Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Author's notes: In order to solve each key and get each answer, it is extremely important that you are able to view each image properly in a larger size. If you click on the image, it will enlarge. It will likely be necessary to do this for each image. In addition to the clues you have in the image, some pieces of text will give you hints to help solve the puzzles. These text-based clues are indicated in all caps. Besides the first room (for which there is no previous key), you must use the previous key to help you solve the next room. As this quiz is a challenge that will likely include information that most people do not know off the top of their heads, I highly encourage you to use the Internet and other resources to help you solve each clue.
A last note: It's really important that you pay attention to the text provided at the end of each blank so that you don't accidentally type in the wrong key. If the text asks for three letters, then the key is exactly three letters. Let's begin!
Dr. Mad has surely lived up to his disreputable name as his invitation to dinner has now turned into a fight to escape his mad mansion. He has locked in you in a series of rooms, and you must find each key to advance to the next room. Of course, you can always try to move on, but without the previous key, it might be next to impossible to keep going.
His betrayal has led you to this first dimly-lit room, littered with stacks of papers of every kind. You step over a few stacks of these aged papers, careful not to knock any over. On a corkboard across the room, you see a note and six business cards listing six different airlines. There is a strange lock on the door which contains every letter of the alphabet.
A voice comes in through a speaker in the ceiling. "I hope you aren't too uncomfortable in this mess of a room," Dr. Mad says mischievously. "It's just that I really love to write poetry. A lot of poetry. I try very hard to include all the poetic ELEMENTS. If you want to find the first key, I suggest you use my lovely verse to find the correct three letters to open the door."
By looking at the poem next to the business cards, which three letters (in the correct order) should you push on the lock?
2. Our next room is an enormous ballroom, brightly-lit, with a single piano in the center. You spot a sheet of paper with one small line of music and a short message. It's interesting that the word at the top contains three missing letters. Also on the sheet of paper, you find three alternate endings that you could possibly play on the piano. You see three red buttons on the top of the piano.
A voice cuts in, "Well, well. You have figured out the first key. How wonderfully pedestrian of you. However, this next room is rather fiendish, and you may not find yourself saying HALLELUJAH so easily. Good luck getting out. You'll need it. And don't be afraid to play to your heart's content."
As you play each ending, an eerie monotone voice comes in through the speaker and reads a three-digit number. You play each ending a few times; the voice simply reads the same corresponding number each time. You realize you will have to push the red buttons on the top of the piano in accordance with the correct three-digit number. If you choose incorrectly, you will not be able to advance. How many times do you press each button?
3. You walk into the next room. A small brigade of creepy mannequins stare back at you. Measuring tapes and thread are hung around the room as if there were to be some sort of sewing bacchanalia. Six of the mannequins are wearing hats.
Dr. Mad chimes in, "I see you are a regular Beethoven. I thought perhaps you would be able to crack that last key, so I made this one a little more difficult. You see, I'm as mad as a hatter, and I wanted to have a little celebration with you. As you are now aware, I have invited some friends. In order to move on, you must find the right friend and wear his hat. If you take the wrong color of hat, then you will find yourself the victim of a horrible HEX. Take the wrong hat and the next door will close forever! Oh my, this is starting to get really fun!"
You walk around the sewing room. Each mannequin with a hat has a strange number pinned to its chest. Is one of these numbers the key to the next door? No, Dr. Mad said that we must choose the right hat to move on. These numbers must have some other significance. Perhaps we can use the previous key and these numbers together to find the correct answer.
Each hat is a different color: rose, gold, blue, teal, lime, and plum. Which color should you wear to move on?
4. You enter the next room: a small dressing room. A mirror in the corner is illuminated with two rows of light bulbs. A fine black suit and a beautiful red dress are on stands next to the mirror.
"It appears I wasn't able to put the SPELL on you that I had imagined. You are quite formidable. Now...we need you looking rather swell for this next bit. You can choose the SUIT or the dress; I won't judge which you pick," Dr. Mad says.
Is this the test? No. You choose your outfit and another door opens. Was it just that easy? No. The fun is just about to begin. You walk in and see a large poker table filled with stacks of poker chips. In each seat is a different skeleton, each holding four cards. An unusual-looking automatic card shuffler sits on the table. "This isn't your average card game!" Dr. Mad bellows through the speaker. "Of course, these friends aren't your average players either. But they will be the last you will see in my wonderful mansion. You might as well get to know them. Each of our players has four cards. Choose the correct hand and feed it to the card shuffler in its existing order. If you are correct, the next door will open. If not, well, you can rest assured that you'll be looking like my friends here in no time."
