive points for solving that puzzle, and no further points can be received for working on it. If incorrect, they are free to continue to work on the puzzle.
Puzzles will be based on books by Brandon Sanderson, although they may incorporate elements from other areas (such as simple arithmetic or codes). As a general rule, knowledge about yet-unpublished works will not be required for solving.

POINTS
The Hunt Leaderboard lists each team and how many points they have received. Each team starts with 0 points. In the Earth round, a puzzle grants 15 points. Completing a round by solving a metapuzzle grants 25 points.
Puzzles can still be solved and points can still be received after a team solves the metapuzzle for a round. In addition, points can be deducted for serious rule infractions.
There are no point deductions for incorrect answer submissions, unless those submissions break other rules.

HINTS
At any time in the Hunt, teams can use a hint to aid them in their solving. All teams start with 2 hints, and receive 1 more for every puzzle they complete, or for a long period where they are actively working in the Hunt but make no progress on any puzzle. Exceptions may be made under the Hunt Moderator’s discretion.
In addition, hints may be more or less stringent depending on where the team is placed on the leaderboard. A team which is in the running for a first or second place will receive very stringent rules for hints (yes/no questions only, and nothing that grants excess or meta information) and hints that are deemed outside these rules will be rejected. A team in last place (depending on the spread of other teams) may be able to request a general and stronger hint to help them get unstuck. 
A rejected hint is not used, and you are free to rephrase the question to fit the breached rules.

PROBLEMS AND BUGS
If you find an issue or error in a puzzle, please report it to the Hunt Moderator. If there is a sizable bug, and the team who found it is the first to do so, the identifying team may receive a reward of an extra hint or a Good Samaritan bonus.

MISCELLANEOUS
Do NOT submit hint requests, answers, puzzle clarifications or found errors in the thread. Submit them in the Team PM.
Do NOT try to brute force puzzle answers. If you’ve narrowed it down to three possibilities, trying each of them is a valid strategy. Submitting every word in the English dictionary until you get the right one is not.
DO be sensible about answer submissions. Don't try anything that you wouldn't be willing to put in a public post.
DO be very kind to fellow competitors and teammates. Especially in the latter case: you're all in it together.
DO read the spoiler on How Do I Solve a Puzzle? These puzzles will most likely be unlike anything you've seen before. If it wasn't helpful I wouldn't have written it.
DO ask for hints and help if you need it. The competition is designed to be fun. If you're not having fun, let me know.

Answer submissions, hint requests and error reports should take the following rough format (in the Team PM):

• Puzzle Solver: @MetaTerminal We're submitting the answer ANSWER for the puzzle THIS IS AN EXAMPLE PUZZLE.
• MetaTerminal: Your submission of ANSWER was correct! THIS IS AN EXAMPLE PUZZLE has been solved. The Leaderboard will be updated shortly.

Help! How do I solve a puzzle?

Spoiler

Congratulations. You're looking at a puzzle and have no idea what to do. It's a rite of passage - at some point in their lives, every puzzle-solver will experience it.
However, there are a number of foolproof tricks to fix this situation.
1) Don't panic! These are puzzles. It's okay if you're puzzled by them.
2) Are there things in the puzzle you haven't identified yet? Like a set of pictures? Audio clips? Quotes or phrases? If so, identify them and see what comes up.
3) Read the title and flavour text again. Do they suggest a course of action (maybe looking at things from a certain angle, or sorting data in a certain way) you haven't taken yet? If so, try that.
4) If you've tried something that you think the puzzle is hinting at, but it didn't work, check your work. There will be at least one team that is held up because they mistranscribed a letter. I've been on that team, on multiple occasions. (Curse you, Poetic Licence!) Check your work.
5) Work with other people. Someone else might notice the way forward where you have not - you can also identify things twice as fast. Two heads are always better than one. (Google Docs are great for this.)
6) Finally, if you're completely stuck: ask for a hint. They aren't free candy - you'll only ever get a limited number - but if you can't see a way forward, then a hint is always helpful.

