2011 Mystery Hunt

[gftt*]

I've done a small part of the crossword. It violates some conventions - most obvious is that there are two two-letter words (81A - which might be PF? - and 100A), but it also seems that 102D and 121A are both BARBARAANN. Haven't seen any other duplicate entries though.

[Suspence]

I thought I saw LOLLIPOP in there twice.
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[SuperSlug]

Oh, good! Someone found the surprise I left on the spreadsheet for y'all.
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Some people are lost in the shuffle. I'm shuffling along with the lost.

[gftt*]

1D and 16A: Lollipop
42A and 29D: Informer
89A and 72D: Just Got Paid (note: these do not intersect)
121A and 102D: Barbara Ann

I've got LEPT as 18D from its crossing words but I don't understand it (the clue is "Fine prefix?")

my top left corner so far:

[gftt*]

Also,
27A and 22 D: Replay (these do not intersect)
160A and 125D: Lean on Me

[SuperSlug]

One More Try work is on the spreadsheet.

The four two-space answers give: TO-PF-OR-TY or TOP FORTY

There are ten answers that repeat in the grid:
LOLLIPOP
SUFFOCATE
REPLAY
INFORMER
GET DOWN
JUST GOT PAID
BRANDY
BARBARA ANN
JENNY
LEAN ON ME

Each of those is a top 40 song for an artist that had only one other top 40 hit (two-hit wonders).

[novice]

Based on your work so far on Meta Testing, it looks like the answer might be BACKBURNER.

[SuperSlug]

For Meta Testing!

call in BACKSOLVER
(is CORRECT)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moving on to
Bebop Man: Drum Kit
Timbales - http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/11/puzzles/mega_man/timbales/

Setting up the spreadsheet
_________________
Some people are lost in the shuffle. I'm shuffling along with the lost.

[gftt*]

Wow, lots of good work.

I might be alone in this, but I kind of prefer working in this thread as opposed to the spreadsheet. For puzzles with a large quantity of data like a crossword the spreadsheet is convenient, but otherwise it feels sterile... I prefer having the record of thoughts (right and wrong) written down. Anyone else?

[gftt]

wow, these are terrible.

One who doesn't say "thank you" = PERSONA NON GRATA
Rental company that's hard to find = RARA AVIS
Wagon that attracts things
Lament from "On the Waterfront" = NO LO CONTENDERE?
Fishing holiday = CARPE DIEM?
Poem about one's foibles
Warning when you're almost out of gas = CAVEAT EMPTOR??
Why everyone hears when spring ends = SUMMA CUM LAUDE
Between SDTV and HDTV = IN MEDIAS RES
Why thinkers become accountants = COGITO ERGO SUM
Italian gaming convention
Druopta Efekta, e.g. = CAMERA OBSCURA
Where the cause of some teenage grief lies = IN LOCO PARENTIS
Former place of worship = EX CATHEDRA
Crucial course material
Like fans of U2 concerts = PRO BONO PUBLICO
A really, really long commercial break = AD INFINITUM
Two, three, or five on a die = PRIMA FACIE
Opposite of a lax tenon = RIGOR MORTIS
How one sits = A POSTERIORI???
Like an unfinished clock tower
Al Qaeda's legal team, e.g. = TERRA FIRMA
Result of starting a sit-up regimen
What non-amateurs get paid = PRO RATA
Solution to: x2 + cos2(0) = 1 = SINE QUA NON?
To pursue a non-specific lawsuit = SUI GENERIS
The result of further radiological dumping
The Pony Express began in April 1860, e.g. = EX POST FACTO

[novice]

Wagon that attracts things = MAGNA CARTA
Poem about one's foibles
Italian gaming convention = PAX ROMANA
Crucial course material
Like an unfinished clock tower
Result of starting a sit-up regimen = AB INITIO
The result of further radiological dumping

[novice]

NICODEMUS GOSPEL ON COR? FITNESS - Body Fitness, perhaps?

Call in Acts of Pilate?

[gftt]

[gftt]

I looked it up and ACTA PILATI is correct.

Famous Faces is next.

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9 10

1 = Lucy Lawless
2 = Robert Wagner
3 = Jenny McCarthy? (something seems off, though)
4 = David Bowie?? (very hard to tell for sure)
6 = Elijah Wood
8 = Colin Mochrie

[SuperSlug]

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9 10

1 = Lucy Lawless (Number 3)
2 = Robert Wagner (Number Two)
3 = Jenny McCarthy? (something seems off, though)

4 = David Bowie?? (very hard to tell for sure)
5 = Richard Briers (Fiver)
6 = Elijah Wood (#9)

7 = Jenna von Oy (Six)
8 = Colin Mochrie (Two)
9 = Patrick McGoohan (Number Six)

10 = Lauren Tom (Numbuh Three)
_________________
Some people are lost in the shuffle. I'm shuffling along with the lost.