You have little to go on except that you know that the last key was exactly four letters long. The next seems to be four numbers. Somehow the letters of the previous clue must match the numbers in the poker hand. Which numbers should you choose?
(Using the capitalized hints in this puzzle is especially helpful.)
5. You move to the next room, a tiny closet with a phone on the wall. Next to it is a shelf full of some common items. The phone rings and you hear Dr. Mad's voice.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot," Dr. Mad says. "We've been communicating all BACKWARDS. For this next key, you'll need to choose the correct item from the shelf. Grab the correct item, and the shelf will rotate like one of those secret doors you see in the movies. Grab the wrong item, and well... at least you'll have that item to keep you company while you starve."
As you browse the shelf, you see the following items: belt, dice, comb, bell, vase, ball, boot, fork, book.
The telephone appears to have some letters on its keypad. Perhaps we could use the last clue to help us figure out what item we should grab from the shelf?
6. The shelf from the previous room snaps into place and you find yourself in an old, broken-down doctor's office with an eye chart on the wall. Three wall calendars show three different years. "Welcome to your examination!" Dr. Mad shouts from the intercom. "To find this next key, you will have to figure out what year it is in this office and enter it into the keypad. And before you ask, yes this is the office of Dr. Mad himself!"
Three mannequins in a line stand in front of you. You decide to line up behind them. "My FIRST patient has been quite bad, so he will need to go TO THE END OF THE LINE." The first mannequin rotates on an unusual conveyor belt in the floor and quickly finds its place in line behind you.
You examine the eye chart in front of you. As you look at the item in your hand, you realize you this item will help you figure out the four-digit year that Dr. Mad wants as a code if you somehow combine it with clues from the eye chart. It's interesting that the item you hold is four letters long while the year is four digits. What year could it possibly be? What was that about something going to the end of the line?
7. As you continue on your quest to escape Dr. Mad's mansion, you find yourself in an exquisite gallery filled with famous paintings from around the world, each hanging next to a different door labeled with a different city. "These can't be originals," you consider as you amble along.
"You've come so far," Dr. Mad comes through on the intercom. "I've decided to give you a bit of a softball. You have a YEAR. Figure out which city I want you to travel to. Quick and easy. Chop-chop!"
8. You entered the door to the correct city, and you come upon a room with three snow globes. "Now that we've arrived at our destination, I think it's time to get a souvenir, don't you think?" Dr. Mad says. The three snow globes are locked behind reinforced glass cases with padlocks. Each padlock has a three-digit combination that you need to input to open it.
Dr. Mad begins, "If you want the brass key to the next room, you'll need to figure out which snow globe comes from the CITY we have just visited. I've included latitudes for your convenience! Then input the three-digit code and smash the snow globe. You'll find the key inside."
There is a sign hanging above the three cases with a formula. What might the sign be trying to tell us?
9. As you take the brass key from the snow globe room and put it in the lock, you read a sign that says, "Room of Anachronism". What in the world could this be?
Dr. Mad's face appears on a television screen. "Welcome to the Room of Anachronism! Here you'll find that we'll start with a ROMAN column on the left. Then, this screen with my face on it will change to a stock ticker listing the prices of several companies' stocks and plenty of NUMERALS. Then, you have a final ROMAN column. The final answer is a three-letter word, which you can simply shout to open the next door. Dizzying, isn't it?"
To solve this puzzle, it's obvious you'll have to do some kind of conversion, not once, but twice. Better get started.
10. After shouting the three-letter word, a trap door opens beneath you and you fall into a strange room with a giant computer. On its screen, you see a series of numbers that don't make much sense at first glance.
Dr. Mad comes in through the intercom once again. "I suppose if you can figure out this last key, you really do deserve to escape my mansion. You could solve the puzzle and choose to escape. Or you could choose to stay here and keep me company forever. The choice is BINARY."
You've had enough of Dr. Mad's madness. Time to enter the final code into the computer and get out of this place. You simply have to solve the puzzle and enter one of the Greek letters spelled out in English. The final door awaits you.
Source: Author
trident
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
spanishliz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.