by Matto Mildenberger

Each maze has a unique solution path which traces the stylized shape of a federal congressional district in that state.

Each maze also has a date embedded in its shapes, which indicates one (often of several) election years when the given district existed with the solution path boundaries. The congressional district shapes are not presented to scale within the state.

The title and flavor are snark on the practice of gerrymandering, which makes these mazes possible.

To extract the answer NEW LOWS, solvers must index the congressional district number into the state name, and arrange these letters in order of maze presentation.

MazeStateDistrictLetter
1North Carolina1N
2Kentucky2E
3New Mexico3W
4Pennsylvania7L
5Ohio4O
6West Virginia1W
7Wisconsin3S

Below, you can see each maze’s unique solution path in blue as well as the hidden date in green.

Maze one: NC-1 as contested during the 2016 congressional election.

Maze two: KY-2 as contested during the 2018 congressional election.

Maze three: NM-3 as contested during the 2004 congressional election.

Maze four: PA-7 as contested during the 2014 congressional election.

Maze five: OH-4 as contested during the 2014 congressional election.

Maze six: WV-1 as contested during the 2016 congressional election.

Maze seven: WI-3 as contested during the 2014 congressional election.