Defusing Bombs

A bomb will explode when its countdown timer reaches 0:00 or when too many strikes have been recorded. The only way to defuse a bomb is to disarm all of its modules before its countdown timer expires.

Modules

Each bomb will include up to 11 modules that must be disarmed. Each module is discrete and can be disarmed in any order.

Instructions for disarming modules can be found in Section 1. "Needy" modules present a special case and are described in Section 2.

Strikes

When the Defuser makes a mistake, the bomb will record a strike which will be displayed on the indicator above the countdown timer. Bombs with a strike indicator will explode upon the third strike. The timer will begin to count down faster after a strike has been recorded.

If no strike indicator is present above the countdown timer, the bomb will explode upon the first strike, leaving no room for error.

Gathering Information

Some disarming instructions will require specific information about the bomb, such as the serial number. This type of information can typically be found on the top, bottom, or sides of the bomb casing. See Appendix A, B, and C for identification instructions that will be useful in disarming certain modules.

On the Subject of Wires

Wires are the lifeblood of electronics! Wait, no, electricity is the lifeblood. Wires are more like the arteries. The veins? No matter…

• A wire module can have 3-6 wires on it.
• Only the one correct wire needs to be cut to disarm the module.
• Wire ordering begins with the first on the top.

3 wires: If there are no red wires, cut the second wire. Otherwise, if the last wire is white, cut the last wire. Otherwise, if there is more than one blue wire, cut the last blue wire. Otherwise, cut the last wire.

4 wires: If there is more than one red wire and the last digit of the serial number is odd, cut the last red wire. Otherwise, if the last wire is yellow and there are no red wires, cut the first wire. Otherwise, if there is exactly one blue wire, cut the first wire. Otherwise, if there is more than one yellow wire, cut the last wire. Otherwise, cut the second wire.

5 wires: If the last wire is black and the last digit of the serial number is odd, cut the fourth wire. Otherwise, if there is exactly one red wire and there is more than one yellow wire, cut the first wire. Otherwise, if there are no black wires, cut the second wire. Otherwise, cut the first wire.

6 wires: If there are no yellow wires and the last digit of the serial number is odd, cut the third wire. Otherwise, if there is exactly one yellow wire and there is more than one white wire, cut the fourth wire. Otherwise, if there are no red wires, cut the last wire. Otherwise, cut the fourth wire.

On the Subject of The Button

You might think that a button telling you to press it is pretty straightforward. That’s the kind of thinking that gets people exploded.

See Appendix A for indicator identification reference.
See Appendix B for battery identification reference.

Follow these rules in the order they are listed. Perform the first action that applies:

1. If the button is blue and the button says "Abort", hold the button and refer to "Releasing a Held Button".
2. If there is more than 1 battery on the bomb and the button says "Detonate", press and immediately release the button.
3. If the button is white and there is a lit indicator with label CAR, hold the button and refer to "Releasing a Held Button".
4. If there are more than 2 batteries on the bomb and there is a lit indicator with label FRK, press and immediately release the button.
5. If the button is yellow, hold the button and refer to "Releasing a Held Button".
6. If the button is red and the button says "Hold", press and immediately release the button.
7. If none of the above apply, hold the button and refer to "Releasing a Held Button".

Releasing a Held Button

If you start holding the button down, a colored strip will light up on the right side of the module. Based on its color, you must release the button at a specific point in time:

• Blue strip: release when the countdown timer has a 4 in any position.
• White strip: release when the countdown timer has a 1 in any position.
• Yellow strip: release when the countdown timer has a 5 in any position.
• Any other color strip: release when the countdown timer has a 1 in any position.

On the Subject of Keypads

I'm not sure what these symbols are, but I suspect they have something to do with occult.

• Only one column below has all four of the symbols from the keypad.
• Press the four buttons in the order their symbols appear from top to bottom within that column.

On the Subject of Simon Says

This is like one of those toys you played with as a kid where you have to match the pattern that appears, except this one is a knockoff that was probably purchased at a dollar store.

