S.P.I.E.S. agents must be able to cope with all sorts of unexpected contingencies in the field. Below are 30 items, in three levels. Show your versatility by obtaining at least three items from each level.
Just as in the real world, bad forgeries will get no credit. Good forgeries (those which one has to look at carefully to detect) will get partial credit. Excellent forgeries (those we can't detect) will get full credit. If you're not certain what we're asking for for any of these, feel free to call us for clarification.
Any item that requires a photograph of a member of your team must be accompanied by the team member.
Items marked with a star may be retained by headquarters.
Basic spy equipment and techniques
- Entry: a diplomatic passport.
- Experience: a passport with entry stamps for at least twenty countries.
- Escape: ability to open an arbitrary lock (provided by HQ, type unknown) within two minutes 30 seconds.
- Interrogation: sodium pentothal.
- Concealment: a briefcase with a secret compartment.
- Hum int: a bottle of top shelf whisky, vodka, or gin.*
- Cultivation: a green card.
- Covert ops: a photorealistic mask.
- Communications: four methods of communicating arbitrary, provided sentences (no more than two methods electronic) between teammates placed in different rooms.
- Miscellaneous: 17 published spy novels, or a spy novel with "17" or "seventeen" in the title.
Intermediate spy equipment and skills
- Entry: a US$1000 note.
- Experience: photographs of a single member of your team on all seven continents.
- Escape: a pogo stick.
- Interrogation: thumb screws.
- Concealment: a hollow book with enough space for $10,000 in $100 bills.
- Hum int: an elected government official. (NOT student government or MIT government or student group government. National, state, county, or municipal.)
- Cultivation: Red Sox World Series ticket stubs.
- Covert ops: a Yankees sweatshirt.*
- Communications: team members communicating an arbitrary, provided sentence in a constructed language, complete with its own phonology, grammar, and vocabulary.
- Miscellaneous: a physically self-destructing message (emphasis on self).
Advanced spy equipment and techniques
- Entry: a parachute.
- Experience: a photograph of a member of your team in zero gravity.
- Escape: a personal jet pack.
- Interrogation: an original, commercially produced cd, tape, or record (ie, not a burned copy) of These Boots Were Made for Walking, the Hamster Dance Song, the Barney Theme Song, or the Song That Never Ends.
- Concealment: porn with a spy-relevant hidden message.*
- Hum int: a member of another team.*
- Cultivation: one Swedish-made penis enlarger.
- Covert ops: a full Harvard or Yale football uniform, including pads and helmet.
- Communications: team members communicating an arbitrary, provided sentence while bound and gagged.
- Miscellaneous: a coin from a previous Mystery Hunt, won by a team none of your members were on.