The joyful, perplexing world of puzzle hunts | Alex Rosenthal

翻译人员: Yiyang Piao 校对人员:

It's 4am, you've been awake for forty hours,

现在是凌晨四点， 你已经四十个小时没睡觉了。

when you unlock a puzzle containing this video

这时候你解开了一个谜题， 里面包含着这段短片：

of some kind of dance-off between a chicken and a roller-skating beaver.

描述一只鸡和 一只穿轮滑的水獭共舞。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

The confusion and delight you're experiencing

你所经历的困惑和启迪，

is a typical moment at the MIT Mystery Hunt,

在麻省理工的”谜题寻踪“里 再常见不过了。

which is basically the Olympics meets Burning Man

奥运会碰上火人节， （火人节：美国一项狂欢节）

for a specific type of nerd.

那简直就是书呆子们的狂欢。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Today, I'm going to take you inside this strange,

今天， 我将带各位进入

intellectually masochistic and incredibly joyful world.

这个既特别又烧脑, 同时也充满乐趣的世界。

But first, I have to explain what I mean when I say "puzzle."

首先，我得解释一下， 我所谓的“谜题”具体指什么。

A puzzle-hunt-style puzzle is a data set.

一个“谜题寻踪”式的 谜题是指一组数据，

It can be a grid of letters, a sudoku, a video, an audio --

它可以是一组字母，一道数独题， 一段视频或者一段录音——

it can be anything that contains hidden information

它可以是任何包含隐藏信息的东西。

that can eventually resolve into an answer that is a word or a phrase.

只要它能够被作为 一个词句被解答出来。

So, to give you an example,

举个例子，

this is a puzzle called "Master Pieces."

这个谜题名为“杰作”，

It consists of 10 images of LEGO people looking at piles of LEGOs.

里面包含十张乐高人物 看向积木堆的照片。

And to save us some time, I'm going to explain what's going on here.

为了节省时间，我会 解释一下其中的规则。

Each of the piles of LEGOs is a deconstructed work of art

每一堆乐高积木都是 拆解后的艺术作品，

in the style of a famous artist.

并且体现了一位著名艺术家的风格。

有人认出来左边这个 是哪位艺术家的风格了吗？

So, does anybody recognize the artist on the left?

They used a lot of red.

这幅画用了不少红色，

I heard "Rothko," yeah.

我听见了“罗斯科”，没错。

The second one?

那第二个呢？

(Audience) Mondrian.

观众：蒙德里安。

对，非常好！

Alex Rosenthal: Yeah, well done.

And the third one? This is the hardest one --

第三个呢？这个可不简单。

Yeah, Klimt, I heard it.

答对了，克里姆特，我听见了。

Well done, the color is the biggest clue there.

做得好，颜色就是最大的线索。

So the puzzle has various clues

所以谜题会有着不同的线索，

that tell you what matters here are the artists,

告诉你重点是艺术家，

而不是他们的代表作。

not the specific works of art.

And what you need to do is then look at what you haven't used yet,

同时你要做的是， 发现你没用到的信息。

which is the number of LEGO people in each painting.

在这里就是，每幅画里 乐高人仔的个数，

And you can count them

你可以数数看，

and then count into the artists' last names by the same number of letters.

然后选出艺术家们姓氏中 对应顺序的字母。

So there's three people in front of the Rothko on the left,

比如在罗斯科的前面有三个人，

so you take the third letter, which is a T.

你就把这个姓中的 第三个字母数出来，也就是T。

There's only one in front of the Mondrian, so you take the first letter, M.

蒙德里安前面只有一个人，那就挑 这个名字里面的第一个字母，M。

And there's three again in front of Klimt, so you take the third letter, I.

克里姆特前面又有三个人， 所以选出这个名字的第三个字母，I。

You do that for all 10 of the original artists

对10幅图像重复这样的操作，

and put them in the order,

再按顺序排好，

and you get the answer, which is "illuminate."