Please read all of the above spoilers, as they contain essential information for the event. Signups are now closed. If you still wish to participate, please let me know and I will add you to the Spectator doc.

All Team PMs have now been sent. If you have not received a Team PM, please let me know immediately.

The first wave of puzzles will go up sixteen hours after the posting of this message (4pm EST). The second wave of puzzles will go up when certain conditions are met.

Feel free to politely criticize other teams while waiting for the event to begin.

Edited January 25, 2019 by MetaTerminal

[Turtle373]

This is going to be awesome, Shoutout to @MetaTerminal, for putting this together, You're awesome!!

[Rhapsody]

Ohh I can not wait for the puzzles. I'm really hyped to see what you have come up with @MetaTerminal Thanks for doing this.

[whattheHoid]

I'll give it my best! @MetaTerminal

[StrikerEZ]

@MetaTerminal I’m fine with my team! 

I’m so excited for this. Thank you so much for putting this together!

[MetaTerminal]

Sanderson Puzzlehunt Round 1: Earth

The first ever meeting of your local Sanderson Puzzle-Solving Fan Club started moments ago. Local fans have congregated to discuss books, do shared readings, eat some snacks, and argue about whether or not Moash was a terrible person. Afterwards, you were going to break out a bunch of crosswords and help each other solve them to end the event.
That was the plan, anyway, until a white-haired man crashed the party. 
It happened like this: an orb of light began to shine in the middle of the room, growing brighter and brighter, and a wind picked up, sending pieces of paper flying. The orb grew larger, shaping into a human frame, and with a final flash resolved itself into the white-haired man, holding an odd piece of stone in one hand and what looked like a fabrial in the other. And now you're all left standing, looking at the person who has just materialized in the middle of your meeting.
"Oh dear," the white-haired man says. "That's quite unexpected."
Most of you are shocked into silence, but one of you has the capacity to air a question: "Unexpected?"
"Yes. I was aiming for Nalthis. Something must have gone wrong with the ritual. The power source, maybe. Never should have trusted that fisherman, the slimy git."
"Aiming for... Nalthis?"
"Nice to see that you can all speak a language. Any language works, really. Connection isn't fussy. But you would really be surprised how hard it is to come by intelligent lifeforms it is these days; I'll tell you about Sadeas some time."
"But Nalthis isn't a real place!" you say, pulling at your hair and wondering at your own sanity. You're fairly certain you recognize the man, but you dare not hope. It isn't real - is it?
"Of course it is. As real as... where are we? Earth? As real as Earth. More real, perhaps. I'm fairly certain you might be a figment of my stressed imagination." He taps at his head. "It's really the best it can do nowadays, the poor fellow. I apologize that you're not more interesting."
"Do you come to Earth often?"
"All the time. It's somewhat harder to get off the storming planet, but I usually manage. And in this case..." His eyes widen, as if he realizes something. "Time is of the essence. I need to leave as soon as possible. We need to get the ritual powered up again."
"But how are you going to do that?" you ask, secretly hoping that you'll be able to be involved in some way.
"I'm not sure," he admits. "But perhaps solving these puzzles will give us some ideas."

---

Please make sure that you've read both the rules and the puzzle-solving guide. To briefly recap:

• Puzzles can be any sort of encoded information: a series of images, audio clips, obscure quotes... They also usually come with no instructions, although the puzzle itself almost always has a clue about the way forward.
• You won't need coding knowledge to solve the puzzle, unless it is explicitly indicated. Don't hack the site or fiddle with the code or anything like that.
• The answer to each puzzle is an English word or phrase, usually between 3 and 20 characters. There is only one answer to each puzzle.
• Each team starts with 2 hints, and gains one more each time they solve a puzzle. If you've followed the steps in the puzzle-solving guide, and are still stuck, then please use a hint to get going.
• If a provided hint isn't helpful, let me know and I will rephrase it to be more explicit.
• Everything within the spoiler box (including images and text) is part of the puzzle. Everything outside of the box is not part of the puzzle and has no hidden information.
• When you think you have an answer to the puzzle, tag me in your Team PM and list both the puzzle and your answer. Do NOT post any solutions, requests for hints, or clarifications on specific puzzles in the thread. Clarifications about the rules are fine.

