Jurassic Adventure

You can download extra items by clicking on the links that are part of the packing list.

I've probably missed something somewhere... let me know and I will get it up for you!

Please reach out if you find a problem or need a different type of hint so that I can adjust things here.  Seriously- I will be so tickled to find that you are playing!

FAQs are here.  Additional information (including a discussion of how I created the puzzles) at the Notes and Diagrams section.  You can see the super solvers who have already opened the canister here.

Edits and Updates

If you come across a misspellings (Camarasaurus, Birkbeck College, Jose Carreras) it's just a typo.  None of the puzzles or hints are based on misspellings.

The chess board's colors should be inverted.  The packing list link contains corrected board.  You should also just have a normal chess set, but those pieces like to stick together and you may have an extra.

The back of the bookmark should have the following code:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
20 12 24 16 26 6 10 23 7 19 15 22 17 18 2 21 13 3 5 4 1 25 14 9 8 11

Although the welcome letter says that technology is not required, there are a small handful of specific items you might verify online.  What I meant to convey is that none of the puzzles require the sort of internet research or computer programming you will find in traditional online puzzlehunts.

Packing list

The following items should have been included in your box.  Click on an item view it or download an additional copy.

Hints

Open Nedry's backup envelope first!  That was intended to be the main helper and explains the game mechanics.  More specific hints are below.

First:  Look for things that have something in common.  Most puzzles require two or more items from the box.  For example, you have a set of items that are related to chess and another set of items that are related to drinks.

Second:  If you see a puzzle that looks like a puzzle you know how to do, start working on it even if you have no clue how you will get the final answer.  Chances are that after you solve part of the puzzle, you will notice something that will help you with the next step.

Third: If you reach a stopping point in a puzzle, look for things that are "left over."  Extra letters will often spell something out.  

Fourth: Look for hints about how to place items in a certain order.

Fifth: Don't be afraid to get something wrong.  If you really mess something up, you can print out another sheet from the packing list area.

There are 10 puzzles, all that solve to a number.  
 

All of the first round puzzles will solve to a number between 1 and 120.  Sometimes the puzzle will solve directly to the number (24), sometimes the number will be spelled out (TWENTY FOUR), and sometimes the solution will be a clue to a number (HOURS IN A DAY).  Although the puzzles may be challenging, it should be obvious when you arrive at the final number that you need. 

 
Each of those numbers corresponds with an instruction.  You should be able to find a list of instructions among everything in the box.
 
When you follow the instructions in the correct order, you will get the lock code.
 
 
How do you figure out what order to put them in?
 
Each of the puzzles connects to a place on the map.  For example, the puzzle with tea being sold by Rex Office Drinks corresponds with T Rex.  So you will need to match up your ten puzzles with ten places on the map.
 
You will not need all the places on the map.  But you should be able to find something that helps you determine which places you need to use, and what order to put them in.
 
You might find that there are some puzzles/items that won't be used.  I know, I'm a jerk.  I'm sorry.  In my (small) defense, they all have something that indicates that they were red herrings.  Which is all to say that if you find something that seems like it indicates which puzzles get used in a certain order but you would have puzzles left over, that's okay.
 
Once you have identified the places on the map that you need to use, you can also "back solve" from there.  That means that if you have a dinosaur name that you know you need to use, you can look for items in the box that might make a puzzle related to that dinosaur.  

Red herrings include:

Everything related to the cryptic crossword puzzle (check the top and bottom rows!)

Everything related to origami (the back decodes to "go fish")

The front of the bookmark (is just wing dings)

The Swedish fish (literal red herrings!)

The dinosaur skeleton

There is also nothing hidden in the movie script or the welcome note. 

In no particular order:

Puzzle one: Chess book page, chess board, chess pieces.

Puzzle two: Drink invoice, business cards, phone message, tea bags

Puzzle three: Sudoku, bookmark

Puzzle four: Nature guide, hexagon sheet, colored pencils

Puzzle five: Maze, cruising brochure

Puzzle six: Kit Kats, Reeses

Puzzle seven: List of 76 items

Puzzle eight: Nature guide

Puzzle nine: Word search, sandwich loyalty card

Puzzle ten: Vacation photos

End game: Jigsaw puzzle, password memo, locked container

Each puzzle will correspond with a location on the map through wordplay and bad puns.

For example, the beginning of the chess-themed puzzle talks about the Albin counter gambit.  This entire puzzle matches with the Albinikus location, and the hints are under the Albinikus section.  

Then you take the Rex Office Drinks, which sells tea.  That matches the T-Rex location.

You will need to have ten puzzles matched with ten locations on the map for the final end game.  You will determine which ones you need by combining the two different maps.

