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Game 1: Puzzle #9
By admin | December 7, 2007
Game 1: Puzzle #9 discussion
Topics: Game 1 |
« Game 1: Puzzle #10 | Main | Game 1: Puzzle #8 »
By admin | December 7, 2007
Game 1: Puzzle #9 discussion
Topics: Game 1 |
January 1st, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Found it.
Cowpattybill, that was devious. I guess facetious was a good title after all.
January 1st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have much to do with the actual puzzle but the time period is the French and Indian War.
This is after the English took Ft. Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon.
January 1st, 2008 at 3:00 pm
This one looks to be a good one.
January 1st, 2008 at 5:16 pm
I swear I tried every iteration…twice…
Finally got IT
January 1st, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Lots of numbers to work with here.
Word numbers and numeric numbers both…
one
three (score) (Could be 60??)
two
one
one
one
thousand
January 1st, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Some strange clues:
13NOV - Lines 2 and 3
14NOV - Line 7
15NOV - Line 5
18NOV - Line 4
January 1st, 2008 at 11:50 pm
All the numbers I have found, in order:
11, 1759, 13, 17, 1,
60 (3-score), 14, 6,
2, 1, 1, 1, 15, 1000,
16, 17, 18
January 1st, 2008 at 11:50 pm
“…take the one with the blank look on his face, have him shift to one side, line him up with the one in red and shoot them both.”
What a curious sentence…
January 1st, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Also the numbers in #VT13402-XJ1 & VT13402-XJ2, 1, and 1988.
It may be important that the missing date is 12?
January 1st, 2008 at 11:55 pm
12NOV is the day referenced from 13NOV line 2 and 3.
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:06 am
Good work gang. I like how you all work together. That’s what I was hoping for. It gets tricky though because the first to figure this out gets a crack at the last puzzle. I don’t think I will be helping much with this one. I think the winner should be able to solve this one and the next one without my help. Good luck.
By the way. I saw the typo in the first entry. the “but to but to”. I’ve read that thing a hundred times and didn’t see that until it was too late to fix it.
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:19 am
I think I like this one the most because it was the last one I did and before I thought of it I was completely out of ideas. I decided I wanted to do something based on a specific year (I was still in palindromic mode so it was kind of date like that). What I found was this historical event mentioned here (not a palindromic date but it did the trick). I decided to create a story around it. Kind of like what James Cameron did to the movie Titanic, except this is no love story. I chose to use some creative license here. I can tell you that the prized possession is not what you might normally consider a prized possession. I like it, I want one, and so decided to use it in a puzzle.
January 2nd, 2008 at 8:41 am
Cowpattybill,
Just to clarify, we should remove one “but to”?
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:27 am
Is there some reason why you can’t just fix it now?
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:27 am
That’s hilarious, this historical document was found on April Fool’s day.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:31 am
There are actually a number of places in this narrative where things are worded strangely. Not just in archaic language, but odd even taking that into account. No way of knowing at this point to what degree that’s intentional, or perhaps necessary in order make the puzzle work out.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:31 am
bit of a long story. The repeated “but to” has no significance. I could remove it but I am at work now and the software I was using to upload to the website was a free trial version which has now expired. I would have to find a new software, reestablish all the connections, fix the document, upload, etc, etc. I just don’t have the time to do the 1 hour or so of work it would require. It’s easier just to tell you to ignore it.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:32 am
My approach, by the way, is to ignore the puzzle completely, and to try and guess what Cowpattybill might want, that would not normally be considered a prized possession.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:34 am
I’m not good at archaic language. I can tell you I tried to do it. If it sounds like I was trying to be archaic, I probably was. If it sounds just too odd, it’s probably intentional.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:35 am
Good luck with that approach jjcote. I doubt it will work though.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:48 am
So this is by far our favorite puzzle.
*Unrelated* to the actual clue:
Charles is likely Charles Humble of Roger’s Rangers.
*Possibly* related to the actual clue:
What would a “Humble” man consider a prized possession?
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:07 am
UncleBen,
A treasure of the “Spirit” so to speak. I agree.
And it’s large size and origin made me think of something like “Vocabulary”. I’m going to try and “Follow the Numbers” though.