The Earth Round has 6 puzzles, which will be released in two waves of three. The second wave will be released once certain conditions are met.

The complete Rules:

Spoiler

In the Sanderson Puzzlehunt, participants are organised into teams who try to complete puzzles in order to gain points and move up the leaderboard in a given round. The puzzles will be released in waves to all participants at once, and further waves will be released once certain conditions are met.
The Hunt Moderator is MetaTerminal.

ORGANISATION
Each team has received a group PM and a Google Doc for them to work in. The Doc is for collaboration about solving a puzzle, including listing information that may be useful or identifying elements. The puzzles are designed to be completed in teams - we recommend against going it alone.
The Team PM is your main avenue for communication with the Hunt Moderator. You should submit answers, hint requests, clarifications, and possible errors through the Team PM. Do NOT submit any of these things through the thread.

PUZZLES
A puzzle can be anything with encoded or hidden information - a series of images, seemingly random letters, or a group of playing cards or game instructions. Solving a puzzle will require noticing, deciphering, and extracting this information.
The answer to each puzzle is an English word or phrase, usually between 3 and 20 characters. When a team thinks they have the answer to a puzzle, they should submit it in their Team PM (NOT the thread), and will receive confirmation as to whether or not they are correct. If they are correct, they will receive points for solving that puzzle, and no further points can be received for working on it. If incorrect, they are free to continue to work on the puzzle.
Puzzles will be based on books by Brandon Sanderson, although they may incorporate elements from other areas (such as simple arithmetic or codes). As a general rule, knowledge about yet-unpublished works will not be required for solving.

POINTS
The Hunt Leaderboard lists each team and how many points they have received. Each team starts with 0 points. In the Earth round, a puzzle grants 15 points. Completing a round by solving a metapuzzle grants 25 points.
Puzzles can still be solved and points can still be received after a team solves the metapuzzle for a round. In addition, points can be deducted for serious rule infractions.
There are no point deductions for incorrect answer submissions, unless those submissions break other rules.

HINTS
At any time in the Hunt, teams can use a hint to aid them in their solving. All teams start with 2 hints, and receive 1 more for every puzzle they complete, or for a long period where they are actively working in the Hunt but make no progress on any puzzle. Exceptions may be made under the Hunt Moderator’s discretion.
In addition, hints may be more or less stringent depending on where the team is placed on the leaderboard. A team which is in the running for a first or second place will receive very stringent rules for hints (yes/no questions only, and nothing that grants excess or meta information) and hints that are deemed outside these rules will be rejected. A team in last place (depending on the spread of other teams) may be able to request a general and stronger hint to help them get unstuck. 
A rejected hint is not used, and you are free to rephrase the question to fit the breached rules.

PROBLEMS AND BUGS
If you find an issue or error in a puzzle, please report it to the Hunt Moderator. If there is a sizable bug, and the team who found it is the first to do so, the identifying team may receive a reward of an extra hint or a Good Samaritan bonus.

MISCELLANEOUS
Do NOT submit hint requests, answers, puzzle clarifications or found errors in the thread. Submit them in the Team PM.
Do NOT try to brute force puzzle answers. If you’ve narrowed it down to three possibilities, trying each of them is a valid strategy. Submitting every word in the English dictionary until you get the right one is not.
DO be sensible about answer submissions. Don't try anything that you wouldn't be willing to put in a public post.
DO be very kind to fellow competitors and teammates. Especially in the latter case: you're all in it together.
DO read the spoiler on How Do I Solve a Puzzle? These puzzles will most likely be unlike anything you've seen before. If it wasn't helpful I wouldn't have written it.
DO ask for hints and help if you need it. The competition is designed to be fun. If you're not having fun, let me know.

