Solution: Preparations on Track
Answer: TRIPITAKA ADVISOR
Written by Tan Chor Kiang, Eunice Wong, and Adib Surani
The first step is to infer, from the title or flavourtext, that each pin refers to an MRT station. We can find a remarkably accurate image of all the train stations and names from this Wikipedia page.
If we overlay the puzzle image onto this map, we get the following (click to enlarge):
From which we can easily identify all eight MRT stations. The next step is to notice that each activity can be paired with the first word of some answer, e.g. we can pair BASE (from BASE ATTRIBUTES) with CAMP to form BASE CAMP. This would then pair ATTRIBUTES with the respective station OUTRAM PARK, from which we can extract two letters. It turns out we can extract exactly two letters from each pair.
| MRT Station | Activity | Answer | Letters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outram Park | Camp | BASE ATTRIBUTES | TR |
| Bukit Panjang | Balloon | SPEECH AMBIOPHONICS | IP |
| Kaki Bukit | Flight | CAPITAL EQUIPMENT | IT |
| Tan Kah Kee | Cycle | PRODUCT MARKETING | AK |
| Mattar | Trek | STAR WARSAW | AA |
| Dover | Cruise | TOM DAVIS | DV |
| Bishan | Dive | DEEP TISSUE | IS |
| Rochor | Shop | COFFEE POWDER | OR |
The only thing left to determine is whether Outram Park is first or last in the sequence, since this isn't specified. We just have to read the letters both ways to see which one has a more reasonable message. Taking Outram Park first, this spells out the final answer TRIPITAKA ADVISOR.