SOLVE:
Puzzle Design
December 8, 2023 –
March 31, 2024
Puzzle Answers
Thank you for visiting SOLVE at the Design Museum of Chicago. Below this text, you will find insights into the solutions of the puzzles featured in the exhibit. As you delve into the answers below, we hope you gain a deeper appreciation for the intricate design and thought-provoking challenges in the world around you. Thank you again for being part of the Design Museum's exploration of design and problem-solving.
(Note: If you’re looking for the solution to SOLVE SOLVE SOLVE, the in-exhibit puzzle, scroll to the very bottom of this page.)
100% Reliable
Among the text of the comic book page are 24 words in bold, exactly two each of every length from 5 to 16 letters long. The words in each pair have exactly one letter in the same position. Those individual letters, taken from shortest word pair to longest, spell the clue SEE WALLY WOOD.
Word Pairs:
AGNES, NAILS
NUTTER, PROVED
CROWLEY, WITCHES
WARLOCKS, WICKEDLY
CREMATION, WARRANTED
AZIRAPHALE, GENTLEFOLK
APOCALYPTIC, UNFAILINGLY
CLAIRVOYANCE, GOBBLEDYGOOK
FOREKNOWLEDGE, UNTRUSTWORTHY
GOODFELLOWSHIP, UNQUESTIONABLY
ACRIMONIOUSNESS, PROGNOSTICATION
MUDDLEHEADEDNESS, UNDERAPPRECIATED
This phrase refers to Wally Wood's comic 22 Panels That Always Work where the next clue awaits.
Cipher wheel
If a cipher wheel has both alphabets in order, like this one, it is a Caesar Cipher. A Caesar Cipher with a shift of 3 means A=D, B=E, C=F, etc. So “HELLO” becomes “KHOOR”.
Hanayama Cast
Hold one piece in each hand. Stack them on top of each other in the shape of the finished diamond puzzle with the flattest parts touching. Twist and rotate the top piece to assemble the diamond puzzle.
Kukui Nut Snake
This puzzle requires users to line up the different colored nuts in a 10×10 square to reveal letters. The key is in the poem, and the message says “OUT SAIL”.
Last Defender VHS Puzzle
To solve this puzzle, you need to arrange the VHS tapes by volume, then by the last name of the author. The first letter of each country spells the answer, which is “YOU DID IT NOW PUT ALL THESE TAPES IN RANDOM ORDER”.
Lego Puzzle Box
Little Monsters
The appearance of a monster is determined by characteristics of the letters that form that monster's name.
The number of enclosed circles indicates the number of eyes the monster has.
The number of ascenders indicates the number of horns it has.
The number of descendents indicates the number of wings it has.
The number of line endings indicate how many tentacles there are.
The teeth indicate the number of letters in the name. The top teeth are consonants and the bottom teeth are vowels, the teeth are laid out in the same pattern as the name.
The colors are from the letters in the word (r=red, g=green, y=yellow, b=blue, p=purple, o=orange) If there is only one of the color letters, the monster is a solid color. If there are multiple color letters the letter that appears the most times determines the primary color, and the color letter that appears less times determines the secondary color. If there is a tie, or more than two colors, the order the letter appears in the monster's name determine priority (with the letters at the start of the word trumping letters that come later). A monster whose name doesn't contain any of the color letters is brown.
Marble Canoe
Spin the canoe so the middle is the pivot. Centrifugal force will push the marbles to the correct positions.
Masquerade
Masquerade's puzzle is elaborate. The answer is hidden in the 15 painted illustrations. In each painting, a line must be drawn from each depicted creature's left eye through the longest digit on its left hand, and out to one of the letters in the page border. Then from the left eye through the longest digit on the left foot; the right eye through the longest digit on the right hand; and finally the right eye through the longest digit on the right foot. This is only done for eyes and digits that are visible in the painting. The letters indicated by these lines can be made to form words, either by treating them as anagrams or by applying the sequence of animals and digits suggested by the Isaac Newton painting. Following this method reveals fifteen words or short phrases, which together form a nineteen-word message:
CATHERINE'S LONG FINGER OVER SHADOWS EARTH BURIED YELLOW AMULET MIDDAY POINTS THE HOUR IN LIGHT OF EQUINOX LOOK YOU
The acrostic of these words and phrases reads "CLOSEBYAMPTHILL". Properly interpreted, the message tells the reader that the treasure is buried in Ampthill Park in Bedfordshire, near the park's cross-shaped monument to Catherine of Aragon, at the precise spot touched by the tip of the monument's shadow at noon on the day of either the March or September equinox.
Many additional hints and "confirmers" are scattered throughout the book. For example, in the painting depicting the Sun and the Moon dancing around the Earth, the hands of the two figures are clasped together, pointing at the date of the spring equinox.
