Puzzle Solving Exercise Thread

Ziola · Post by **Ziola** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:36 am

I can't do that. I already sold my soul to you, remember?

acidfingers · Post by **acidfingers** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:56 am

I get the idea now.

I still have no idea where the picture is from. As for the message in the picture, I'm guessing.... "forum missing"?

I'm pretty sure 4M = forum. Not sure what MSN would mean. Emmisen? gah!

deagol · Post by **deagol** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 1:05 am

acidfingers wrote:I get the idea now.

I still have no idea where the picture is from. As for the message in the picture, I'm guessing.... "forum missing"?

I'm pretty sure 4M = forum. Not sure what MSN would mean. Emmisen? gah!

Ok, because I've had to nudge some people, I think it needs to be a clearer pic. Here goes.

I'll update the original as well...

Oh and msn, come on, look around here!

Code: Select all

            \|/ \|/ \|/

diastres · Post by **diastres** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:49 am

Answer: Simlarillion

How to solve it to follow when I stop killing deagol mentally.

(jk <3)

edit: Screw typos.

acidfingers · Post by **acidfingers** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:57 am

wow, I just got to the next step and I want to punch myself repeatedly in the face. I can't even read half of what it says in that damn image!

I'm sort of...putting this puzzle on hiatus until someone else solves it or I get done with all my homework >_<

Deagol, you're one sick f***. oh and lotr suxors!

acidfingers · Post by **acidfingers** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:30 am

yeah okay so I said I wouldn't finish this, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I took the time to actually work everything through. Got some weird word that's probably some lord of the rings crap.

S i m/l m/l a r/l i r/l l a o n

maybe silmarillaon

google corrected me, it is some other book by Tolkien. Looks like that last 'a' should have been an 'i'. Close enough though Deagol

Oh, and so no one thinks I got it wrong. The 777 that translated to an 'a' instead of an 'i' is: "It pleased him that she should dwell..." which is Sauron.

S A U R O N = 18 0 20 17 14 13

777: 123+456
777: 18*0*20 + 17*14*13
777: 0 + 3094
777: 3094 % 26
777: 0
777: A

So it actually is an 'a'

Anwyay.... good and novel puzzle Deagol! *applauds*

diastres · Post by **diastres** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:34 am

The image is of the profile icon, so you click deagol's.
http://lonelygirl15.com/forum/profile.p ... ile&u=2251

Code: Select all

Occupation: msn "messenger" pfft...
Interests: go find him ^^

So you're supposed to find messenger.

If you look at the website and sound it out, it points you to:
http://lonelygirl15.com/forum/memberlist.php

I sorted by username. If the order is ascending, messenger can be found on page 43 (subject to change due to addition of members). Go to his profile:
http://lonelygirl15.com/forum/profile.p ... ile&u=3001

Note the cell phone avatar and the MSN Messenger portion.

777 444 3 3 555 33 # 33 2 777 8 44

If you enter that into a cellphone without using T9, you get "riddle earth".

Click the website:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/3657 ... 5fcb_o.png

I think the top line is self-explanatory.
a+b=b --> 0+1=1
b+d=e --> 1+3=4
o+p=d --> 14+15=3

On the last one, you add the 14 and 15 to get 29. Then you find the remainder when you divide by 26. In this case, you do end up getting 3.

cd=g --> 2*3=6
bed=m --> 1*4*3=12
no=a --> 13*14=0

Just like last time... 13*14=182. 182-(26*7)=0=a.

So, now we look at the passages. The e's are removed from them, so add them in and use a line and google to get the quote and context. They're all from Lord of the Rings (ugh). You have to figure out what the bold part is referring to.

It plasd him that sh should dwll thr
hungry but unabatd in malic, a mor
sur watch upon that ancint path into
his land than any othr that his skill
could have dvisd (6 lttrs)

This is talking about Shelob.

s=18, h=7, e=4, l=11, o=14, b=1

777: 123+456

We know that 777 is r from the part with text messaging. So 777=r.

For 123+456, you use the numbers from the name. It would end up being she+lob, which becomes 18*7*4+11*14*1.

18*7*4+11*14*1=154=24=y

777: 123+456
becomes
r:i

For the rest, I'm not going to bother typing out the explanation, just the answers. Deal.

As a rul you can only s his joks and
toys. But this businss of our will b
his gratst task (7 lttrs)

Gandalf
g=6, a=0, n=13, d=3, a=0, l=11, f=5

3: 1+2+3+4+5+6+7

3=d
6+0+13+3+0+11+5=12=m

d:m

555: 1234567

555=l
6*0*13*3*0*11*5=0=a

l:a

Such things hav no hold on his mind.
H would b a most unsaf guardian;
and that alon is answr nought (8 lttrs)

Bombadil
b=1, o=14, m=12, b=1, a=0, d=3, i=8, l=11

8: 1+2+34+5+6+78

8=t
1+14+12*1+0+3+8*11=118=14=o

t:o

44: 12+3+45+6+78

44=h
1*14+12+1*0+3+8*11=117=13=n

h:n

444: 123+45+6+7+8

444=i
1*14*12+1*0+3+8+11=190=8=i

i:i

3: 12+34+567+8

3=d
1*14+12*1+0*3*8+11=37=11=l

d:l

You know not what you say. Thr is in
hr and in this land no vil, unlss a man
bring it hithr himslf (9 lttrs)