我们就找到了答案， 也就是“点亮”（illuminate）。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Puzzles like this are about communicating an idea.

这样的谜题旨在表达想法，

But where I'm trying to be as clear as possible for you now,

但我要向你们澄清的是，

puzzles have to navigate the line between abstraction and clarity.

谜题的风格会在抽象和具象间游走。

They have to be obtuse enough to make you work for it,

它们得有点难度， 好让你能全力以赴，

but elegant enough so you can get to the aha moment,

同时也要足够有内涵， 让你在解开的那一瞬间

where everything clicks into place.

感到兴奋，获得成就感。

Puzzle solvers are junkies for this aha moment --

那些解谜的人就像 对这种成就感上瘾了一样——

it feels like a brief high and an instant of pristine clarity.

那感觉就像短暂的高潮 和瞬间发自内心的彻悟。

And there's also a deeper fulfillment at play here,

这其中还蕴含着更深层次的满足感，

which is that humans are innate problem-solvers.

即人类的本质是问题解决者。

That's why we love crosswords and escape rooms

这也就是为什么我们会 痴迷于填字游戏和密室逃脱，

and figuring out how to explore the bottom of the ocean.

同时永不停歇地探索着海底的奥秘。

Solving deviously difficult puzzles expands our minds in new directions,

解决生僻且困难的谜题 会扩展我们的思维，

and it also helps us come at problems from diverse perspectives.

并且让我们学会 从不同的角度看待问题。

These puzzles come in various puzzle hunts,

这些谜题存在于 各种各样的“谜题寻踪”之中，

which come in various shapes and sizes.

五花八门，各式各样。

There's one-hour ones designed for novices,

既有为新手准备的一小时长度的谜题，

24-hour road rallies,

也有“24小时公路集会”，

and the puzzle hunt of puzzle hunts, the MIT Mystery Hunt.

更有难题中的难题—— 麻省理工的”神秘寻踪“。

This is an event that takes place once a year

这是个一年一度的盛会，

and has around 2,000 people descending on MIT's campus

每次大约有2000人 聚集在麻省理工校园内，

and solving puzzles in teams that range from a single person to over 100.

组成从1人到100多人 不等的队伍进行解谜。

My team has 60 people on it --

我的队伍有60人，

that includes a national crossword puzzle tournament champion,

里面有一位国家级 填字游戏锦标赛冠军，

a particle physicist, a composer,

一位粒子物理学家，一位作家，

an actual deep-sea explorer,

一名货真价实的深海探险家，

and me, feeling like "Mr. Bean goes to Bletchley Park."

还有我，感觉自己 就是关公面前耍大刀了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That's actually an apt comparison, because one year involved a puzzle

这个比喻很恰当了， 因为有一年有那么一个谜题，

where you had to construct a working Enigma machine

要求你做好一台解码器，

out of pieces of cardboard.

唯一提供的材料只有纸板。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Each Mystery Hunt has a theme.

每次的“神秘寻踪”都有个主题，

Past ones have included "The Matrix" and "Alice in Wonderland."

之前有过像“矩阵” 还有“爱丽丝梦游仙境”，

It's often pop culture- and literary-based themes.

通常是流行文化和文学类的主题。

And the goal is to find the coin

最终目标是找到一个硬币，

that's been hidden somewhere on MIT's campus.

它藏在麻省理工校园的某个角落。

And in order to get there, you have to solve around 150 puzzles

要找到它，你得解大概150道谜题，

and do various events and challenges.

面对各种事件和挑战。

I had done this for about 10 years without ever dreaming of winning,

我已经参加十年了， 从未抱着获胜的希望。

until January of 2016,

直到2016年一月，

where 53 hours into a hunt whose theme is the movie "Inception,"

那次我们用了53个小时， 谜题主题是《盗梦空间》，

we haven't slept in days, so everything is hilarious ...

