Solution: Tactile Inference
Answer: DYSFUNCTION
Written by
Jessica Nah, Dawson Do and Ryan Thomas
The puzzle appears to be a system of equations with various symbols replacing values. The title, flavortext, and button shapes clue that each symbol actually represents a button on a TI-84 calculator, rather than only number values. The button that each symbol corresponds with can be worked out for each equation, with the output of the calculator appearing on the right of the equal sign.
After the equations is a sequence of symbols that can be translated using the key generated from the equations. The second button must be implicitly resolved as ALPHA.
| ◕ | ◯ | ▣ | ◈ | ◍ | ◮ | ◎ | ◬ | ▦ | ▨ | ◩ | ◊ | ◬ |
| 2ND | ALPHA | x-1 | 1 | LN | COS | 5 | LOG | PRGM | 4 | x2 | 7 | LOG |
| | D | Y | S | F | U | N | C | T | I | O | N |
Entering this sequence of keys on the calculator outputs the answer: DYSFUNCTION
Equation set
| ▦ | ⮞ | ⮞ | ENTER | ◮ | ◊ | ◊ | ENTER |
| ▦ | ⮞ | 3 | ◎ | ◕ | MODE | ▦ | ◈ | = | ◎ |
| PRGM | ⮞ | ⮞ | ENTER | COS | 7 | 7 | ENTER |
| PRGM | ⮞ | 3 | 5 | 2ND | MODE | PRGM | 1 | = | 5 |
Author’s Notes
Dawson: We really liked how this one turned out. When I realized that PRGM was needed for extraction, I was really excited to include this equation. The final equation simply creates a program titled “FOO,” that prints out the number 5.