Mystery Hunt 2012 Recast: COMPLETE!!!

[Scurra]

I agree with Suspence to an extent about the first one. The work after the aha did seem very tedious indeed. At least with Blackout there are still logic puzzles to solve (which may or may not be tedious depending upon how you like them.) Whereas sending someone off into a corner with a deconstructed text and asking them to pore over coded instructions doesn't strike me as fun. But, again, others will differ. That's why Puzzle Hunts work so much better with teams who have different tolerance levels to different things.

I think it's interesting to contrast that first one with what might generically be called the "Duck" puzzles - which also involve following hyper complicated instructions, but there is usually an element of absurdity involved in them which raises it above tedious rule following.
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Suspence]

So, where are we on the current puzzle? Braille has been confirmed, but if my previous solutions are both valid, then we know there must be another constraint.

Copied below to get on the page, along with Lepton's solutions to Thermometers and Tapas.

My Nurikabe Solutions - Braille EVV or KVV

Lepton's Thermometers Solution - Braille SAE

Lepton's Tapa Solution - Braille F--W

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

[LordKinbote]

[Return of the Quickies]

Hmm...that brings back to mind something I thought I mentioned as a possibility before, but apparently did not - that every 2x3 square must be a valid Braille letter.

Don't have time to experiment with that now, but maybe later today unless others chase it down first.
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Password is all one word, all lowercase, no spaces, unless otherwise indicated.

[novice]

With rotq helping, this should be a cinch!

[Scurra]

[LordKinbote]

[Vagrant]

Suspence, in your post 82, you use filled in squares as braille dots for tapa and thermometers but you use unfilled squares in nurikabe. I haven't tried to solve any of them but am wondering if it would make a difference to the nurikabe if you used the filled squares as the dots.

[Suspence]

[Vagrant]

In nurikabe the 'stream' is the bit you fill in when you solve it.

[Vagrant]

On reflection that sounded condescending. Sorry. I'm just saying that it makes sense to me to consistently make the dots out of the bits you 'fill in' as you solve the puzzles.

[Suspence]

No need for an apology, I took it with a grain of salt. And, you may be right.

Maybe it's just that we do nurikabe's differently (and quite likely that I do them wrong). I tend to fill in the islands and hope the stream works, then adjust my islands to accomodate the stream. This could explain why I always end up with a 2x2 somewhere.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Vagrant]

[Suspence]

One thing I did notice is that 8 out of 14 known islands are in the left hand column (9 if you count the one to the right of the 4 that is automatic), so 60%.

In Braille, 60% of the dots appear in the left hand column, as the left hand column must always have a dot.

Not sure that means anything, but it's part of why I started where I did, in addition to my apparently non-traditional nurikabe methodology.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[LordKinbote]

[Suspence]

[LordKinbote]

[Vagrant]

[Suspence]

[Suspence]

I think I've decided that the streams must be the dots of the Braille by process of elimination.

If Braille were the islands:
Working on the top left corner, you would need to get an island to Column 1. The only option to do that is to build 2 squares left from the 3 in C3. This would give you a Braille "C", but an invalid nurikabe due to the 2x2 stream. So one of the bottom 2 cells needs to be filled in to make a valid nurikabe. The only option to get any islands into that area is to go straight up from the 2 in C2. That configuration:

[Scurra]

I'd like to offer this possible solution for the Pentomino Minesweeper based on every space being a braille letter. I think it works, although it produces the letters Z I E which makes me think I've done something wrong...


_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Vagrant]

I think this works for the nurikabe if the stream represents the dots.


I think it's unique because the only alternative solution I could make work on the left side forces a non-braille tile at the middle top.

[Suspence]

Vagrant's nurikabe gives SCH

Here's my Thermometer solution, which yields THE

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

[Scurra]

SCH???ZIETHE

Hmmm. I always hate "parsing" puzzles - sometimes you have no idea if the random string you have extracted is correct because it makes no obvious sense even if bits of it might...
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Vagrant]

Suspence, your thermometer solution only has 5 in the second 6 column (which could be fixed by extending the thermometer in the third row from the bottom).

[Suspence]

Good catch. I had it right on the paper copy I had been working on, but I put it into Paint incorrectly.

Fixed above.
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Vagrant]

I really enjoyed doing this too once I learned how to do it. I think the braille restriction made this significantly easier than it would normally be.

[Vagrant]

SCHLITZIETHE

I'd need Google for that to mean anything to me.

[Suspence]

http://thehumanmarvels.com/?p=130

Call in PINHEAD
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[LordKinbote]

PINHEAD is correct! Phew! Good team effort.

[LordKinbote]

New puzzle: Fight Choreography, by Patrick Blindauer and Francis Heaney

[Zag]

So we can move ahead to the next one? I cheated and looked at it already. It starts with some cryptics, and I know that if I don't jump in and grab the easy ones, I won't get any. Here they are, with the solutions for the ones I worked out already, spoilered.

---- Superhero is one cutting mad baron? Yes
---- Agent Monroe, for one, throws a left
---- With a sword, thrusts halfway at a goddess
RED ---- Bloody at first, Robin eludes death
---- Joker’s weapons putting a kind of smear on top of some parents
---- Dynasty is overturned? Not really
LOSE --- Suffer defeat in Halo sequel
---- Battle Grant between the borders
BALE ---- Slaughter able Batman portrayer
---- Inspector is sad to cede beginning of onslaught

[Suspence]

The pictures seem to tie out to 2 word phrases:

Love Shack
Slush Puppies
?
?
Rock Band
?
?
Lois Lane
Bunk Bed
Mouse Pad
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Vagrant]

That's Lana Lang, not Lois Lane.

[Zag]

Picture 6 is the famous water tower just south of Boston. (I used to drive by it every day.) I don't know if there is a 2-word phrase, though, unless it's just "water tower."

[Scurra]

The most annoying thing about this one for me is that I guessed the last stage of this puzzle first, but dismissed it as being too ridiculous so never even suggested it to the rest of the team. Some considerable time later somebody else thought of it (although I confess that I was asleep at the time.)
Lesson: there is no such thing as a "too ridiculous" suggestion...
_________________
_{still Quiz Olympiad champion. Must get a life.
New definitions: COFFEE - someone who is coughed upon}

[Zag]

#3 is an Uruk Hai. I don't think that's Lurtz, though it does look a lot like him.

[Suspence]

CRYPTICS
---- Superhero is one cutting mad baron? Yes
---- Agent Monroe, for one, throws a left
---- With a sword, thrusts halfway at a goddess
RED ---- Bloody at first, Robin eludes death
---- Joker’s weapons putting a kind of smear on top of some parents
---- Dynasty is overturned? Not really
LOSE --- Suffer defeat in Halo sequel
---- Battle Grant between the borders
BALE ---- Slaughter able Batman portrayer
---- Inspector is sad to cede beginning of onslaught

IMAGES
Love Shack
Slush Puppies
Uruk Hai
Bar Kays
Rock Band
Water Tower
Lip Balm
Lana Lang
Bunk Bed
Mouse Pad
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Vagrant]

It may be nothing but I notice

RED -> BED
LOSE -> LOVE
BALE -> BALM

[novice]

Joker’s weapons putting a kind of smear on top of some parents

PAPPIES (PAP+PIES)

Pappies->Puppies