Probably Roger’s Rangers, after the destruction of Saint-Francis while on the move to Fort Wentworth on the Connecticut River.
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:23 am
I’ve got another fun one.
If you read the November 15th entry after reading a certain ancient epic poem you will observe similarities which led me to consider the method of how the answer was hidden.
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:28 am
As I suspected, they subsequently got supplies and relief forces from Fort at Number 4, which is just about across the street from the place where I learned to hang glide. But that has nothing to do with the puzzle.
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:30 am
Homer?
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
Kind of reminds me of the “Ethan Allen Treasure”. I spent many a day dreaming of where it could be.
But that is neither here nor there.
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:37 am
Question 1:
Are we looking for the possession or its location?
Question 2:
Gulrad, unless we need some location relevant to the historical context, is it possible the answer is hidden “within” Charles’ journal?
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:55 am
UncleBen,
I would guess the possession, as per 16NOV line 2.
I’m am pretty sure the answer in entirely in the journal.
I make reference to the “True” historical record only because of personal interest.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
There are some similarities between the last sentence of the NOV14 text and the ‘A Santa at NASA’ picture on the Pangaea Joe myspace page.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Sorry…not just the picture with Santa and the astronauts, the whole ‘They put the ‘z z z’ back in news’ picture.
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I’ve kicked around the idea that it may be references to a game: stones, paint their faces, actual size, part of an old civilization, puzzling, some had numbers on them, blank look on his face, shift to one side - line him up with the one in red, shoot them both. If we get an idea of the game then maybe the numbers would make sense in that context and would then inspire some answer.
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Alternately,
November 16th entry: …”clues to the whereabouts are in the journal.” “The clues, MUCH LIKE THE PRIZE, will be scattered about the page.”
Therefore the clues/numbers are merely a method of decrypting/locating the password.
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I thought of dice and chess, but they don’t seem to fit.
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Why I thought of “words” or “vocabulary”.
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
May not have been clear in my last post….
If the clues are numbers, and the prize is much like the clues, the prize could be letters, words, dates etc.
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:31 pm
UncleBen,
Could you follow up on post #26?
I’m not that fluent in the classics.
I think the numbers may reference a geometric shape or maybe a game, one that has colors.
The “one in red” may not only be something or someone in red, but also a “red” that contains a one.
Deck of cards?
January 3rd, 2008 at 8:15 am
Re: Post 26
“A face that would launch a thousand ships” = Helen of Troy reference.
Large size and orgin made me think of a Trojan horse
A Trojan horse may:
appear to be one thing when it is actually another
appear to do one thing when it actually does another
January 4th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Hmm..
Looks like everyone is is keeping quiet on this one.
January 4th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I would still be on Puzzle #3 right now if it wasn’t for people’s thoughts and hints. I think for better or worse I will put up my two bits in the hope that it will inspire someone.
The November 14th entry had been on my mind when I thought it may be a reference to pool/billiards. Line up the blank ball (cue ball) with the one in red (probably #3) and shoot them both.
I’ve also given more thought to November 15th. Coupled with the actual quote about ships and Cowpattybill’s post #15, I wondered if it could be a ship/boat/submarine etc.
Don’t know about the old civilization rocks with numbers in November 13 but I will continue to believe they matter.
Also don’t know about the November 18 comments on using paint on their faces and actual size (scale) but also think of this as important.
My plan is to try and riddle out the clues about the numbers, find out what the numbers mean in that context as far as finding the whereabouts of the most prized possession (November 16) which should then lead to the prize which is hopefully the password.
Could be wrong on everything but maybe it will jar something loose for someone else.
January 4th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Oh, and Charles seems pretty religious but I don’t know if that means anything yet.
January 4th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I’m pretty sure all of us would be stuck way back without the hints of others, I know I would be.
I havn,t had time to work on it much over the past few days so I don’t have much.
I numbered all of the lines, starting with 1 at the 11NOV entry and ending with 43 at the “Good Luck, your end is near as well”
The fact that 6 and 17 (The only number digits aside from the dates) point to what I think are clues.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Let me provide you with a visual of where you’re at with this puzzle.
