BANG 21 Puzzles

We ran BANG 21 was run in Menlo Park on May 2 and 3, 2009.  (The Linguistic Geographers ran SNAP 21, based on many of the same puzzles, in Seattle on May 9, 2009.)  We've collected the puzzles, solutions, and other material from the game here.

This is a SPOILER-FREE version of the hunt. For a full description of the puzzles, including answers and commentary, please see this page.

Welcome to BANG 21! - Rules, hint system, scoring, and so on

BANG 21 Map - Teams used this to find the next location after solving a puzzle

BANG 21 Answer Sheet - Teams would record their answers here, to be turned in at the end

Puzzle 1, Twenty-One (Quiz Show)

21 Hook:

The 1950s game show Twenty One had a scandal, dramatized in the 1994 movie Quiz Show, where it was discovered that contestants were given the answers ahead of time.  We used the look of the 2000 version of Twenty One (the original version didn't really have onscreen logos or text).

Original Idea:

Trisha Lantznester

Puzzle Location:

Burgess Park/Recreation center (start location).

Presentation:

During intro, teams received a hand-written note explaining that they have been selected to win (i.e. the game is rigged), and that they have accordingly been given a list of answers.  The note is attached to a typewritten list of 21 answer words:
Gambia
RC Cola
Furor
Biking
Mailer
Apple IIc
Ellipse
Fondle
Mr. Spock
Master
Nuthouse
Outland
Saloon
Laser Pointer
Spiders
Hurricane Rick
Converse
Tentacles
BARTs
Babysitter
Kraut

When the game started, an MC (Wei-Hwa Huang) read 21 trivia questions, while members of GC flip through poster boards showing the questions.  After the 21 questions are done, we repeat through the list indefinitely (as long as anyone is watching).  GC never paused for answers, nor did anyone attempt to call them out.

Here are the questions:

  1. What is the full name of the company that removed the word "Computer" from its name once it started making music players and phones?
  2. In the Harry Potter novels, an agent whose job is to pursue and apprehend Dark wizards is called a what?
  3. What R&B artist, nicknamed the "Beale Street Blues Boy", won a Grammy in 1970 for performing "The Thrill is Gone"?
  4. On the TV show The Simpsons, Maggie Simpson is Bart's what?
  5. What brand of caffeinated root beer with "bite" is sold by The Coca-Cola Company and comes in a silvery can?
  6. In mathematical analysis, what is the verb used to describe how an infinite series approaches a specific finite limit?
  7. The 1946 book "The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care" was renamed in 1998 to "(Who)'s Book of Baby and Child Care"? 
  8. What Sunday occurs two days after Good Friday and can be celebrated by signs of fertility such as bunnies, eggs, and marshmallow Peeps? 
  9. When one celestial object, like the moon, moves into the shadow of another, like the earth's, the visual phenomenon is called a what?
  10. What traditional Swiss communal dish comes in the three varieties of cheese, meat, and chocolate?
  11. What chess term for "a ruse or risky stratagem" is also the name of a card-throwing mutant who appears in the new X-Men movie?
  12. In the Street Fighter games, what is Ryu's spinning move, literally "Tornado Whirlwind Foot," more commonly known as in English?
  13. What peninsula in Europe, forming the majority of the nation of Denmark, does not actually get its name from the fact that it sticks out?
  14. What food company replaced AIG on the Dow Jones Industrial Average but is probably better known for its Macaroni and Cheese?
  15. What computer peripheral was invented in 1969, paradoxically one year before the dot matrix variety and 7 years before the inkjet variety?
  16. An Austrian composer numbered his tenth symphony his "9th" in an attempt to avoid a curse.  His first name was Gustav; what was his last?
  17. What is known in slang as a "biffy," "kybo," "thunderbox," or "long drop," and often has a crescent on its door?
  18. The suits in a standard Rider Tarot deck are swords, wands, cups, and the five-pointed discs called what?
  19. What Swiss cough-drop is known for using an alpine horn and yodeling in its commercials?
  20. What farmed fish is often fed artificial colorants to give its meat the same pinkish hue found in the wild variety?
  21. What '90s TV science-fiction series, starring Jerry O'Connell as Quinn Mallory, shares its name with White Castle hamburgers?

Puzzle 2, 21st Letter

Original Idea:

Corin Anderson

Puzzle Location:

Burgess Park.

Presentation:

Teams receive:

Here are the clues:

The blanks at the bottom looked like this:

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
1st     5th 3rd     4th 2nd 6th

Here are the letters that were in the bag:

Original Idea:

Corin Anderson

Puzzle Location:

Menlo Park Caltrain.

We had a periodic table on display at this location.  We didn't explicitly point it out to teams but it should have been pretty obvious.

Presentation:

Teams receive:

21 Hook:

There are 21 consonants in the alphabet, and 21 pips on a die.  There are 6 faces on a die, and 6 vowels.  (Y counts a both consonant and vowel.)

Original Idea:

Doug Zongker

Puzzle Location:

In front of the Chase Bank along Santa Cruz Ave.

Presentation:

Each team receives an envelope that contains 21 pieces of card stock (1, 2, 3):

Puzzle 5, 21 Years

21 Hook:

21 is the legal drinking age in most states, and the 21st amendment repealed Prohibition.

Original Idea:

Melinda Owens

Puzzle Location:

Santa Cruz & Chestnut St. in front of Le Boulanger.

Presentation:

Each team gets a "fun activities" place mat for kids and a foofy cocktail menu.
(Note, depending on your PDF viewer, the kiddie menu may show a solution on it.  This has to do with how it renders invisible layers.)

Puzzle 6, 21 (Blackjack)

21 Hook:

The game is about getting as close to 21 as possible without going over.

Original Idea:

Corin Anderson

Puzzle Location:

Fremont Park

Presentation:

Each team arrives to a dealer at a blackjack table at the park.  They are encouraged to sit down and play.

Posted is this sign:

BANG Blackjack
Minimum Bet ....... 2
Maximum Bet ...... 2
Bailout Money ........ 3
Win Pays ............ 5
Blackjack Pays .... 7

The dealer has a rack of chips in front of him, in the denominations 1, 5, 10, and 21.

Players receive starting money to start, and play blackjack.  If they do not have enough money to bet, they can ask for a bailout, which will give them 3 more.  Each team can only have one player at a time.

Teams should figure out two things pretty quickly:

Procedure notes for the dealer:
The stickers are:

Puzzle 7, 21 equals

21 Hook:

There are 21 ways to have three unordered operators, if you allow "no solution".

Original Idea:

Ian Tullis

Puzzle Location:

Jack W Lyle Park

Presentation:

Teams receive two letter-sized pages of paper (1, 2).

Puzzle 8, Meta

21 Hook:

The smallest way to build a square out of smaller squares of distinct size -- "Squaring the Square" -- requires 21 squares.

Original Idea:

Wei-Hwa Huang

Puzzle Location:

Nealon Park

Presentation:

Teams receive:
  The Burninators