Galadriel
g=6, a=0, l=11, a=0, d=3, r=17, i=8, e=4, l=11

#: 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9

#=[space]
6+0+11+0+3+17+8+4+11=60=8=i

[space]:i

33: 1234+5+6+7+8+9

33=e
6*0*11*0+3+17+8+4+11=43=17=r

e:r

777: 1+234+5+678+9

777=r
6+0*11*0+3+17*8*4+11=564=18=s

r:s

2: 1+234+5678+9

2=a
6+0*11*0+3*17*8*4+11=1649=11=l

a:l

33: 12345678+9

33=e
6*0*11*0*3*17*8*4+11=11=l

e:l

That's it. Okay, I made an image for myself, because staring at all those numbers for the letters was getting to me, so here it is:

So I just filled in the letters from "riddle earth" that had no other alternative and played with the rest until it looked reasonably pronounceable. It ended up being Simlarillion. I thank google for confirming my answer (it's a book or something by Tolkien).

I dislike Tolkien even more now. Seriously.

sphinx · Post by **sphinx** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 4:46 am

Deagol seriously, thanks for this puzzle.

The LOTR stuff was excellent and I finally got the rest.

Thanks for how patient you were in PMs with me on this one.
I know you were laughing at me and asking yourself wtf kind of drugs is this chick on, or even worse, screaming "IDIOT" at your monitor, but it didn't really show, not that much anyway you big meanie LOL J/K.

Thanks again Oh Puzzle Master.

Brains and Hawtness...
Your wife is a lucky girl!

deagol · Post by **deagol** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:21 am

sphinx wrote:Deagol seriously, thanks for this puzzle.

The LOTR stuff was excellent and I finally got the rest.

Thanks for how patient you were in PMs with me on this one.
I know you were laughing at me and asking yourself wtf kind of drugs is this chick on, or even worse, screaming "IDIOT" at your monitor, but it didn't really show, not that much anyway you big meanie LOL J/K.

Thanks again Oh Puzzle Master.

Brains and Hawtness...
Your wife is a lucky girl!

Sphinx, I never thought or laughed or screamed any of that. In fact, after much consideration, I summarily declare you the winner!!! And not just because you said I was hot.

It's due to your superior knowledge and respect for the subject matter. You even knew the quotes by heart, didn't need Google! Now that is truely amazing.

Tolkien mastery wasn't required to solve the puzzle, just attention to detail. Indeed, the Tolkien part was the easiest, thanks to Google and the web (but we should also be prepared to work with references that can't be found online, knowing how the PM's love to make us sweat so much for results). I think the hardest part was opening the door to messenger's profile, which you got first, and the alpha-math, which apparently Acid got without any help from me (kudos for the modular arithmetic realization). So, any further negativity towards Tolkien's fine work should not be seen as a result of suffering this torture I put you through. Ya hear me Dia? I won't accept any of this "I dislike Tolkien even more now."

Acid got it wrong because he ignored the emphasis on the "she" for the first quote. Dia, eventhough she aced the coding part (critical for "first post" bragging rights), probably didn't pay attention to Google's "Did you mean: silmarillion" at the very end. I would say she does deserve the "first post" bragging rights for her math skills. But you, Sphinx, deserve the "correctness of solution" and "who needs Google?" bragging rights. Acid, you deserve nothing!

Saying "lotr suxors" is grounds for disqualification!

Seriously, great job everyone.

As I said to Sphinx before, I wouldn't have proposed the puzzle if I didn't think it was challenging to the awesome OpAphid Puzzle Dept. I was aiming for it to last a couple of days without being solved, but you all cracked it in less than 24 hours. Congratulations to all 3 of you (oh and Romy of course, how could I forget Romy, you were right there neck-to-neck with them).

Oh, and... Tachy, bring it on! Now I know we can handle anything you throw at us.

deagol · Post by **deagol** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:28 am

deagol wrote:I think the hardest part was opening the door to messenger's profile...

Ok, question: was the first pic/phonics clue too vague for making the "profile" connection? did the second pic help at all?

For those still searching, first pic is right up there on every page:

second pic, right below every post:

or right here,

\|/

deagol · Post by **deagol** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:54 am

sphinx wrote:nurlo!

hey, no=a!

acidfingers · Post by **acidfingers** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 12:12 pm

I thought Sauron was a girl's name

Stupid LotR!

=============================

Ok, so I figured I'd post a puzzle now. This one will hopefully get people thinking outside of the box.

After reading through OpAphid's YT profile again I discovered there was a secret message hidden in it. The key that I discovered was:

Code: Select all

8244387645628363631212557156253533452727

It only applied to this part of her profile though:

Historically it is important to note, however, that most Emperors and politicians enjoyed their greatest triumphs when the forums remained largely unaware of their actions, and did not inquire about their intentions. But Nomanyuos, like most philosophers, had virtually no wealth, power or influence. Would you find it coincidental that history is full of "populists" with similar views?