You’re trying to unlock a door. However the locking mechanism for the door and the key are both in different rooms.
That was probably too big of a hint. Maybe this will end today.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I suspect that there may be another page, that the clues in the journal show how to solve.
I looked before….
January 4th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Don’t feel too bad, something that seems obvious to you may be greek to us.
Now we need to figure out if we’ve been in both rooms or if we still need to find another “room” because it is probably safe to assume we at least either have the key or the lock.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:43 am
How about this Gulrad…
The journals point to some word or phrase which then is entered into the address after the /
No one seems to have found the correct address extension and if they did they are keeping it quiet.
I agree with you, but do the numbers lead to the new page or do they help solve the next page?
January 4th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I have tried a couple extentions but I havn’t found anything.
It could be that page 1 or 2 of this puzzle is the key and the other is the lock.
Large square rocks with numbers on them…has this been in any of the other puzzles?
January 4th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I like the page 1, page 2 idea. I also considered that the page with the journal image is one room (guess button = locking mechanism) and the journal images themselves are the other room (with the key). Something just doesn’t feel right about that though, too easy.
Cowpattybill thought it was a big hint which could end it today.
2 possible meanings:
1. Knowing that the key and lock are in two separate spots is a huge step towards solving this and quickly
2. Important to know they are in two separate rooms but also another reference to “big” (large size) and “end” (your end is near as well)
January 4th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I’ve been figuring that the journal entries somehow contain the information to get us to a web page somewhere, and there we’ll see the prized possession (the key). Go back to the main page with the two journal pages and enter the name of the prized possession in the box (the locking mechanism), and you’re good to go.
Now, if only I had even the slightest idea what to do with the information in the journal entries, I’d be all set.
January 4th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
November 16, line 5
“scattered about the page” page is singular
If the clues are MUCH LIKE THE PRIZE scattered about the page then you are right and the prize is scattered about the other page.
Our money is on journal page 1 for scattered clues (numbers probably) and journl page 2 for the scattered prize/locking mechanism.
But how is there a locking mechanism on journal page 2?
January 4th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Looking backwards, maybe it felt something after all.
Can’t decide between the two different theories of how the key and lock are separated. Is there anything else it could possibly be besides the address extension versus the pages within the journal; or is it just the common sense separation of website and journal images?
January 4th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Both of the journal entries with the numerals in them, (17 and 6), both have the words, “more men”, after them.
I immediately thought, “Mormon”…
January 4th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
That would lend itself to the “Follow the numbers” but I was thinking “17 more” and “6 more”, meaning add 17 and add 6.
With the exception of the dates and the word “thousand” all of the numbers are on page 1.
January 4th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Trying not to clog things up but one last quick thought.
Cowpattybill: “I’m impressed you figured out #7 so quickly. And without many clues. Gives me hope for #9. (he says with an evil laugh)” -from puzzle 8 posts.
Again with the locks and keys, again he mentions different locations.
Is it possible we have already been to or seen the key/lock/prize?
January 4th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Unfortunately I havn’t been saving all the puzzles, I’ll work my way back through and check.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Well, just did a quick look. I didn’t see anything that stuck out, I even checked the links in delicious.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
You may have noticed that there is no entry for the 12th. Quite by accident that is exactly how many clues are in the journal pages.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
And let me rephrase a prior hint. Not to cross words here but instead of locking mechanism I guess it would be better called an UNlocking mechanism, which is itself not a very good clue. Confused?
January 4th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
17
0ne
Three Score
6
Two
One
One
One
Thousand
The clues, much like the prize, will be scattered about the page.
As for the clues I said I would leave, Reader, they are already here.
Follow the numbers.
January 4th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
There are 12 lines in the journal entries with numbers in them (counting the dates). Listing them means nothing to me so far.
Crosswords for UNlocking huh?
January 4th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
The crossword from #8 ends with 10 and the journal from #9 starts with 11NOV.
January 4th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
“Large square rocks with numbers on them…has this been in any of the other puzzles?”
No, but squares, some of which have numbers in them, have been. Not to cross words, eh…
January 4th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I think that CowpattyBill likes a good Clupea Rufus.