我们几天都没睡觉， 简直要上天了。

（笑声）

(Laughter)

The tables are covered in piles of papers, of our notes and completed puzzles.

桌上全是我们的笔记和答好的谜题，

The whiteboards are an unintelligible mess of three days' worth of insights.

黑板上一团乱麻， 写着我们的想法。

And we're stuck on two puzzles.

我们卡在了最后两道题上，

If we could crack them, we would get into the endgame,

解决它们，我们就能进决赛。

and after hours of work, in a magical moment,

想了几个小时，在奇迹般的一刻，

they both fall within 10 seconds of each other,

我们在不到10秒钟的时间里 解出了这两道题。

and soon, we're on the final runaround,

不久我们就进入决赛了，

a series of clues that will lead us to the coin,

我们得到了找到硬币 所需的一系列线索，

and we're racing through the halls of MIT,

我们满学校跑，

trying not to knock over or terrify tour groups,

尽可能不撞到或吓着 来学校参观的旅行团。

when we realize we're not alone,

当我们意识到我们不是 唯一闯入决赛的队伍，

there's another team on the runaround as well,

还有其它队伍也在满学校跑，

and we don't know who's ahead.

我们不知道谁更领先，

So, we're a mess of anxiety,

这导致我们倍感焦虑，

anticipation, exhilaration and sleep deprivation,

同时还经历着期待， 振奋，和睡眠不足。

when we arrive at the Alchemist,

最终我们到达了 炼金术士的雕像前，

a sculpture in which we find ...

在那儿我们找到了——

this coin.

那枚硬币。

(Cheers)

（欢呼）

Yeah.

没错，我们赢了！

(Applause)

（掌声）

And in claiming it, we win the MIT Mystery Hunt

我们在麻省理工的 “神秘寻踪”里获胜了，

by a tiny margin of five minutes.

领先第二名仅仅5分钟。

What I didn't mention before

我忘了说了，

is that the prize for winning

赢得这个比赛的奖励就是

is that you get to construct the whole hunt for the following year.

你可以全权策划 下一年的寻踪活动，

(Laughter)

（笑声）

The punishment for winning

赢得这个比赛的惩罚也是

is that you have to construct the whole hunt for the following year.

你得全权策划下一年的寻踪活动。

At the beginning of 2016, I had never constructed a puzzle before --

在那之前我根本没策划过这类谜题，

I had solved plenty of puzzles,

我解决过不少谜题，

but constructing and solving are entirely different beasts.

但策划就完全是另一码事了。

But once again,

不过还是那句话，

I was lucky to be on a team full of brilliant mentors and collaborators.

幸好我们队全都是大佬。

So, from a constructor's point of view,

从一个策划者的角度来看，

a puzzle is where I have an idea,

一个谜题就是 我想到的一个主意，

and instead of telling you what it is,

相比直接告诉你这是什么，

I'm going to leave a trail of breadcrumbs so you can figure it out for yourself,

我打算给各位一些线索 让你们自己找出来，

亲身体会这种喜悦和成就感，

and have the joy and experience of the aha moment.

这是另一种顿悟。

This is another way of looking at the aha moment.

And what's incredible to me is that this experience,

令我难以置信的是，

这段情绪化又累人的经历，

which is very emotional and kind of almost physical,

is something that can be carefully designed.

居然是个可以被精心打造的作品。

So, to show you what I mean,

为了向你们展示我的本意，

this is a puzzle I co-constructed with my friend Matt Gruskin.

这里有一道我和朋友 马特·格鲁斯金一块设计的谜题。

It's a text adventure,

这是个文字冒险游戏，

是按照旧时代冒险游戏的 那种格式写的。

which is the old-school adventure game format,

where you're exploring, going north, east, south and west,

你要向东南西北四个方向探索，

picking up items and using them.

找到道具并充分利用，

And you could get to the end of the game part,

然后你就能到游戏的结尾了。

but you won't have solved the puzzle.

