M Puzzle: Pop Quiz

by Matt Sakai

The first thing to do is answer all the questions. The numbering is a little irregular, so just put the answer in the box with the same number as the question. The answers are:

  1. Γ(-1/2) approx. = -4.5
  2. -13
  3. -20
  4. -1
  5. ln (ex/(1+ex)), a function everywhere < 0
  6. ln(2) approx = .693

  1. -L
  2. c/4π (in cgs) or 1/μ0) (in SI)
  3. √(1/4π) (specifically, the positive root)
  4. -i(hbar)
  5. 1 (an identity)
  6. -1 (an identity)

  1. Gibbs free energy (a definition), always negative in a spontaneous process
  2. alpha emission, a positively charge particle
  3. beta emission (an electron), a negatively charged particle
  4. -1.16 Volts
  5. 95.40 kJ/mol
  6. tetramethylborate, a negative ion

  1. -17
  2. 1 - cos(t), a function everywhere positive
  3. x^5/5!
  4. -2,-4 (The other roots are 2+i and 2-i.)
  5. -1 and -3
  6. 8128

  1. It's a negative feedback loop.
  2. -89 mV (Nernst equation)
  3. It's the negative strand of the ced-9 gene.
  4. dominant negative (or antimorph)
  5. negative supercoiling (writhe = -0.7)
  6. It's a gram-positive cell wall.

  1. -ATR
  2. negative polarity item
  3. N400 (i.e. negative 400)
  4. -, from ToBI
  5. +
  6. +

After that, notice that all of the answers are either positive or negative. Shade in all the boxes with positive answers or answers related to positive things. This should look like this:
16 17 18
19 20 21
23 24 25
26 27 28
30 31 32
33 34 35
37 38 39
40 41 42
44 45 46
47 48 49
51 52 53
54 55 56

Next, go down to building 16 or 56 on the first floor (clued by the odd numbering, if the pattern itself wasn't enough of a tip-off), where the floor includes the same 3x12 pattern of squares. There's a message encoded in the tiles on the floor, and you can use the same extraction method to get the answer out of your answer grid. The key is printed on the wall in 56.

Each six squares is a letter, running down the left column, up the middle, and down the right again. This yields the answer RHYMES.