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MIT Libraries Puzzle Challenge
Released November 26, 2007; deadline was December 11, 2007. The first key for this puzzle is to figure out what the maps are; they are counties in the state of Massachusetts. Solvers could probably most easily piece this together from the recognizable picture of Cape Cod (Barnstable County). Another method could be to recognize that some of these share a common border with others, and the shared borders are bold. Putting the pieces together would give a general picture of Massachusetts, although four counties are missing. The next step should be to figure out which town in each county is shaded. Any general map could serve this purpose well. A new resource that has been created using data from the MIT Geodata Repository is available here; this resource would make the task very simple. The towns are:
Reading down the columns, the first letter of each town spells out "Sanborn Fire Map." The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show the footprint of every building and record building size, use, address numbers, and other information that pertains to property vulnerability to fire, flood, and earthquakes. Also shown are industrial uses, dumps, parks, and cemeteries, making them useful for environmental and health assessments. These maps record the social and architectural history of American cities and towns in Massachusetts. For more information about the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, which are also available on microfilm and paper at the Rotch Library, see our Guide to Sanborn Maps. Using this clue , solvers should look up each town in the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps online. Every town in the Sanborn set has several maps from different years, so solvers should figure out to look up the set from the year underneath each town. Every year has several numbered sheets (maps of different sections of the town), and so solvers should also figure out to open the sheet number indicated by the single-digit number underneath each town. Looking at a couple of these maps, solvers will notice that every map contains Main Street (or North Main or East Main). The third number corresponds to an address on Main Street which is on the corner of Main and another street. The names of the cross-streets are:
Reading down the columns again, we can see the first letter of each street spells out the answer, Georges Charpak.
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