Parts one and two of the puzzle roundup for my Kickstarter campaign for my puzzle novel The Maze of Games Kickstarter puzzle roundup have come and gone, and here is the final set. As you solve the puzzles, you can acquire badges by typing the answers into the Puzzazz site. Here's a summary of the puzzles from the final third of the campaign.
The Update Puzzles
In the Kickstarter updates starting with Update #3, there are 24 short lines from your adventure through the maze. Each of these contains some numbers which can be replaced by a name of a game which has that number of letters. Typing the number of the line and the name of the game into the Puzzazz site gets you one of 24 pieces of a maze, which can be assembled to get the Maze Breaker badge. Here are the middle eight lines of the story.
17. This doesn't make any sense to you so you decide to __5. "2... 1__ay, what exactly does that mean?" you ask.
18. But he is gone. You have a feeling you're being watched. You feel a light breeze __2 2__inous dances upon your neck.
19. Oh, no! It's the werew--- no wait, it's a lycanthr__3-3! "1 2__ly hope this isn't my demise," you say to the rodent.
20. "O," says the monster, "you are in quite the fix, are you n__2? 4 1__n earth awaits you if you offend me!"
21. He holds an enchanted sack of chestbones! "Hands off!" he shouts. "Don't touch my magi__1 3 3 1__lse I eat you!"
22. This is a fierce animal-human hy__4! 2__tting away will be hard. But wait, is he running away? What frightened him?
23. In a hedge you see a housecat. So that's what would s__4 3__atz rodents away! Wait, is she changing into a woman?
24. "I am the duke's wife," she says. "I answer the cal__1 2 1__xplorers need help. Here's what you must do to leave…"
Assemble the 24 maze pieces like a jigsaw, such that all the walls match up and that the letters in all the pieces are oriented the same way. (That is, you can read all the letters normally without turning the pieces or your head; in the piece with the letters NOH, the H is on the bottom.) Once the pieces are correctly assembled, you can do something such that you will be able to draw a path from one end of the maze to the other. That will spell a message. Type the seven-letter written source of this message into the Puzzazz site, and you will get the Maze Breaker badge.
The Wallpaper Puzzle
Disguised as a stretch goal, the wallpaper puzzle consisted of a series of Gatekeeper wallpaper images designed by The Maze of Games artist Pete Venters. The files could be downloaded off of a Dropbox site. The files came in multiple formats: .jpg, .pdf, and .png. Using these files, and applying a little number theory, you could get an answer that led you to the Number Theorist badge.
The Music Puzzle
Puzzle ninja Gaby Weidling recorded a brief audiofile which led to a word or phrase translated into the musical alphabet, which as you know is quite a bit more limited than our standard alphabet. So you'll have to extrapolate from there. The musical clip is in 9/8 time signature, and is a complete measure. Answering this puzzle will get you the Bandleader badge.
Play the MP3
The Final Puzzle
All of the answers can be placed in some order in the following blanks, as modeled at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament by me and Conundrucopia authors Patrick Blindauer, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Will Shortz, Eric Berlin, Deb Amlen, Francis Heaney, and Tyler Hinman.
The shaded squares will get you a phrase that will help you get the answer, but that phrase is not the answer. The answer is what I hope these puzzle have gotten you into over the last 44 days. Type that single word into the Puzzazz site and you'll get the Gamesmaster badge.
I hope you've enjoyed your time in the Maze!
