Philler: History - Q3 - Philler Phun Phind

Q3 - Philler Phun Phind - April 25, 1995

Welcome to the Q3 Philler Phun Phind: a less-than-typical scavenger hunt. Philler knows that QuadFest is supposed to be a relaxing, fun-filled day, so we designed this hunt to be very silly and almost entirely useless as a history lesson. All the clues refer to things on campus, both indoors and outdoors. Some of the answers you will find will only be used to discover other clues, which in turn will provide your team with the final answer. Remember to have fun and think like Philler!

(Official) Rules and Regulations:

Teams may consist of one (1) or two (2) persons.
Teams must complete the Philler Phun Phind on their own, without collaboration with other teams, or with anyone else whom they happen to come across in their rambles around campus.
Under no circumstances will there be anything so base and unsavory as a third rule.
If you cheat, please make sure that we don't find out, as we will be very cross with you if we discover anyone breaking the rules.
Laurel and Guinevere welcome any attempt at bribery.
Prizes will be awarded between sets during the evening's entertainment; winners will be determined at the discretion of the hosts.
Look both ways before crossing the street while scampering around campus.
Any team which believes it has discovered the "answer" shall come screaming and running up to Laurel and Guinevere and whisper it discreetly in our (collective) ear. The first team to successfully complete the hunt will be the winner.
Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.
The official start of the Philler Phun Phind will be at the Tuesday night movies ("Strange Brew" @ 6:30 and "Buckaroo Bonsai: Across the 8th Dimension" @ 8:15), although anyone who wishes to start late is certainly welcome to do so.
No diving in the shallow end.
No loitering.
Laurel and Guinevere urge you to be creative in discovering the answers.

(Unofficial) Prizes and Other Free Things:

Prizes, awarded to the winners of the contest, will consist of a Strawberries gift certificate personally autographed by Laurel and Guinevere. All prizes are subject to tax, title, destination charges, one-time set-up fees, and luxury taxes, where applicable by law. Some restrictions apply. See your Philler representatives for further details. Void where prohibited. Your prize performance may vary. Don't blame us, we just wrote this.

Note: Prize has already been awarded, but you're still more than welcome to solve the puzzle.

(The Most Decidedly Official) Philler Phun Phind:

By discovering the hidden meaning in the following clues, you will be able to find the "answer" to our most pressing question. Remember to take careful notes, as you run recklessly around campus. Words surrounded by asterisks (e.g. *three*) within the clues refer to that number word on various signs and plaques around campus. Initials and numbers within the text also count as words. The first letter of that (numbered) word will be part of the ultimate question. Remember, the *number* has nothing to do with the actual location of the clue.

As higher and higher and higher the fuel level climbs, remember to listen for the warning bell chimes. They sometimes ring as loud as *six* alarms.
Find the bridge over the black river, and cross it *four* times, but listen carefully for auto whines.
WPI is not a college, and it's not a university, and it's certainly not an agricultural school, but we have *nine* types of trees in front of the building named for what we are.
China has a great one, and the settlers built them too, but ours is the *first* one that has nothing to do.
Steps are for climbing, up hills that are steep; when they are slippery, with the *first* snow of the year, make sure you don't fall right down on your skull.
There are places to go, when animals you seek: there are places in basements, and places that *don't leak*. But remember to always give your computer a good animal name.
We don't have the time to think up a rhyme: find the World War I plaque and write down the *28th* word.
You read about Philler, and the things that they find. If you go to their floor, up four flights will you wind. Go to the top of the building, and look on the door. The word that you want is *two*, and not four.
Libraries are full of wonderful books and journals, but sometimes you just want to take a *second* and relax with a nice magazine. Try the one on the third rack from the top and 15 from the wall - it has a great cover!
Dials and switches, dial and switches. Gee, good thing those switches have labels, or else we wouldn't know the *first* thing about how to begin - just start on the right.
Newton wrote many laws, but the only one of importance in his building is the *sixth*.
In our opinion, at least *two* floors of a certain building would cave in if 116 lbs. of force were strategically applied to the roof, but don't take our word for it.
For the *seventh* and last time, Salisbury Labs is not a steak house!
Before there were digital watches, people used these devices to tell time. However, the prototype, built in 1910, had only *ten* hours.
If you're afraid of the boogie man, you might not like the number *thirteen*, or a bunch of hooded ghosts who carry human bones around with them when they're not at home.
The year that Ellsworth-Fuller was dedicated is a good year indeed; the third digit is what you'll need to find the right word off the Higgins Labs plantings.
The building whose name suggests a falling down has a year whose third digit is the right word to read off the upper level plaque of our newest academic building.
The only consonant the names of both of your Philler Phun Phind hosts have in common.
If you want your phone fixed, give them a ring, they'll answer on the *sixth* one we've heard - ask the graduates, they might admit they know the word.
This dorm won an award for its design - take a look at the plaque, it's not lame; half the number of its floors makes up another part of this game.
The building of double-voweled majors has a room five less than 220; the sixth word is *three* more than plenty.
Damn the torpedoes, New Voices cried with such delight, but it's not Macbeth that makes the number for this clue right. Someone always dies when they mention his name - he'll die backstage and get flowers for his pain.
The workings of molecules is the sole domain of this department no more. You used to need the strength of *three* people to open its door.
Go down the hill as fast as you can go, find the *eleventh* word; if you aren't civil, you won't know.
Everyone makes trash, we're all guilty of that, but Goddard's dumpster is especially fat, the company that empties it knows it's filled with *three* times the trash of all the rest.
They take care of our electronic friends - the ones that we spend so much time with when papers are due; if you're looking for names from a strange (QuadFest) movie, they can tell you who; if they had *eighteen* new friends, would you know what to do?

Now take the first letter from each of these words to find the ultimate question - then find out the answer

Send your thoughts, observations, and questions to us at philler@philler.com...