IT endures

[Lucky Wizard]

Okay, now that the calendar puzzle is solved, [I'll comment on the months.

The months were meaningful. In fact, the reason I was considering adding more finishing touches was because I wasn't sure it was solvable without figuring out how the months were meaningful, and I didn't think it was possible to find the meaning behind the months without a hint. I eventually realized that, although you'd need a hint to find the meaning of the months, that doesn't matter, because you don't need the months to solve this, you just need the days and years; therefore, I didn't add the finishing touches. Still, the months did have meaning, so I'll explain.

Chinese is first alphabetically, so take the first letter of Gregorian months that came from Chinese dates. Similarly, take the second letter of the month if it came from a French Revolutionary date, and the third letter if it came from a Hebrew date. The resulting list spelled ONE MORE.

Oh, and according to the calendar converter I used, the fourth date on the list (the Chinese date with the leap month) is May 23, 2001.]

I don't have any ideas on the current one.

[mikeamok]

i had thought to try [Ramadan] but didn't, because i found myself asking, "but why, exactly?"
i kind of still feel that way.

[Quickies]

Current puzzle, to save paging back-and-forth:

Originally posted by IT 4:

---

I know the question, but what is the key?

s d w i n v l r m u d v o a l m u r v h g x s

---

[Milt]

Maybe this is a vigenere and the key is password. Maybe the encryption is a question. The only repeated digram (mu) suggests a key that's 7 letters long.

Working with words that could start a question:
"who, what, why, when, where" give a key that starts with "WW..." "how" gives "LPA..."

can (QDJ) will (WVLX) is (KL) are (SMS) to (ZP) has (LDE) do (PP) am (SR) the (ZWS)

could (QPCXK) may (GDY) was (WDE) have (LDBE) did (PVT) were (WZFE) would (WCPXK) does (PPSQ) must (GJEP) you (UPC) please (DSSIVR) won't (WPJP)

The only question that I can think of that has the same number of characters is "Does my butt look big in this?" but the password isn't "No".

[IrishJoe]

Have you tried "Yes, it's huge"?
j/k

[Termital]

code:

---

s d w i  n v l r  m u d  v o a l  m u  r v h g x s

---

is more like how the text was actually entered. [Notice the double spacing -got it by trying to edit IT's message]. So now we have the word breakdown. Prolly.

------------------
Yearn brightly

[This message has been edited by Termital (edited 05-26-2004 03:48 AM).]

[GH]

I stink at code-breaking, but I was just trying to guess the "question" based on word lengths. Does something like "When will the xxxx be xxxxxx?" make any sense to anybody?

[Tahnan]

I'm not sure why Milt gave up so quickly on a key that would start "WW...". In fact, if the first word is "what", then the key starts "WWWP".

Unfortunately, I couldn't intuit what website IT might be using. Nor did using WHAT as the key, to get a website as the answer, help very much.

[GH]

If the question starts with "What? What...?", the key would start with WWWPROLY... Familiar to anyone?

[Foggy]

It is possible that the question is "What word (site/page) was used to encode/decode?" but it doesn't seem likely to be Vigenere in that case, unless the person doing the encoded used more than just the regular alphabet. (Some applets also include numbers and punctuation.)

If the key is a website, then none of the traditional endings (com, edu, net, org, and tv) seem to produce anything.

------------------
I wasn't lying, I was writing fiction with my mouth. -- Homer Simpson

[IT 4]

I seem to have unintentionally misdirected.

[Foggy]

Is it least Vigenere? The statement is too short, and has too many singletons to really allow decoding with a normal cipher, and has an odd number of letters, eliminating Playfair.

------------------
I wasn't lying, I was writing fiction with my mouth. -- Homer Simpson

[IrishJoe]

Not a true Vigenere, but not Gronsfeld in any way.

Now I've probably said too much.

[IrishJoe]

OK, so maybe I haven't said too much.

I figured that this would be pretty easy for many here.

code:

---

. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz


b bcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyza


u uvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrst


t tuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrs


w wxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuv


h hijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefg


a abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz


t tuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrs

---

is the key. If you really need more, highlight the code section above.
After that, one simple step and you're there.

