The Puzzle Thread (nee Enigma Puzzle #24)

[Buzzbee]

Well, since there isn't a 1 to1, it makes me think that the lovey dovey lines are a link between the above and below answers. Perhaps a way to manipulate one to get the other or something. Not really sure, but it seems like the lovey dovey lines form some sort of daisy chain between the "answers".

[Buzzbee]

For page 4 reference...

Originally Posted by Buzzbee

Ted Williams
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX = 13
Red Ruffing
Kiss hug hug! - XOO = 4
Jimmie Foxx
Kiss! - X =1
Reggie Jackson
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX = 13
Don Drysdale
Kiss! - X = 1
Billy Herman
Kiss kiss! - XX =3
Carl Yastrzemski
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX =13
Steve Carlton
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX = 13
Cal Ripken Jr.
Kiss hug hug! - XOO =4
Leo Durocher
Kiss hug hug kiss kiss! - XOOXX = 19
Lefty Gomez
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX = 13
Gary Carter
Kiss hug hug kiss kiss! - XOOXX = 19
Bob Gibson
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX = 13
Mike Schimdt

and...

Originally Posted by enigma

Let love be your guide
To decipher and string together
The clues to find your key.
What has been written here is of utmost importance
For the first word of what you then find
Will ultimately unlock the puzzle.

[rkmsuf]

this is heading for a date with Unsolved Mysteries.

[Frozenrope]

Originally Posted by Radii

I know I've brought it up multiple times before, but, remember when looking at the XXO binary stuff... there is not a 1 to 1 correlation between hall of fame names and XXO binary clues. there is 1 more name than there is binary set.

That leads me to believe it's not based on something as simple as correlating binary # to type of award or anything else that would be natural to shoot for here

I almost feel that the lovey dovey lines are the chains inbetween the posts which the players represent. The longer the kiss/hug line, the longer the chain.


Just trying to keep the thought process going. I'm stumped.

[Frozenrope]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Ok...going by the latest clue, could we express the various kiss/hug combos as:

Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX
Kiss hug hug! - XOO
Kiss! - X
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX
Kiss! - X
Kiss kiss! - XX
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX
Kiss hug hug! - XOO
Kiss hug hug kiss kiss! - XOOXX
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX
Kiss hug hug kiss kiss! - XOOXX
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! - XXOX

?

There are really only two types of long patterns here... XXOX and XOOXX

If you combine the stray X's with the stray XOO's you will get 2 more XOOXX's.

Do we need to move the X's and the corresponding posts over to make them fit to the two types?

Or am I turning into that Russell Crowe character from A Beautiful Mind?

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by Frozenrope

Or am I turning into that Russell Crowe character from A Beautiful Mind?

[Buzzbee]

Allright guys. We're almost there. No reason to give up now.

Bumping from page THREE.

[Frozenrope]

So the numbers are in reference to a mathematical equation.

[enigma]

To decipher and string together

Specifically: what could "string together" refer to? What is another convention that is used to mean "string together"?

[digamma]

Originally Posted by enigma

To decipher and string together

Specifically: what could "string together" refer to? What is another convention that is used to mean "string together"?

string together base hits?

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by enigma

To decipher and string together

Specifically: what could "string together" refer to? What is another convention that is used to mean "string together"?

One might...

string together beads into a necklace...

string together words into a sentence...

string together sentences into a paragraph, speech, or larger work...


I like the latter ones better, but have nothing more to add here.

[WSUCougar]

Could string together mean streaks? Like a hitting streak?

[Frozenrope]

Ted Williams
M
Red Ruffing
D
Jimmie Foxx
A
Reggie Jackson
M
Don Drysdale
A
Billy Herman
C
Carl Yastrzemski
M
Steve Carlton
M
Cal Ripken Jr.
D
Leo Durocher
S
Lefty Gomez
M
Gary Carter
S
Bob Gibson
M
Mike Schimdt

If that refers to a letter of the alphabet. Just from another perspective.

[Frozenrope]

Ted Williams
x
Red Ruffing
/
Jimmie Foxx
+
Reggie Jackson
x
Don Drysdale
+
Billy Herman
C
Carl Yastrzemski
x
Steve Carlton
x
Cal Ripken Jr.
/
Leo Durocher
-
Lefty Gomez
x
Gary Carter
-
Bob Gibson
x
Mike Schimdt

[enigma]

The clues all refer to members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. The numbers in parentheses are their "primary" uniform numbers (here and here). I now anticipate some confusion arising from these...

