Try solving this whether you’re studying hard or hardly studying!
Exam season is upon us. Here is a puzzle challenge for you to tackle while procrastinating. Try solving all five mini-puzzles, and then the final meta puzzle. Email [email protected] if you think you have the answer!
Puzzle 1:
Here’s the first puzzle: ujbtrw
Stuck? Try shifting your sights to the Supreme Court and asking all 9 justices.
Puzzle 2:
2-a: 1
7: 6
8: 6
9: 36
24-2: 19
Hint: CCoRaF; no spaces, yes punctuations
Puzzle 3:
Someone texted me this, but I have no idea what it means:
22 666 666 55
Puzzle 4:
A list of familiar last names—where should I start first?
Alarie
niblEtt
bensOn
sHaffer
Puzzle 5:
This was written by a first-year student. I wonder what it means.
Consideration – 6
Adverse Possession – 1
Negligence – 3
Mens Rea – 5
Federalism – 14
Meta Puzzle:
Answers to the mini puzzles point to this.
Hint: 369; 2030-2100
Answers
Puzzle 1:
This is a simple substitution cipher. You will note that the words “shifting” and “9” are bolded. This points the solver to try replacing each letter of the puzzle with the letter that is 9 spaces to its right in the alphabet (For example, a would become j, z would become I, wrapping around). Doing this, UJBTRW becomes LASKIN. The reference to the Supreme Court also serves as a way to confirm that LASKIN is the correct answer.
Answer: LASKIN
Puzzle 2:
CCoRaF stands for the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The numbers on the left of the colon refers to the section/subsection of the Charter (for example, 2-a is s. 2(a)), and the number that is on the right of the colon indicates that you should take the nth letter of the referred section. For example, s. 2(a) states “freedom of conscience and religion;”. Therefore, the letter 2-a: 1 is referring to is the first letter of s. 2(a), which is F. All punctuations count as letters, while spaces do not count. (For example, for “Paul, Weiss”, W would be the 6th letter). Applying this same rule to all 5 lines of the puzzle, you get FOOLS as the answer.
Answer: FOOLS
Puzzle 3:
A blast from the past. If you remember how you used to text on those old flip phones, this puzzle should be very easy. Each numerical button from 2–9 was associated with 3 letters. To type B, you had to press 2 twice. Applying this logic, the puzzle can be translated into BOOK.
Answer: BOOK
Puzzle 4:
A seemingly innocent list of UofT law profs… or is it? The flavour text has the words “last” and “first” bolded. This was meant to stress that the listed names are last names, and that the solver should start by looking at their corresponding first names. Once each professor’s first name is found, one can simply figure out the position of the uppercase letter, and find the letter in that same position in the professor’s first name. For example, niblEtt has the 5th letter capitalized. Professor Niblett’s first name is Anthony, and the 5th letter of Anthony is O.
Applying this logic to all 4 names, the answer you get is BORA. This also happens to be the first name of Justice Laskin.
Answer: BORA
Puzzle 5:
The flavour text mentions that the list was compiled by a first-year student. This should indicate to the solver that these topics are straight from the first year law courses. For example, consideration points to contract law. With the corresponding first year course found, the solver simply has to take the nth letter of the name of the course (indicated by the number in each line of the puzzle). For example, for consideration – 6, the solver would take the 6th letter of contract law, which is A. Applying this logic to all lines, the solver should get the answer APRIL.
Answer: APRIL
Meta Puzzle:
Taking the answers from mini puzzles, the solver should be able to see that the answer has something to do with April Fools and Bora Laskin. The connecting piece is BOOK, which indicates that the answer has something to do with the law library (Bora Laskin!) and also with the library booking system. (I love double meanings). The answer can be found on the library booking page, on April 1st (April Fools!). Meta hint shows you which room (P369) and the timeslot (2030-2100, or 8:30pm to 9pm) you should be looking for. If you navigate to the room booking on April 1st, 2023 at 8:30pm-9pm for P369, you should be able to see that the booking title is INTRA VIRES PUZZLE CLUB.
Meta Answer: INTRA VIRES PUZZLE CLUB
