Solution to The Humpty Dumpty Meta
Authors: Hanna Starobinets, Alina Griner, and Timur StarobinetsSolvers are presented with jigsaw pieces that fit together to form an I Spy style image full of Humpty Dumpty's birthday presents -- and Humpty himself! As in traditional I Spy images, a poem accompanies the image telling solvers what to search for. However, the lines of the poem are intentionally ambiguous until paired with an answer word from a puzzle. For example, there are multiple president's noses in the image (Lincoln on the $5 bill and Jackson on the $20 bill), and only when paired with the answer word REPUBLICAN is it clear that Lincoln's nose is the one to grab. In addition, most of the objects in the image have a series of dots digitally added to them -- these are braille numerals. Finding the objects in the order of the poem and indexing into the corresponding answer word by the braille number on the object reads the weakness of the beast EISOPTROPHOBIC (afraid of mirrors).
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| Line in poem | Answer Word | Object in image (Approx. location in image) | Braille number on object | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I spy a set of triplets, | SQUIGGLES | Set card of three squiggles (Left side in mirror) | 8 | E |
| an internet trend; | FELINE | A cat (Lower left on sheet music) | 4 | I |
| wooden sticks, | UTENSIL | Chopsticks (Center right under sunglasses) | 5 | S |
| and a being that no one could mend; | OVOID | Humpty Dumpty/Ostrich Egg (Center left) | 1 | O |
| Something smart, | APPLE | iPhone (Center just right of egg) | 2 | P |
| and a nicely performed figure-four; | MOUNTAINEER | Climbing figuring doing a figure four (Upper right on small climbing wall) | 5 | T |
| something wise, | BIRD OF PREY | Owl (Center of mirror) | 3 | R |
| and a nun saying I get no more. | TEETOTUM | Dreidel with hebrew letter nun visible (Center of image just under iPhone) | 5 | O |
| There's an old tongue-tied score, | PENSIVENESS | Sheet music for Contemplation from Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words (Lower left) | 1 | P |
| an impeccable rose; | AZIMUTH | Compass rose on map (Center right above $20 bill) | 7 | H |
| a highball with a twist, | HAND TOOL | Screwdriver (the tool) (Lower right of mirror image above peg game) | 6 | O |
| and a president's nose; | REPUBLICAN | Abraham Lincoln on $5 bill (Upper left of table just under mirror) | 5 | B |
| A warm vessel for flavors both mellow and bold; | CERAMICS | Black ceramic teapot (Center of mirror image) | 6 | I |
| and an object that leads to a medal of gold. | CLEAN SWEEP | Curling broom (Bottom of image; number near head) | 1 | C |