The Big Dig Hunt

Hints Page

Click on the boxes to see hints for each puzzle!

Puzzle 1

  • Looking at the example, what is special about the word “camouflage?” Why might it go under “silver”?

  • Notice the word “periodically”!

  • Each of the answers will contain either “Au” or “Ag”.

  • Put all the “silver” words together and the “gold” words in the right category, keeping the order the same.

  • Notice that the word “first” is bolded!

  • Take the first letter of each word to get the answer: CHINATOWN GATE.

Puzzle 2

  • Look around. Are there any plaques that contain a sun that looks like the one on the page?

  • The “Chinatown Gateway” plaque has a sun with a corresponding grid of Chinese words below.

  • What might “spaces and punctuations” suggest?

  • Take the letters that correspond to the positions that have spaces and punctuation marks on the actual plaque.

  • Don’t forget to read top to bottom, right to left!

  • Taking all the letters and reading in the appropriate order gives the answer: SOUTH STN

Puzzle 3

  • Stand a few feet away from one of the entrances to the MBTA South Station stop. Does anything look familiar?

  • Look up!

  • All of the triangles map to one of the structures above the four entrances to the South Station. The bottom right triangle corresponds to station #4

  • Take the first row of the triangle that maps to 1, the second row of the triangle that maps to 2, and so forth to get the answer: FIRE DEPT.

Puzzle 4

  • Looking at the station, how could you determine the numbers that go with TOWER LADDER, ENGINE, DIVISION, COLLAPSE RESCUE, and RESCUE?

  • Using the numbers for each team, solve the equations.

  • For those only using equations #1 and #2, you will need to use the quadratic equation.

  • X = 2 and Y = 5

  • Solve the equations in the table and match the numbers back to the alphabet to get the answer: FOG

Puzzle 5

  • A reminder: 1 is not a prime number!

  • Using clue #3 and #5, we can place numbers 10-14.

  • Using clue #4, we can place numbers “1”, “4”, and “9” in column C.

  • Using clue #5, we can deduce that the prime numbers in column C cannot be “2”. Row 2, Column C is a “3”.

  • Row 4, Column C is either “5” or “7”. If it were “5”, “6” would be unplaceable following all of the rules. Because of this, Row 4, Column C is a 7.

  • Take the letters in the order of the numbers that you’ve figured out.

  • THE MERRY GO ROUND

Puzzle 6

  • What animals do you see on the outer ring of the carousel?

  • Place the animals in order, bringing the letters with them. The two rabbits can help orient you!

  • Read the letters to get the answer: THE GREENWAY!