Puzzles Etc.

"Wow what did you get in the mail" I don't know, a letter "Well what's in it" I don't know it just says Fimmqpcirr "Who do you think that is" oh probably just the old, ugly, unknown murderer, again

Khale_Kitha

Yup

Who said that there was an envelope involved, q_a? Come on. Be nice.

It could have just been the letter 'Q'

wh...

or....you know...'K'

whoa

haha

5:07 PM

kk, i've looked at Cryptos a couple times and can't see anything - concatenated all the letters and divided into groups of four, tried looking at all the places where four letters are in a square...

might take another look

Khale_Kitha

kk

Why whoa, q_a? :P

question_asker

haha I was feigning shock at the idea of it just being a letter

Khale_Kitha

oh, hahaha

Reminds me of an episode of my son's show, "Bubble Guppies"

They're talking about the letter 'B', then one of the characters gets scared because he's "Afraid of 'B's!", at which point it starts chasing him around.

question_asker

haha

congratulations to your son on getting a show

(I'm joking!)

(but congratulations anyway, he probably deserves it)

ooh, I like this one

5

Q: A long winding road

Start at the mountain of kings Then go down the country to face the oldest rivals. Go on down through the bizarre, And you'll find the place that cuts. Go south to find birds, Then leave to see those who fought metal in the end. Go North, passing the one above To end where the lightning strikes. ...

Khale_Kitha

Haha, that's why it reminded me...

"Molly talks about the many things someone can send in the mail when she sees Gil holding a "letter", a giant B. She tells him and Gil puts down the B before revealing he's scared of B's, which then proceeds to chase him! "

The episode was about learning the mail system.

Rofl

I just can't believe that the spam answers on that puzzle are still around, since yesterday

question_asker

5:13 PM

yeah

well wait

weren't we just saying that we don't have enough people to delete?

Khale_Kitha

my flags on them haven't been reviewed, actually, it looks like

yeah, just the mods - heh

(Disappearing over to my Unity stuff, in another tab)

Deusovi

yep, we literally cannot delete spam since the rep jump

question_asker

I can't think of any ohio cities that involve birds

there's a Cygnet, but it's in western OH - not exactly south of cleveland

Gordon Allocman

I added a hint to my puzzle and was able to stay in character, yay

Deusovi

5:30 PM

we should make a puzzle hunt - have one person make the meta (probably me since i'm the most experienced with them but if someone else wants to that's fine too) then everyone else makes puzzles based off the individual answers

manshu

@Deusovi i'm in. :D

(in case I am eligible)

Deusovi

sure, as long as we get enough interest!

Matt

I still don't understand a meta puzzle

does it have anything to do with the meta section of the site?

question_asker

I never meta puzzle I didn't like! haw haw haw haw haw haw haw haw haw haw haw haw haw

3

@Matt it's more like... a puzzle where solving it involves solving other puzzles

manshu

@question_asker who makes this sound?

question_asker

5:37 PM

@manshu people who laugh in a very loud and annoying way

Deusovi

nothing to do with the meta section of the site

a metapuzzle involves combining answers from other puzzles together

Matt

then what's the difference between a meta puzzle and puzzle that requires multiple steps?

manshu

oh...you mean humans.

Deusovi

usually with some hint at how they combine

question_asker

yeah

@Matt it's more like the solutions to the puzzle would themselves combine to form a bigger puzzle (from what I can tell)

Deusovi

5:38 PM

right

question_asker

so... it's kind of a giant puzzle with multiple steps

Deusovi

for instance, here's one from the MIT Mystery Hunt from this year

huntception.com/puzzle/whistle_training

Matt

oh, so it's a multistep puzzle, but the prerequisite steps are different puzzles (questions on this site)

Deusovi

exactly

every component puzzle will give you a word or phrase as the answer

then those words or phrases are combined in some thematic way to get the meta answer

Gordon Allocman

oh look at this gem puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/32417/…

Khale_Kitha

5:41 PM

But...it.... Goes back to unity

Deusovi

like with my graduation meta, every answer had SE (for Stack Exchange) in it, but with an extra letter in between - you could extract those extra letters to reveal "THANK YOU"

manshu

Oh..it's a great puzzle. I am gonna upvote it.....
Oops, I mistakenly downvoted it. And now my mouse is not working. So now I can't even upvote it. :(

Gordon Allocman

wait can you link that post @Deusovi ?