Answer submissions, hint requests and error reports should take the following rough format (in the Team PM):

• Puzzle Solver: @MetaTerminal We're submitting the answer ANSWER for the puzzle THIS IS AN EXAMPLE PUZZLE.
• MetaTerminal: Your submission of ANSWER was correct! THIS IS AN EXAMPLE PUZZLE has been solved. The Leaderboard will be updated shortly.

Help! How do I solve a puzzle?

Spoiler

Congratulations. You're looking at a puzzle and have no idea what to do. It's a rite of passage - at some point in their lives, every puzzle-solver will experience it.
However, there are a number of foolproof tricks to fix this situation.
1) Don't panic! These are puzzles. It's okay if you're puzzled by them.
2) Are there things in the puzzle you haven't identified yet? Like a set of pictures? Audio clips? Quotes or phrases? If so, identify them and see what comes up.
3) Read the title and flavour text again. Do they suggest a course of action (maybe looking at things from a certain angle, or sorting data in a certain way) you haven't taken yet? If so, try that.
4) If you've tried something that you think the puzzle is hinting at, but it didn't work, check your work. There will be at least one team that is held up because they mistranscribed a letter. I've been on that team, on multiple occasions. (Curse you, Poetic Licence!) Check your work.
5) Work with other people. Someone else might notice the way forward where you have not - you can also identify things twice as fast. Two heads are always better than one. (Google Docs are great for this.)
6) Finally, if you're completely stuck: ask for a hint. They aren't free candy - you'll only ever get a limited number - but if you can't see a way forward, then a hint is always helpful.

The Leaderboard:

Spoiler

1. Team 5 (100 points)
2. Team Voidapple (100 points)
3. Team 6 (100 points)
4. Team 4 (100 points)
5. Team 2 (45 points)
6. Team SNIRS (15 points)

Please read all of the above spoilers. They are essential information.
And, finally, what you've all been waiting for: the puzzles.

Puzzle #1: Keeping Up With The Aspects (warning: first image slightly nsfw)

Spoiler

It's hard to identify all of these personalities. It's even harder to size them up.

None of these artworks are mine. All credit goes to Ubeka, Jondesu, khal, Erosaito, Kyle Pearson and u/Kreitler for their excellent pieces. I will link to the individual works when the round has completed.

Puzzle #2: A Beginner's Guide to Rithmatic Dueling

Spoiler

The finals of the annual Rithmatic Individual Duel Competition were completed yesterday, with only the winners on the left. Here is our selected overview of the most interesting duels, transcribed from our live commentary, so that folks at home can follow along by drawing their own diagrams.

ROUND 1

Spoiler

This is the first duel we’ve seen with the utilization of Half-Lines of Warding.

Maybe that’s because they require entirely new strategies. What we’re seeing here is two half-lines of warding that intersect - like the right half of the circle has been sliced off and moved down so one of the top lines now touch the bottom.

I’m sure they’ll come up with a name for it eventually. Look at how the opponent goes for a Sumsion - wait, he’s forgotten the Mark’s Cross. He went straight to the long Line of Forbiddance, facing his competitor. That’s drawn rather sloppily as well - see how the line extends rather far towards us, but doesn’t extend very far in the other direction?

A few Lines of Vigor and the Sumsion is breached. Not surprising at all, given the poor performance.

ROUND 2

Spoiler

Right out of the gate we see one of the duelists being very aggressive - that's a modified Ballintain, correct?

I believe so. Almost the same - but I think she's going without the outer Lines of Warding, which leaves her vulnerable to chalklings.

Meanwhile her opponent has gone for a simple half-circle, something that we've begun to see more of.

Look how he draws a long Line of Forbiddance at a tangent to his half circle, between him and his opposition, so it intersects one end of the semicircle. Long enough on one side to defend him, but shorter on the far end for his chalklings to go around.

