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 Forum index » Diversions » TimeWasters
A LITTLE TIMEWASTER SET
Moderators: Giskard, ndemeter, ScarpeGrosse
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Author Message
Molnar
Boot

Joined: 19 Nov 2008
Posts: 60
Location: CA

 		Aaah, you wanted the wooden one. That is Timber Wolf. Given that these are Secret Service codenames of the last four presidents, that would make #3 Trailblazer at Hersheypark.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:30 am
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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.

 		You got it.
Good job!
_________________
I'm telling you now, so you can't say, "Oh, I didn't know...Nobody told me!"


PostPosted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 2:15 am
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Romulus
Boot

Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 38

 		I'm going to go ahead and bump this thread with the first puzzle I have ever tried to make. It is probably a bit too simplistic for most of the people here, but it's worth a try, and I'd love to see this thread get going again. Puzzle contents between the asterisks.

ETA: After trying it one way and realizing the immense difficulty of what I was trying to do, I decided to try another approach. It should work out right.

Code:

*************************

January 18th:

The climb is hard. The weather harsh. I find my legs unresponsive, heavy. The summit seems farther and farther away. All I can think of is my Maritza and our two boys, our darling boys lost forever thanks to the actions of two scarred and dirty men who felt that their lives were worth the silverware in our cabinet.

Francis and Hamm. Names I will not soon forget. Names of men long convicted, long rotting in the hell that is prison. A hell that is nonetheless not harsh enough for them. Maritza's pale neck is no less bruised. Her lungs no less empty.

I seek the solace that wisdom can provide. I hope the man of the mountain may provide me this solace, as ridiculous it may seem. I have run out of options. Run out of hope.

Only five hundred yards to the summit. I can see the light of his fire. I will reach him tomorrow.

January 19th:

Wisdom? That old fool is wise? What lies. I asked him what I could do to find peace, to find comfort in this world again, and he said nothing. He smiled, toothless and gaunt, and scratched out a note on yellowed paper, then shoved me toward his door. I read it now in my tent and cannot contain my rage. This is wisdom? This is aid?

"I hope that  you will forgive  my rudeness, but it's not  as if  you can stay here and be  served bacon and  eggs for  breakfast. Your question  can  be answered in a single solitary word.

Hugs and kisses,
XOXOOXOOXOOXXXXOXXXOXXOXX"





This is what qualifies as wisdom? My guess is the word is "rubbish." What a waste of my time.

******************************


PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:01 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.

 		Francis...
Hamm...
Bacon...
No lack of clues, there.

Given the translation, I wonder if there isn't another level that I'm not seeing, though.
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
MORSE

_________________
I'm telling you now, so you can't say, "Oh, I didn't know...Nobody told me!"


PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:39 pm
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Romulus
Boot

Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 38

 		You're halfway there. You found the clues that led to a clue.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
MORSE isn't the answer, but just a hint at finding it
[/spoiler]

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:42 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.

 		Not much time to look at it further, today.

Concentrating on the note text, I'm not able to find anything using starting vowels/consonants or even/odd word lengths.

Spacing and punctuation seem to be good choices for letter delimiting; But, that may not pan-out as some of them are 6 and 7 bits.
_________________
I'm telling you now, so you can't say, "Oh, I didn't know...Nobody told me!"


PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 5:35 pm
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Romulus
Boot

Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 38

 		I'm actually quite happy that it didn't get solved in five minutes, like I assumed it would. I'll continue the tradition of "one clue per day getting progressively more obvious," if that's okay.

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 5:39 pm
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Molnar
Boot

Joined: 19 Nov 2008
Posts: 60
Location: CA

 		I'm pretty sure I have the method, but the solve is tedious considering it could be anything up to 33 bits.

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 6:23 pm
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Romulus
Boot

Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 38

 		I'm going to go ahead and put my hint post down early, because (since it's the first puzzle I've ever crafted) I'm not convinced that I did a few things in a method that would make them clear. As a result, I'll put a couple hints in this, from least to most obvious.

1)

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Molnar probably has the right idea.


2)

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
The Bacon cipher should lead you toward a sequence of 34 distinct values.


3)

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
These values can be translated into 15 letters.


Hint #3 is not the end of the puzzle, but the last layer of the puzzle. Once you establish the correct answer to the 3rd bit, don't be tempted to think it's the cardinal answer. Everything you need to solve the puzzle is in the note.

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:53 am
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Romulus
Boot

Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 38

 		Should I go ahead and put up a spoilered solve? I'm not sure I made a few steps clear enough within the puzzle, and as it's my first one, I am more interested in getting feedback on improving future ones than stumping everyone.

PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 2:51 pm
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catherwood-offline
Guest
Romulus wrote:
Should I go ahead and put up a spoilered solve? I'm not sure I made a few steps clear enough within the puzzle, and as it's my first one, I am more interested in getting feedback on improving future ones than stumping everyone.

No, Give us a few days, please. Personally I have not had the time to look at this closely yet, and was hoping for the weekend. In general, wait for people to ask for more before giving more, and don't expect replies within the first 24-48 hours. Thanks!

PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:05 pm
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Romulus
Boot

Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 38
catherwood-offline wrote:
Romulus wrote:
Should I go ahead and put up a spoilered solve? I'm not sure I made a few steps clear enough within the puzzle, and as it's my first one, I am more interested in getting feedback on improving future ones than stumping everyone.

No, Give us a few days, please. Personally I have not had the time to look at this closely yet, and was hoping for the weekend. In general, wait for people to ask for more before giving more, and don't expect replies within the first 24-48 hours. Thanks!


Will do. Thanks for the advice :)

PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:47 pm
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Romulus
Boot

Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 38

 		Okay, it's been nearly a week, and I've gotten a private message explaining something I failed to do, which would make this puzzle needlessly difficult. I'm only putting one hint, since (at least) one person has figured out the correct method to get very close to the solve.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
The morse code will give you a sequence of 7 letters, a single letter, then another sequence of 7 letters.


PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 11:33 am
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
Romulus wrote:
Okay, it's been nearly a week, and I've gotten a private message explaining something I failed to do, which would make this puzzle needlessly difficult. I'm only putting one hint, since (at least) one person has figured out the correct method to get very close to the solve.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
The morse code will give you a sequence of 7 letters, a single letter, then another sequence of 7 letters.


sorry about that, i let my time get sucked into more urgent tasks (yes, other puzzles). I never understood Rogi's first step, but assumed this much:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
the hugs and kisses are the Morse code? XOXOOXOOXOOXXXXOXXXOXXOXX
The rest of the body text just went over my head, but perhaps I didn't give it a chance. If that string is all there is to it, I do see it being a bit of brute force to find the breaks, and I just didn't feel motivated.
Good Luck to those sticking it out!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 1:15 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.

 		catherwood,
Out here in meatspace, those 25 characters become 5.

Parsing the note is my problem. I can't get divisions small enough on some to make a valid translation.
_________________
I'm telling you now, so you can't say, "Oh, I didn't know...Nobody told me!"


PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 1:47 pm
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