The Grey Labyrinth is a collection of puzzles, riddles, mind games, paradoxes and other intellectually challenging diversions. Related topics: puzzle games, logic puzzles, lateral thinking puzzles, philosophy, mind benders, brain teasers, word problems, conundrums, 3d puzzles, spatial reasoning, intelligence tests, mathematical diversions, paradoxes, physics problems, reasoning, math, science.

Lepton · 1:41+ Arse Scratcher

referee · June 21st, 2004 Member

Well, for starters the Symple, actually. Merely look on yonder diagrams acronyms to Sam Loyd

ralphmerridew · Daedalian Member

code:




........XXXX........


.XXXX....XX....XXXX.


.XXXX....XX....XXXX.


XXX......XX......XXX


XX.......XX.......XX


....X.....X.........


....X.....X.........


....X.....X.........


....X.....X.........


XXX.X....XX.XXXX....


.......XXXXXX......X


.....XXXX..XXXX....X


.....XXX....XXX....X


..................XX


X....XXX.XX.XXXXXXXX


X........XX....XXXXX


X........XX....XXXXX


X........XX....XXXXX


X........XX....XXXXX


XX.......XX....XXXXX

ralphmerridew · Daedalian Member

code:




..X....X....X....X....X..


...X...X.....X..XXX....X.


XXXXXX.X.XXXXXXX.X.XXXXXX


...X..XXX....X...X.....X.


..X....X....X....X....X..


..X....X....X....X....X..


..X....X...X.....X...X...


X.X.XX.X.XXXXXXX.X.XXXXXX


.XXX..XXX..X....XXX..X...


..X....X....X....X....X..


..X....X....X....X....X..


.X....XXX....X....X...X..


XXXXXX.X.XXXXXXXXXXXX.X.X


.X.....X.....X....X..XXX.


..X....X....X....X....X..


..X....X....X....X....X..


...X..XXX..XXX..X....XXX.


XXXXXX.X.XX.X.XXXXXXX.X.X


...X...X....X...X.....X..


..X....X....X....X....X..


..X....X....X....X.......


.X.....X...X....XXX......


XXXXXX.X.XXXXXXX.X.X.....


.X....XXX..X.....X.......


..X....X....X....X.......

Mahaloth · Icarian Member

I am totally lost on this one. Am I supposed to see an image in there?

Lucky Wizard · Daedalian Member

Well, referee and ralphmerridew have already found the same things I've found.

I have a book by Martin Gardner which has a chapter on Sam Loyd, so I checked it. Can't say it was too helpful... but it mentions these puzzles:

various chess puzzles.
the "trick donkeys" one where you have a picture of two jockeys and two pictures of donkeys, and you have to make the jockeys ride the donkeys.
the 14-15 puzzle in which you have to slide number tiles around in a 4x4 square to arrange the tiles in serial order.
the "Get off the Earth" paradox, which is one of those visual paradoxes in which two pieces together show a picture of n objects, and moving one piece slightly causes one of the objects to disappear entirely.
the devilfish problem.

After I look at the second image for a while, I start to see what might be a 5x5 version of "14-15" (a theory bolstered by the fact that one square is blank). Can't make head or tail of the arrows though. Some thoughts on it:

At first I thought they were indicating where to move the sliding pieces, but closer inspection shows that some squares don't have arrows moving into them, and others don't have adjacent arrows moving out of them, so that shoots that idea down.
Maybe the pieces in this 5x5 version have arrows on them instead of numbers, and we have to figure out how to move the arrows in such a way as to create an aesthetically pleasing picture?
Or maybe it's one of those mazes where you have to start in the upper-left corner and move to the lower right corner, following the arrows? Unfortunately it's impossible.
Finally, a frivolous and unlikely idea, but I'll throw it out anyway. Maybe the arrows have something to do with Dance Dance Revolution? (I've never played it, though.)

(To make the second picture easier on your eyes, I put code tags below that use the equivalent letters to show where the arrows are pointing.)

code:

RDRUR


DDLDL


LURRD


RUULU


LDLU

And the first image has me totally stumped. My best guess is it has to do with either the "Get off the Earth" paradox (I've never seen a picture of it, though Gardner describes it in his book, which is how I knew what it was) or some puzzle that Gardner *doesn't* describe in his book. Or maybe it has nothing to do with Sam Loyd at all. Or maybe it's a portrait of Sam Loyd.

mikeamok · Daedalian Member

the arrows are directions for how to slide the tiles in the first diagram. the end product after doing so looks like this:

code:

....................


......XXXXXXXX......


......XXXXXXXX......


.....XXX....XXX.....


....XXX......XXX....


....XXX......XXX....


....XX........XX....


....XX........XX....


....XX........XX....


XXX.XX........XX.XXX


XXX.XX........XX.XXX


....XX........XX....


....XX........XX....


....XX........XX....


....XXX......XXX....


....XXX......XX


.....XXX....XXX


......XXXXXXXX.


.......XXXXXX..


...............

could it be the GL's own Orbiting?

mikeamok · Daedalian Member

to clarify: you read the arrows left to right and top to bottom, moving a tile that direction into the empty space.

mole · Subterranean Member

And mikeamok gets another one.

The Cruciverbalist · Lucrative Britches

Indeed.

Lepton · 1:41+ Arse Scratcher

kudos, mikeamok!

CrystyB · Misunderstood Guy

ralph, you deleted a line when you posted that answer. And, to compensate, you have four instead of three identical lines at the bottom.
Between your current 10th and 11th lines, there should be a line containing '....X...XXXX.......X'.

Orbiting · very ign-o-rable

whee! I don't think I've ever been an answer before

Werebear can have his immortality rings - I've got everlasting fame through the mini-hunt Razz

CrystyB · Misunderstood Guy

get your usernames straight. It was The Cruciverbalist that made the puzzle. He might be Wb, but i wouldn't bet on that...

Orbiting · very ign-o-rable

I didn't say he was werebear... I was referencing werebear's immortality thread, different subject altogether.

Hitchhiker · Finally got a ride.

Yeah.

Dragon Phoenix · Judge Doom

Perhaps Crysty's title should be Misunderstanding Guy?

CrystyB · Misunderstood Guy

ah, right, i misunderstood it.

@ DP. This is better due to less length, double meaning and owner liking!

:b.

I read it as if "mini-hunt" was not preceded by "the", but by "his".

Ah well now i can't go back and delete it out of the topic b/c all these posts would become meaningless. So i won't. *g*

Dragon Phoenix · Judge Doom

done