The chalklings are beginning to swarm towards the Ballintain now. She's drawn a Line of Forbiddance to stop them, although it extends directly away from her circle towards us. Not even a tangent - if she drew a tangent as well, it would be perpendicular to this new line. Very odd.

Her opponent’s good defense isn't good enough. His line and circle can't take that much attack and it's breached - and that's the game. A quick end, unfortunately. I would have liked to have seen some more of the half-circle strategies later in the tournament.

ROUND 3

Spoiler

Look at that. The permission of defenses that don't incorporate Lines of Warding was certainly a divisive one, but here we see two of them fighting each other. From different schools, no less.

I still don't entirely understand the rules behind when to call the duel. Regardless, both are opting for a triangle defense. The person on this side is doing an isosceles shape - on the other we're seeing a right-angled triangle, with the hypotenuse facing his opponent.

They're using extra-thin chalk so they can reach over the lines and draw on the other side. A learned skill, and one most don't acquire, rightly or wrongly. Right-angled is going for chalklings, but isosceles is just using Vigor. Much more effective.

An interesting quirk of the isosceles defense - see how he's drawn the shortest line of the triangle too far in? The longer sides extend towards us beyond the third one, like little feet. I'm not sure if that's intentional.

Right-angled just realized his mistake and dismissed the hypotenuse to redraw it. I think that may be against the rules - yes, the judges have disqualified him.

ROUND 4

Spoiler

We're seeing the return of the modified Ballintain - she even redraws the chalkling defense line on the side closest to us, for some reason.

Her opponent has tried something odd as well. Two lines inside her full circle, perpendicular to the chalkling defense line, for bracing. And then she draws another long Line of Forbiddance, parallel to the defense line and perpendicular to her bracing lines, of about the same length towards us.

A bizarre strategy. Mind you, it's the bizarre strategies that are getting fairly far in the competition.

And the Ballintain was breached and loses. That was quick

ROUND 5

Spoiler

It's our old friend, modded Ballintain, with another illogical defense line towards us. She does know those aren't required, right?

Perhaps not. The young man over here has just started a six-point circle - although his use of anchoring lines is quite unusual. Two lines connecting the two left and right points of his circle, running parallel away from us. Then he's connected the top-left point with the bottom-right one. A strong anchor, yes, but it blocks him off from half of his circle.

He doesn't appear to have minded, and his chalklings have managed to breach the Ballintain once again.

ROUND 6

Spoiler

Remember the double-half-Lines of Warding defence we saw at the beginning? We must decide on a name for that.

He's up against another non-circle competitor, who has drawn nothing more than two parallel lines perpendicular to his opponent and running towards and away from us. Technically a defense, I should note, but an extremely weak one.

Half-Lines has correctly decided on chalklings as an attack and is drawing them now. Look at them go. They're going around the far side, trying to flush him out. The non-circle defendant draws a Line of Forbiddance between the midpoints of his two lines, but he's not quick enough to prevent them entering from the other direction. That's a win for Half-Lines.

ROUND 7

Spoiler

We're nearing the end of the finals now, and both competitors have chosen rather odd strategies. The girl on the left has drawn a Line of Warding--

Never mind the Line of Warding - look at how she's set up her anchoring Lines! One long one down the center, and three others running perpendicular away from it on one side.

Almost like trident approach.

Indeed. Her opponent set up the double Half-Lines of Warding - what did we decide to call that? - but he couldn't get his chalklings around her defense. She's just bounced Lines of Vigor around and breached his circle.

A remarkable win with an unorthodox strategy, and a rather unorthodox competition overall.

 

Puzzle #3: As The Wheel Turns (by MacThorstenson)

Spoiler

The Children of the Light have intercepted the following letter, which you believe contains information that can help you in your cause. But the ways of Darkfriends are twisted and deceptive, and the hidden information has been somehow encoded, alongside other information to throw you off.

