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9:00 AM
because he likes Touhou, I guess?
 
Well, the server was Touhou-themed. But then not all of the puzzles involved Touhou, so I'm not at all sure what the hell he was thinking.
 
Sid
Here's another "puzzle" that I got in the hunt. Use "Font-O-Drum to get a fictional location where the murder took place...
 
the server being touhou-themed makes the song anagram more reasonable
 
A bit.
But still not great.
 
@Sid ...wow
 
9:03 AM
But Mount Ford isn't a fictional location...
In his own bloody words, though, "The difficulty is quite varied, but don't assume that because something was obvious to you, that it is so for everyone."
Would you like some more knives to stab everyone's backs with, Brutus?
 
@edderiofer the answer is 3, since the clock shows 3 o'clock
 
No, it's 1, since the windows are all shaped like a 1.
 
Sid
@edderiofer and Mount Ford is not the answer
 
can't find anything
FORT ON MUD???
 
MOUND FORT???
 
9:11 AM
Re Minecraft: I think "lines" refers to "bus lines", which would mean the number of passengers at the end of the bus trip starting from Scarlet Devil Mansion is zero. [/obviouslycorrect]
Any more context on Font-O-Drum or was that actually all you got?
 
1
Q: Is it possible to measure 1 kilogram of sugar?

student28There is an iron kettle-bell which weighs 6 kilograms, an infinite amount of sugar, infinite amount of packets for it and a weighing scale which has two weighing pans. The scales are in equilibrium if the ratio of masses on the first to the second cup is 3:4. You are allowed to put any weight yo...

 
Sid
9:32 AM
So, when I lashed out at the organiser, he then hints, "Like Everest"
 
What, Mount Drof?
 
Mount Dorf, clearly
 
Sid
I have tried almost 20 odd combinations of those. None of them was right...
 
Alright, so what was the answer?
 
Sid
Don't know yet...
Hunt ends at 9 tonight (which is 6 hours from now). Will know about that, then.
 
9:39 AM
@Sid what about the other 4?
 
Sid
@boboquack I haven't tried everything nor am I interested to do it anymore...
 
A lot of people here today...
 
Sid
10:07 AM
@edderiofer apparently the answer is Canada.
Don't ask me why. I don't know
 
wtf
TIL that Canada is a fictional location.
 
Sid
They didn't explicitly mention a fictional location. It was given in one of the "hints"
 
Speaking of bad puzzles..
@Sid Wait, so how do you know the answer now?
 
Sid
@Wen1now they have revealed the answer now. Apparently no one got it, I think..
Or they ran out of hints to give. Or solvers began to get frustrated...
 
Maybe there were too many complaints
 
11:02 AM
I apologize for any errors in Clue 31. It's been a while since I made a puzzle. But I'm pretty sure I tested this one enough...
 
0
Q: What do chess and wordoku have to do with each other? - Clue Thirty-One

Mithrandir<<---First clue <---Previous clue (?) "Aha! That's it," you exclaim, still holding the papers. "The answer is obviously [redacted]." Having figured out the answer, you start looking over the rather bare-looking desk, still swiveling in the chair. Then, behind you, you hear a click. You stiffen...

 
11:18 AM
Hmmm.
If the gimmick of the chessboards is that all four of the positions are supposed to be illegal, I don't see what's stopping the third one from being legal.
 
It should also be relatively easy, my puzzles aren't usually hard....
*takes another look at the 3rd*
...doggone it, knights, you mess me up
hang on a sec, I'll fix that
 
0
Q: More than equilibrium

A. P.Assume you have 2 identical metal cubes, the only difference being their temperatures $T_1 = 0 \, \text{°C}$, $T_2 = 100 \, \text{°C}$: The task is now to transfer as much heat as possible to the initially colder metal cube with just the heat from the initially hotter one. So far, it seems like...

 
@edderiofer fixed, thanks
 
ewwwwwwwww that fix
 
yeaaah
I'm lazy
 
11:31 AM
If the trick is that we need to remove a piece to get a legal position, then the fourth board has multiple pieces you could remove.
 
That's not the trick.
 
Alright, good to know.
 
Well, I've solved the sudoku but have no idea for the chessboards...
 
oh good, your solution matches mine ;P
 
phew :P
I was thinking different letters might stand for different chess pieces but no...
plus chess is 8x8 and sudoku is 9x9...
 
11:40 AM
then Deus is going to show up, and solve the whole thing in 5 minutes
 
or gareth...
This is my chance, its a halfterm weekend and no-one is active :P
 
also, I flagged your comment
 
obsolete?
 
yup
 
Don't worry I'll delete it...
Just checking, when you edited the board, you did mean to remove that B entirely didn't you?
 
11:43 AM
Halfterm? It's only been term for two weeks for me.
 