[Foggy]

That's a standard Vigenere, but it still isn't turning into anything sensible.

More specifically, I get

t x p e u v e s g n z c o t m g n n c h z y m

or

r j d m g v s q s b h o o h k s b v o h n w y

when encoding and decoding using the method that IrishJoe described.

------------------
I wasn't lying, I was writing fiction with my mouth. -- Homer Simpson

[This message has been edited by Foggy (edited 06-02-2004 10:09 AM).]

[Tahnan]

Just a post to confirm what Foggy came up with; that's what I got as well.

[IrishJoe]

Gah! Found a typo, looking for others.

Meanwhile, the correction...

code:

---

s d w i  n v l r  m u d  v o a l  m u  r v h g x s


  ^


  This 'd' was wrong. 'e' is correct, for:





s e w i  n v l r  m u d  v o a l  m u  r v h g x s

---

Very much my error there, the 'txpe' you have should be 'type'.
So far the rest seems to be coded right, but I'm rechecking every character again.

[This message has been edited by IrishJoe (edited 06-04-2004 07:44 PM).]

[IrishJoe]

I have rechecked. I do apologise for that typo, you were clearly close with a standard Vigenere, as you have the first four characters correct (that error was mine).

I did say, however, that it is not a standard Vigenere, and I am almost positive that that is true.

The next character in the decoded string is [o].

[IT 4]

Oh - OK. Certainly not standard, but clever.

[Foggy]

It's a clever idea, but really needed some cluing....

------------------
I wasn't lying, I was writing fiction with my mouth. -- Homer Simpson

[IT 4]

Agreed, Foggy. --Tah

[IT 4]

I think some clod has been messing with my tv guide...now I can't figure out what I was watching

• Encyclopedia Brown goes in for an assistant's job at Sweetknuckle Junction, and walks out with a starring role. (2)
  
• Sally dents Encyclopedia's new Mercades and heavily regrets it. Revenge brings brings Encyclopedia to claim she made impotent and uses her as his personal servant. (6)
  
• Bugs gains the power to destroy organic matter with a touch, and resolves to put the dying out of their misery...and Encyclopedia Brown's father is his next target. (6)
  
• Sally is upset when she realizes Mr. Meany gave everyone except her a new convertible for Christmas. Meanwhile Encyclopedia Brown is stalked by a homicidal Santa Claus (2)
  
• Sally Kimball travels to Collinsport by train from New York to be the governess of 10 year old Encyclopedia Brown. Also on that train is Bugs Meany, who seems rather mysterious (3)
  
• Sally Kimball helps out an aspiring pro wrestler with the use of her telekintic powers without telling him. (3)
  
• Sally spirals into a profound depression after the Stratford is denied in its bid to be classified an historic landmark. (2)
  
• Encyclopedia Brown checks into the hospital for his sex-change operation. Dr. Medlow helps Bugs Meany overcome his guilt and his impotence. (3)
  
• Encyclopedia agrees to get a tattoo to get a tip on the killer, and his continuing investigation into the murder reveals some startling facts but draws the unwanted attention of some well-dressed men purporting to be from the Nevada Gaming Commission. Meanwhile, a funeral attracts an eclectic group of mourners. (2)
  
• Encyclopedia gets the "call" from his father and Sally, to go out on assignment for CSC's hunting show. While he wants to move up, he has a problem with hunting animals. (5)
  
• Encyclopedia's distracted from a courtroom full of ventriloquists and their dummies by the delivery of a letter from his mother, mailed fifteen years earlier (4)
  
• The daughter of a wealthy business man is kidnapped on her 18th birthday and Police Squad swings into action. The main suspect of their investigation is the girl's boyfriend. When Encyclopedia and Sally listen to a recording of the kidnapper's demands, they hear the distinct sound of a tuba in the background. (2)
  
• Bugs Meany tries to be a good family man on two fronts — to his wife, kids and widowed mother — and as a capo in the New Jersey mob. The pressures of work and family life give him anxiety attacks, so Bugs starts seeing a psychiatrist — which is not the kind of thing a guy advertises in the circles Tony moves in: it could get him killed. (4)
  