Magnificent Offspring Offspring
Splendid Splinter, or TED WILLIAMS. (9)

Golden Gate next for Donald?
Bridge Trump, also known as RUFFING. (15)

It's been 13 years, Elizabeth.
Since the death of Red FOXX. (3)

A nickname for the young John?
REGGIE could be short for Reginald Dwight, aka. Elton John. (44)

If he could only get his hands on the oil money...
The Beverly Hillbillies' Mr. DRYSDALE. (53)

Can't you hear his heart beat?
Or Can't You Hear My Heart Beat, by HERMAN's Hermits. (2)

Blue eyed, dressed for any situation
Situation, by the group YAZ. (8)

Personified by Music
Lorenzo Music was the voice of CARLTON the doorman on Rhoda. (32)

After killing him, the illegitimates might write this.
They killed Kenny! Those bastards! RIP, KEN. (8)

Nickname by Funkytown?
For Leo the Lip (Lipps, Inc.) DUROCHER. (2)

Very sinister, Mr. Astin.
LEFTY GOMEZ (11)

Griffith series down south, but not the obvious.
Melanie was in the cast of CARTER Country. (8)

Womanly ideal of Roosevelt's heyday.
The GIBSON Girl. (45)

Norman's bathroom scene only slightly more shocking than one here.
Norman Bates in Psycho, or Kathy Bates in About SCHMIDT? (20)


The kiss/hug lines all stand for numerical (or string) operators. Hugs and kisses may be written as O's and X's, which can then be converted to binary. Eventually, we can arrive at the operator through a number of conversions:

Kiss! = X = 1 = 1 = A = Addition
Kiss kiss! = XX = 11 = 3 = C = Concatenation
Kiss hug hug! = XOO = 100 = D = Division
Kiss kiss, hug, kiss! = XXOX = 1101 = 13 = M = Multiplication
Kiss hug hug kiss kiss! = XOOXX = 10011 = 19 = S = Subtraction

If you then write the numbers from the clues along with the operators, you get:

9 x 15 / 3 + 44 x 53 + 2 . 8 x 32 x 8 / 2 - 11 x 8 - 45 x 20

When evaluated ( /x > +- > .), the result is 237936. This is the key to What has been written here - which is FOFC itself. The first word of post number 237936 is Spongebob, the answer to the puzzle.

.

[QuikSand]

Well.

[WSUCougar]

I'm afraid that there is no smiley to match my feelings on this.

[Radii]

holy shit.

[enigma]

hxxp://www.baseball-almanac.com/hof/hofmemu.shtml

hxxp://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers%5Fand%5Fhonorees/lists/uni%5Fnumbers.htm

uni number links

[rkmsuf]

the enigma has jumped the shark

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

I'm afraid that there is no smiley to match my feelings on this.

Originally Posted by Radii

holy shit.

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

the enigma has jumped the shark

Obviously, the enigma has gone wrong. When (where) did the enigma go bad? Discuss.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Obviously, the enigma has gone wrong. When (where) did the enigma go bad? Discuss.

cuervo's puzzle?

[cuervo72]

To pull back the curtain on this one...yes, my puzzle.

[rkmsuf]

the outage didn't help.

[QuikSand]

Trying to take this seriously... maybe it's a function of expectations about the puzzle-solving process.

While several of the more complex puzzles in this series have ended up being collaborative affairs, this is, essentially, designed a "race" to see who gets the answer first.

In that sense, this puzzle went to a new extreme with the sense that even getting a big breakthrough didn't mean much of anything... since there were three or four big breakthroughs needed to actually solve it. So, if you were working on it early, and had some particularly keen insight (like whoever was first to connect to baseball players, in this case) you really weren't practically closer to solving the whole puzzle.

Add in the fact that some of the clues here were probably a step or two harder than we're used to... and it all added up to some frustration, I think. (Especially if a person who has gotten the "right" idea doesn't know it until it's confirmed by the author -- in my mind, that's a reasonable separation point)

I'm glad to have made some small contribution... but even with a number of us working on it, this one needed a fair amount of hand-holding to get done. The person who "solved" it, it turns out, probably was just the person who happened to stumble onto the last "breakthrough" solution at the right time -- and might not have been responsible for any/many of the previous advances. It's the nature of the beast with a multi-step puzzle... I'm just thinking out loud about that structural issue.

[cuervo72]

I agree...I think the solution did indeed involve a number of equally important steps, rather than a number of tiny steps and one "catch". And too much interaction from the "enigma" was needed. I guess the trick is to have breakthroughs that are very much apparent to the solvers after they are made - which I'm gathering I whiffed on.

[WSUCougar]

Concatenation is illegal in Missouri, by the way. It was just on the ballot a couple weeks ago.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Obviously, the enigma has gone wrong. When (where) did the enigma go bad? Discuss.

My holy shit comment was not really that negative a thing... just a reaction based on how far away I still was from having any idea how to solve this thing. I enjoy being a part of the collabarative effort when I can be, so this is fine for me, as long as there is someone else out there much, much more suited for these kinds of puzzles who can make that last breakthrough to solve the puzzle.

In general, I'd rather have a puzzle be too hard and require some hand holding than be pointlessly easy.