1. One of the four colored buttons will flash.
2. Using the correct table below, press the button with the corresponding color.
3. The original button will flash, followed by another. Repeat this sequence in order using the color mapping.
4. The sequence will lengthen by one each time you correctly enter a sequence until the module is disarmed.

If the serial number contains a vowel:

		Red Flash	Blue Flash	Green Flash	Yellow Flash
Button to press:	No Strikes	Blue	Red	Yellow	Green
	1 Strike	Yellow	Green	Blue	Red
	2 Strikes	Green	Red	Yellow	Blue

If the serial number does not contain a vowel:

		Red Flash	Blue Flash	Green Flash	Yellow Flash
Button to press:	No Strikes	Blue	Yellow	Green	Red
	1 Strike	Red	Blue	Yellow	Green
	2 Strikes	Yellow	Green	Blue	Red

On the Subject of Who’s on First

This contraption is like something out of a sketch comedy routine, which might be funny if it wasn't connected to a bomb. I’ll keep this brief, as words only complicate matters.

1. Read the display and use step 1 to determine which button label to read.
2. Using this button label, use step 2 determine which button to push.
3. Repeat until the module has been disarmed.

Step 1:

Based on the display, read the label of a particular button and proceed to step 2:

YES	FIRST	DISPLAY	OKAY	SAYS	NOTHING
	BLANK	NO	LED	LEAD	READ
RED	REED	LEED	HOLD ON	YOU	YOU ARE
YOUR	YOU'RE	UR	THERE	THEY'RE	THEIR
	THEY ARE	SEE	C	CEE

Step 2:

Using the label from step 1, push the first button that appears in its corresponding list:

READY:	YES, OKAY, WHAT, MIDDLE, LEFT, PRESS, RIGHT, BLANK, READY, NO, FIRST, UHHH, NOTHING, WAIT
FIRST:	LEFT, OKAY, YES, MIDDLE, NO, RIGHT, NOTHING, UHHH, WAIT, READY, BLANK, WHAT, PRESS, FIRST
NO:	BLANK, UHHH, WAIT, FIRST, WHAT, READY, RIGHT, YES, NOTHING, LEFT, PRESS, OKAY, NO, MIDDLE
BLANK:	WAIT, RIGHT, OKAY, MIDDLE, BLANK, PRESS, READY, NOTHING, NO, WHAT, LEFT, UHHH, YES, FIRST
NOTHING:	UHHH, RIGHT, OKAY, MIDDLE, YES, BLANK, NO, PRESS, LEFT, WHAT, WAIT, FIRST, NOTHING, READY
YES:	OKAY, RIGHT, UHHH, MIDDLE, FIRST, WHAT, PRESS, READY, NOTHING, YES, LEFT, BLANK, NO, WAIT
WHAT:	UHHH, WHAT, LEFT, NOTHING, READY, BLANK, MIDDLE, NO, OKAY, FIRST, WAIT, YES, PRESS, RIGHT
UHHH:	READY, NOTHING, LEFT, WHAT, OKAY, YES, RIGHT, NO, PRESS, BLANK, UHHH, MIDDLE, WAIT, FIRST
LEFT:	RIGHT, LEFT, FIRST, NO, MIDDLE, YES, BLANK, WHAT, UHHH, WAIT, PRESS, READY, OKAY, NOTHING
RIGHT:	YES, NOTHING, READY, PRESS, NO, WAIT, WHAT, RIGHT, MIDDLE, LEFT, UHHH, BLANK, OKAY, FIRST
MIDDLE:	BLANK, READY, OKAY, WHAT, NOTHING, PRESS, NO, WAIT, LEFT, MIDDLE, RIGHT, FIRST, UHHH, YES
OKAY:	MIDDLE, NO, FIRST, YES, UHHH, NOTHING, WAIT, OKAY, LEFT, READY, BLANK, PRESS, WHAT, RIGHT
WAIT:	UHHH, NO, BLANK, OKAY, YES, LEFT, FIRST, PRESS, WHAT, WAIT, NOTHING, READY, RIGHT, MIDDLE
PRESS:	RIGHT, MIDDLE, YES, READY, PRESS, OKAY, NOTHING, UHHH, BLANK, LEFT, FIRST, WHAT, NO, WAIT
YOU:	SURE, YOU ARE, YOUR, YOU'RE, NEXT, UH HUH, UR, HOLD, WHAT?, YOU, UH UH, LIKE, DONE, U
YOU ARE:	YOUR, NEXT, LIKE, UH HUH, WHAT?, DONE, UH UH, HOLD, YOU, U, YOU'RE, SURE, UR, YOU ARE
YOUR:	UH UH, YOU ARE, UH HUH, YOUR, NEXT, UR, SURE, U, YOU'RE, YOU, WHAT?, HOLD, LIKE, DONE
YOU'RE:	YOU, YOU'RE, UR, NEXT, UH UH, YOU ARE, U, YOUR, WHAT?, UH HUH, SURE, DONE, LIKE, HOLD
UR:	DONE, U, UR, UH HUH, WHAT?, SURE, YOUR, HOLD, YOU'RE, LIKE, NEXT, UH UH, YOU ARE, YOU
U:	UH HUH, SURE, NEXT, WHAT?, YOU'RE, UR, UH UH, DONE, U, YOU, LIKE, HOLD, YOU ARE, YOUR
UH HUH:	UH HUH, YOUR, YOU ARE, YOU, DONE, HOLD, UH UH, NEXT, SURE, LIKE, YOU'RE, UR, U, WHAT?
UH UH:	UR, U, YOU ARE, YOU'RE, NEXT, UH UH, DONE, YOU, UH HUH, LIKE, YOUR, SURE, HOLD, WHAT?
WHAT?:	YOU, HOLD, YOU'RE, YOUR, U, DONE, UH UH, LIKE, YOU ARE, UH HUH, UR, NEXT, WHAT?, SURE
DONE:	SURE, UH HUH, NEXT, WHAT?, YOUR, UR, YOU'RE, HOLD, LIKE, YOU, U, YOU ARE, UH UH, DONE
NEXT:	WHAT?, UH HUH, UH UH, YOUR, HOLD, SURE, NEXT, LIKE, DONE, YOU ARE, UR, YOU'RE, U, YOU
HOLD:	YOU ARE, U, DONE, UH UH, YOU, UR, SURE, WHAT?, YOU'RE, NEXT, HOLD, UH HUH, YOUR, LIKE
SURE:	YOU ARE, DONE, LIKE, YOU'RE, YOU, HOLD, UH HUH, UR, SURE, U, WHAT?, NEXT, YOUR, UH UH
LIKE:	YOU'RE, NEXT, U, UR, HOLD, DONE, UH UH, WHAT?, UH HUH, YOU, LIKE, SURE, YOU ARE, YOUR

