By Codex Zouche-Nuttall, Page 1 of 2
#6. With a Bunch of Other Coins
Where’s the best place to hide a needle? No, not in a haystack. What are you, twelve? This isn’t CalTech, think a little harder. You hide it with a bunch of identical needles.
Who thought this was a good idea?
Doing this right involves creating a grand total of two million thirteen thousand copies of the Coin. You can thank your friends at the US Mint for making this happen. These will be dumped in a massive pile at the center of the gymnasium. Teams will be free to rifle through them. They can even keep souvenirs - just make sure to look at them closely before pocketing, because it may be the real one.
It’s like celebrating your wealth, except you spend hours looking for a cheap coin.
The Coins will all have a unique ID laser-etched into the side. Taking all the meta answers, you’ll be able to search for the matching Coin and bring it to HQ. Just hope you have the right answer - otherwise you’ll have to go back to the pile for another look.
Cash Value: 1/100 of a cent.
Once you finally find the coin, you’ll have the least unique coin in the history of the hunt (and the chance to devise a way to piss off the hunters even more in 2014). Just make sure not to hurt your fingers too much as you dig through the coins; you’ll need to be ready to write next year’s puzzles.
#5. Foxwoods Slot Machine
A lot of the hunt can feel like a crapshoot. If you’re disappointed, stop freeloading and pay HQ some money. Until then, the final stage of the runaround is squarely in the hands of lady luck... and some corporate sponsors in Connecticut. The coin has been deposited in one of the one-armed bandits at Foxwoods, and to win the hunt you’ll have to win the jackpot.
You’ve got to pay money to make money!
Having HQ partner with the casino will make hunts a little more profitable. Once you donate enough money to their kind staff, you’ll eventually find out which section of the casino holds the final coin. Don’t try card counting; they know to expect you, and it’s a sure bet you’ll get to meet their less kind staff.
Security is much nicer these days, with 20% fewer broken ribs.
The challenging part of this step of the hunt won’t be getting the machine to dispense the winning coin. It’ll be fighting off the blue haired lady who’s been feeding quarters into that machine for hours and thinks it’s “due”.
Suddenly, your most valuable hunter.
That said, it will take a fair amount of luck to win the jackpot before any other team. To select for lucky team members, fire half your team at random. Actually, maybe you should just get Danny Ocean to help. You still have his contact info, right?
There’s just one detail: How do they make sure a Hunter gets the coin and not some stranger? The final twist: you get it from a cocktail waitress, but only if you tip generously.
#4. In a Fountain
People throw coins in fountains all the time. Usually it’s to wish for things, or because coins are heavy and they don’t want to lug them around anymore - notice that nobody throws a Benjamin in there for 400 times the odds of their wish coming true. Of course, if your wish is to run the hunt next year, it will be granted if you remove the Coin from the fountain, rather than throwing it in.
If you want to spend money for better luck, hand your credit cards to HQ.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Hey random Codex writer, I was there a few years ago when there was a puzzle that involved the placard that’s on every tree on campus, and we had to dig them out because they were buried by a snowstorm.”
I honestly had no idea it would be this cold in January.
Clearly you’re not appreciating the planning that went into this. The coin had to have been placed there months ago, when there was no chance of it being frozen, then left undisturbed until the weekend of the hunt. And anyways, it’s not that much work to dig through several inches of ice. What are you, a bunch of nerds going to some nerd school? Oh... well, do you have a friend who goes to Boston College?
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