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 Forum index » Diversions » TimeWasters
Puzzle Experiment #4
Moderators: Giskard, ndemeter, ScarpeGrosse
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Author Message
Agent Lex
Entrenched


Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 1188
Location: No longer London, still in England

 		Thanks, now I don't have to double post Razz

Looks like I was correct.

Quote:
Mr. Lex,

Thank you for completing the authorization process. Your order has been confirmed and shipped. You may expect a delivery within the next 3-5 business days.


We hope you enjoyed shopping with us!


Anah Amenemhat Bithiah
Customer Support / Sales Rep
Cheap Gifts For Mom
http://cheapgiftsformom.exofire.net


PostPosted: Tue May 13, 2008 6:18 pm
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Omega
Unfettered


Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 430
Location: Utah

 		Solution & Wrap-Up
Cheap Gifts For Mom wrote:
Mr. Lex,

Thank you for completing the authorization process. Your order has been confirmed and shipped. You may expect a delivery within the next 3-5 business days.

At this point, a package would be sent out to Lex. The order would be mixed up, and Lex would receive the wrong items, which would provide clues for the next step of the ARG. But, I don't know where Lex lives, so... That's my thinking, anyway.

The final password was:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Sobeknefru.

Hints:
  • The gift voucher id was "1806-1802 BC," which was the brief period in which Sobeknefru ruled as Pharaoh.
  • Egypt was mentioned in the website's news section.
  • The sales rep's name was Anah Amenemhat Bithiah. Bithiah (Bitya in Hebrew) refers to the daughter of a Pharaoh. Pharaoh Amenemhat III is believed to be the father of Sobeknefru. Thus, the Bithiah of Amenemhat would be Sobeknefru. Also, Anah is a Hebrew girl's name meaning "answer."

That's it! That's all I had prepared, anyway. For this experiment, I wanted to test my hand at subtle puzzles, playing with the TINAG feeling. This was also the first experiment to incorporate outside sources (website & email). Any feedback regarding those elements would be greatly appreciated!

Concerning the first puzzle, the solution I had for a Monster Mom recipe was:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
1 Calliope Flowers w/Vase
2 Flower Baskets
1 Carnations
1 Godiva Chocolates
2 Gift Baskets
2 Silver Necklaces
1 Assorted Cake
1 Gift Card Holder
2 Picture Frames

However, the combination that SuperSlug gave also works, and was a much simpler recipe. I wasn't sure if there was another combination, but Slug found one. Good job! Again, any criticism on this puzzle is welcomed.


Solve Time: 2 days, 16 minutes
_________________
Puzzle Experiments: #3, #4, #6

PostPosted: Tue May 13, 2008 6:29 pm
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Agent Lex
Entrenched


Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 1188
Location: No longer London, still in England

 		Re: Solution & Wrap-Up
Omega wrote:
But, I don't know where Lex lives, so...

I could tell you... just to torment you Razz

Omega wrote:
Hints:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
  • The gift voucher id was "1806-1802 BC," which was the brief period in which Sobeknefru ruled as Pharaoh.
  • Egypt was mentioned in the website's news section.
  • The sales rep's name was Anah Amenemhat Bithiah. Bithiah (Bitya in Hebrew) refers to the daughter of a Pharaoh. Pharaoh Amenemhat III is believed to be the father of Sobeknefru. Thus, the Bithiah of Amenemhat would be Sobeknefru. Also, Anah is a Hebrew girl's name meaning "answer."

I didn't even read that section of the site, actually! And the general Egyptian-ness of the name, along with the dates, are what gave it away. But that's a good few redundant hints there Smile

General comments:
  • This felt more like an actual ARG than a standalone puzzle or a trail. Still, the puzzles did seem contrived (why make the monster mom? where did the "properties" of each item come from?)
  • Other than being a bit contrived, I actually liked the first puzzle. A couple of false assumptions to make (both Rogi and I assumed we could only use a maximum of 1 of each item, at first) and fairly hard, but solvable in more than one way.
  • As I said, the multiple hints for the second puzzle were a nice touch.
  • Out of curiosity, what would have happened if someone had sent an order that didn't match the recipe?

I'll let the professional critics take the floor now Razz

PostPosted: Tue May 13, 2008 6:40 pm
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SuperSlug
Veteran


Joined: 29 May 2007
Posts: 74

 		Re: Solution & Wrap-Up
Omega wrote:

Concerning the first puzzle, the solution I had for a Monster Mom recipe was:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
1 Calliope Flowers w/Vase
2 Flower Baskets
1 Carnations
1 Godiva Chocolates
2 Gift Baskets
2 Silver Necklaces
1 Assorted Cake
1 Gift Card Holder
2 Picture Frames



Hmmm, with this order I come up +1 Cat Tail, +1 Snake Tooth, -1 Owie when compared to the MishMash recipe.

If you delete 1 Flower Basket that fixes the Cat Tail and Snake Tooth but still leaves you at -1 Owie.
_________________
Some people are lost in the shuffle. I'm shuffling along with the lost.