@BeastlyGerbil yes
 
@edderiofer huh, I've got the next week off :)
Well, when I say off I mean doing homework, writing a speech for a GCSE english speaking exam and revising for tests...
 
which you'll likely do all on the last day, therefore off?
 
yep :P
 
12:10 PM
I have absolutely no idea for any of these..
oh instructions...
 
instructions? surely not!
 
gtg to bed. cya
 
Sid
1:17 PM
@edderiofer How is the 4th position illegal? I mean, sure, it is technically impossible for that position to be achieved, but surely, it's not illegal?
 
 
1 hour later…
2:36 PM
hello..
 
Sid
@ABcDexter Hey!
 
Thanks for replying! Actually, i noticed someone named Rubio at Sudoku championship and PUzzle championship finals, i thought it might be you :)
My bad..
hi @Sid
 
Sid
@ABcDexter Oh, you went to the Sudoku Championship? That's so cool.
 
i didn't qualify, i was volunteering in helping the organizers.
 
Sid
@ABcDexter Oh. So, you could snoop in and look at players? :P
err... puzzle solvers and not players..
 
2:43 PM
And mostly promoting our beloved website Puzzling.SE
to the likes of Thomas Snyder,
Will Shortz,
and others like Rubio, who was actually a French guy ;D
 
Sid
@ABcDexter That.... was a wonderful thing to do. :P
 
yup.
7 days of Puzzling... and meeting like-minded individuals.
 
2:57 PM
another formulanagram
 
Sid
What is formulanagram?
 
rearrange the symbols to make a formula
there were a bunch yesterday
 
Sid
So... how does that one work?
 
That's for us to solve, right?
 
Sid
3:11 PM
This site... man, who could have thought people can come up with stuff like this...
I feel sadder as to why I didn't discover this site earlier...
 
(hmm. Must go back through C31 and make sure it has a unique solution.)
 
wow this is hard
 
@Mithrandir did a step by step as I have no idea about the rest
 
3:48 PM
@BeastlyGerbil I am so bad at this.
 
It's not just yvyl, is it?
 
Good. Some of these are errors on my part, I haven't done this in forever and I really need to look over stuff a few more times. You're on the right track... In fact, if I didn't mess up you'd probably be done already... :/ — Mithrandir 27 mins ago
@Apep oh, er um. Uh. Eeerrr....
It... might be.
Wow. I am bad at this.
I should just stick to SFF...
Hopefully I won't mess up the metapuzzle like this.
@Apep how did you interpret the mess I made into the right answer?
 
@apep whats yvyl?
oh rot13...
Yeah.. how did you get that?
@Mithrandir I am assuming that there is supposed to be 1 error on each board, which when matched with the sudoku gives the answer apep found?
 
yup
The obvious ones
 
Ah ok. So there are just a few too many errors on the boards
 
4:02 PM
@Mithrandir I just took the first error that I noticed, then stopped looking. I'm currently writing an answer using the most "obvious" error, while objectively quantifying "obviousness".
 
I can only find one error giving L
 
The other answer inaccurately placed some letters from the wordoku grid.
 
oh...
I'll have to see your answer....
 
F1 is given on the original board. The wordoku is 9x9, so it's easy to make a mistake when counting from the right side .
 
This is why I included the grid in the sudoku itself.
 
4:07 PM
@Mithrandir I really like the idea, I think you are just a bit rusty in the design. Its not a bad puzzle at all :P
@apep I'll add the letters and numbers to the grid in my answer so itll be easier to see
 
@BeastlyGerbil thanks :P
I've really been more active on other sites recently, and Puzzling has taken a backseat, unfortunately, except for when I check the review queues.
 
I don't like the new review queue in the top bar
 
The dropdown was the only good thing that came out of the new bar.
I don't like the symbol though.
And I don't like any of the other icons in the poll.
 
I keep forgetting to check it because its not noticeable enough, there aren't alerts when a new item appears and who needs a dropdown for reviews? Just look at all of them and see which actually have items. And why a flag?
 
@BeastlyGerbil there's a big red circle that appears after a certain amount of review are waiting
 
4:13 PM
I preferred the old buggy one
At least then you knew if there was something to review, even if the number was wrong
 
Hmm, I think I'm probably better with stego, although I need to figure out some more methods.
I also really want to figure out how to make a time based puzzle.
I have some ideas, but they can all be bypassed.
 
Im in the process of making a really good puzzle. Very happy with it so far...
Planning to finish it this week
 
Sid
@Mithrandir Happens. I am still sitting on this meta puzzle that I have. Still figuring out how to make the sub puzzles...
@Rubio 2nd hint now?
 
I'm going to need some meta puzzle testers for clue 39.
 