Deusovi

43

Q: A Message to the SE Admins

We're graduating! I feel the only appropriate way to respond is a Stack Exchange themed puzzle: Albertan politician who succeeded Lucien Maynard (6, 7 or 6, 8) Approved for passport authorization (6) Famous stage direction from The Winter's Tale (4, 7, 2, 1, 4) Method of hiding messages undetec...

enigmatic-puzzles crossword-clues metapuzzles

for this one the component puzzles were just crossword-style clues

Gordon Allocman

oh right that one, I thought you made a post in meta that was secretly a puzzle

Deusovi

5:43 PM

normally they're much more elaborate though

question_asker

oh wow, the clue that was too broad has been changed!

Deusovi

nah

question_asker

"go south to find birds" was getting my dander up a little

Deusovi

oh sorry, "meta" is common shorthand for "metapuzzle" in puzzle hunts

it confused me when i came here and everyone was mentioning "posts on meta"

question_asker

wait why the heck did this get protected?

6

Q: A long winding road

Start at the mountain of kings Then go down the country to face the oldest rivals. Go on down through the bizarre, And you'll find the place that cuts. Go a hundred miles southeast to find birds, Then leave to see those who fought metal in the end. Go North, passing the one above To end where the...

riddle knowledge geography

manshu

5:46 PM

err...maybe bcz of spam answers

Deusovi

too many spam answers

question_asker

ohhh, right

duhh

yeah when the answers were deleted I couldn't see them anymore. I look at so many puzzles I forget which ones have the bad answers on them

manshu

:(

Deusovi

so, anyone else interested in the community minihunt thing?

manshu

@Khale_Kitha ^^^^

Matt

5:48 PM

@Deusovi I only see a reference to the one puzzle there ... how is it meta?

Khale_Kitha

I haven't been part of the conversation - will try to read it later, sry

question_asker

so I bet that next clue is pittsburg (penguins) and then the thing about metal is probably the steelers?

Deusovi

like i said, in that one the individual "puzzles" are standard crossword clues - it's because it uses the idea of combining words or phrases you get from other things in some thematic way

Wesley Situ

@Deusovi I can try. I've never made a puzzle before though :P

question_asker

(I get the feeling I'm the only one caring about that puzzle)

Deusovi

5:50 PM

nah, i care about it!

Matt

well, then, I can also contribute

manshu

We'll need a locked room then.

question_asker

"go north, passing the one above" might have something to do with Moon, PA

Gordon Allocman

I get way too much enjoyment commenting on really bad puzzles lol

3

Deusovi

@WesleySitu, @Matt: you don't have to! it's up to you - first i'll have to think of a theme of some sort

Matt

5:52 PM

I'd be happy to

Gordon Allocman

omg the guy answered his own riddle and it plastic bag quality

question_asker

ooh which one

Deusovi

it's a mare apparently

question_asker

oh for crying out

Deusovi

the nonhorse horse riddle

Gordon Allocman

5:54 PM

-5

Q: Name the animal who looks like a horse but is not a horse

Well, this riddle has confused me. Hope someone knows the answer. Name the animal that looks like a horse, but is not a horse.

riddle word

I enjoyed my little back and forth with him at least

Deusovi

the rest of us enjoyed it too

...am i going crazy or is the font slightly bigger?

manshu

it's time to close this fun :p

aw, I just commented

@Deusovi former :p

oh alright then

5:57 PM

Do that Ctrl + negative sign.

or Ctrl + Scroll down

Deusovi

i'm on mobile

and i changed nothing

manshu

bug bug bug bug bug bug bug bug

Gordon Allocman

lol he deleted his own answer, thats pretty great

Deusovi

i'm probably just going crazy though ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

manshu

@GordonAllocman He accepted another answer. It's cute :D

question_asker

6:00 PM

I love how we've become a tiny bit mean

manshu

@Deusovi Welcome to my world. :D

Deusovi

mare is up there with fate and plastic bag

Gordon Allocman

"Quick where is the fire extinguisher?!?!?"