                      Dear Lanal,
           I am loving it at the school of kuilting and other textil
Artz. I em surrounbed by people who are masters of their craft and in the
Few weeks I habe been here I have learnes so much. Thank you
For habing jiven me a letter of recommendation.
I hope that I can repay you in some way. If you have any ideas,
Never mind the difficuty, I will try to helb in som way.
Even so, I would appreciate it if you were able to give me relatively safe taskz this time.
           With love,
                      Kenain

If you're confused, check out the 'How to solve a puzzle' spoiler box.

Good luck to all solvers.

NOTE: I have updated Puzzle 2 slightly: a sentence has been added to describe both Round 2's Ballintain defense and Round 4's winner more clearly, and the flavortext has been lengthened.

The capitalization in Puzzle 3 has also been altered slightly.

Edited January 28, 2019 by MetaTerminal

[MetaTerminal]

A reminder to everyone that there is both a step-by-step guide to solving (which you should use if you get stuck) and that each team has 2 hints available.

[MetaTerminal]

Congratulations to Team Voidapple on their solve of Keeping Up With The Aspects, which puts them in first place and is the first solve of the competition!

@RShara

[RShara]

*dances happily*

[MetaTerminal]

Congratulations to Team SNIPR (Super Notoriously Intelligent Riddle Solvers), who have also solved Keeping Up With The Aspects, putting them in second place.

It is coming close to nightfall in my timezone, so in a few hours I will be hitting the hay. Given that several teams are extremely close to solving puzzles (there is at least one team within striking distance of each), if you are going to submit answers while I am asleep please make sure to tag me and I will answer them all. 

[I think I am here.]

*dances happily*

[+Sorana]

2 hours ago, MetaTerminal said:

Congratulations to Team SNIPR (Super Notoriously Intelligent Riddle Solvers), who have also solved Keeping Up With The Aspects, putting them in second place.

It is coming close to nightfall in my timezone, so in a few hours I will be hitting the hay. Given that several teams are extremely close to solving puzzles (there is at least one team within striking distance of each), if you are going to submit answers while I am asleep please make sure to tag me and I will answer them all. 

SNIRS not SNIPR

[MetaTerminal]

Team 2 is now in third place, after they solved Keeping Up. Congratulations.

Everyone: I have made two updates to puzzles to reflect last minute changes that didn't make it into the versions that went up. The flavortext for Puzzle 2 has been lengthened slightly, and the capitalization in Puzzle 3 has been updated. Apologies. I'll try and make sure that it won't happen again.

As I will be asleep, answer submissions made for the next 12 or so hours will all be taken when I awaken. Several teams are very close to solves.

Sorry, SNIRS.

Edited January 26, 2019 by MetaTerminal

[Karnatheon]

Yay points!

[+Doomstick]

@MetaTerminal

can I join?

[MetaTerminal]

Usually I’d say no, as signups have closed, but as it’s far too early in the morning to write a rejection letter... sure thing. You’ll be joining Team 6 as they have a high level of inactivity. Do other teams have an issue with this?

ATTENTION EVERYONE: In the interests of moving the competition along, I have made a small addition to Puzzle 2’s flavortext to make the way forward more explicit. As several teams are extremely close to solving, this new clue should allow them to get the solution in a much quicker time. Apologies to anyone who has spent hours staring at it without this clue.

EDIT: 10 minutes after I post that, we get a solve. Congratulations to Team 4 for being the first team to solve A Beginner’s Guide!

EDIT 2: And also to Team 2, who is the second team to solve A Beginner’s Guide, and the first team to solve two puzzles. Congratulations!

The second wave of puzzles is now eligible to be released, and will do so in one hour.

Edited January 26, 2019 by MetaTerminal

[Karnatheon]

Awesome! Go team 2!

@Dr. Dapper 

@Invocation 

@Wyndlerunner 

@Silva

[MetaTerminal]

Sanderson Puzzlehunt Round 1: Earth

You're making some progress on the puzzles when the white-haired man returns, clutching a large sheaf of paper. He slides them towards you.