但那样你并没有真正解开这道谜题，

In order to do so, you have to recognize a hidden layer of information,

要想真正解开谜题， 你得知道这些信息的深层含义。

and the easiest way of seeing it is by mapping the game out.

最简单的方法就是 把这个游戏的内容标记出来，

That looks something like this.

就像这样。

Does anybody recognize what this is?

有人看出来这是什么了吗？

Yeah, exactly.

对了，没错，

This text adventure takes place within "Settlers of Catan."

这个游戏就是照着《卡坦岛》写的。 （卡坦岛：经典德式桌面游戏）

Who here knows what "Settlers" is?

有人知道里面的卡坦岛代表什么吗？

Nerds.

你们这群书呆子。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

If you don't know, "Settlers" is a board game

如果你不知道，“卡坦岛”是款桌游。

你要和其他人竞争，

where you're competing against other people

从而获取资源，建起房屋。

to collect resources and use them to build structures.

And within the text adventure, we hid information in various ways,

在这个文字解密中， 我们以多种方式隐藏了信息，

with which you could reconstruct an entire game.

用这些信息你可以改写整个游戏，

You could figure out the roads, the cities, the towns,

你可以收获公路，城市和小镇，

the resources, the numbers on the tiles, even the dice rolls.

资源，领地，乃至掷骰子的次数。

You put all that information together and you could extract an answer

把所有信息集合在一起， 你就能找到答案了。

至于具体怎么做， 那一时半会儿可说不清楚。

in a way that's too complicated to explain right now.

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But find me afterwards if you really want to know.

你们要想知道可以待会儿来找我。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But what this puzzle emphasized for me

不过这个谜题对我意味着的，

is the value of perspective shifts in inspiring an aha.

是观点转变在激发灵感方面的价值。

So, in this puzzle,

所以，在这个谜题中，

you go from experiencing the world on the ground, as a character,

你从小人物开始成长，

to looking down on it from above as if you're playing a board game,

到成为高级玩家俯视一切。

and in that shift,

通过这种转变，

you completely reframe all the information you've been given.

你重新构造了你所拥有的信息。

The hardest part of construction for me is coming up with a great idea for an aha.

对我来说这种策划最难的地方， 在于想出一个令人顿悟的设计。

Fortunately, the world is a torrent of ideas and information.

好在这个世界上不缺灵感和素材，

I've seen fantastic puzzles constructed out of the waggle dances of bees,

我见过由蜜蜂的摇摆舞动 构成的绝妙谜题，

and the remarkable coincidence that the 88 keys of a piano

还有能和88个钢琴键完美对应的

can be perfectly mapped to the 88 constellations in the sky.

88个星座这样的惊人巧合。

Once you find that out, you can't not construct the puzzle,

一旦你发现这些奥义， 你就忍不住想自己策划谜题，

and it's going to be about having the solvers

得让参与者

用自己的思维找出其中的联系，

make that connection in their own minds.

Whether you give them stars on a keyboard

无论你在琴键上赋予星星的名字

or play the celestial music of the cosmos,

还是演奏着星辰的乐章，

you're getting them there, one way or another.

你都在带着他们到达终点， 无论以哪种方式。

Before long, you find yourself staring at a turtle,

不久之后，你会发现 自己好像在盯着一只乌龟，

and asking yourself, "Is this a puzzle?"

问自己，“这还算道谜题吗？”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And also, staring at a turtle and saying,

还盯着乌龟说，

"I never appreciated what multitudes this contains in its shell alone."

“我可从没觉得这龟壳里面能有什么。”

This might be a familiar experience to you,

这可能对你来说很熟悉，

if you've ever been watching a TED Talk and asked yourself, "Is this a puzzle?"

如果你看过TED演讲 并问过自己“这算谜题吗？”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I'm not telling.

我的用意不是这个。

But what I will say

我想说的是，

is that puzzles can be found in the most unexpected of places.

