Solution to Treasure Chest Meta

On unlocking the Treasure Chest round, teams received a locked wooden crate. Inside were 8 physical puzzles (including a hand knitted quilt block, a custom Rubik's cube, and the locks on the chest itself!), and a treasure map labelled Most Excellent Treasure Atlas, or META for short.

The treasure map was printed on aged parchment. The shovels were stencilled with invisible ink, and while not required to solve the puzzle, represented an additional hint if viewed under UV light.

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Each puzzle answer in this round is part of a well-known compound phrase, in which the answer word can also be replaced with X to make a new common phrase:

• BUFFALO → X WING
• GLADWELL → MALCOLM X
• LISTENING → ACTIVE X
• CONSOLATION → X PRIZE
• GAP → GENERATION X
• MCGONAGALL → PROFESSOR X
• DRESDEN → X FILES
• THE SPIRITS WITHIN → FINAL FANTASY X

The 6 X's on the map (and the shovels) are on a grid. The transformed phrases can be put in the grid so that the X's in the phrases are written over the X's on the map. This is unique with assuming that the trees drawn on the map are obstacles.

Finally, read every letter that intersects the dotted path in order (these are also the locations of the shovels).

The final answer is MANTA RAY VISION - a phrase that also has the earlier transform property.