The given pieces can be reconstructed to form three Hashiwokakero, or Bridges, puzzles, each of which has a unique solution. As illustrated in the example (which spells out EXAMPLE), each boat then spells out a word, as follows:
1) The boat begins by carrying an A.
2) Every time the boat crosses a single bridge, shift the letter on the boat forward in the alphabet by the sum of the two islands connected by that bridge.
3) Every time the boat crosses a double bridge, shift the letter on the boat forward in the alphabet by twice the sum of the two islands connected by that bridge.
4) Every time the boat reaches a buoy, output the current letter.
Doing this for each boat spells out the name of a noted bridge, with one letter missing. These missing letters, ordered by boat number, give the answer CROW’S NEST.
Boat Number | Bridge Name | Missing Letter |
1 | MACKINAC | C |
2 | HARVARD | R |
3 | BROOKLYN | O |
4 | TOWER | W |
5 | ORESUND | S |
6 | LONDON | N |
7 | GOLDEN GATE | E |
8 | BOSPHORUS | S |
9 | RIALTO | T |