Sid
I am in as long as it isn't in late November
 
4:23 PM
TBH it may end up being in May
 
I would agree, but I actually think I'd rather have a shot at solving :)
 
Sid
...Neither in May.
 
I've actually got no real time in mind, it's whenever I get around to writing the puzzles :P
 
What kind of hint would people like for C4?
 
hmm....
probably either the second or last letter
 
Sid
4:36 PM
Last letter..
Anyone else with a preference?
 
second letter might be too easy..
 
Sid
Yeah, I don't like second letter especially if it turns out to be 'O'
 
ok i'll post another letter in a while, probably half an hour. gonna be ask a bit
 
Found a workaround for the top bar if yo don't like it - someone wrote a userscript allowing you to edit it
 
5:23 PM
Ok C4 next hint. Final letter is T.
 
Sid
I am now guessing "to get" = CON.
(get as in swindling people)
half of title=FL(ag) and somehow back=ICT.
but that's probably not it.
 
@Rubio Could it be CONTRAST (opposition) = CONT[ract] (to get [a disease], half) + TSAR< (title [of Slavic monarch] back)?
 
Sid
@MOehm That seems much better
 
5:39 PM
Well, I'm not super convinced. Especially the "of" seems misplaced in my interpretation.
 
5:53 PM
That is it.
“Half of”
 
So, "to get, half of"?
 
Yeah
 
CCCC: Primary colours in new numbered arrangement, except red (8)
 
6:24 PM
0
Q: No Cheating - Cipher challenge

Tony YoungbloodNO CHEATING Today’s cipher is a famous cryptographic method known for its economy, ingenuity, and difficulty in cracking. Its inventor created all sorts of cool things, including musical instruments, a timepiece especially useful at the North Pole, and the earliest ancestor of the Oculus Rift. A...

 
6:44 PM
Well then..... The comments and the bounty explanation ...
 
Oh. That should probably be taken down.
 
Sid
..I am impressed by the audacity of that person.
They claim they handpicked it from a site and claim us to be hateful and terrible.
 
It seems that that reaction is just from us pointing out that its plagiarised...
Surely it needs to be taken down anyway then?
 
Yup.
I flagged it as in need of mod attention.
 
Sid
Gah, @MOehm You just beat me...
 
6:51 PM
To the cipher question? You spend too much time hunting bounties. :)
 
Sid
@MOehm Nah. I had just figured out the key and was about to post the answer when I saw you already had. :-)
The thing got easier when I found out that Playfair didn't invent the Playfair Cipher...
 
Damn I should have got that one but saw it too late.
I remember seeing Playfair wasn't invented by Lord Playfair when I was researching my guide...
 
I knew that is wasn't Playfair, but I had to look up who did.
 
not exactly sure how we could 'cheat' on that one...
 
I thought Morse would be the key, but by the time I bothered to look anything up it was solved.
 
7:09 PM
I thought that initially too but the cipher is also the key's invention - and its obviously not morse code
 
 
1 hour later…
8:35 PM
4
Q: More than equilibrium

A. P.Assume you have 2 identical metal cubes, the only difference being their temperatures $T_1 = 0 \, \text{°C}$, $T_2 = 100 \, \text{°C}$: The task is now to transfer as much heat as possible to the initially colder metal cube with just the heat from the initially hotter one. So far, it seems like...

^ seems a bit too mathematical, and misses some of the unexpected results, or other characteristics of a mathematical puzzle on topic here. What do you guys think?
 
0
Q: No. 3: What's the next in this letter sequence?

eedrahPart of a series of similar puzzles - the answer to one will give you the type of thinking required for the others. What's the next letter in this series? What's the relationship? u d t c c s s o n d o d t To be explicit, note the knowledge tag below.

 
9:41 PM
0
Q: No. 4: What's the next in this letter sequence?

eedrahPart of a series of similar puzzles - the answer to one will give you the type of thinking required for the others. What's the next letter in this series? What's the relationship? DN FRWL G T YOLT OHMSS DAF LALD To be explicit, note the knowledge tag below.

 
10:26 PM
0
Q: No. 5: What's the next in this letter sequence?

eedrahPart of a series of similar puzzles - the answer to one will give you the type of thinking required for the others. The difficulty of these challenges will now start to increase. What's the next letter in this series? What's the relationship? - ~ 3 0 1 2 0 1 1 1 4 0 3 0 1 1 (dispution level: h...

 
@Sphinx Interesting, it appears we are looking for letters in this one
FBOP...?
number of straight lines and curves it would seem
but what is the underlying sequence
 
Well, there are 25 and you're looking for 1 more...
 
you just said what the sequence is! :P
 
10:45 PM
@ffao the P could be a D?
ohh well :P
 
@boboquack Fixed
 

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