However, the puzzle was truncated due to the exceptionally cold weather: negative-10 degrees, before factoring in a nasty windchill. Much of the "run around on campus" intent (which had been one of the main impetuses for doing the thing-- oh, well) was abandoned in the interests of human mercy.
Kicking off the puzzle, a 25-song mini-audio bonus was distributed at 12:30. Teams were asked to solve it as they would any audio bonus. However, they were then to study their answer key, and try to perceive their next instruction. In order not to bog down teams from the very beginning, the song clips were lengthier and more obvious than usual.... though some teams either had trouble with the audio anyway, or didn't bother. (Also, the concurrent "Wizard of Oz" audio Super caused logistical logjams for some.)
ANSWER KEY TO THE LEADOFF AUDIO:
Artists for the above songs are omitted here, because they just didn't matter. We didn't care. Only the titles were important, since each song had something in common: a two-word title. The first letters of the titles spelled out a message: "THERE'S A SIGN WITH STEP TWO. GO SEE PAPA CHARLIE'S FRONT WINDOW."
Due to the cold, teams were no longer obliged to go visit the sign. Telling the judge what the message said and where they would have gone was deemed effort enough. However, Human Hindenburgs managed to solve the audio, decipher the code, go to Papa Charlie's, and return to the radio station with the password before they could be advised not to bother.
Oh yes, there was a password. The little-visited sign at Papa Charlie's read: "Well done. Now, go down to WCFM and tell the person in the MAD T-shirt, "What, me worry?"
(However, it was also too cold in WCFM for the puzzlemaster to wear his planned cotton T-shirt.)
After speaking the 3-word phrase that pays, teams were given a sheet showing 20 self-caricatures. 19 of the self-caricatures were of MAD Magazine artists. They needed to I.D. at least 12 of these to proceed.
ANSWER KEY TO THE MAD CARICATURE SHEET:
Having met the 60% threshold, teams next needed to identify which one of the caricatures did not logically belong with the other 19. (In case you can't pick the ringer out, it's #11, John Lennon.)
Then, they were supposed to run outside again, to one of two locations. Either to the location on campus whose name most closely resembles the outsider's motivation for staying in bed, or to the building on campus whose name would logically be the outsider's least favorite.
(Again, the travel requirement was cancelled due to the harsh weather. Teams were given credit merely for identifying the location to which they WOULD have travelled.)
The answers were Makepeace House (staying in bed), and Chapman Rink (least favorite).
At both Makepeace and Chapman were supposed to be identical signs reading: "MORE TRIVIA! John Lennon first came to U.S. prominence on a certain variety TV show, which was usually referred to by its host's name ("The ___ _____ Show"). However, the program also went by another title. Bring us the food mentioned in that title. (And just between us, it wouldn't hurt to have a funny hat or costume.)"
Chapman had the signs, but they were never put up at Makepeace due to the distant (and inexact) location, as well as the bitter cold. Since no one had to go to either spot, this point was moot.
Every team knew right away that the question referred to "The Ed Sullivan Show." But they all had to go look up the information that, for its first seven-plus seasons, the program was called "Toast of the Town." Obviously, the next step was procuring some toast. (However, this requirement was relaxed when teams brought pita bread, Tostitos, and other approximations.) Mortal Wombat attempted to toast their bread on the spot with a cigarette lighter, while a teammate stood by, holding a fire extinguisher.
Once having successfully brought toast or toast-substitute to the radio station, teams received their next instruction. Use this same food to construct a miniature Stonehenge on the floor.
Having accomplished this, they were asked to break into the dance which would be considered most appropriate around a mini-Stonehenge.
Alas, no team was psychically attuned enough to come dressed as a Druid, although the Hindenburgs representative did sport a space alien cap which may have some resonance with the monoliths. It should be mentioned that this segment of the puzzle was intended to mimic the "Stonehenge" stage sequence from the film "This is Spinal Tap," in which dancing midgets are employed.
Three teams made it to the end. They were Mortal Wombat, D-Unit, and Human Hindenburgs.
The lone D-Unit representative was unaware of the movie scene, or what she was supposed to do, yet she managed by blind luck to improvise a dance which was pretty darned close to the source.
Mortal Wombat was the only team to luck into sending a pair of dancers (like the movie). One of them knew enough to crouch down whilst dancing.
The Hindenburgs took the opportunity to jump into the air, and smash their Tostito Stonehenge into bits. Despite this wanton act of mayhem, they received the top score (13) for correctly doing every stage of the puzzle, for finishing in the least time, for requiring the least help to do so, and for never being passed by another team. Mortal Wombat got a 9, for getting pretty much everything right. D-Unit scored a 7 for a slightly incomplete performance, but they did get to the druid dance ahead of Mortal Wombat. And Nut Roll: Reloaded got a long-distance 3.