Spotlight Contest: Secret Agent Man

by Charlie Plaine, Chairman

2nd June 2008

The Maquis, organized terrorists hunted by both the Federation and the Cardassians, rely on secrecy and small, organized cells to function. However, these cells do need to communicate and work together in order to effectively fight for their freedom. Secret meetings and encoded communications are some of their best weapons in avoiding detection.

The following information provides a puzzle that - if properly solved - will lead you to answer the following question: Who deals in information?. This will allow you to plan your next mission for the Maquis. Can you figure out the answer?

Facts of the Matter

1. There are five houses in town with five different colors. 2. In each planet house a contact of a different species. 3. Each of these five contacts drinks a certain beverage, eats a specific food and deals in a specific commodity. 4. No contacts sell the same commodity, eat the same food, or drink the same drink.
5. Do not use any information from outside of this puzzle to solve it! (i.e., don't assume a Klingon eats Gagh because Klingons eat Gagh in the show.)

Here is the puzzle! Remember, the question is: Who deals in information?.

1. The Klingon lives in the red house.
2. The Bolian trades in Dilithium.
3. The Ferengi drinks Saurian Brandy.
4. The green house is on the left of the white house.
5. The green house owner drinks Spring Wine.
6. The person who eats Gagh trades in slaves.
7. The owner of the yellow house eats Hasparat.
8. The man living in the house right in the center drinks Tranya.
9. The Denobulan lives in the first house.
10. The man who eats Banana Pancakes lives next to the one who is a Weapons dealer.
11. The man who sells Starships lives next to the man who eats Hasparat.
12. The owner who eats Plomeek Soup drinks Kanar.
13. The Human eats Viinerine.
14. The Denobulan lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who eats Banana Pancakes has a neighbor who drinks Aldebren Whiskey.

To enter, you'll need to figure out the answer to the question and send it in an email to contests@trekcc.org, along with your real name and your email address.

Your entry might look like this:

Charlie Plaine
cplaine@gmail.com

The answer is XXX.

Your entries must be received at contests@trekcc.org before MIDNIGHT (server time) on SATURDAY, JUNE 7TH. Please, only one entry per person. Two participants that send in the correct answer will receive a Tragic Turn foil (or, if nobody can figure it out, then the selection will be at random from all participants.)

Best of luck!