Deusovi

but we weren't mean? we just pointed out that mares were horses

question_asker

@Deusovi and each of them describes a slightly different kind of bad puzzle

mare is "intended answer doesn't fit criteria", fate is "nebulous concept answer to nebulous clues", plastic bag is "seems like a reasonable riddle until it's been solved, at which point it's discovered to be trash"

6

Gordon Allocman

6:02 PM

I think that cover's pretty much any bad riddle

manshu

Ohk...We have added another definition in our puzzling book

question_asker

oh hold on

what about lawsuit

Khale_Kitha

"The answer's not horse, you ass, it's pony!" (Not being insulting, it's meant as a joke)

Deusovi

lawsuit?

Khale_Kitha

And wifferdill

question_asker

6:05 PM

lawsuit was the one that was like "you don't want to have it, but if you have it you don't want to lose it"

Deusovi

oh right

question_asker

which... I dunno, that maybe doesn't deserve its own category

and yes, wifferdill

god damn I love wifferdill so much

Khale_Kitha

...lol at this "What's the phrase"

Hint 5: I will give no more hints.

manshu

I wish the horse puzzle breaks all records of downvotes.

Khale_Kitha

Hint 6: Oh wait, here's another hint.

manshu

6:08 PM

@question_asker you forgot to add troll puzzle in your definitions :p

Gordon Allocman

The nice thing about this site is that good puzzles are enjoyable, and bad puzzles are also enjoyable (for obviously different reasons)

3

Deusovi

and then there's the "what's my name / blank space" type of bad puzzle

where OP thinks it's a lot harder than it is

manshu

which in real, turns out to be broad.

Gordon Allocman

Its a shame we can't redact usernames from those questions and keep them around for historical purposes of what not to do

Deusovi

we can take screenshots, blank out names, and post on meta

but i feel like singling them out if the users are still active is... not a good idea

Gordon Allocman

6:11 PM

Yeah good point

question_asker

yeah

ps - when I said we're being mean, I just meant here

manshu

I have posted 14 puzzles, out of which 8 are "What am I" kind. And now I feel like I offended myself.

Gordon Allocman

damn the ultimate trio has shown up in chat

Deusovi

ultimate trio?

question_asker

me, three times

Wesley Situ

6:14 PM

theyre pictures line up so perfectly

their*

Gordon Allocman

f" manshu question_asker, in that order

question_asker

oh ha

Khale_Kitha

Manshu, quit yelling at me!!

manshu

arreee ha

Khale_Kitha

. I'll just edit this

question_asker

6:15 PM

OK so I'm gonna say something, then manshu, then f''

really?

ayyy

4

we need to make our avatars into comic strip panels or something

Khale_Kitha

ikr

Gordon Allocman

6:17 PM

great_image_2.0.png

question_asker

or just single solid-color letters on a solid-color background

Khale_Kitha

I was just thinking the same thing, haha

question_asker

and see what we can spell

Khale_Kitha

And see what words show up!

manshu

I won't change my dp

Gordon Allocman

6:18 PM

You need to create a horizontal version of this 67.media.tumblr.com/0809ca3a0021a29787732140b53920b0/…

question_asker

oh gordon

gordon are you mocking that or do you like that strip

I need to know because. well.

Khale_Kitha

I think there's a storyline there - but I don't see it

Gordon Allocman

Neither, it's just been so meme'd I no longer have an opinion

Khale_Kitha

...oh

question_asker

OK I'll count that as "mocking"

6:19 PM

whew

This??

too dark maybe?

smh manshu

@Khale_Kitha it is called Loss and that should explain the story line pretty much

Khale_Kitha

6:22 PM

I wasn't sure if that was it, or if there was supposed to be something more - k

manshu

I think we all should choose a meme and then screen shot it.. (if we are still doing that)

Khale_Kitha

That's so 5 minutes ago

manshu

@Khale_Kitha I was checking my meme folder at that time shrugs

Khale_Kitha

The fact that you have a meme folder is disturbing enough, manshu :)

Gordon Allocman

I don't have a meme folder

I have a meme backup harddrive

Will

6:25 PM

Hi, I'm auditioning for the role of Manshu, and I'll be singing "Teenage Suicide" from Heathers.

