Issue 1

Friday evening

Minicon Medallion Hunt Bulletin

A whole new pair of dimes

Well actually, I suppose a pair of dimes would be twenty cents, while we’ve only got 17¢ on the line. But what a 17¢! These seventeen magical 1973 pennies, also known as medallions, are worth a total of $90 in Dealer Dollars, plus sundry absurd prizes that You Just Might Like. And all you have to do…[dramatic pause]…is find them.

For Minicon 44, the Medallion Hunt, now in its fourth year, has taken advantage of a poorly defended Bozo Bus Tribune and taken over! The bozos have been relegated to the back of the bus; if you’re after just the news and none of this medallion claptrap, then turn this page over and enjoy the Bozo Bug Tribune at the end of this bulletin. There’ll be three or four issues of this bulletin, each with its own little Bozo Bug. And if you’ve got a short news item to contribute, such as a programming correction or a priceless quote, just drop it in the box on the table at the far end of the Grand Ballroom Foyer, and it will likely appear in the next issue. numbered in order of difficulty, from easiest to hardest. Further bulletins will contain further clues for those medallions that remain undiscovered. All medallions are hidden within the hotel, but none are located in any shops, restaurants, restrooms, or areas off-limits to the public—nor in the Dealers' Room or Art Show. Some may be hidden in non-convention space, but when combing through these areas, be considerate of hotel guests and keep noise to a minimum. When you find a medallion, what do you do? Redeem it by visiting Medallion Hunt Headquarters, enigmatically located in the Coat Check room on the 2nd floor at the west end of the south tower, near the Grand Ballroom. You can take your chances or show up during the Cluemeister’s appointed hours, during which he pledges to be there to award your prize. If you can find him outside of HQ, that’s fine too, as he’ll have his Dealer Dollars with him.

The rules

On the flipside of this bulletin, you will find seventeen clues pertaining to the whereabouts of seventeen unusually shiny pennies from 1973, which (despite being in the past) is the inevitable and eventual year of the Minneapolis Worldcon. The pennies are marked with numbers, letters, and/or funny faces, and are redeemable for Dealer Dollars or various unexpected prizes. Dealer Dollars can be spent in the Dealers’ Room or Art Show, and lo, are themselves works of art by Stephan Martiniere.

Each medallion is worth a number of Dealer Dollars equal to its number—with the exception of number π, which, as this year’s Big Kahuna, is worth not $3.14 but a nice round $20, instead. Likewise, the lettered medallions are good not for Dealer Dollars, but for an item from the prize pool at Medallion Hunt HQ. With these exceptions, the medallions are roughly

Sign Function

A sign can be found on or near the door to Medallion Hunt HQ detailing which medallions have been found and redeemed. It will also carry updated hours of ‘business’ and perhaps other features, such as unnecessarily elaborate explanations for why the next issue will be late (e.g. “Marker ran out of ink twice white writing this explanation”).

Hours of redemption

The first three hours during which you can redeem your medallions are:

Friday 9–10 p.m. Saturday 1–2 a.m. Saturday 10–11 a.m.

* See BBT on reverse side!! *

CLUES: ROUND 1

1. This one is out in the open, clear for all to see! 2. The rules are also out in the open for all to see. 3. This one drops Friday at black, blue, green. π. 24 indices in 12 pairs. Decipher. Enjoy. Easy as (caramel apple) pie. 4. If you follow the shiny circle’s instructions and act on the result, you have a half chance of being a rulebreaker. 5. Hidden in the most obvious place imaginable. 6. Look out below when you see this shape: [image] 7. What does 165 buy you in hexadecimal? Whatever it is, turn it upside-down. Drop the last three digits. Divide by a famous card game. Take the square root to get one not so famous. 8. This medallion seems to fit visually right into place for an almost steampunkish effect. 9. A box, a spark, an up-down nudge. See if you can guess the Cluemeister’s favorite number! One guess per person per hour of redemption! 10. Remember when you dropped those three digits above? This is where they landed. Divide by six and look outside what must be the resulting room. 15. TI YCJ BWDQG NI YCJ ZQZAVYJW ZVPNKRZSO WJTH TI KGTJW OBZSOD-JSZ. An AC cryptogram. E1. Dropping Saturday at yellow, blue, red, white. E2. Dropping Saturday at brown, purple, orange. H. Like a certain diadem, this penny is safely hidden in a magical place. Q1. This medallion is undercover in plain sight. Q2. This medallion is not on a panel. Good hunting! And if all else fails, try heavy artillery. —The Cluemeister


The Bozo Bug Tribune

The Transplanted Organ of Minicon 44

Vol. 44, No. 0.1

Programming corrections:
• Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple’s back-toback readings have been moved from Friday evening to Sunday morning. Jane reads from 10–10:30; Adam from 10:30–11. Rob Callahan will not be reading at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. His Sunday reading is still on. Pat Wrede will be giving a reading on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in Veranda 1. Following the MinnSpec Rapidfire Readings, there will be a further hour of Retro Rapidfire Readings, from 8:30–9:30 p.m. Sat. Artsy-Craftsy will run from 10:00–12:30 Saturday, not 10–12, while Big Bubbles will run from 12:30–1, not 12–12:30. In the pocket program, “Lade Poetesses From Hell” should actually read “Lady Poetesses From Hell”. The “Dead Dodo Party” on Monday should actually be called the “Dessicated Dodo Party”, according to some neo-byzantine nomenclatorial banana-racket. Contrary to what your program book may say, there will (alas) be no karate demonstration at Closing Ceremonies.

Announcement:

[From the website of Rich Burlew, creator of the webcomic Order of the Stick] After some confusing rumors and retractions, it has been confirmed by multiple sources that Dave Arneson passed away late on Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Many of our younger readers may not know who Mr. Arneson was, but he was a pivotal part of the birth of the hobby we all play. By most accounts, he literally invented the very concept of role-playing games. […] Read more online at Giant in the Playground Comics.

Sharon Kahn – Editor in Absentia Thorin N. Tatge – Editor in Fact
© 2009 by the Minnesota Science Fiction Society. Any opinions expressed herein are those of the contributors, not necessarily anyone else’s.