by Jeff Roberts and Tom Buehler

As the flavortext suggests, this puzzle is a long journey taking solvers from one stop to another around the MIT campus. At each stop there is a short puzzle to solve, which clues the location of the next stop. Completing the runaround favors solving ability as well as speed and endurance, since solvers will need to travel nearly 3 miles to complete it (assuming no wrong turns). Solvers will find at the end that they need to keep track of where they've been.

Stop 1: Campaign Kickoff!

The first stop is at 26-100, clued by the number of seats (551) and the reference to a “lecture series.” 26-100 is the only lecture hall with that number of seats, and is the site for most MIT Lecture Series Committee (LSC) films and events. Outside the hall are a number of photographs, including one which has some text similar to the given curved set of dashes and numbers:

WESTON STATION VOLTMETER → MORSS

Stop 2: Advisors!

The next stop is at Morss Hall inside Walker Memorial.

Auto manufacturing:____( )______ENGI(N)EERINGN11
Coal extraction: __( )___MI(N)INGN7
Farm subsidies: ( )__________(A)GRICVLTVREA2
Global warming _( )_____G(E)OLOGYE4
Graphic arts: __( )___DE(S)IGNS5
Plastics: ______( )__CHEMIS(T)RYT3
Poll numbers: __( )________MA(T)HEMATICST8
Power grids: ( )__________(E)LECTRICITYE13
Soviet-era relations: _____( )_HISTO(R)YR9
Nuclear weapons research: _____( )_PHYSI(C)SC12
Steelworking: _( )________M(E)TALLVRGYE6
Vaccines: _____( )_BIOLO(G)YG1
The figure that oversees this group: ( )___ _____(A)LMA MATERA10
10A
 
2A 13E
4E 5S 9R 12C
7N 8T 3T 6E
 
 
1G 11N

The diagram represents figures in the mural to Alma Mater on the north wall of Morss Hall in Walker Memorial. In this mural, Alma Mater is in the top center, and she is surrounded by representatives of various academic disciplines. When the clued disciplines are matched to the locations on the mural, and the desired letters are read in the order indicated, the letters spell GATES ENTRANCE, i.e., the northeast entryway into the Stata Center, at the east end of the Vest Student Street.

Stop 3: Fundraising!

_( )___, friend for 49 years.B(A)RRY Rosenbaum (1970)A
___( ), friend for 53 years.BER(T) E. Forbes (1966)T
______( ), friend for 86 years.HERBER(T) E. Grier (1933)T
____( )_, friend for 46 years.YALÇ(I)N Ayasli (1973)I
( )_______, friend for 40 years.(C)HARLENE Kabcenell (1979)C
( )____, friend for 52 years.(S)UHAS Patil (1967)S
_( )___, friend for 42 years.R(O)GER Bamford (1977)O
( )________, friend for 61 years.(F)REDERICK W. Ostermayer, Jr. (1958)F
____( )_, friend for 82 years.JOSE(P)H F. Keithley (1937)P
_( )_, friend for 62 years.R(A)Y Stata (1957)A
___( )__, friend for 41 years.STE(V)EN Kirsch (1978)V
_( )_____, friend for 83 years.W(I)LLIAM R. Hewlett (1936)I
( )___, friend for 52 years.(L)UTZ P. A. Henckels (1967)L
_( )_____, friend for 55 years.M(I)CHAEL L. Dertouzos (1964)I
_( )___ ___, friend for 34 years.Y(O)UNG SOO Ha (1985)O
___( )_, friend for 86 years.FRA(N)K J. Bliel (1933)N
_____( ), friend for 67 years.MORRI(S) Chang (1952)S

These are all names from a list of alumni/ae donors just inside the Gates entrance to Stata, which includes year of graduation. Subtracting from 2019 provides the match to a graduating year and the enumeration resolves some ambiguities. The indicated letters spell ATTICS OF PAVILIONS, and searching “MIT Attics of Pavilions” reveals that this refers to the pyramid-like structures on the tops of buildings surrounding Killian Court.

Stop 4:  Endorsements!

