The KHNT Radio Puzzle

Listen to the KHNT Radio cassette tape for some hints.

The Insight

The only clue in the booklet in the KHNT Radio Puzzle section was a cryptogram. Some teams attempted to jump right in and solve the cryptogram, but met with little luck. On first opening your packets (indeed, for some teams even before opening them...) you probably noticed a cassette tape. This tape was labled "KHNT Radio" and began with a discussion of the relevance of the number 97423 and indicated that things associated with that number should be turned around. At this point, some teams flipped the tape over and got themselves an earful of Barry Manilow. Nice try, but instead what you were supposed to do was to look at the cryptogram in the booklet and notice the number 32749, which is 97423 backwards... could the whole cryptogram be backwards?

The Tape and the Cyrptogram

Reversing and solving the cryptogram yields the following message:

GOOD WORK - NOW TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU MUST GO LISTEN TO THE SONG AFTER OPUS 94723 ON THE TAPE. THE NINTH AND FORTY SIXTH OF THIS YAKETY YAK CHANT SONG WILL LEAD YOU TO THE NEXT GRID LOCATION. THIS IS THE ONLY PUZZLE ON THE TAPE.

The tape contained a Gregorian Chant version of the 1958 Coasters tune, "Yakety Yak," complete with cool sax solo. The ninth and forty-sixth words of the song were "you" and "two," corresponding to the coordinates U-2 on the map.

The Balloon

At location U-2 was the icon for Paper, Etc. At Paper, Etc., they had a whole bunch of Hunt helium ballons, which they gave away in exchange for one of the Hunt Coupons printed in the back of the puzzle booklet. Inside the ballooon was a piece of paper that read:

"Where to find Snickleberry Juice? ...A grocery store, perhaps?"

The Recipe

By no coincidence, there happened to be a supermarket right next door - Randall's. At the entrance to Randall's was a computerized store directory under a large Hunt logo. If you browsed through the recipies on the computer, looking for a recipe for Snickleberry Juice, it printed out:

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DESSERTS, ETHNIC - SNICKLEBERRY JUICE
A warm and wonderful delicacy from Tundaloo and Findivver

INGREDIENTS:


• 2 tbsp. dungadoozoo oil
• 1 ripe dungadoozoo, split lengthwise
• 3 cups liquefied dungadoozoo
• 4 other unknown ingredients (you didn't actually think we'd give you all the ingredients in one place, did you?)

Slice the two halves of the dungadoozoo into several round slices. Wear one slice on your head like a hat for good luck while cooking. Put dungadoozoo in skillet and fry slices hastily until blackened. Dump contents of skillet into cauldron along with other ingredients and simmer until midnight. Drink liquefied dungadoozoo while you wait.

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Checking the Findivver Table of Elements verified that dungadoozoo was indeed one of the potential components for Snickleberry Juice, and is the answer to this puzzle.

Bonus Clues

Walrus

One bonus clue came from a phone number in the radio show on the KHNT Radio tape. Dialing the phone number alowed callers to hear a recorded message about the "Monsters of Bach" concert, but was otherwise pretty much a dead end. The recording made reference to a walrus, which was the bonus clue.

Hippopotamus

Another bonus clue came from the computerized store directory at Randall's. If you asked the directory where in the store Snickleberry Juice was located, it would display a path out the door, and then the word "Hippopotamus."