[novice]

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9 10

1 = Lucy Lawless (Number 3)
2 = Robert Wagner (Number Two)
3 = Jenny McCarthy (Six)

4 = David Bowie?? (very hard to tell for sure)
5 = Richard Briers (Fiver)
6 = Elijah Wood (#9)

7 = Jenna von Oy (Six)
8 = Colin Mochrie (Two)
9 = Patrick McGoohan (Number Six)

10 = Lauren Tom (Numbuh Three)

So, using the numbers indicated by their movie roles:
3 2 6
? 5 9
6 2 6 3

Maybe convert to letters using a phone keyboard?
def abc mno
??? jkl wxyz
mno abc mno def

[gftt*]

Using phonespell.org one finds that
3 2 6
4 5 9
6 2 6 3
spells FAMILY NAME. No other reasonable phrase comes from any other 326-?59-6263 number, and it sort of fits with the flavortext, so let's call it in.

[gftt*]

... which is correct. Picture 4 is not David Bowie, but some guy in a band I've never heard of. Also, Picture 3 is not Jenny McCarthy, but Carmen Electra - but coincidentally (and luckily for us) she too has voiced the character 6!

Bebop man meta:
Bebop Man has five favorite instruments; on them he can play most anything, assuming he knows the notes to play.

Handbells: One More Try -> BELLADONNA
Flute: Favourites -> CRESCENDOS
Celesta: Meta testing! -> BACKSOLVER
Drum Kit: Timbales -> ACTA PILATI
Double Bass: Famous Faces -> FAMILY NAME

All are ten letters long. Obvious man strikes again!:

[SuperSlug]

Mega Man - Bebop Man Meta
Bebop Man has five favorite instruments; on them he can play most anything, assuming he knows the notes to play.

[novice]

I'm feeling rather dense right now, but you'll have to explain the extraction above, SuperSlug.

EDIT: I see it now, the explanation is somewhat involved though.

[Suspence]

I read the full solution, and still barely get it.

Sorry I've been behind in updating this thread, SuperSlug works too fast and the job is busy these days. The first post of the thread is fully up to date now.

As noted, the current puzzle is:
Bio Man: Stuff Nerd People Like - http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/11/puzzles/mega_man/stuff_nerd_people_like/
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[SuperSlug]

Sorry, will work in an Edit of explanation above. Something gets lost when I just post my worksheet from Notepad, you miss all the "let me try this" "oh that doesn't work" "let me try this instead" moments. And of course it all happens in the wee hours when no one else is around.


Edit completed. If it still doesn't make sense let me know.
_________________
Some people are lost in the shuffle. I'm shuffling along with the lost.

[Suspence]

I've put the text on the spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aq1IiQ8fbOs2dG85c2U5dUkzWE9LOVVuTmhQWWU0TlE#gid=11
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[gftt]

indexing into post titles by number of times referenced - we have a lot of ambiguities so I'll give lots of possibilities:

[gftt*]

[Suspence]

Yes, that's the instruction needed to get the final answer. You call HQ, sing a song, and get the answer: FIERY SERPENT

Next puzzle:
Bio Man: Recombination - http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/11/puzzles/mega_man/recombination/
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[gftt*]

I'm betting this has to do with the juggling pattern notation. I don't really know it, just know about it. No time to look at it today, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juggling_notation

[Suspence]

Just gonna list what I see:

1st Juggle
White ball with a picture of a goblet on it
Lemon
Zucchini
The number 3 appears

2nd Juggle
White ball with a picture of a lightbulb on it
Tennis ball
Potato
The number 4 appears

3rd Juggle
White ball with a picture I don't recognize on it
Garlic bulb
Onion
The number 5 appears

4th Juggle
Peach
Pool ball - the yellow 1 ball
White ball with lettering on it. Appears to say A => -A (but the thing before the second A isn't totally clear). If so, "A implies -A"
The number 6 appears

5th Juggle
Small pinkish fruit?
Cauliflower
Mango
The number 7 appears

Each of the juggles appear to be different at the start. It seems he does enough to recognize the juggle if someone knew how to do that, then switches to the same "standard" juggle to end each segment.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[novice]

I get the impression though that the various juggling openings are due to the difficulties getting started with those particular objects.

So my first thought was that we just need to recombine the three juggled objects somehow. But I guess there's usually more than that to these puzzles.

[novice]

[novice]

It's "A implies not A" using formal logic notation. A contradiction, in other words.

[gftt*]

Could the small fruit be an apricot? And the mystery picture might be an ocarina?

[novice]

We'll probably need the siteswap descriptions of the five juggling patterns. Does anybody understand it well enough to compile those?

[Suspence]

Not I.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[gftt*]

Managed to do the first one. The others might have to wait for a while.

[novice]

This is too difficult on an iPad. Need to download the mp4 and play it in slow motion.

[gftt*]

Second one wasn't too bad.

[gftt*]

Third sequence:

[Suspence]

I was sick of this puzzle so I read the solution. I can confidently say I would never have solved this puzzle.
_________________
I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[gftt*]

The fourth is hard to interpret. The two throws of the white ball seem to be intentionally different - i.e., the first is a 4 throw and the the second is a 6 throw - but I can't figure out what exactly is supposed to be going on during the 6 throw that would require it to be a 6. Here's the best I can do, where H refers to a hold of two beats, as opposed to the mini-throw of two beats denoted by a 2: