Constellation Puzzle – Answer: X – By Steve Bush

 

Teams are given the following graphic.  At first glance, they look like star constellations.  This is the intentional “red herring.” What they need to do is transpose this onto a grid. See below.

 

 

After the teams transpose the constellations onto a Ό by Ό inch grid (a.k.a. graph paper), they will discover that the lines are also a red herring. When you map the stars on the grid it produces the following.

 

 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

3

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

If you put A-Z on the top and 1-21 on the far left, you can walk the stars to get: USED TO MARK THE SPOT. (1=U, 2=S, 3=E, 4=D, 5=<blank>). Thus the answer is X.

 

Hints

  1. What do you see? These are not constellations.
  2. Think Excel.
  3. Have you tried mapping the stars onto a grid? What is your X-axis, what is your Y-axis?