"Two things," the man says. "I found more puzzles."

"We already have a surplus of those, mister..."

"My name isn't important. I've got far too many of them already. No, these puzzles are essential. And do you know why?"

It's a rhetorical question, but he seems to want an answer. You offer one. "Why is that?"

With a gleam in his eye, the man says, "I know how the puzzles can power the ritual."

---

Of Mice and Metapuzzles

The ones of you who have read the rules will have noticed an odd term: a metapuzzle. No, it's not named after me. It's named that way because it is meta - it encompasses other puzzles.

Simply put, a metapuzzle requires some inputs (the answers to the puzzles in the round) and gives an output (the final answer to the round). The simplest form of this would be a bunch of blank spaces with certain ones highlighted - inserting the answers into the blanks spells a word with the highlighted letters. (The Earth metapuzzle isn't that. It's far more interesting.)

The Earth Meta uses all the answers from Earth puzzles. You do not need all the answers to solve the puzzle - it should be solvable with just three or four. Two would be unlikely. You can also 'backsolve' a puzzle - if you know that the highlighted letters in the blanks (to use the previous example) are A, B and C, you can work out that the answer to Example Puzzle can only be ABACUS.

Solving the Earth Meta grants 25 points. The round does not end when a team solves the meta - it instead ends when a team reaches 100 points (and may continue for some time after that, if people wish to continue submitting answers.)

The Wikipedia article, which explains what I mean far better than I do, is here.

---

Puzzle #4: Government Records

Spoiler

"They will fear [blank], [redacted], and [blank]. If we will not face creatures such as these, is there any hope that others will someday stand up to them?”

“I am called [redacted],” he said. “Not the cleverest of names, I’ll admit. But I find it memorable.”

That was [redacted], a minor Epic with only a single power, the ability to fire a handgun without ever running out of bullets.

I’ve seen [redacted] bleed.

[redacted], an Epic down in Mexico, can only be hurt if five people are trying to kill her at once.

“And when [redacted] came here to challenge him,” I said.

“Were you involved in any of the recent kills? [blank]? [blank]? [redacted]?”

“You have proof of what you said about [redacted]?”

“[redacted] is more than just the head of Enforcement.”

“Not as bad as the [redacted].”
“You’re kidding. There’s really an Epic named that?"

Puzzle #5: Truthful Liebrarians

Spoiler

Armed with the knowledge that the first word of the titles of each of the first three books in their finished order - whatever that means - should provide an answer, you rock up to the local library. Unfortunately, it's also a liebrary. You know the rest.

• One of the librarians always lies. (The liebrarian)
• One of the librarians always tells the truth (The truthbrarian)
• One alternates between lying and telling the truth - their starting state can be either, however. (The alternator)

Thankfully, you were able to interview them.

1: Washington DC is the capital of the United States.

2: I'm not lying. (Also, I think you're a showoff.)

3: Ha! At least I always tell the truth.

1: Well, you at least sometimes tell the truth.

2: I'll help you out. Exactly two of us have had our last sentences be lies (not including this sentence).

3: That's a lie!

You also asked them about what order the books were in.

1: There are four shelves: top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right. Each can hold five books, in a line from left to right.

2: No two titles that start with the same letter are adjacent.

3: Any and all rhyming pairs (two books that have first words that rhyme) are on the same shelf as each other.

1: There is a title starting with a vowel on the edge of a row (i.e. the left edge of a left shelf or the right edge of a right shelf).

2: I disagree. No title starting with a vowel is on the edge of a row.

3: The first three books alphabetically are all on the top left shelf (in order).

1: No, only some of them are.

2: The last three books alphabetically are on the top right shelf in order, though.

3: Not all books starting with a word three letters long is in the second position (second from the left) on a shelf.

1: Neither of the bottom shelves are in reverse alphabetical order.

2: The titles with the shortest first word are all on the bottom right shelf (in alphabetical order, although not necessarily adjacent).