谜题无处不在。

That brings us back to one of my favorite puzzles of all time,

这就不得不提我最喜欢的一道谜题，

which was constructed by Trip Payne.

由特里普·佩恩设计，

And this time, I'm going to play it for you with the sound on,

这次我要打开声音 给你们演示一遍，

so get ready to name that tune.

准备好记住每个声调。

(Slowed-down mock clucking)

（模拟咯咯声）

(Slowed-down mock clucking)

（模拟咯咯声）

(Slowed-down mock clucking)

（模拟咯咯声）

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Who knows what that is?

有人知道那是什么吗？

Yeah, "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman."

对，《你让我觉得自己天生是个女人》。

（笑声）

(Laughter)

So you can identify that and seven other songs and clips,

所以你可以识别 这首歌和其它7首歌，

and then look at the videos themselves for clues,

之后再把这些视频本身作为线索，

where the way that they are filmed and edited together

通过它们被拍摄和剪辑的方式。

plus things like the cutaways to the panel of five people

外加坐在桌子边上的

sitting at a table,

这五个人，

which is reminiscent of a panel of judges,

让人想起了陪审团。

all of this can suggest "reality competition show."

这一切都指向了“真人竞争秀”，

And either through internet research,

并且无论是通过网络搜索

or from just recognizing this, you can get to the aha,

还是仅仅是意识到这点， 你都能恍然大悟。

which is that these clips are shot-for-shot recreations

也就是说这些剪辑是为了

of lip-synch battles from "RuPaul's Drag Race."

再现“鲁保罗变装皇后秀”中的 假唱片段而拍摄的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So, why do we do this?

那么我们为什么要这么做？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

You tell me, I don't know.

你们来告诉我答案。

So, first of all, it's really fun.

首先，这很有趣。

But I think it also improves our lives in various ways.

但我觉得它也在 以各种方式改进我们的生活。

Being able to solve puzzles, when I'm confronted with a challenge,

当我遇到挑战时，能够解开谜题，

has allowed me to explore it from multiple perspectives

让我可以从多角度进行探索，

before I lock in an approach.

而不是仅仅锁定一个角度。

Also, the process of solving is great training for working with a team,

同时，解谜的过程 也是对团队合作的锻炼，

knowing when to listen, when to share,

让我们知道什么时候倾听， 什么时候分享，

and how to recognize and celebrate insight

还有如何认识和庆祝顿悟的瞬间。

and being able to construct ahas is a very powerful tool.

体验顿悟是十分重要的。

Think of how powerful and exciting and convincing an idea is

想到如此强大、令人振奋、 令人信服的想法，

that comes from your own mind,

是源自

你建立万物联系的大脑。

where you make all the connections yourself.

So in January of 2017,

所以在2017年的一月，

after tens of thousands of hours of work,

在无数个小时的工作之后，

we finally run our Mystery Hunt.

我们终于开始了 属于我们的“神秘追踪”。

And it's a different sort of satisfaction than the quick high of an aha moment.

那种满足感不同于 解开谜题时瞬间的成就感，

Instead, it's the slow burn of saying something through perplexing abstraction,

相比之下，那是一种 持续且抽象的感觉，

yet being understood.

最终被理解了。

And when it was all over,

当一切结束之后，

in our exhaustion, we turned to each other and the world, and we said,

我们疲惫不堪，告诉自己和其他人，

“我们绝对不再搞这个了， 工作量太大了。

"We're never doing this again. It's too much work.

It's really fun, but no more winning."

是很有意思，但不要再争冠军了。”

One year later, in January of 2018,

一年之后，到了2018年一月，

we won the MIT Mystery Hunt again.

我们再夺桂冠。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So, we're currently I don't know how many tens of thousands of hours of work in,

我们并不知道投入了 多少个小时在其中。

and we're two months out from the 2019 Hunt.

离2019年的寻踪就剩两个月了，

So, thank you for listening, I have to go write a puzzle.

总之，感谢聆听， 我得去设计谜题去了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）