What's that, we're not meming?

Khale_Kitha

There - a backup meme.

manshu

@Will No, that role goes to @humn

Gordon Allocman

Image memes are so last year, soundcloud/youtube memes are whats hot in the meme market these days

manshu

@GordonAllocman I have these latest things in my floppy drive

Khale_Kitha

@Deusovi Okay, added a hint.

question_asker

6:34 PM

@Will Greetings and salutations!

I hope the Christian Slater voice came through in that one

Will

It did.

question_asker

"the catacombs of cryptos" sounds like a death metal song by a probably very bad death metal band

Will

I wanted to put this GIF right after Manshu's comic but I couldn't find it.

question_asker

audio memes are pretty dope

I wish I could meme the oo-waa-aa-aa-aa from down with the sickness for any time somebody said something super edgy

Matt

here's an audio meme

manshu

6:42 PM

Personal Note number 2: Never ever recommend something.

Matt

"hello, etc, my old friend ... "

whenever you recommend something, you silently claim liability for whatever happens

question_asker

I'm not a lawyer but I'm positive this is true

manshu

@Matt I am learning things. :)

Matt

this is probably the best place to do that

question_asker

second best, after prison

manshu

6:44 PM

@question_asker I guess this is the worst advice.

Khale_Kitha

Who the heck....

Here's a game premise, I see on steam - it starts with:

"You are a hungry zombie who flies around on the dead pterodactyl." At this point, I stopped reading.

question_asker

if that was a tab, I'd close it

Matt

the dead pterodactyl

there's the problem

there's only one dead pterodactyl

Khale_Kitha

Actually, I don't even think that's the problem

Matt

see, if it was "one of the dead pterodactyls" I'd be all over that

Khale_Kitha

6:46 PM

The "dead pterodactyl" looks like a magic carpet.

store.steampowered.com/app/467460

question_asker

oh no why did I look at that

it's worse than I thought, and now I feel... pity?

Khale_Kitha

And the artwork is like someone tossed random graphics at a wall to see what'd stick.

Will

But now it's a tab you can close, q_a.

Khale_Kitha

hhahaha

manshu

Nice...From Counter Strike to ZombieRush

question_asker

6:48 PM

the future of,, game's

Khale_Kitha

the future of,, moneygrabs's

...fixed it, q_a

ffao

they were out of budget to make a pterodactyl, so they went with the next closest thing instead?

which is clearly a magic carpet

Khale_Kitha

It looks like they just grabbed whatever art assets they could get their hands on and threw them at it - main character and all

question_asker

look here's the problem

Matt

It was fixed a bug on the 13th level !!

Khale_Kitha

6:49 PM

I mean hell - at one point, his weapon is an alligator

Will

The carpet is named The Dead Pterodactyl

ffao

the fun part is this can actually be a good deal for the buyer

Khale_Kitha

Rofl, Will

question_asker

people are going to look at this and go "this is the problem with zombie games"

ffao

several games are so cheap they're worth less than the trading cards that come with them

question_asker

6:50 PM

when zombie-themed shit has been boring for like 15 years

ffao

so you buy the game, sell the cards, profit

Matt

RECOMMENDED:
OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
Processor: Intel Dual Core 2.0 ГГц
Memory: 1 MB RAM
Graphics: 512 Мb (nVidia GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 4800)

Khale_Kitha

Perhaps, ffao

Matt

What year is it??

Khale_Kitha

but many games, like this, the cards (if there are any) sell for $0.05

Gordon Allocman

6:50 PM

A little known fact is that the Carpetus Magicus is a distant ancestor of the Pterodactylus

manshu

BUT....Zombieland is one of my fav. movies.

ffao

Yeah, this one is too expensive for that

question_asker

what the hell is a Gamma Gamma mu?

ffao

But I got a few very bad games at $0.11 or so

and the cards sold for $0.24

question_asker

or is that a tiny cyrillic ts character

Gordon Allocman

6:51 PM

Cough cough bad rats cough cough

Khale_Kitha

Part of the main review for the game:

"The game can't even reliably keep track of how much food you've collected which, as its main victory condition for each stage, is just utterly diabolical."

Wait, i need a meme...