January 4th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
The “shift to one side” has me thinking of the “Scatter” puzzle and all the sideways letters.
January 4th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
The %20 on the crossword and “I wonder if they use paint on their faces and what their actual size is?”
January 6th, 2008 at 10:48 am
I’m not sure of all 12 clues, or how to use them, but the ones I have found make me almost certain that we use the “scatter” and “crossword” puzzles combined.
“Follow the numbers”, “…large ’square’ rocks.”, “Some had numbers on them.”, “…the one with the blank” - make me think of the crossword.
“…line him up with the one in red…”, “…scattered about the page.” - make me think of the scatter puzzle.
“…shift to one side…” (rotate?), “…actual size…” (resize?), could be either.
17 lines down and 6 words in on both pages looks like they point to clues.
January 6th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Interesting that there is a red ‘J’ in the scatter puzzle.
“Take the one with the blank look on his face”. The one with the blank look on its face in the crossword is a ‘J’.
So maybe:
Take the J in the crossword puzzle, have it shift to one side, line it up with the red ‘J’ in the scatter puzzle and shoot them both…lol
January 6th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Wow, just spent the evening puting together furniture from IKEA (or as I call it ‘BLUE HELL’).
The red “J” may be to off to one side, thinking more like the one in the upper right corner, proper.
January 7th, 2008 at 8:06 am
I haven’t been able to do these lately, work gets in the way
Regardless, the square rocks is a reference to the last puzzle, which we did one puzzle (day) ago. Squares with numbers…
“Fear is the” what….
and no, I’m nowhere yet…
Havin fun!
January 7th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Is the myspace page down? or am I just rememebering it wrong…
January 7th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Are the clues numbers?
If there are twelve clues, which are the relevant numbers?
January 7th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Or are the odd phrases the twelve clues?
January 7th, 2008 at 9:22 am
okay nevermind. I’m caught up on the posts here. I’ve got an hour to put into this. I’ll post if I find anything interesting, but don’t hold your breath
January 7th, 2008 at 9:30 am
The reason we ask in posts 70 and 71 is that if you use the crossword (or key) you can decipher a string of numbers using the letter in the box with the number.
For example, answer one-down: there is an e in the box with the #1. Therefore all #1’s in puzzle #9 = the letter e.
Correct me if we’re wrong but then:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10
=
J E P D Z D C P S G
Still doesn’t answer which # to use or explain some of the weird phrases.
January 7th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Maybe it’s a combination of numbers and phrases. There are 12 clues but some of them help you find the key and some the unlocking mechanism. That would mean we just need to find the important numbers if we’re right and not terribly, terribly wrong.
January 7th, 2008 at 9:58 am
okay I either found the letters, which I can’t make any sense out of, or one absolutely fantastic (and likely coincidental) red herring…
January 7th, 2008 at 10:31 am
zeroskills,
How did you find the letters?
What are they?
UncleBen,
I realy think we have to resize the crossword.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Clupea Rufus? What is that? I googled it with no evident success.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Red Herring? Is that what it means?
January 7th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Maybe in Latin…
Gulrad, not much luck with the crossword.
Correction on some of our previous posts: November 15th quote is indeed about Helen of Troy but is specifically from Marlowe’s Faust. I just thought it was a colloquial saying.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Cowpattybill,
Just me playing with Latin.
Red Herring it is.
January 8th, 2008 at 7:47 am
oh.
over complicating things again.
How do you say it in French?
January 8th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Harengs Rouges
Spanish:
Arenques Rojos
German:
Vorläufige Emissionsprospekte
January 8th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Hareng Rouge…
Are you talking about the fish or did you figure this one out? (a mysterious post on board for Puzzle 10)
January 8th, 2008 at 8:52 am
I tried superimposing the crossword grid on the red part of the scatter, and also on both journal pages. None of these seemed very helpful. My initial approach was to use both images at the same resolution, although the software that I have allows me to match up a couple of pairs of points and it will rescale the grid. I didn’t come up with any bright ideas about what should match up with what, so I haven’t been able to do much in that regard. I’m open to suggestions.