Each pavilion has a group of names (with one larger name at the bottom) representing different fields of science/academics. For eight of them, their locations correspond roughly to lines in a tic-tac-toe grid, representing a pigpen or Freemasons cipher. As with such a cipher, the absence/presence of dots indicate whether to use A-I or J-R; S-Z are not used in this message.

medicine/geology and philosophy.O
chemistry and medicine/geology.L
engineering and designD
engineering and design.M
all groupsE
engineering and designD
philosophy and astrophysicsI
electricity and engineeringA
chemistry and medicine/geology.L
electricity and engineeringA
electricity and chemistryB
engineering and designD
medicine/geology and philosophy.O
medicine/geology and philosophy.O
philosophy and astrophysics.R

Once each field is deciphered to its appropriate letter, the result spells out OLD MEDIA LAB DOOR.

Stop 5:  Branding!

The colors reference the colored tile design outside the Ames St. entrance of the old Media Lab (E15, the Weisner Building). The color patterns indicate the order of the columns in a paint-by-number puzzle, which, when solved, will create the name ROTCH, referring to the Rotch Library on the second floor of Building 7 (the Rogers Building).

1111111
512313151211515
2511
1121211
211113
11111111
1121211

Stop 6:  Social Networking!

The lines are zoomed-in images of intersections in the diagram on the Rotch Library door. Connecting the dots for each line traces out a letter:

9, 10, 8, 21, 22, 20I
6, 5, 11, 18, 24, 23C
13, 12, 6, 7, 15, 14E
17, 1, 14, 10, 11A
20, 11, 5, 12, 15, 22R
6, 11, 16, 20, 23E
20, 7, 22, 6N
22, 8, 20, 15, 16A

This should lead solvers to the ICE ARENA in the Johnson Athletics Center.

Stop 7:  Campaign Rally!

The “three people” showing up refers to the three silhouettes hanging in the lobby outside Johnson ice skating rink. After deducing the instructions, working out the transformations starting with the given title CAMPAIGN RALLY leads to W TWENTY BASEMENT, which refers to the Stratton Student Center, building W20.

Number of attendees:NoneOneTwoThree
How many attendees appear to be holding an object (perhaps a campaign sign)?Delete all repeated letters, retaining the first instance of each.Delete all repeated letters, retaining the last instance of each.Delete all instances of repeated vowels.Delete all instances of repeated consonants.
How many attendees are female (as far as you can tell)?Shift the first letter forward 12 places in the alphabet, the fifth letter forward 5 places in the alphabet, and the last letter backward 6 places in the alphabet.Shift the first letter forward 17 places in the alphabet, the seventh letter forward 1 place in the alphabet, and the ninth letter backward 10 places in the alphabet.Shift the second letter forward 6 places in the alphabet, the seventh letter forward 3 places in the alphabet, and the last letter backward 14 places in the alphabet.Shift the second letter forward 1 place in the alphabet, the ninth letter forward 11 places in the alphabet, and the last letter backward 5 places in the alphabet.
How many attendees seem to be “leaning left” (from your perspective)?Insert “E” before and after the last letter.Insert “S” before and after the last letter.Insert “U” before and after the first letter.Insert “W” before and after the first letter.
How many attendees are putting their hands together?Delete the middle four letters in the sequence and replace them with “E”.Delete the middle four letters in the sequence and replace them with “A”.Delete the middle six letters in the sequence and replace them with “ON”.Delete the middle six letters in the sequence and replace them with “IL”.
How many attendees are jumping up in the air (probably for joy)?Reverse the first six letters in the sequence.Reverse the last six letters in the sequence.Reverse the first four letters in the sequence and move them to the end.Reverse the last four letters in the sequence and move them to the beginning.
How many attendees have a thoughtful demeanor (i.e., appear reflective)?Insert “ES” after the first and third letters in the sequence.Insert “ETAL” after the first and last letters in the sequence.Insert “OFA” after the third and seventh letters in the sequence.Insert “ENT” after the third and ninth letters in the sequence.
CAMPAIGNRALLY
Delete all repeated letters, retaining the last instance of each.CMPIGNRALY
Shift the first letter forward 17 places in the alphabet, the seventh letter forward 1 place in the alphabet, and the ninth letter backward 10 places in the alphabet.TMPIGNSABY
Insert “W” before and after the first letter.WTWMPIGNSABY
Delete the middle four letters in the sequence and replace them with “E”.WTWMESABY
Reverse the last six letters in the sequence.WTWYBASEM
Insert “ENT” after the third and ninth letters in the sequence.WTWENTYBASEMENT

Stop 8:  The Big Speech!

