Souvenir Photos

Written by Herman Chau, Christoper Reyes, Margaret Sands, Jacqui Fashimpaur, and Steven Silverman

Answer: MACRO

In Act II, some puzzles are entangled with one in the opposite dimension. The two puzzles each have their own theme, core mechanic, answer, and solution, but each requires some information or action from the other in order to solve. This puzzle is entangled with Karaoke Machine.

In this puzzle, we’re given a set of image grids, with images in each cell. Selecting a cell causes it to appear in the empty grid below.

Looking at the grids, we might be able to identify some of these as the covers of popular albums — we won’t make much progress with this information, though, but it does tell us this puzzle deals with music in some form.

Progress comes once we take a look at a music puzzle in the other dimension; this puzzle is entangled with Karaoke Machine. After identifying the songs being played there, we might notice a common thread between them: they all have sections that contain lists of things.

The things listed might be familiar (particularly hyper-specific ones like “a golden retriever in a flower crown” heard in “White Woman’s Instagram”), as the items for each song can be found in one of the grids:

SongPerformed byExamples of thingsFound In
White Woman’s InstagramBo BurnhamAn open window, a novel, a couple holding hands...
My Favorite ThingsJulie Andrews in The Sound of MusicRaindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles...
What a Wonderful WorldLouis ArmstrongTrees of green, red roses, friends shaking hands...
RoyalsLordeGold teeth, Grey Goose, bloodstains, ball gowns...
We Didn’t Start the FireBilly JoelRichard Nixon, Wheel of Fortune, Psycho...

If we go through each image and start selecting cells that contain items mentioned in their paired songs, we’ll eventually build up an image in the bottom grid.

Fans of photography might recognize this flower symbol. However, if we’re not familiar, we can consult the flavortext, which mentions “camera settings” and that the image is “iconic.” If we do some searching, we’ll find that this is a common symbol seen on DSLR camera dials as the setting for MACRO photography, giving us our final answer.

Author's Notes

Herman: Part of the inspiration for this puzzle are the Super Mario x Pokémon 8 Bit Scramble line of merchandise where Mario sprites collaged out of Pokémon sprites and vice-versa.

Appendix: Solved Grids

GridItems
White Woman’s Instagram (27 total)
Open window (x2)
Novel (x1)
Couple holding hands (x2)
Avocado (x2)
Poem written in the sand (x1)
Fresh fallen snow (x1)
Golden retriever in a flower crown (x1)
Latte foam art (x3)
Tiny pumpkins (x1)
Fuzzy, comfy socks (x1)
Bobblehead of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (x1)
Needlepoint of a fox (x1)
Goat cheese salad (x1)
Backlit hammock (x1)
Simple glass of wine (x1)
Dreamcatcher (x2)
Neon sign (x2)
Three little words (x1)
Couple of doves (x1)
Ring on her finger (x1)
My Favorite Things (25 total)
Raindrops on roses (x3)
Whiskers on kittens (x2)
Bright copper kettles (x2)
Warm woolen mittens (x3)
Crisp apple strudels (x2)
Door bells (x2)
Sleigh bells (x3)
Schnitzel with noodles (x2)
Wild geese that fly (x2)
Girls in white dress with blue satin sashes (x2)
Snowflake (x2)
What a Wonderful World (23 total)
Trees (x5)
Red roses (x4)
Skies of blue (x4)
Rainbow (x2)
Friends shaking hands (x4)
Babies crying (x4)
Royals (21 total)
Gold teeth (x2)
Grey Goose (x1)
Bloodstains (x2)
Ball gowns (x3)
Cadillacs (x1)
Cristal (x1)
Maybach (x1)
Diamonds on your timepiece (x3)
Jet planes (x2)
Islands (x2)
Tigers (x3)
We Didn’t Start the Fire (25 total)
Harry Truman (x1)
Richard Nixon (x1)
Television (x1)
North Korea (x1)
Marylin Monroe (x1)
H-bomb (x1)
The Catcher in the Rye (x1)
Joseph Stalin (x1)
Albert Einstein (x1)
Peter Pan (x1)
Elvis Presley (x1)
Alabama (x1)
Mickey Mantle (x1)
Jack Kerouac (x1)
Sputnik (x1)
Hula hoops (x1)
U2 (x1)
Psycho (x1)
Berlin (x1)
Lawrence of Arabia (x1)
Malcolm X (x1)
Ronald Reagan (x1)
Wheel of Fortune (x1)
Sally Ride (x1)
Homeless vets (x1)