Wow. What a year right? Best ever for some... maybe less than that for others. We were very sneaky with how we planned it this year. This would be the first year that the winners of the DDBDC would be chosen on speed alone. The first team to the end would be the winners; however, in no way could they make it to the end without solving 99% of their clues. In years past we would decide first through third place via a point system, where you still get a hefty amount of points for finishing fastest, but an equal, if not larger, amount for picking up extra challenge clues along the way. This would end up with the people who sprinted through the course, not picking up any clues, yet finishing it fastest, being beaten out by teams who would complete all their clues and arrive later.
As always, we had to change it up a bit this year. A few teams didn't make it to the final stages. Some people had earlier commitments and had to bail for fathers day, some whimped out before it even really started because of partying too hard the night before, and some teams just got eaten up by some of the clues. First off, let me say, if you didn't make it to the finish, that's alright, you are still loved and there is always next year to redeem yourself. For those of you who want a complete overview of the race, start to finish, to see what you may have missed, here it is:
To begin with, the DDBDC has, in part, always been about getting our different groups of friends to all hang out with eachother and co-mingle. Everyone shares the same common bond of either knowing Ollie or myself. We love you all, and want you all to get to know each other a little better. This year, when Mark and I were planning out the race, we decided to throw in the false hope that people could somewhat avoid hanging out with semi-strangers and stay in their comfort zone by choosing their own teams via a "pinata scramble."
Pinata Scramble? WTF? Well, if you weren't there, we filled a pinata with five different colors of buttons, numbered 1 through 9. We told everyone that there would be five teams of nine players: the red team, the orange, the blue, the green, and the purple. Once the pinata split open, they would then scramble to complete their team by choosing their button. The first team fully assembled would be the first team down the elevator and out onto the streets where they would recieve their packet of clues... Of course, when the pinata split, people went crazy and tried to get a team full of their friends, one group tried to assemble an all-star team of past winners which worked out great for what Mark and I had planned.
What Mark and I had planned for them was something we had talked about doing all the way back at DDBDC 2. We would force them to switch teams in a completely random way. When they got downstairs, each member of the first team was handed an envelope with the following message in it:
Chaos ensued and the new teams formed via the numbers on their buttons. Also in their packet, teams were given the means to get three pieces to decode a cryptogram of our making and a map of the areas they would be searching for clues in.
Here's a pic of the map, with some easily identifiable lank marks for them (Charlie-O's, Warung (chosen because there were no clues at either of these spots), and my place/LA Cafe):
There were three zones for each piece of the cryptogram. In Zone A they had to assemble a list of three digit numbers via a clue sheet. In Zone B they had to take charcoal rubbings of stickers we planted around town. In Zone C they had to complete a photo hunt and show their completed photos to the awesome staff at LA Cafe (thanks again guys!).
Here is the completed Zone A sheet:
Zone B, where they had to take the charcoal rubbings, turned out to be a roadblock for some teams. Mark and I were worried that some of the stickers would be taken down after the partial failure of DDBDC3 in Hollywood, but what really seemed to be the problem was that people were overlooking the little phone icon on the bottom of their rub sheet. What the rubbings actually revealed was a phone number to Mark's dad who graciously waited by the phone for 2 hours on Father's Day just so we could make this clue happen. When a team would call them, he would tell them to first complete their Zone A sheet then go to the Old Bank District Market, buy their favorite King Henry's treat, show their completed sheet, and Ray (nicest shop owner ever!) would hand over the Zone B key. The Zone B key was the actual cryptogram that teams must crack.
Zone B Rub Sheet:
Zone B Key/Cryptogram:
Zone C was a digital photo hunt along Broadway, where they had to collect three simple pictures. One on the top floor of Clifton's in the flag room, one with an ice-cream pushcart while eating ice-cream with the vendor, and one with a orange metro bus in the background. They would then take all of their photos to LA Cafe where they would be checked. If they had the right ones, their team would get the Zone C Key which was how to crack the font code.
Zone C Key:
Once they had all three pieces, they could begin to unravel the code in the cryptogram from Zone B. Here is the cryptogram solved:
THRDLVLPRSHINGSQRTRAFFICCONE = Third Level Pershing Square Traffic Cone. (Notice, there was no U used in the cryptogram. We just wanted to get teams into Bar 107 and have them pound a tall-boy of PBR.) Many teams assumed that the race would be over just by getting all three keys. Not so. Now they had to hoof it down to Pershing Square, find the third level (which confusingly is three levels down into the parking structure) and locate one of the traffic cones where we had stashed a whole new map.
On this new piece of paper, found under cones on the third level of the Pershing Square garage, was a detailed map of the square along with several points they must seek out, mark, and triangulate the location of a hidden key with. There were three keys hidden, one for first, second, and third place. Each key would unlock a prize box. Prizes included stenciled winners shirts (for first place), special buttons designating first, second, and third, DVDs, a weird Jesus clock (for second), and other assorted silly things we stuffed them with. When solving the map, you had to be fairly precise with your triangulation, or you would be searching in the wrong spot. This, hopefully, would prevent people from sneaking peeks at other maps and trying to cheat off of them. I really really wanted to convey this feeling somehow:
Indy, still holding the date, exchanges a long look with Sallah.
INDY
You said their top section was blank.
Are you absolutely sure?
Sallah nods.
INDY
Belloq's staff is seven and a half
inches short. They're digging in
the wrong spot!
Sallah and Indy begin to laugh. Amir gives them a glance
and returns to his wine. Sallah leans over and kisses the
old man.
Mark and I seriously discussed how f-ing awesome it would be if teams had to create some type of staff that would do the Raiders of the Lost Ark thing to reveal where your key was, but decided it would just be too time dependent because of the speed of the sun.
Anyway, here is the map with completed triangulation:
One key was tied in a tree, one was hanging from a twig down a drainage grate, the other was in a little pipe hole which was covered by a piece of metal on hinges. Two of the locations they were looking for were stickers we placed: the couch and the microphone.
After everything was said and done, and first through third had been decided, we sent the whole crew up to Charlie-O's for some drinks and blues.
Anyway, that's that. I'm sure this post is confusing as hell if you didn't run the race. At times it was confusing as hell just to wrap our brains around how we were going to do this whole thing, and I'm sure it was even more confusing to complete the course. For those who thought it was TOO confusing, I'll remind you, this is a "Challenge" not a "La-ti-da." As always, there were some hard parts, but they were meant to be. I only hope it didn't get you too frustrated, and I hope you all had fun with it, because that, honestly is the big payoff for putting this whole thing together.
That said, I can't wait for next year! ¿Habla Español?
with a love that can unleash chaos on downtown,
greg
