by Kevin O’Toole and Greg Edelston
Answer: APOCRYPHA
Problem: Pi Day Town/​Bloomsday Town

The solver is presented with a colored hexagonal grid and a rather dissonant piano score.

A solver might notice that each hand of the score consists of “long” and “short” notes (half and quarter notes in the right hand, and quarters and eighths in the right). The phrases in each hand are always broken up in chunks of one to four notes each. The solver can decode each hand as Morse code to reveal an instruction:

Right hand: FILL HEXES TO MAKE HARMONIC TABLE
Left hand: WITH G E CSHARP IN THE BOTTOM ROW AND BFLAT G E ON TOP AND WRITE TOP ON THAT PURPLE G

This gives some much-needed context to the hexagonal grid. The solver should fill the harmonic table into the grid, filling the required constraints. The completed grid should look like this:

A natural next step for the solver might be to draw onto the harmonic grid the paths of the notes in the melody. However, the melody notes are not always adjacent, so it is not obvious how one should connect the notes.

Instead, the solver should see that each chord in the left hand represents a node within the hexagonal grid. Within each rest-delimited chunk of music, adjacent chords represent nodes that are always within one hexagon of each other. By connecting the dots on the hexagonal grid, the solver can read another instructional phrase: REMOVE RED AND FOLD TO MAKE BALL. (Illustrative table below.)

If the solver then cuts the red hexagons out from the grid, then the resulting arrangement can be folded together to form a buckyball, also known as a truncated icosahedron. The ball even has an orientation, indicated by the “TOP” that the solver should have written on a purple G, per the Morse instructions.

If the solver returns to the melody notes, they will find that each rest-delimited chunk of notes is always formed of adjacent faces of the buckyball. The solver can again connect the dots to form the word APOCRYPHA, which is the answer to this puzzle.

Left-hand chord decoding

Measure #ChordsShape on gridLetter
1–2
  • F, A, C
  • A, C, E
  • C♯, E, G♯
  • F♯, A, C♯
  • A, C, E
  • D, F♯, A
R
2–3
  • C, E♭, G
  • E♭, G♭, B♭
  • C♭, E♭, G♭
  • A♭, C, E♭
  • C♭, E♭, G♭
  • E, G, B
  • C♯, E, G♯
  • E, G, B
E
3–4
  • D, F, A
  • A, C♯, E
  • F♯, A, C♯
  • D, F♯, A
  • F♯, A, C♯
  • F♯, A♯, C♯
  • B, D, F♯
M
4–5
  • C, E♭, G
  • A♭, C, E♭
  • F, A, C
  • A, C, E
  • C, E, G
  • C, E♭, G
O
5–6
  • C♯, E, G♯
  • F♯, A, C♯
  • B♭, D♭, F
V
6–7
  • G, B♭, D
  • B♭, D♭, F
  • G♭, B♭, D♭
  • E♭, G, B♭
  • G♭, B♭, D♭
  • B, D, F♯
  • G♯, B, D♯
  • B, D, F♯
E
8
  • C♯, E, G♯
  • A♭, C, E♭
  • C, E, G
  • F, A, C
  • A♭, C, E♭
  • D♭, F, A♭
R
9–10
  • F♯, A, C♯
  • A, C, E
  • F, A, C
  • D, F♯, A
  • F, A, C
  • B♭, D♭, F
  • G, B♭, D
E
10–11
  • A♭, C, E♭
  • C♯, E, G♯
  • D♭, F, A♭
  • F, A♭, C
  • A♭, C, E♭
D
11–13
  • F, A, C
  • A, C, E
  • A, C♯, E
  • F♯, A, C♯
  • D, F♯, A
  • F♯, A, C♯
  • A, C, E
  • F♯, A, C♯
A
13–14
  • B♭, D♭, F
  • F, A, C
  • D, F, A
  • G, B♭, D
  • D, F♯, A
N
14–15
  • G, B♭, D
  • D, F♯, A
  • B, D, F♯
  • G, B, D
  • G, B♭,D
D
15–17
  • A, C, E
  • E, G♯, B
  • G♯, B, D♯
  • F, A♭, C
  • G♯, B, D♯
  • E, G♯, B
  • D♭, F, A♭
  • E, G♯, B
F
17–18
  • G, B♭, D
  • G, B, D
  • B, D, F♯
  • D, F, A
  • B♭, D, F
  • G, B♭, D
O
18–19
  • A, C♯, E
  • D, F, A
  • B♭, D, F
  • G, B, D
L
19–20
  • A, C♯, E
  • D, F, A
  • D, F♯, A
  • A, C♯, E
D
20–21
  • G♯, B, D♯
  • A♭, C, E♭
  • F, A♭, C
  • A♭, C, E♭
  • C♯, E, G♯
  • A, C♯, E
T
21–23
  • A, C♯, E
  • A, C, E
  • F, A, C
  • D, F, A
  • D, F♯, A
  • F♯, A, C♯
  • A, C♯, E
  • A, C, E
O
23–24
  • E, G♯, B
  • A, C, E
  • E, G♯, B
  • A, C♯, E
  • D♭, F, A♭
  • F♯, A, C♯
M
24–26
  • B♭, D♭, F
  • F, A, C
  • A, C♯,E
  • D, F♯, A
  • G, B♭, D
  • D, F♯, A
  • F, A, C
  • D, F♯, A
A
26–28
  • C♯, E, G♯
  • A, C♯, E
  • A, C, E
  • E, G♯,B
  • A, C, E
  • F, A, C
  • B♭, D♭, F
  • F, A, C
  • D, F, A
  • B♭, D, F
K
28–30
  • E♭, G, B♭
  • E♭, G♭, B♭
  • G♭,B♭,D♭
  • B, D, F♯
  • G♯, B, D♯
  • B, D, F♯
  • G, B, D
  • E, G, B
  • E, G♯, B
E
30–31
  • D, F, A
  • A, C♯, E
  • F♯, A, C♯
  • D, F♯, A
  • D, F, A
  • B♭, D, F
  • G, B♭, D
  • D, F♯, A
B
31–33
  • C♯, E, G♯
  • A♭, C, E♭
  • C, E,G
  • F, A, C
  • B♭, D♭, F
  • F, A, C
  • A♭, C, E♭
A
33
  • A, C, E
  • F, A, C
  • B♭, D♭, F
  • G, B♭, D
L
34
  • E, G♯, B
  • A, C, E
  • F, A, C
  • D, F♯, A
L

Right-hand chord decoding

Measure #NotesShape on buckyballLetter
1–3
  • G
  • C
  • A
  • B♭
  • A
  • C♯
  • C
  • C♯
  • E
  • G
A
5–7
  • D
  • C♯
  • B♭
  • C♯
  • C
  • B
  • B♭
  • D
P
8–10
  • G
  • C
  • A
  • C♯
  • E
  • G
O
11–12
  • E
  • C♯
  • C
  • E♭
C
13–18
  • C♯
  • C
  • C♯
  • A
  • C
  • G
  • E
  • C♯
  • E
  • B
  • E♭
R
19–21
  • E
  • C♯
  • A
  • C
  • A
  • C♯
  • C
  • B
  • B♭
Y
23–26
  • E♭
  • B
  • E
  • G
  • B♭
  • D
  • B
P
27–30
  • B
  • B♭
  • B
  • C
  • B
  • A♭
  • C
  • A♭
  • C♯
H
31–34
  • C
  • B
  • B♭
  • G
  • C
  • G♯
  • B
  • G♯
  • C♯
A