On the Subject of Memory

Memory is a fragile thing but so is everything else when a bomb goes off, so pay attention!

• Press the correct button to progress the module to the next stage. Complete all stages to disarm the module.
• Pressing an incorrect button will reset the module back to stage 1.
• Button positions are ordered from left to right.

On the Subject of Mazes

This seems to be some kind of maze, probably stolen off of a restaurant placemat.

• Find the maze with matching circular markings.
• The defuser must navigate the white light to the red triangle using the arrow buttons.
• Warning: Do not cross the lines shown in the maze. These lines are invisible on the bomb.

On the Subject of Passwords

Fortunately this password doesn't seem to meet standard government security requirements: 22 characters, mixed case, numbers in random order without any palindromes above length 3.

• The buttons above and below each letter will cycle through the possibilities for that position.
• Only one combination of the available letters will match a password below.
• Press the submit button once the correct word has been set.

about	after	again	below	could
every	first	found	great	house
large	learn	never	other	place
plant	point	right	small	sound
spell	still	study	their	there
these	thing	think	three	water
where	which	world	would	write

On the Subject of Venting Gas

Computer hacking is hard work! Well, it usually is. This job could probably be performed by a simple drinking bird pressing the same key over and over again.

• Respond to the computer prompts by pressing "Y" for "Yes" or "N" for "No".

On the Subject of Capacitor Discharge

I'm going to guess that this is just meant to occupy your attention, because otherwise this is some shoddy electronics work.

• Discharge the capacitor before it overloads by holding down the lever.