12 Solves & 55 Attempts
Just like how victors of past Hunger Games were reaped again in the third Quarter Quell, the final puzzle rides on the sense of repetition from being reaped again, and requires solvers to use ideas or extraction mechanisms from all the past puzzles to get single letters from a list of words. This can be confirmed by the fact that there are nineteen clues (the total number of non-meta puzzles in Rounds 1 and 2). You may notice that some of the clues can be linked to more than one puzzle, but there should only be one unique way of matching the puzzles to the clues such that all nineteen puzzles will be matched up.
This gives the final solution UNDER THE SG RIVER BIRD, referring to the Botero bird sculpture along the Singapore River. The choice of a bird sculpture as the location of the coup is also a thematic reference to the Mockingjay, the symbol of rebellion in the Hunger Games series. Teams which submit this answer will receive instructions to take a selfie at said sculpture with an item related to the hunt’s theme.
Clue | Puzzle | Meaning | Letter |
---|---|---|---|
Break laws and pay no fines | 1.02 Art | This is a line from the Pearl Jam song U. | U |
What’s left of the last skyscraper | 1.11 Urban Planning | Looking at the final skyscraper puzzle from the left side reveals a lowercase letter n. |
N |
Count by dolphin’s circle | 2.05 Wiress | In the puzzle, the circle attached to ‘dolphin’ represents Seki Toshihiko, who voices a character named Count D in the series Pet Shop of Horrors. | D |
Evidence #5: a scarlet book | 2.01 Johanna Mason | The villain of A Study in Scarlet was Jefferson Hope. Extract the fifth letter, E. | E |
Scarecrow’s arms | 1.09 Observation | Interpreting the scarecrow’s arms as semaphore (as was done for the birds’ wings) gives the letter R. | R |
Middle earth | 1.06 Language | The letter in the middle of the Venn diagram for 土 (meaning ‘earth’) is T. | T |
Take on new risk to offset existing risks for topiary | 1.03 Comprehension | The first (‘Take on new risk to offset existing risks’) and second (‘topiary’) parts of this clue describe the economic term/ordinary word HEDGE. Take its initial, as per the puzzle: H. | H |
Naveen has friends on the other side | 1.10 Psychotherapy | “Friends on the Other Side” is track #5 on the Princess and the Frog OST, so extract the fifth letter from NAVEEN, E. | E |
Light bulb powered by renewable energy | 2.07 Beetee Latier | ‘Renewable energy’ refers to the word SOLAR in the grid, which contains a lightbulb corresponding to S. | S |
Gin-Gin Mule | 1.01 Addition | This two-ingredient cocktail consists of gin and ginger beer, which have the same initial, G. | G |
Ruminator | 1.12 Zoology | RUMINATOR is the anagram of a mythical creature (MINOTAUR) plus the letter R. | R |
Highgate Archway | 1.08 Navigation | Highgate and Archway are stations on the London Underground. Joining them on the Tube Map forms the letter I. | I |
@iseenoreasonwhy | 2.06 Gloss | The five posts on the Instagram account @iseenoreasonwhy indicate the character V from V from Vendetta. | V |
Remove NVIHUFZOHWJI | 2.02 Foxface | Removing these letters from the final grid traces out a lowercase letter e. | E |
A drop of blood, a smear, another drop | 1.05 Investigation | In Morse code, this forms the letter R. | R |
Brash doubt | 2.04 Morphling | Following the puzzle rules, the letter to take is B (BRASH -> RASH; B is silent in DOUBT). | B |
In the middle of the minefield | 1.07 Military Intelligence | Refers to the letter in the exact middle of the Minesweeper grid, I. | I |
Dave Lizewski | 1.04 Fashion | Dave Lizewski is the superhero Kick-Ass, whose costume is green and yellow. In the 25-pair colour code, this corresponds to 18, giving the letter R. | R |
In an unreachable enclosure in Oklahoma | 2.03 Katniss Everdeen | In the Act 1 Scene 5 maze (the only one featuring Oklahoma!), there is a central unreachable enclosure containing 3 red blocks, 1 orange block and 1 yellow block. Following the logic of the puzzle, these sum to 9. Take the 9th letter of the 9th song in Act 1 of Oklahoma! (“It's a Scandal! It's a Outrage!”), which is D. | D |