The Pirate Puzzle thread

[Sentran]

I survived the pirate event! Overall the treasure hunt went well, with one major exception (more on that later). I would have liked to put more time into the puzzle planning and testing phase, so that I could make them more elaborate, but time did not permit. I only found out a few months ago (rather than a full year) that I was going to be running it. I also wrote and performed a handfasting for a couple of friends at the event, so my plate was rather full. I will have the entire year to plan for the next one, and I am going to treat it as if I'm running the hunt unless I change my mind soon.

In this thread I will post the puzzles as they were put out, then explain how the progression worked and when the paths were completed. As each puzzle in each path is completed, I will post the next one. Most of the players were used to half the number of puzzles used, and had a good time with the different types and amount of puzzles. Some were borrowed directly from here, and I hope I don't get into any trouble for that. I earned nothing for the event, and gave credit for the puzzles, so I do not believe I have violated any copyright laws.

Green paths, or Cabin Boy paths, were the easier puzzles intended for younger audiences. I plan to do even more of a separation next year, perhaps even to the point where there are two treasure hunts with 2 sets of prizes: 1 for the kids, and 1 for the adults.

Yellow paths, or Pirate paths, were the intermediate puzzle paths, and completion of one of these paths was worth twice as much as the completion of a green path.

Red paths, or Captain paths, were mostly comprised of brain-melting puzzles that I borrowed from GL. These were worth 3 times as much as the Cabin Boy paths.
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Sentran]

Green path 1, puzzle 1:

Arrange 6 coins into two even rows of 4 coins each.
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Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Suspence]

Does making a T, then stacking 2 coins at the intersection of the T count as "even rows"
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[Zag]

I, too, am stuck on the word 'even' and what that should mean. I would think it would disqualify that solution, but it's the only one I can think of.

[Jack_Ian]

I can make 3 4-coin lines by just making a single line.
But I think the answer is a cross with 2 coins at the intersection. (though technically they would not be in a straight line, at least not in 3 dimensions).

[Sentran]

That is correct, remember not to overthink the green puzzles. I do like Zag's Jack_Ian's answer of 3 4-coin rows, and I may use that next year. I'll post the next puzzle in the sequence soon.
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Sentran]

The first puzzle of each path were spread out to various merchants at the event. If you solved that correctly, you were given a piece of paper with the second step on it.

Green Path 1, Puzzle 2:

Each line, across and down, is to have each of the letters A, B, C, D and E appearing once each.
Also, every shape (shown by the thick lines) must also have each of the letters in it.


_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Zag]

C E B D A
A D E C B
E B C A D
B A D E C
D C A B E

(I did that just here in the text window, looking up and down between the shapes and what I had filled in.)

[Sentran]

Correct again! (I should really be focusing more on work...)

At this point, the completed puzzle had to be taken to my wife, who forced the players to "bribe" her with a song and dance number. If she was satisfied, she gave them the next puzzle in the path.

Green Path 1, Puzzle 3:

U ZED FIHTEAH TINVOJ, ROC EK QIX,
COH VEQXON HKOUJAKO INJIXO IJ TIX.

For help, what is a pirate's favorite fast food restaurant?
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Sentran]

I expect the puzzlers of this site to attempt the cipher on their own based upon letter frequency and distribution, but bear in mind that this is the path designed for 6-12 year-olds.
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Suspence]

Maybe Long John Silver's??? - A BOX WITHOUT HINGES, KEY OR LID, YET GOLDEN TREASURE INSIDE IS HID.
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[Sentran]

That was quick! You have the riddle correct, but no answer.
You don't have the correct answer to the joke.
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Suspence]

I can now solve both the joke and the riddle with the help of Google, but what fun is that.

The joke got me thinking that another solution to the riddle would be a box that hold McDonald's fried - no hinges, no key, no lid, and surely golden treasure within.
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

Accidental double-post...my bad.
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[ralphmerridew]

Well, Gollum says EGG

[Sentran]

I was not clear earlier, the joke and the riddle are mutually exclusive. Also, realize that this was done at a campsite where almost nobody had access to the internet (gasp).
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Sentran]

Correct RM! Now, answer the joke (because we likes it) and I'll start the next path.
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[ralphmerridew]

You want me to also say Long John Silver's?