[Buzzbee]

The collaborative nature of solving puzzles on the internet lends itself very well to multi-step puzzles, IMO. It allows a group of people to work on a puzzle together yet staves off a little of the race to the finish. The group might work through the clues fairly quickly, but determining how to use the clues can be a puzzle in itself, thus eliminating some of the race to the finish. It also allows people of different talents to become involved. I'm decent at solving clues, but suck donkey balls when it comes to translating those clues into some solution or next step. In addition, the multi-step helps alleviate the "information advantage" of the net. We can look up song lyrics or members of the hall of fame very easily. However, it is more of a challenge to take that information and apply or manipulate it in a "next step" of a puzzle.

As we have seen it can be a very fine line between providing enough information to allow that "aha" moment vs. being terribly ambiguous to prevent the puzzle from being ridiculously easy. I think because of this, there is a tendency to make the enigma vague and then give hints or handhold as needed. Also, as we get more and more enigma puzzles, the creators are having to find new and creative ways to challenge us. Otherwise, it bccomes formulaic. Thus, the more obscure and ethereal the connections between steps become.

Just my $0.02.

[WSUCougar]

So, to be clear, someone actually solved this puppy? Or did cuervo simply out himself?

[cuervo72]

You can consider it solved, I'm no longer the enigma.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

So, to be clear, someone actually solved this puppy? Or did cuervo simply out himself?

That was exactly my reaction. If someone had actually solved it given where it was left off, my reaction would be simply, 'holy shit'. I do, however, think it was a uniquely clever puzzle.

[cuervo72]

Ok...I'll admit to giving some additional hints to folks at another locale.

The thing was, I was getting a little frustrated with the puzzle myself, and wanted to see it wrapped up. The only time I felt like any progress was being made was when I was leading the pack along (heck...I even left a Drysdale clue in another thread that went unnoticed). Like Quik, I don't know if it is a particularly good puzzle when that has to be done (clever, maybe. But that doesn't make it necessarily good). Some of the better puzzles (like the previous one) were good in that there may have been a hint here and there, but they were solvable without much if any feedback as to "are we on the right track?". I don't know if there was any confirmation at any point with this one though.

Maybe there were just too many steps from "kiss hug" -> add, multiply, etc. I had thought that if that connection was made (including the "string together" clue, which hinted at concatenation), then you would know to look for numbers of some sort for the players. WSU was sort of onto that, but didn't quite put his finger on it.

Maybe I should have let it stew more. But with the outage, and then a few times when it stalled...just felt like it was time to get it over with.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Ok...I'll admit to giving some additional hints to folks at another locale.

Dola - it was an unfortunate byproduct of solving the previous puzzle while in this other locale that the enigma's identity was compromised...I think one of the rules of the enigma will need to be "no talk of the enigma outside of FOFC"...

[WSUCougar]

Any timetable for a new offering, or at least some mention that one is in the works?

[JeeberD]

What in the bloody hell is concatenation?

[WSUCougar]

concatenation \kon-kat-uh-NAY-shuhn; kuhn-\, noun:
A series of links united; a series or order of things depending on each other, as if linked together; a chain, a succession.

[SplitPersonality1]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

I think one of the rules of the enigma will need to be "no talk of the enigma outside of FOFC"...

Sounds like Fight Club.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

concatenation \kon-kat-uh-NAY-shuhn; kuhn-\, noun:
A series of links united; a series or order of things depending on each other, as if linked together; a chain, a succession.

I'd also add:

Computer Science. To arrange (strings of characters) into a chained list.

[Franklinnoble]

Would now be a good time for another Richard Simmons picture?

[rkmsuf]

let's sweat!

[gottimd]

TADA!

[rkmsuf]

"TADAAAA. The solution to your puzzle has been revealed...aren't these shorts just so cute?"

[Northwood_DK]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Any timetable for a new offering, or at least some mention that one is in the works?

Please let the next Enigma be Jim and let us have a puzzle that will lead us to the web page that will announce his new game.

[TazFTW]

Heh, I was thinking the same thing.

Jim would have a link on his site saying, "My new game" or something like that. When you click on the link it will ask you for a password, which would be the answer to an enigma he has posted here.

[enigma]

another puzzle is in the works

apologies for the delay

[QuikSand]

...i miss the enigma puzzles. Well, I guess I miss FOFC, really.

[Maple Leafs]

He apologized for the delay, stop rushing him.

[Maple Leafs]

On the off chance that any of the people who used to like puzzles on this forum are still around, this may be the most satisfying YouTube video I've seen in months.

(I strongly recommend watching it straight through from the beginning, but you can skip the firs two minutes of housekeeping if you must. But once the british dude starts explaining the rules, just sit back and watch him.)

[cuervo72]

I mean, CONCATENATION is a friggin' EXCEL function, even.