This puzzle is based around chess.  It requires the page from the chess book, the chess board, and the chess pieces.

It may help to take a pill and stare at the ceiling.  

The chess book includes the first part of a chess game.  You will need to replicate that portion of the game that is written.  If you are having trouble, you can follow along here:  https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1328801

As you look at the board with the letters right-side up, you should be playing as white.  When you reach the end of portion of the game that is published, you should get a phrase from a well-known song.  

If you don't recognize the song, it is easy to find online.

This puzzle involved the wordsearch.  

The words that you are looking for are all last names.  The first names of these people all have something in common.

The found words in the word search will form a frame.

There is another piece that matches the theme of the word search that fits inside of the frame.

There is no puzzle for the brontosaurus.  It is not used in the final puzzle.  

This puzzle involves the ten vacation photos.

After identifying the names of the cities that Nedry visited, arrange them by date.

You will need the Kit Kat bars and Reese's cups for this puzzle. You will use the chocolates to make a pattern of bars, cups, and spaces.  

The bars are dashes and the cups are dots.  Does this remind you of a type of code?

Lay out the candy in the order given, leaving blank spaces for the numbers that don't have candy assigned to them. 

This puzzle is based on coloring in the sheet of hexagons.

The paint-by-number instructions can be found within the nature guide.

The bird section of the nature guide will help you match up the color with the number.

If you want to try your hand at cryptics but need some help on the wordplay being used, here's some help for all the clues.  

Here is the filled in grid for the cryptic.  

The cryptic crossword is a red herring and is not used in the final puzzle.

There is no puzzle for this dinosaur and it is not used in the final puzzle.

There is no puzzle for this dinosaur and it is not used in the final puzzle.

There is no puzzle for this location and it is not used in the final puzzle.

There is no puzzle for this dinosaur and it is not used in the final puzzle.

There is no puzzle for this dinosaur and it is not used in the final puzzle.

There is no puzzle for this location and it is not used in the final puzzle.

This puzzle involves the origami instructions and origami paper. You can decode the numbers on the back of one of the origami sheets by using the decoder on the bookmark.

The numbers decode to "go fish."  This puzzle is a red herring and the giraffatitan is not used in the final puzzle.

This is used in the final metapuzzle.  The order in which you pass locations on the evacuation route will let you know how to order the instructions.  

This puzzle involves the plants portion of the nature guide.

There is a sentence embedded in the unique letters of the second half of the scientific names of the plants.  It will spell out a calculation to perform.  

There is no puzzle for this location and it is not used in the final puzzle.

These memos provide the instructions for the final metapuzzle.  You do not have to actually follow all of the instructions to make the password strings.

This puzzle involves the sudoku.  You will need to decode the middle row using the bookmark.

This puzzle uses the list of 76 items.  They need to be grouped into sets of 3.

The leftover item is associated with a specific number.  

This puzzle involves the invoice, the tea, and the phone message.

You will need to use the tea to determine who to call.   The answer will be the number of the phone extension.

The first letters of names of the tea will spell out a family member.

There is no puzzle for the velociraptor.  It is not used in the final puzzle.  

This puzzle involves the maze and the cruising brochure.

As you make your way to the center of the maze and then retrace your steps back out, you will cross letters.  Those letters will spell out a phrase that will let you know what package number you are looking for on the cruising brochure.  

For this puzzle, you will need to use the jigsaw puzzle, the password memo, and also have the answers to the following ten locations:

Albinikus

Apatosaurus

Camarasaurus

Choconosaurus

Coloradisaurus

Lanasaurus

South Dock

Triceretops

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Visitor Center

 

 

Identify the solutions (numbers) to each of the 10 puzzles.

Match each puzzle with an instruction.  The solution (number) of the puzzle correlates to the same number instruction on the password memo.

Order the 10 instruction by the order that the locations appear on the evacuation map.

Follow the instructions in that order.  All the calculations will be "nice" whole numbers.  If you are getting decimals, you may have a year wrong.  If you are getting imaginary or theoretical numbers, you are playing a different game.  

You should end up with a 4 digit number.

Remember that I bought cheap locks- you may need to wiggle the numbers a little for the lock to unlock.  

There are 11 players on a soccer team,

A bullseye in darts is worth 50 points.

Grace Hopper was born in 1906.

EDSAC first performed calculations in 1949.

Xerox 914 was first sold in 1959.

Joan Ball started her dating service in 1964.

Answer Checker

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This is the answer to the flower portion of the nature guide

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This is the answer to the list of 76 items

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This is the answer to the tea puzzle

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This is the answer to the chess puzzle

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This is the answer to the photo puzzle

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