[Zag]

[Suspence]

Arrrrrrrby's
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Zag]

Just seconds ahead!

[Sentran]

Yes to both Arrrrby's answers!

This completed the path, and the first to give me the correct answer got 1 treasure token. At the conclusion of the event, I totaled the number of treasure tokens per player and that determined their standing and the amount of treasure they received.

Green Path 2, Puzzle 1:

Move only 2 of the toothpicks (straight lines) to move the coin outside of the glass.

i|o|
o|
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[bgg1996]

i | o
|o|


Move the upper-right stick to the lower-left on this.
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[Zag]

Chestnut alert!!

[Sentran]

I expect that quite a few of the green path puzzles will be chestnuts to people here.

Green Path 2, Puzzle 2:

Find the words about Famous Pirate Ships in the word search grid. The words can be forwards, backwards, up, down, or diagonal. Circle each letter separately because when the Famous Pirate Ships Word Search puzzle is complete, read the remaining letters left to right, top to bottom, to learn an interesting fact about a famous pirate ship.

Famous Pirate Ships Word Search Puzzle

[Quailman]

Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, was captain of a ship called the Queen Anne's Revenge
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[Sentran]

These are sure going fast!

Green Path 2, Puzzle 3:

PFOQ PFOJG ELL PFOJGQ BIZUARQ:
DORBQ, DIEQPQ, PRIIQ, HLUYIRQ;
GJEYQ ORIJ, DOPIQ QPIIL;
GROJBQ FERB QPUJIQ PU KIEL;
QLEWQ MOJG, RAOJQ PUYJ,
EJB DIEPQ FOGF KUAJPEOJ BUYJ.

For the cipher, answer this joke:
What is a pirate's favorite subject in school?
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Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Suspence]

Arrrrrrrrrrrt?
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Sentran]

Correct! (I know, bad pirate puns...)

I cannot both spoiler the cipher and use code for even text size, so I will post the method I used for the code, and you can figure out the rest yourself.

Shift all vowels one right (A=U, E=A)
Reverse all consonants including Y between the vowels (B=D, C=C, D=B)
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[ralphmerridew]

Arrrithmetic?

Or do you want The three Arrrrrs?

[Zag]

Or, for a Chinese pirate, it could be Arrrgebra. But Chinese pirates fly planes, they don't sail ships.

[Sentran]

RM, great answers. I could go with both of those.
Zag, wouldn't that be Arrrgebla?
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Zag]

Just how racist are we prepared to get?

They don't reverse R's and L's, they just can't say the L sound at all. I used to work with a man from China, and one of the tasks our software did was managing DLL files. It was painful to hear him try to say D L L.

And I suppose I should have said that Chinese pirates fry pranes.

[Suspence]

Did you know that they sell cataracts in China?

More on topic - THIS THING ALL THINGS DEVOURS: BIRDS, BEASTS, TREES, FLOWERS; GNAWS IREN, BITES STEEL; GRINDS HARD STONES TO MEAL; SLAYS KING, RUINS TOWN, AND BEATS HIGH MOUNTAIN DOWN - TIME
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[Sentran]

This pirate thread is rapidry devorving into something else...

Green Path 2 is now complete! On to...

Green Path 3, Puzzle 1:

What begins with an E, ends with an E, and only contains one letter?
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Suspence]

An eye
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Sentran]

Common but incorrect, Suspence.
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[Silverfire]

...E?
Or perhaps EYE?
On another topic, it's been my experience that Chinese pronounce L just fine. I say this because a Chinese friend of mine is taking Japanese with me, and she tends to pronounce the Japanese "R" (quote-unquote) as an L.

[Sentran]

Sorry Silver, but those are incorrect.
_________________
Sentran
"Speaking of double negatives, I haven't read greylab yet today." - Lifeinmomland

[bgg1996]

envelope
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