Hints
(The hints became available gradually; highlight the white text to read them.)
- TRUMP's executive module has detected a Presidential theme all throughout this data.
- TRUMP's string theory module has determined that this trash will yield nine strings of the same type.
- TRUMP's Wei-Hwa module has determined that Sudoku are solvable with limited information, but that it would be unwise to enter any uncertain data, because any errors will compound themselves.
- TRUMP's Hail To The Chief module has determined that each piece of trash yields two orderings / Sudoku rows for the most recent 9 Presidents (Kennedy through Dubya), except for the Sudoku page, which only yields one.
- TRUMP's Senate investigation module has determined that the 9 themes are first term start dates, VPs, First Ladies, First Daughters, First Pets, associated foods, quotes, descriptions of scandals, and initials.
- TRUMP's confirmation module is now able to verify individual orderings if you type them in preceded by S (e.g., S123456789). Moreover, it has found the puzzle's final answer along the diagonal, starting from the 10 (J) at the top left.
The Sudoku rows obtained from the recipe were Presidential pets (the recipe title) and associated (favorite, least favorite, etc.) foods.
The crib sheet of Mondoshawan ambassadors gave the anagrammed names of Vice Presidents and the year that each president first took office.
In the transcript, Mrs. Dallas summarized Presidential scandals while President Lindberg delivered famous Presidential quotations.
The pictures in the photo album were well-known figures who share names with First Ladies, while the names assigned to each picture were the names of First Daughters.
The Sudoku solved to:
534821976 <- Mondoshawan (VPs)
971563248 <- transcript (scandals)
826794153 <- cryptogram (presidents' initials)
149678532 <- album (pictures)
652319784 <- recipe (foods)
783245691 <- recipe (pets)
468157329 <- transcript (Presidential quotes)
317982465 <- Mondoshawan (years)
295436817 <- album (first daughters)
Starting with 10 and following the operations along the diagonal, the numbers 10 15 8 14 8 9 14 11 5 12 are produced. In alphanumeric, these spell out JOHN HINKEL, for whom a North Berkeley park is named. (No relation to the Presidential assassin John Hinckley!)
(Ian's comments: In general, I avoid writing puzzles that require heavy Internet usage, but the Sudoku made it eminently possible to finish this puzzle with only limited knowledge of Presidential trivia. [We also told teams to bring Presidential trivia beforehand.])
(Zorg) Head for the North Berkeley park named after John Hinkel, our 99th President (oddly, before he was born!)
Take the Arlington exit from the traffic circle, and try to park (legally) along the Arlington if possible, since it's difficult to park in the neighborhood surrounding the park.
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