MISKATONIC Horology
The message reads “The message spelled by the clock is DELE / TETH / ESEL / ETTE / RSAN / DCAE / SARS / HIFT / THER / ESTB / YUTC / OFFS / ETST / ODAY.” A separate component of the puzzle told players what to do next with this message.
Nickelodeon
Facing the Nickelodeon, turn the crank counterclockwise (rotating toward you). Notice the Chicago design icons as they flash past — Cloud Gate (the Bean), Navy Pier’s Ferris Wheel, Star from Chicago’s Flag, and Willis Tower. Walk around the exhibit to find the icons, noting the associated letters.
Cloud Gate, on top of bookshelf with the Last Defender puzzle (P)
Ferris Wheel, ceiling in front of the vault (L)
Chicago Flag Star, pedestal next to framed images of Little Monsters (A)
Willis Tower, pedestal under The Silver Key (Y)
(Note: There are other icons with letters next to them in the exhibit that are not seen on the Nickelodeon. These are red herrings.)
Return to the table and input P–L–A–Y into the lock on the treasure box. Line up the 4 letters along the front white line. Unlock the box and enjoy a prize!
Scytale
A message is written on the strip while wrapped around the cylinder. When the message is unwrapped, it appears to be gibberish, but when it is wrapped around the cylinder, it is readable.
On this particular scytale, the message says “SOLVE THE PUZZLE”.
There are also many noise letters on the strip, to obscure the message and fill the spaces between the letters.
The Library
The image contains six different codes, each encoding a six-letter word. The systems and words are:
Ape portraits, where numbers = letters WEAPON
Binary code, where numbers = letters (groups of five books) REASON
Morse code (on the molding of the bookshelf) ANALOG
NATO alphabet (titles: ECHO, MIKE, BRAVO, ROMEO, YANKEE, OSCAR) EMBRYO
Nautical flags NASSAU
Semaphore flags (represented by hands of the clocks) SALUTE
The flavortext of the puzzle clues the next step (“...in the end, one ape will find the answer. Or vice versa.”).Solvers must stack the words so that the first letters spell ANSWER:
ANALOG
NASSAU
SALUTE
WEAPON
EMBRYO
REASON
The letters at the end then spell the answer, another monkey: GUENON.
Think Fun word search
ThinkFun’s Brain Fitness games are designed as a fun way to help you exercise your brain. The 80 challenges will stretch your mental muscles and strengthen speed, focus, and memory. We recommend that you start with the beginner level and work through the challenges progressively.
In this amalgamation of polyominoes and word search, players select a challenge and then place the pieces onto the challenge so that the letters under each piece spell a word either forward or backward.
Example of solutions for beginner puzzles:
SOLVE SOLVE SOLVE
SOLVE is not just an exhibit; it's also a puzzle in and of itself! Look carefully through the exhibit where you will find a series of hidden clues. Here are solutions for the in-exhibit puzzle:
Part 1: Bold
Four panels around the exhibit are made up and don’t correspond to any artifacts. In each panel, four words or segments are bold. Those four words, along with the title of the panel, clue a word.
What Comes First
By Avenues & Alleys Mysteries
Bold words: park, center, memorial, logs
Solution: The title asks “what comes first?” The same word can precede all the bold words: LINCOLN
Who Is It
By Boulevard Games
Bold words: polish, war, hero, holiday
Solution: these words together make a single clue, the answer to which is PULASKI
What Follows
By Chicago Way Productions
Bold words: head of, empire, secretary of, solid
Solution: The title asks What Follows? The same word can follow all these phrases: STATE
What’s Missing
By Down the Street Adventures
Bold words: Erie, Huron, Superior, Ontario
Solution: These are 4 of the 5 Great Lakes. The missing one is MICHIGAN
These four answers are all streets in Chicago. To figure out which one goes in slot A or B, look at the Designer names. These names also clue the street name connection.
Part 1 solution: The highlighted boxes spell OPEN
Part 2: Sandwiched
The shapes seen on the page can be found hidden in the exhibit, stuck to the wall. Each one is part of a bigger shape or icon. They are:
FOX — EAR
LOG — PEN
MEN — SING
TEA — ACE
These words go in the grey boxes. The outlined boxes in between indicate that the same letter can be appended to the first word in each row, as well as prepended to the second word in each row, to get 2 new words. They are:
FOX [Y] EAR
LOG [O] PEN
MEN [U] SING
TEA [R] ACE
Part 2 solution: YOUR
Part 3: Around The World
In almost every panel, one letter in the title has a dot underneath it. Those letters, in alphabetical order, and by section, are:
Computational Thinking: KRTUY
Observation: AEGMNR
Pattern Recognition: ADILNR
Correlation: AIRY
On the page are 4 countries. The letters in each section make up all but one letter of the country. The remaining letter goes in the box.
TURK(E)Y *
GERMAN(Y)
IR(E)LAND
(S)YRIA
* Note: The Turkish preferred spelling has officially been updated to Türkiye in public communications.
Part 3 solution: EYES