Swiftly Satirical

[eriktheplaid]

[Cross-posted from my MovableType Blog]

[For the really impatient, you can just skip straight to dessert.]

I've been remiss, but work has been Crazy! A few of you already know this, but for those that don't:

Chiara and I took part in an event ruse last Saturday. She has already described the event fairly completely, I just feel compelled to point out that in presenting the puzzles as faits acomplis, she makes them seem much easier than they were. Much of our time was spent figuring out how to attack each clue, and what the puzzle might ultimately be.

After collecting plastic eggs all afternoon, the final step of the final puzzle spelled out "ARE YOU READY TO PUT YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET(,) CHIARA(?)" I had knelt beside her to "read over her shoulder" while she transcribed the message as Kate read it. At least, that's what she thought. Finally, questions were popped, the enormity sunk in, and champagne flowed.

Yes, the entire event was a ruse. And everyone involved, save one (miraculously), knew that.

So, how did this incredible, over-the-top, crazy afternoon come to pass?

Evolution of a Dream

1. 
   It all started as a daydream years ago. "When I do it, I want there to be a scavenger hunt involved."
   
2. 
   That morphed quickly into a clue hunt, much like the Fairfield Area Research Team events friends & I put together in High School. It's funny that those events were inspired by the Bay Area Race Fantastique, put on by a bunch of Stanford folks, and here we are where it all started.
   
   And that's pretty much where it sat for years. But somewhat recently, even I could no longer deny that this was where I'd be putting this plan into action.
   
3. 
   I realize that if I can help it, the ending should be as much of a surprise as I can manage. [That appears to have worked! Yay!]
   
4. 
   So how on earth do I manage that? Well, if it's more than just her playing the game, that adds a level of credibility.
   
   The trouble is that all of these plans have a fundamental flaw: if I design everything, I can't very well play, since I'll have to coordinte everything, and even if I hand that off, I know all of the solutions, they'll all seem trivial to me, and I won't be able to keep from pushing us along, taking away some of the frustration, yes, but with it some of the triumph.
   
5. 
   I begin to plan details, and enlist help from Kate & Bryan. I'm quickly overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.
   
6. 
   Fortune smiles upon me. Arshad & Corby (who have been playing in these events for a while, much to my envy) invite me to participate in the play test for Shinteki's Decathlon 3. A "Corporate Events" link on the website leads to an epiphany.
   
7. 
   The rest, as they are wont to say, is history. A wonderful beginning to a long history.
   

I'll leave it here with an idea that ended up being infeasible in the final event. My original plan for the eggs was to have them covered with (in order):

M
W
DXIV

DC
CM
CCXXI
DCCCLX
DCCXX
CLXX

N
Y
CXIV

DCXCVI
CCC
CCCLXX
CCCXXX
CCLXXXII
CDXX

A
E
CDXCIV

CDXC
CDXXX
CCXXV
DCCLXXXVI
CCXXVIII
-

O
E
DCCCXX

CXVII
CXX
D
DCCCX
DX
DCCLXXX

R
D
DCCC

C
CC
CDL
CCXX
CXV
CCCV.CCXXXV

(The first set of each egg under the line was optional)

I couldn't be happier with how things turned out, and I'm greatly looking forward to what follows!