The basement is full of quotations in speech bubbles. Once solvers find the correct one and fill it in, they will notice that there is a missing letter in each column, and a number in each column from 1 to 18.

12
W
6
D
7
E
4
S
8
T
13
O
3
T
5
I
14
F
18
Y
11
T
17
T
1
O
16
F
2
U
9
E
15
I
10
N
WOMANWASTAKENOU
TOFMANNOTOUTO
F`HISHEADTOTOP
HIMNOROUTOFHIS
FEETTOBETRAMPL
EDUNDERFOOTBUTO
UTOFHISSIDETO
BEEQUALTOHIMUN
DERHISARMTOBE
PROTECTEDANDNEAR
HISHEARTTOBEL
OVEDANONYMOUS

Once the missing letters are arranged in the order indicated, it spells OUTSIDE TEN TWO FIFTY.

Stop 9:  The Voters!

10-250 is a lecture hall in building 10 (the Maclaurin building). Outside it is a wall with a list of “Sustaining Fellows.” Each of the given first names shares a common last name:

Guy & Robert (5)MCBRIDEI
Edson & Samuel (6)COLLINSN
Cornelius, DuWayne & Edward (3)PETERSONT
Frederick & W.B. (3)MURPHYR
Daniel & Leslie (1)ORLOFFO
Martin & Warren (1)TOWLET
Herbert & Warren (7)TWADDLEE
Charles & Marjorie (4)BRAXTONX
Martin, Robert & Robert (4)DEUTSCHT
Lawrence & Thomas (7)PERKINSS
Howard & James (4)TURNERN
Richard & Scott (7)CARPENTERT
Edmund & Richard (2)SHEAH
Daniel & Fred (4)FLOWERSW
Franklin, Nathan, Alice & Wendel (2)COOKO
Allen & John (3)HORTONR
Barnett, Bernard, & Haskell (4)GORDOND
David & Holland (4)HOUSTONS
Jack & Martin (3)TANGN
Edward & Vernon (2)BOWLESO
Armand & Marilyn (2)BRUNEAUR
Charles & John (4)REEDD
John & Thomas (2)KELLYE
Edmund & Thornton (5)STEARNSR
Charles & Richard (3)YINGN
Douglas, John, Kenneth, Lee & Geraldine (5)MARTINI
Frank, Thomas, Warren & Alice (5)JONESS
Kirkbride, Irwin & Theodore (1)MILLERM
Thomas & Kenneth (4)DAVISI
Anthony & Ronald (4)KURTZT
Pierre & Willis (3)DUPONTP
Irwin & Marvin (2)GROSSMANR
Ching Chih & Concordia (3)CHENE
Arthur & Martin (1)ZIMMERMANZ
Rudge & Paul (5)ALLENN
Richard & William (3)YOUNGU
Alan & Hal (3)BEMISM
Barry & Edwin (6)ROSENBERGB
Ralph & Hanna (1)EVANSE
George, Joan & James (3)BERMANR

Taking the indicated letter of each last name spells the instruction phrase INTRO TEXTS NTH WORDS N ORDER N IS MIT PREZ NUMBER.

Each campaign stop is at a location named for a past president of MIT. Finding the number of that president (with the text hinting you not to use acting presidents or to repeat anyone), and taking the indicated word(s) in chronological order, gives a final instruction.

StopPresidentPresident#Word(s)
6William Barton Rogers (Building 7)1In
2Francis A. Walker (Memorial Bldg.)3newest
9Richard C. Maclaurin (Building 10)6building
1Karl T. Compton (Labs/Building 26)9floor
4James R. Killian (Court)10list
8Julius A. Stratton (Student Center)11word
7Howard W. Johnson (Athletics Ctr.)12above
5Jerome A. Wiesner (Building E15)13the
3Charles M. Vest (“Street” in Stata)15cave

“In newest building floor list word above the cave.” The newest building on campus (as of the 2019 Mystery Hunt) is MIT.nano, the new Building 12. The floor listings are found outside each elevator, and the word above “The Cave” is the answer, CLEANROOM—or, formatted for its inclusion in its associated problem, CLEAN ROOM.