Solution: Map Quests
Answer: OCEANOGRAPHY
Author: Benji Nguyen
Each set of directions describes a quest on a specific map. The maps are from pieces of literature, movies, history, video games, board games, and real life. In addition to identifying the direction of each move (as explained in the Rules of the Road), teams should also notice that each map refers to a location that contains the substring “LAND” or “LANDS”, as clued in the flavor text.
Now that you have deciphered the directions, we can turn our attention to the word search. There are a lot of words hidden in the word search, but which ones are we looking for? After some searching, teams should stumble across some words and phrases that are synonyms for each of our LANDs. For example, TOY BRICK matches up with LEGOLAND and UNDEAD matches up with ZOMBIELAND. As additional confirmation, teams should also notice that the length of the word or phrase found in the word search matches the larger number found in the Start clue of the corresponding LAND’s directions.
Each Start clue is of the form “Beginning from the Nth of X”. If you start from the Nth letter in the word/phrase in the word search and follow the cardinal/intercardinal directions described by the quest, you will spell another word. These words, read in the order of the original quests, reveal the clue phrase, FIND CHAPTER TITLE TERMS FROM NOVEL WHOSE SETTING CLUED USING WORD AWE. Applying the theme of the puzzle, teams might look for a novel set in AWELAND, but they won’t find anything substantial. Instead, teams need to find a land that is a synonym of the word AWE, namely WONDERLAND.
One term from each of the twelve chapters of Alice in Wonderland can be found in the grid. Moreover, each term intersects exactly one of the original synonyms. Reading these overlapping letters from top to bottom on the grid reveals the answer to this puzzle, OCEANOGRAPHY.
| "Land" | Directions | Synonym in Word Search | Quest Path Word | Alice in Wonderland Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICELAND | SW, N, SE | FROST | FIND | POOL |
| LEGOLAND | N, W, N, E, E, N | TOYBRICK | CHAPTER | TEAPARTY |
| NOMADLAND | W, N, E, NE | TRAVELER | TITLE | TURTLE |
| DREAMLANDS | E, SE, SE, W | NIGHTMARE | TERMS | HOLE |
| GONDWONALAND | NE, N, W | LANDOFGONDS | FROM | EVIDENCE |
| LAND OF OZ | SE, N, NE, W | OUNCE | NOVEL | LITTLE |
| NEVERLAND | E, E, SE, W | WHENPIGSFLY | WHOSE | PEPPER |
| DINOSAUR LAND | NE, N, NE, E, S, SW | SAUROPOD | SETTING | LOBSTER |
| CANDYLAND | NE, NE, S, NW | CONFECTION | CLUED | CAUCUS |
| ZOMBIELAND | E, SE, SE, N | UNDEAD | USING | ADVICE |
| DISNEYLAND | S, S, S | WALT | WORD | TARTS |
| THE LANDS BETWEEN | NE, E | AMONG | AWE | GROUND |
| S | T | O | P | R | E | A | D | M | A | P | S | F | I | R | S | T | T |
| N | F | R | O | S | T | C | A | U | C | U | S | Y | X | C | B | A | A |
| I | D | O | O | F | U | S | R | K | O | L | Q | Z | O | A | O | D | T |
| C | H | A | L | K | R | O | T | E | N | L | I | X | X | P | U | L | E |
| K | U | S | U | C | K | O | I | E | F | D | U | A | O | I | N | V | R |
| I | N | S | I | G | H | T | F | X | E | L | E | A | E | L | C | O | S |
| D | D | R | E | N | D | D | I | E | C | L | I | T | T | L | E | M | A |
| I | E | S | I | W | H | E | C | V | T | B | O | B | P | A | T | C | H |
| O | A | D | V | I | C | E | E | I | I | A | N | M | O | R | T | A | R |
| T | D | R | A | T | M | O | O | D | O | O | A | T | I | I | E | C | O |
| S | O | O | N | S | L | R | L | E | N | Y | T | Y | N | E | O | O | F |
| L | A | N | D | O | F | G | O | N | D | S | E | G | L | S | A | L | A |
| Q | W | E | R | T | Y | R | O | C | K | S | A | U | R | O | P | O | D |
| A | M | O | N | G | U | S | E | E | D | U | M | B | T | R | A | B | G |
| Q | U | E | E | R | T | L | Z | R | E | T | R | O | U | G | S | S | O |
| W | H | O | V | O | I | T | R | A | V | E | L | E | R | M | H | T | O |
| H | A | E | S | U | T | G | P | Z | Q | T | C | R | T | A | O | E | P |
| E | X | X | O | N | A | A | T | Z | W | A | L | T | L | N | V | R | Y |
| N | E | R | D | D | N | R | E | L | O | R | E | Y | E | I | E | A | S |
| P | E | P | P | E | R | B | A | E | R | T | G | N | B | G | L | O | W |
| I | H | A | T | E | T | A | P | D | D | S | P | P | B | H | O | L | E |
| G | R | A | B | B | A | G | A | K | E | V | B | R | F | T | E | L | E |
| S | T | U | P | I | D | E | R | D | X | P | T | E | R | M | A | R | T |
| F | R | E | A | K | O | U | T | E | B | A | H | Q | E | A | J | S | M |
| L | O | O | S | E | T | O | Y | B | R | I | C | K | E | R | F | N | Q |
| Y | O | U | D | O | T | H | I | S | L | A | T | E | R | E | V | I | L |
Author’s Notes
During the hunt, a friend sent me the word search with "AMONG US" highlighted with an angry emoji.