January 8th, 2008 at 8:54 am
zeroskillz has figured it out and one can assume it is more simple than we have been making it and some relevance to France/French.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:05 am
You are all close. Some closer than others. Method looks good, more clues from journal will help narrow down the search.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:14 am
The only two real methods so to speak we can see that use the crossword are using it to pull letters out of the scatter (puzzle 7) or some number=letter combination as in post 76.
We haven’t spent much time on using the crossword grid on puzzle 7 but it seems like most people are not having much luck with that approach.
Feels close…
January 8th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Most, but not all.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I have been trying to line up the numbers in the crossword squares with the numbers in the scatter puzzle.
I keep getting close but can’t quite get them to all line up.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Perhaps one of the curious sentences in the journal might help.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Post 89.
I’ll think of a better hint in a few…got to do some work for a minute.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Gulrad, you may not need to line them all up.
Maybe if you line up the blank one (nine down) with the red one (some red letter) maybe some word will show up in the jesuswept box.
Have you folks been changing the size of the crossword or the scatter? Was a doubting Thomas about this method and am a little behind…
January 8th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I’ve tried resizing in increments of 20% and there are numbers that almost line up.
There is also a “ONE” with a red E.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:49 am
The trouble I’m having is that I have about a minute and a half to work on it before I’m interupted.
January 8th, 2008 at 9:52 am
“zeroskillz has figured it out and one can assume it is more simple than we have been making it”
what are you trying to say?
January 8th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Not 93
January 8th, 2008 at 10:03 am
There are also the symbols that you get when shifting the numbers….
January 8th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Really didn’t mean it in a bad way. I was saying that it seemed like that was sort of a eureka moment for you, and what you said then would be pretty relevant.
When you tell us you were overcomplicating things, it’s a pretty good indication that the rest of us were as well.
Mostly: good work to you, the rest of us should stop making it harder than it already is
January 8th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Zeroskillz,
Occam’s Razor
I think UncleBen was saying we might shave with it..
January 8th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Just giving you a hard time Uncle Ben
January 8th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I will say you’re on the right track though. Sort of.
January 8th, 2008 at 10:50 am
guess i didn’t say who was on the right track.
January 8th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Zeroskills,
Nope.
If we shift the numbers 1=! etc. and to one side 1=@?
January 8th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I don’t think that’s the kind of shifting he meant.
January 8th, 2008 at 11:16 am
One in French is Un
January 8th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Not that kind either. How about a key.
January 8th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Tried cutting out the numbered squares on the crossword to make a key. (November 13th clues)
Agree the scatter plot contains the possession (November 16th clues)
Using the blank first tile of zero-down as our landmark, tried orienting the crossword key to reveal letters/numbers/symbols. (November 14th clues)
Think some of the other clues just describe the possession when found so that you know you found it. (November 15th)
May still need to modify in MS paint or re-size (November 18th)
Not much luck.
May be chasing my tail at this point…
January 8th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
My old roommate’s uncle had one…
Small world.
January 8th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
November 17 - Line 2
January 8th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
So it seems Gulrad.
January 8th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
This is war Gulrad, we can’t afford to lose a valuable piece of artillery like you.
Fight for it!
January 8th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I’m about to fling this puzzle out the window.
January 8th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Ah well, looks like all of the active players have moved on, and I still have no idea. Nothing has seemed promising on the approaches that I’ve taken.
January 8th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Don’t resize
January 8th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Well, I’ve tried superimposing the crossword on the scatter in various ways, which I assume is what you’re referring to, but it’s not doing much for me. I have no idea how to align them (if this is even what I’m supposed to be doing), and I’d be happy to look at the letters in the numbered squares, or letters near numbers in the clues, or whatever. Once you know the answer, I suppose it makes perfect sense, but I’ve pretty much lost interest in this.
January 8th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
jjcote,
Don’t get down, I stared at the thing for a long time, and I even had the way to do it.
Use paint to fill in all of the crossword, except the squares with numbers, with black.
Then paste over the scatter puzzle, move it around a bit…
January 8th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Unclick the “Draw Opaque” under “Image”
January 8th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
UncleBen,
I prefer to think of myself as a grenadier.