Come solve the blocks

PostPosted: Tue May 13, 2008 7:23 pm
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Omega
Unfettered


Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 430
Location: Utah

 		Re: Solution & Wrap-Up
SuperSlug wrote:
Hmmm, with this order I come up +1 Cat Tail, +1 Snake Tooth, -1 Owie when compared to the MishMash recipe.

Strange. I'll double-check that... I may have written it down wrong! Embarassed

Agent Lex wrote:
Out of curiosity, what would have happened if someone had sent an order that didn't match the recipe?

I would have emailed back with:

Quote:
Mr./Ms. <name>,

There appears to be an error regarding the order you recently placed through Cheap Gifts For Mom. Our records claim that you have requested a purchase of exactly 10,000 assorted cakes. Please verify your order by resubmitting your purchase request.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused on our behalf. During this hectic Mother's Day, our support staff is in constant motion responding to all the many orders we've received. We're working as fast as we can to ensure the quickest, cheapest Mother's Day deliveries with as little delay as possible.

Again, we apologize for any conflicts with your order. Please resubmit your order and our trained staff will process your request as soon as possible.


Thank you for shopping with Cheap Gifts For Mom!

_________________
Puzzle Experiments: #3, #4, #6

PostPosted: Tue May 13, 2008 7:39 pm
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Omega
Unfettered


Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 430
Location: Utah

 		Re: Solution & Wrap-Up
SuperSlug wrote:
If you delete 1 Flower Basket that fixes the Cat Tail and Snake Tooth but still leaves you at -1 Owie.

Neat. I wrote the wrong values for the carnations! Was supposed to be -1 worm head and -1 owie. And yes, the number of flower baskets is only 1. Thanks for catching that, Slug.

So, strangely enough, the recipe worked out by accident!

I guess that's another lesson for this week: Always double-check your numbers. Wink
_________________
Puzzle Experiments: #3, #4, #6

PostPosted: Tue May 13, 2008 8:02 pm
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danteIL
Unfictologist


Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 1990

 		I think this was clever (although I agree that the whole 'monster-mom' thing seems a bit random). In the context of a larger game, it might even work well because players would have to realize that they need to find the right 'recipe' in order to make further progress.

Outside the context of a game, however, it left me a bit mystified at first, especially when people started talking about 'balancing' owlies and such. So this was good in the sense that it was a puzzle that didn't necessarily look like a puzzle, but less good because there was no compelling reason to try to actually create a monster-mom gift or whatever.

I appreciate your variety though Smile

PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2008 1:21 pm
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Agent Lex
Entrenched


Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 1188
Location: No longer London, still in England

 		That would probably be my fault. I started talking about solving the puzzle before posting how I *got* to the puzzle.

PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2008 5:17 pm
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rowan
Unfictologist

Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 1966

 		I think Lex hit on most of my feelings for this puzzle. Overall, I liked it. It seemed like it easily could have been part of a larger game. I'm even willing to write off the 'contrivedness' of the first bit as being part of some wacky universe that the game is set in (you could even remove the dollar amounts and have the cat tails, frog eyes, owies, etc as being the currency of this odd little site/game/universe - and maybe they offer some sort of recipe of the week). The whole thing feels rather whimsical, so I'm willing to be stretched further along and pretend a bit more - especially if this was something that occurred mid-game and I was already well acquainted with the way the universe worked.

The biggest thing I would change? Making the bottom text easier to read on the initial card. The url is really sorta blurry and would be a terrible marketing move for Cheap Gifts for Mom if no one could find their site.
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PostPosted: Thu May 15, 2008 10:24 am
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Omega
Unfettered


Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 430
Location: Utah
danteIL wrote:
So this was good in the sense that it was a puzzle that didn't necessarily look like a puzzle

Quick question for the community: Do you find that you enjoy a puzzle more if it is given to you or if you have to find it first? What about when you can't even find the puzzle?


Thanks, everyone, for all your criticism!
_________________
Puzzle Experiments: #3, #4, #6

PostPosted: Fri May 16, 2008 5:59 pm
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Rogi Ocnorb
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 4266
Location: Where the cheese is free.

 		I've been wondering if there wasn't a little more to that last one. Just haven't had time to look at it, much.
_________________
I'm telling you now, so you can't say, "Oh, I didn't know...Nobody told me!"


PostPosted: Fri May 16, 2008 8:35 pm
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Tenchizard
Decorated


Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 254
Omega wrote:

Quick question for the community: Do you find that you enjoy a puzzle more if it is given to you or if you have to find it first? What about when you can't even find the puzzle?


Thanks, everyone, for all your criticism!


I liked the way the first clue was just subtle enough so that only interested people will follow trough (the link in the card). Then, when you get to the web page and see nothing at all, you get a bit disoriented. But if you're still interested, you click in one of the products and... there you go, you see all the owies and worms and such, and then you imagine there's a puzzle there, even if you don't know the rules.

Of course, if there had been a form to fill in the page, the need to do an order would be more clear.

PostPosted: Mon May 19, 2008 4:46 am
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