Where the heck in space is Carmin San Mateo?

We embarked on an audio adventure starting from Episode 219 through Episode 224. Here are the puzzles.

PROLOGUE
 

It all started when our friend invited us to spectate a night of pub trivia.

 
 
 
 
PART 1

Lobetrotters in Space

From Episode 220 @ 01:10:20

 

After launching into space on our Fancy And Ridiculous Time Interloper System (aka the F.A.R.T.I.S.), we received a strange looping transmission through the control panel. Are they coordinates that will lead us to a specific location?

Mysterious Number Transmission
 

ANSWER:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

 
 
 

  • ALNILAM - the center star in Orion’s Belt

    1. Transpose numbers into alphabet (A=1, Z=26)

    2. You get KLEORIONSBUC. We know the message loops so the beginning of the clue is not necessarily the true start of the clue. Start a few letters down and you get ORIONSBUCKLE.

    3. Orion’s Belt is made of three stars in a straight line so the buckle refers to the star in the middle!

 
PART 2

Fly Me to the Moon

From Episode 221 @ 00:58:47

 

Hovering around our new destination, we spotted a space vessel, oddly in a shape of a wireless microphone. We tune our space radio to look for a broadcast and soon, we find ourselves hearing some cosmic harmony:

Microphone Ship Transmission
Mockapella
 

ANSWER:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

 
 
 

  • PERDITA - a moon of Uranus

    1. Most moons are named after mythological beings, so one can narrow down moon names.

    2. Hermione doesn’t refer to Harry Potter (whose daughter’s name is Rose) but Hermione is a character in Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale. Her daughter and main character is PERDITA.

    3. Confirmation that “Mother of Lucky” refers to 101 Dalmatians, and Perdita is the mother of the main litter.

 
 
PART 3

We Go Together

From Episode 222 @ 00:56:45

 

While orbiting a moon, we spot a ship that looks like a pink 1957 Chevy Bel Air convertible. That can only mean one thing: Didi Connvict! We’re getting closer to our stolen prize!

 
Chevy Bel Airship Transmission
 

ANSWER:

_ _ _ _ _

 
 
 

  • CERES - the dwarf planet

    1. Kicks/Kix, Life, Pebbles, and Lucky Charms are all brands of breakfast cereals.

    2. The dwarf planet Ceres is named after the Roman goddess of food growth and grains, which is where we get the word “cereal” from.

 
 
PART 4

Essential Grains

From Episode 223 @ 00:53:06

 

We head out on to the surface of this dwarf planet to investigate. We see a massive wall of tall cabinets with doors on them. As we reach out to the handle, we hear a telltale sound of the F.A.R.T.I.S. starting up. We whirl around to see Carmin taking control of the ship and leaving us stranded.

 
A Message from Carmin San Mateo
 

In order to find a way out before our oxygen reserve runs out, we turn to the cabinets, hoping to find something that could help us. We open the doors and all we see is unending rows and rows of every type of cereal ever made. Then we spot a small plaque with the following engraving. What an odd thing, could this help us return back to earth?

 
THIS CABINET WAS PLACED HERE TO COMMEMORATE THE FOLLOWING SPACE FLIGHT MISSIONS
Atlantis 2
Apollo 6
gemini 5
discovery 9
 

ANSWER:

_ _ _ _

 
 
 

  • TONY - Tony the Tiger, mascot of Frosted Flakes

    1. You might realize that these missions are not real missions!

    2. The number refers to the position number of the desired letter. DISCOVERY 9 refers to the letter Y.

 
 

Epilogue

From Episode 224

 

We find the right cabinet and we start to dig through the contents. Not long until we find out that it’s actually a tunnel, and a familiar voice comes calling out.

A Familiar Voice at the end of the tunnel
 
 
 
Puzzles by Chris Kohler
Escape Room by Escape this Podcast