Hint: What is the largest number in the key?
I would recommend using the font Courier New.

diastres · Post by **diastres** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 1:41 pm

deagol wrote:Tolkien mastery wasn't required to solve the puzzle, just attention to detail. Indeed, the Tolkien part was the easiest, thanks to Google and the web (but we should also be prepared to work with references that can't be found online, knowing how the PM's love to make us sweat so much for results). I think the hardest part was opening the door to messenger's profile, which you got first, and the alpha-math, which apparently Acid got without any help from me (kudos for the modular arithmetic realization). So, any further negativity towards Tolkien's fine work should not be seen as a result of suffering this torture I put you through. Ya hear me Dia? I won't accept any of this "I dislike Tolkien even more now."

Acid got it wrong because he ignored the emphasis on the "she" for the first quote. Dia, eventhough she aced the coding part (critical for "first post" bragging rights), probably didn't pay attention to Google's "Did you mean: silmarillion" at the very end. I would say she does deserve the "first post" bragging rights for her math skills. But you, Sphinx, deserve the "correctness of solution" and "who needs Google?" bragging rights. Acid, you deserve nothing! Saying "lotr suxors" is grounds for disqualification!

Hmphh. The first time I put in Simlarillion, it didn't give me a "Did you mean..." thing. And it mentioned a book. Kthx.

And I DO dislike Tolkien even more now. I never liked the books. (Note: I'm not saying "they suxors." They don't, they're just not my cup of tea.) Penalizing me for not knowing it is like Tachyon saying we couldn't have watched those movies after we got that puzzle. So pffft.

And you didn't help me with the math! I'm just ultra insecure and thought I was doing it wrong solely because it was what I was doing. It's why I don't work on puzzles alone. Do I do XX/Xy alone? No, I spend time with Acid. I need someone that agrees with how I'm going at it. It's a bad trait, I know.

I have class in 35 minutes. Not starting the next one.

deagol · Post by **deagol** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:09 pm

acidfingers wrote:I thought Sauron was a girl's name

Stupid LotR!

=============================

Ok, so I figured I'd post a puzzle now. This one will hopefully get people thinking outside of the box.

After reading through OpAphid's YT profile again I discovered there was a secret message hidden in it. The key that I discovered was:
Code: Select all
8244387645628363631212557156253533452727
It only applied to this part of her profile though:
Historically it is important to note, however, that most Emperors and politicians enjoyed their greatest triumphs when the forums remained largely unaware of their actions, and did not inquire about their intentions. But Nomanyuos, like most philosophers, had virtually no wealth, power or influence. Would you find it coincidental that history is full of "populists" with similar views?
Hint: What is the largest number in the key?
I would recommend using the font Courier New.

You mean the largest digit? Since we don't know how many digits form the numbers in the key, there's no clear way to pick the largest number. In other words the largest number would be the whole key.

If you mean the largest digit, it's 8. I also notice there's no zeroes. Hmm...

deagol · Post by **deagol** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 2:43 pm

diastres wrote:
deagol wrote:Tolkien mastery wasn't required to solve the puzzle, just attention to detail. Indeed, the Tolkien part was the easiest, thanks to Google and the web (but we should also be prepared to work with references that can't be found online, knowing how the PM's love to make us sweat so much for results). I think the hardest part was opening the door to messenger's profile, which you got first, and the alpha-math, which apparently Acid got without any help from me (kudos for the modular arithmetic realization). So, any further negativity towards Tolkien's fine work should not be seen as a result of suffering this torture I put you through. Ya hear me Dia? I won't accept any of this "I dislike Tolkien even more now."

Acid got it wrong because he ignored the emphasis on the "she" for the first quote. Dia, eventhough she aced the coding part (critical for "first post" bragging rights), probably didn't pay attention to Google's "Did you mean: silmarillion" at the very end. I would say she does deserve the "first post" bragging rights for her math skills. But you, Sphinx, deserve the "correctness of solution" and "who needs Google?" bragging rights. Acid, you deserve nothing! Saying "lotr suxors" is grounds for disqualification!
Hmphh. The first time I put in Simlarillion, it didn't give me a "Did you mean..." thing. And it mentioned a book. Kthx.

And I DO dislike Tolkien even more now. I never liked the books. (Note: I'm not saying "they suxors." They don't, they're just not my cup of tea.) Penalizing me for not knowing it is like Tachyon saying we couldn't have watched those movies after we got that puzzle. So pffft.

And you didn't help me with the math! I'm just ultra insecure and thought I was doing it wrong solely because it was what I was doing. It's why I don't work on puzzles alone. Do I do XX/Xy alone? No, I spend time with Acid. I need someone that agrees with how I'm going at it. It's a bad trait, I know.

I have class in 35 minutes. Not starting the next one.

Dia, I was joking... who am I to penalize you? The reward in doing these lies within ourselves, proving to ourselves that we can make sense of stuff through logic reasoning, intuition, memory, etc., and not in doing them first or proving who's smarter. As you said, we all work best as a team, and this puzzle proved that.

Ok you win, you're the smartest! Now get to work on Acid's puzzle so you can give me a hint!