This hunt had 4 metapuzzles: 1 associated with the runaround and 3 with the main round puzzles.
(To view the endgame / meta meta / final puzzle, follow the link at the bottom of this page.)
Runaround Meta
The runaround meta puzzle does not use the answers to each specific puzzle but rather the overall structure of the runaround itself. The paths between locations are longer or shorter and are drawn on the main puzzle page as dotted, if short, or dashed, if long - this suggests Morse code. The runaround is structured as a Morse code tree, where each location represents a letter in Morse code based on the path from the starting point to that location. For example, the location marked with the white circle represents an A (dot dash).
Once the letter for each location is identified, the next step is forming a clue phrase out of these letters. As the runaround puzzles are solved, the symbols for each location also appear next to the main round puzzles listed below the map on the main puzzle page. Many of the symbols appear multiple times.
This information was also conveyed on the runaround puzzles themselves, with the distance (short / long) identified in the introduction, and the relation to the main puzzles given in the references.
Reading the letters that correspond with each symbol/location in the order they appear in the list of puzzles gives the phrase MEET ME AT WEST GATE.
| Symbol | Path | Corresponding letter |
|---|---|---|
| Black bat | Long / dash | T |
| Red square | Long long / dash dash | M |
| Blue spade | Long long short / dash dash dot | G |
| Red bird | Short / dot | E |
| White circle | Short long / dot dash | A |
| Yellow circle | Short long long / dot dash dash | W |
| Black diamond | Short short / dot dot | I (not used) |
| Yellow bear | Short short short / dot dot dot | S |
Main Round Metas
The main puzzle answers (those that appear on the home page) can be partitioned in to groups based on the last word in each answer. There are three categories: vehicle, weapon, and clothing (something you wear). The remaining portion of the answers in each category form a meta puzzle.
Vehicle Meta
- FLYBACK TRANSFORMER
- GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE
- NEW ENGLAND COACH
- UNLEADED PETROL TANKER
Sort the non-grouping portion of the answer by its length in syllables. The phrases have {2,3,4,5} syllables with the first word having {0,1,2,3} syllables and the second word always having 2.
- () FLY-back
- (new) ENG-land
- (glo-bal) CAR-bon
- (un-lead-ed) PET-rol
The first syllable of the 2nd word is always the stressed one and reading the stressed syllables in order gives fly-eng-car-pet, so the answer to the vehicle meta is FLYING CARPET.
Weapon Meta
- ASPARAGUS SPEAR
- AWKWARD FLAIL
- COURTROOM STAFF
- DISCSHOOTER GUN
- IEEE CLUB
- NONSTICK KNIFE
Each of the non-grouping portion of the answers contain a trigram of the form 121: ARA, WKW, RTR, EEE, SCS, NON, respectively. Sort the trigrams, so that the "outer" letters spell "answer".
- ARA
- NON
- SCS
- WKW
- EEE
- RTR
Then the "inner" letters spell the weapon meta answer ROCKET.
Clothing Meta
- BEAR SUIT
- BONNET TOP
- BOWL JERSEY
- CHOCOLATE HABIT
- HOT POCKET
- SHORT TAILED OPOSSUM FUR
Each of the non-grouping portion of the answers has a (most) commonly associated color.
- brown BEAR
- red HOT
- orange BOWL
- blue BONNET
- grey SHORT TAILED OPOSSUM
- white CHOCOLATE
Turn these colors into numbers using the resistor color codes. Use this number to sort the answers. Then use that as an index into the word/phrase. (Requiring that this step works will resolve any lingering ambiguities like red/white hot, black/brown bear.) The indexed letters spell the clothing meta answer BOWTIE.
Meta Meta / Final Puzzle
Once all four metas have been solved, proceed to the endgame.