• When a horse trainer recognizes her stolen horse in a race, Encyclopedia Brown helps her try and recover it. TRANSFORMATIONS - a hawk, a black panther, and a horse. (5)
  
• Sally wakes up at her house, walks over to the shower door and Encyclopedia Brown turns around and declares "Good Morning". (5)
  
• When a young detective is ambushed in a failed police stakeout, she is believed to have been killed. In reality, she revives and learns that her face has been altered and her identity has been changed to Sally Kimball. The man responsible for this is Encyclopedia Brown, a dying billionaire who, convinced that one person can make a difference, has selected Sally for the role as a crime-fighter. (1)
  
• Sally's fiery temper almost costs Encyclopedia Brown the bar when she attacks an obnoxious Yankees fan, Bugs Meany. (4)
  
• When an Olympic runner assigned to the 4077th fails to materialize, Encyclopedia Brown must save the camp's honor in a high-stakes footrace against the 8063rd. (3)
  
• Encyclopedia Brown crashes into a satellite dish, knocking out the city's TV, and blames it on Sally. However, Encyclopedia Brown does rediscover the rest of life when he can no longer sit in front of the boob-tube all day. Bugs Meany schemes to eradicate broccoli. (4)
  
• Encyclopedia Brown discovers a jungle boy living on the island. He shows them a hole in the ground that causes objects to float, and the professor theorizes that it is expelling either helium or hydrogen. He immediately sets to work building a large balloon, with the hopes of carrying one of them back to civilization. (8)
  
• Sally, the werewolf Encyclopedia befriended, returns to declare her romantic intentions, but puppet-Encyclopedia is too embarrassed to reciprocate. (3)
  
• Bugs Meany enlists Encyclopedia Brown's old buddy to manufacture and distribute boxes of candy which turn the adult population into uninhibited, irresponsible teenagers. (2)
  
• A man believes it's his right to be freeze-dried after he dies; a takeover bid starts an office melee; after soliciting a client in the movie business, Encyclopedia Brown strikes a profitable deal; Bugs monkeys around at Sally's wedding. (1)
  
• Sally Kimball, 28, and a recent graduate of Harvard Law School, is harassed on the job by a senior associate. When she confronts the partners, it backfires and she loses her job. On the street, she literally bumps into an old classmate, Encyclopedia Brown, who offers her a position working for his new firm. She excepts, despite her misgivings about his ethical standards. While being introduced to her new fellow associates, she receives the shock of her career. (1)
  
• Sally's first Thanksgiving dinner for the gang burns when they all run to the rooftop to see the runaway Underdog balloon from the parade. Bugs Meany wins his first modeling gig as the poster boy for VD. And Encyclopedia Brown competes with Susan to "communicate" with his unborn baby. (2)
  

[This message has been edited by IT 4 (edited 06-05-2004 11:41 AM).]

[ralphmerridew]

# Sweetknuckle Junction (2)
# Mercades 6)
# destroy organic matter with a touch, (6)
# homicidal Santa Claus (2)
# governess of 10 year old (3)
# aspiring pro wrestler (3)
# historic landmark. (2)
# sex-change operation (3)
# tattoo (2) - CSI Vegas?
# hunting animals. (5)
# ventriloquists and their dummies (4)
# kidnapped (2)
# psychiatrist (4) - Sopranos
# TRANSFORMATIONS (5)
# shower door (5) - DALLAS
# dying billionaire (1)
# obnoxious Yankees fan (4)
# When an Olympic runner (3) M*A*S*H
# satellite dish, (4)
# jungle boy (8) - Gilligan's Island
# werewolf(3)
# candy (2)
# freeze-dried (1)
# Harvard (1)
# Thanksgiving dinner (2)

[IT 4]

Not too difficult, and Google filled in the blanks. Technically, I believe that the thirteenth item should be marked (7).

--Tablesaw

[IrishJoe]

Is tablesaw the current puzzle?