3: All books beginning with M or N are on the bottom row, and no books beginning with S are on the edge of a shelf.

1: All books with colors in their titles are on the bottom left shelf.

2: All books with a first word that has seven or more letters are in a middle position on a shelf (third from the left).

3: All of the shelves have a title that starts with a word at least five letters long.

1: The book ANSWER THE CALL is on the top left shelf.

2: The bottom left shelf has two titles that begin in five-letter words.

3: The book THE BIG IDEAS THROUGHOUT HISTORY goes on the top row.

1: The top left shelf begins with a history book.

2: Each shelf has no more than one pair of titles that begin with the same letter.

3: The book PIECES OF HISTORY is adjacent to a title that begins with a vowel.

(Note that when someone is lying, no part of that statement is true: if a librarian says A is correct and B is correct, and they are lying, both A and B are incorrect.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• And the cat said: a study of the values of classical fairy tales
• Answer the call: a self-help book
• Bits: shrapnel volume 2
• Blank: my struggles with amnesia
• Dead man's chest: pirates throughout history
• Eight silver dollars
• Herring aide: a novel
• In the fine print
• Is the reckoners cosmere? and other annoying questions
• Men and women who changed the world
• Of bigger things
• Pieces of history: Roman archeology
• Red roses for supper
• Returned books and loud children: a guide to librarianship
• Should is a difficult word
• Silver and salt: how power shaped the past
• The big ideas throughout history
• Volume 1 of an elephant's tale
• Walking around europe: a travel guide for trampers
• Will of the tiger

(The specific titles of the books aren’t important for solving.)

Puzzle #6: Earth Meta

The white-haired man asks, "What do we need to do to power up the ritual?"

Spoiler

The answers you received intentionally don’t fit the brackets. Maybe they’re cluing different words to fit inside - but you’re not sure what kind of words they’re even cluing.

But the answers are starting to get your cliche-senses tingling…

1. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2. _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3. _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _ _
4. _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _
5. _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _    _ _ _ _ _ _

Good luck to all solvers.

---

ATTENTION TO ALL TEAMS: I have made a terrible error.

Please be aware that the meta is not quite accurate. The answer for Puzzle 1 doesn’t clue what fits in the blanks - it instead clues the opposite of what fits in the blanks. The antonym, you might say.

My extreme apologies for this. It won’t happen again.

There was also a typographical error in the meta blanks, which I have now fixed.

Edited January 27, 2019 by MetaTerminal

[MetaTerminal]

Congratulations to Team 6, who are the first to solve a puzzle from Wave 2! They solved Truthful Liebrarians, putting them in fifth place.

To everyone: make sure that you can be as active as possible. Many of you are very close to a solution - the difference between the teams that get over the line and the ones who do not is just how active they are, trying out new things and rechecking their work.

Don't forget to request hints as well if you feel stuck. Every team has made good progress, and hints are extremely useful for making that final push.

EDIT: And congrats to Team 4 for their solve of Keeping Up, putting them in second place.

EDIT 2: And to Team Voidapple for their solve of Government Records, putting them in third place.

EDIT 3: And to Team Voidapple again, for the first solve of As The Wheel Turns.

EDIT 4: And to Team Voidapple again, for their solve of A Beginner’s Guide. Congratulations. I’m running out of puzzles.

EDIT 5: Team 5 gets on the leaderboard with their solve of Government Records!

Every puzzle except the meta has now been solved by at least one team.

Edited January 27, 2019 by MetaTerminal

[RShara]

What does the leaderboard look like right now?

[MetaTerminal]

It’s in my first Earth round post, if you want to see for yourself.

EDIT: Team 5 is the first team to solve both Wave 2 puzzles after they solved Truthful Liebrarians!

EDIT 2: Team 4 has also solved Government Records! Well done!

Edited January 27, 2019 by MetaTerminal

[RShara]

Does a team get extra points for being first to solve a puzzle?

[Karnatheon]

It doesn't appear so.