C-TCS02 (Aug 9, 2001)
Puzzle
“NHTSA_2000_PD_PDO_%.pdf”
Espresso Trivia | 1 Word
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: What does NHTSA stand for? Now, you're looking for data from that organisation in the year 2000.
Clue 2: More specifically, the Traffic Safety Facts 2000.
Clue 3: PD stands for Police. Round up the PDO crashes (reported by police) divided by the total crashes, to the nearest whole number. Leave the % sign in.
Answer and Explanation
Answer: 67%
Explanation: The NHTSA stands for National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the data should come from (the year) 2000. PD stands for Police, and PDO stands for Property Damage Only. With the sign at the back, we want the percentage.
Summary of Receipt
Espresso finds the strange customer causing technological disruption. It looks like a small, metre-long metal snake that feeds off electronics. It’s also very slippery and can ‘blink out’ of reality. He suspects it’s an Ouroborian and asks Belphegor to check.
Transcript
RECEIPT AS OF: 8/09/01
BARISTA ON DUTY: ESPRESSO
RECEIPT FILED AS: C-TCS-02
Hells bells, gang! I got a good eye full of our curious commute disrupting customer. Strange little cryptid. It looked like a short fat metal snake thing. Nothing I’ve ever personally seen or heard of, but then again, if it’s Ouroborian, that wouldn’t be too surprising. Of course, there are the “classic” Ouroborians, Dragons, Wyverns, Wyrms, Drakes, Serpents, and Amphipteres, but I’ve never heard of a chubby brass snake. I probably haven’t heard of the majority of Ouroborians before. They’re pretty rare Flipside. Usually, ol’ Belphegor does a good job keeping her kids in the Ouroboros.
Unfortunately, it was a seriously slick snake! I tried to grab it, but it was like grabbing a glob of motor oil. The darn thing shot right out of my hand! I would have tried again, maybe with a net or something, but once it was startled, it sort of blinked right out of our reality. It didn’t look like it went back into the Ouroboros though—very few customers can open portals willy-nilly like that. I’m guessing it must have some sort of time power that let it slip into the future or the past. That seems like something an Ouroborian might have.
Hey! You know, it just occurred to me that we’ve got a direct line of communication to Belphegor, don’t we? I’ll see if my precious pumpkin can ask her about this stocky snake cryptid. In the meantime, be on the lookout for a ~3-foot-long ~8-inch-wide metal snake guy chewing through stoplights and city infrastructure. I’d say he looked brassy, but it could’ve been gold or copper… or just the pigment of its scales. If you do see it, don’t bother trying to grab it, but try to clear the tourists out of the area, will ya’?