Who is IT4?

[IT 4]

tablesaw hadn't changed the password, so I'll take it. Answer for previous puzzle shortly, and new puzzle shortly after that.

-CV

[IT 4]

The TV shows described were:

gReg the bunny
marriEd with children
smallVille
nEwsradio
daRk shadows
miSfits of science
nEwhart
soAp
pUsh, nevada
sporTs night
nigHt court
pOlice squad!
sopRanos
maniMal
dallAs
Knight rider
cheErs
m*a*S*h
famIly guy
gilligaN's island
anGel
bUffy the vampire slayer
L.a. law
Ally mcbeal
fRiends

The indicated letters spell out, "REVERSE AUTHOR MAKE SINGULAR." Therefore the password was lobo (Donald Sobol wrote the Encyclopedia Brown series).

[Foggy]

Note that there were two hints about the puzzle in the flavortext [some "clod"...Sheriff Lobo starred Claude Akins; "tv guide"...if you check the profile for IT 4, its website is tvtome.com. All of the descriptions, and spelling errors, come from tvtome.com]

[IT 4]

A Challenging Puzzle

It makes straws look bent
_____ Down (rock band)
Magician's parting trick, perhaps
It's caused by an accidental low-resistance path
How Turing, Cobain, and Hemingway went
PlaceexploredbyRoaldAdmundsen
Hallway
"Take my word for it"
Colorless Jack and Meg?
It may start with "Tally-ho!"
Indoor skating locale
Queens of the Stone Age song
Event on Elm
What a drawbridge might span
Like Alice, after the "Drink Me" bottle
It differentiates a burglary from a robbery
The ND of HAND
Trotskyist party
The result of clicking "Submit" too soon?

The final password is nine letters and lowercase. Of course, that's just the final password...

[Tahnan]

Minor typo: "Amundsen". Still can't get "Colorless Jack and Meg?" But still, er, chiseling away at the puzzle.

[IrishJoe]

Got hit with a DSO exploit just before trying the profile.

Look at the White Stripes.

[Tahnan]

Hah. Never heard of the White Stripes, but had I typed "Jack and Meg" into Google, I would have found them pretty quickly.

I still don't have the nine-letter password, let alone the other password, but.

[jadesmar]

Was the answer to the code one (reply 241) posted?

[IrishJoe]

Jadesmar, if you're trying to work that one, you need to know I made a typo in the original post.

Here's the correction:

code:

---

s d w i  n v l r  m u d  v o a l  m u  r v h g x s


  ^


  This 'd' was wrong. 'e' is correct, for:





s e w i  n v l r  m u d  v o a l  m u  r v h g x s

---

The rest is actually posted in messages above, apparently not actually spelled out, but they do spoil it.

[edit]I make many typos.[/edit]

[This message has been edited by IrishJoe (edited 06-11-2004 04:52 PM).]

[IT 4]

[IT 4]

Ah heck. I was looking in entirely the wrong place for the password once I had the password. Er, passwords. Er, whatever. I've got it now, and it's entirely solvable. --Tahnan

[bumpercars]

bump!

[Guest]

An inset hearth?

[IT 4]

The answers to the clues were:

refraction
Three Doors
vanishing act
short circuit
suicide
southpole
corridor
trust me
stripes?
hunt
rink
go with the flow
Nightmare
moat
shrinking
entry
nice day
socialist action
partial post

Each one of those is the name of a level in Chips Challenge. Each level has a four-letter password; reading the first letters of the passwords gave THEY FOLLOW RIGHT WALL, and in that game, what follow the right wall are "paramecia", which was the answer.

Isn't it amazing to see a new IT puzzle after months and months of nothing? I would have posted one sooner, but, to tell you the truth, my heart's been elsewhere.

To find out where, just solve the following slightly irregular cryptic clues. Each answer word is seven letters. Then order them appropriately to learn what thing--actually, what two things--kept me from posting sooner.

[Celt]

Smells like Tahnan
Oddly, no U.S. cherubs in the center [I would have thought "nucleus" but I'm missing the L -> NoUsChErUbS]