unforum

[SoItBegins]

The Art of the Written Word

[Kawikap]

Re: The Art of the Written Word

[SoItBegins]

Yep. I've heard of it. And I know how it works. You just need a key document...

EDIT: Ah, got it! It's easy once you 'get' it.

[Rogi Ocnorb]

I really don't understand how this made so much immediate sense to folks. For me, there were a ton of wrong ways to look at it that gave me fits.

[spocklogic]

[Late to the party]

This was pretty obviously a Beale cipher of some sort and the 'key' text was fairly clear -- the time was taken in figuring out which variant was being used. (A lot of this was learning to 'play the DM'.)

My big problem was a little thing called "Real Life" -- didn't get to sign in until twenty something after and went down two or three empty holes before I got the right one.

This raises a philosophical point about the emphasis placed on speed.
I understand that for a website there is a limited ability to measure success beyond the binary solved/not solved, but time to find a solution is hardly the best measure of puzzle solving ability; it rewards lucky guesses and sloppy but 'good enough' work. (It also gives an advantage to those with fast connections and computers.)

The latter two of the three (luck, slop, fast computers) aspects are very "real-world" , but neither is ideal if the intent is to encourage learning and elegance of solution. (Luck is generally much less meaningful in "real-world" solutions since the coding schemes are so much more advanced.)

Unfortunately, I haven't anything better to offer as a solution -- but I enjoyed working the backlog of theorems when I joined more than I do the weekly race. (And, yes, I know that it's just my own competitiveness .)

[spocklogic]

[Gorgo]

[Guest]

[The Baffled King]

Similar experience: a few minutes to come up with (and feel confident about) the type of cipher, then I did settle on the right text after another ten or fifteen, but for some reason I did not hit on the right 'variant' for another fifteen or twenty. It's true, there are so many small adjustments to try -- and you aren't quite sure you have the right text, or that there isn't some other little detail you're missing.

Late to the Party is right about the speed thing, but on the other hand it's kind of thrilling on those occasions when all your early thoughts are right and it clicks and you actually get, say, the 200 point bonus. The whole competitive aspect is slightly silly, but there I am at midnight loading up the page and logging in!

[Gorgo]

[drakono]

I don't care for the emphasis placed on speed, either, but I don't see a better alternative. It would be nice if points were deducted after a certain number of wrong guesses, though. Still, sometimes, you can have the solution to the puzzle/cipher but 1) not make the leap to the word that the cipher hints at, or 2) have the answer but the site doesn't accept it because you aren't entering it "correctly." (Like the Who...What..Where puzzle, where the answer was a long phrase.)

I'd have to stay up past midnight to see the puzzle go live, and there's no way I'm doing that. I just wait until the next morning and get 50 bonus points for solving it within the day.

[Renoroc]

Hyphenated words

[Renoroc]

Nevermind!