To Be Solved
on May 31, 2012
So here’s the deal, guys. The first 20 of you to solve this will get an Alpha Fan pin in the mail, free of charge. Feel free to collaborate for the puzzle bits here in the comments, or on your various forums and blogs, but please don’t share the absolute end answer bits–so everyone gets a fair shot at the prize.
How it all works will make more sense as you solve it. A tip to help you when you get stuck: pay attention to the duplicates. They’ll trip you up if you’re not keeping tabs on them.
If you click the images, you’ll get higher res versions.
Pins still unclaimed:
Also, I apologize to your eyes. Good luck!
Thanks go Cohen of Reign In Hell for helping come up with the puzzle, and Chris for the PHP business.
Okay, this is what I have so far:
The full number sequence is as follows. Any number divided by a forward slash could be either of those digits/characters. My first theory was that each number corresponded to a letter of the alphabet, so after each line of numbers, I’ll write the character sequence.
First line:
10, 11, 09, 03, 16, 10, 01, 03, 11, 16, 17, 22/18
21, 25, 08, 10, 22, 21, 03, 10, 25, 22, 18, 24/13
J, K, I, C, P, J, A, C, K, P, Q, V/R
U, Y, H, J, V, U, C, J, Y, V, R, X/M
Second Line:
16, 26, 08, 14, 10, 07, 20, 16, 21, 10, 9, 22/18
22, 07, 20, 02, 21, 09, 26, 22, 12, 21, 8, 24/13
P, Z, H, N, J, G, T, P, U, J, I, V/R
V, G, T, B, U, I, Z, V, L, U, H, X/M
Third Line:
14, 22, 26, 22, 22, 19, 21, 26, 25, 20, 06
02, 13, 07, 13, 13, 05, 12, 07, 17, 26, 19
N, V/R, Z, V/R, V/R, S, U, Z, Y, T, F
B, X/M, G, X/M, X/M, E, L, G, Q, Z, P
Fourth Line:
20, 19, 19, 01, 14, 24, 09, 26, 16, 22/18, 02, 09, 17, 09, 04, 19
26, 05, 05, 03, 02, 14, 08, 07, 22, 24/13, 06, 08, 18, 08, 16, 05
T, S, S, A, N, X, I, W/Z, P, V/R, B, I, Q, I, D, S
Z, E, E, C, B, N, H, G/K, V, X/M, F, H, R, H, P, E
Fifth Line:
16, 06, 15, 20, 16, 13, 06, 16, 11, 12, 24, 02, 23/26, 15
22, 19, 23, 26, 22, 15, 19, 22, 25, 04, 14, 06, 07/11, 23
P, F, O, T, P, M, F, P, K, L, X, B, W/Z, O
V, S, W, Z, V, O, S, V, Y, D, N, F, G/K, W
Sixth Line:
02, 04, 17, 17, 09, 24, 01, 04, 03, 25, 04, 02, 01, 22/18, 23/26
06, 16, 18, 18, 08, 14, 03, 16, 10, 17, 16, 06, 03, 24/13, 07/11
B, D, Q, Q, I, X, A, D, C, Y, D, B, A, V/R, W/Z
F, P, R, R, H, N, C, P, J, Q, P, F, C, X/M, G/K
Seventh Line:
19, 24, 02, 13, 22/18, 02, 17, 19, 01, 20, 01
05, 14, 06, 15, 24/13, 06, 18, 05, 03, 26, 03
S, X, B, M, V/R, B, Q, S, A, T, A
E, N, F, O, X/M, F, R, E, C, Z, C
And that’s as far as I am now. I can’t figure out the meaning the the little dots which precede each new sequence though. I’m a little stumped at this point. I hope all this typing helps! Lets work together guys! Badges! :D
Though it was worg mentioning for those who can’t be bothered to count those dots on the left hand side:
First sequent: 3 dots (obviously).
Second sequence: 13 dots.
Third sequence: 15 dots.
Not sure if it is significant, but it can’t hurt to know, right?
Whaaaaaa?! is it cheese? my brain hurts.
It appears as if, in the first two sequences, the colour lines are grouped together. Could this a reference to the amount of letters in a word, or amount of digits in a number string? For example, the first line sequence has these groupings:
3, 5, 2, 2, 4, 1, 7
and the second sequence, these groupings:
3, 3, 2, 3.
Something? Or nothing… :(
Ah ! One more duplicate ! 15 and 01 are the same too !
My list is ruined! Nooooooo!
I didn’t read Redtrinary comments because i somewhat playing a little bit with the game before getting the alphabet spoiled off, but: he is going to be banned or the 100 pins are going to true alpha fan like you suggest in your next post?
Tesiantitesi,
I’m not really sure what it is you’re trying to say. I don’t really see any problem with me offering up what I think is the correct deciphering of the code. I’m still completely baffled by it. If I am others will be too, so I haven’t given any game-breaking information away. Cairns suggested that we “collaborate for the puzzle bits here in the comments”, which is what I’ve tried to do. Plus, our comments all have to pass through a moderator before they are visible to everyone else, so if I was in error, my posts would have been removed, no?
I’d love to hear what you make of this puzzle. Don’t hate, collaborate!
No, he’s okay. There’s a point where the puzzle is cracked and the answers to everything are unveiled. Posting the work up to that point is fine, just not what the answers are. Working together in the early stages like he is doing is encouraged, because it’s a somewhat difficult, and frustrating process.
To clarify, there are 20 pins that can be claimed by solving this puzzle. The other pins will be for later things, so it’ll be an ongoing chance to get one.
Completely off topic, but since we’re both here:
I’ve been browsing the rather… rousing sketches and illustrations on your website and was curious about a few of the characters you’ve drawn. Joe, Mike and Proust – Who are they, where are they from and where can I read about them? I hope they’re not one-off illustrations…
That row is from a superhero comic I plan to do in the future. There’s not really anything to read with them in it, yet, besides this: http://tojisuzuhara.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=/#/d3e0zzv
Do want! I love the idea of the Joe character being an amputee. That is inspired. Plus he has an awesome costume and is yet another character of yours who is kind of cute ;) I will keep checking in on Joe, Mike and Proust for sure :)
What do you mean Tesiantitesi ? Redtrinary didn’t spoil anything, so far they haven’t found anything, and neither have I.
“Feel free to collaborate for the puzzle bits here in the comments”, they said, so I don’t see anything wrong here.
Okay. I’m going to go through the whole thing again (sad face) and make sure I catch all the duplicates. I might re-post a new code, though I don’t want to clog up the screen with confusing (potentially wrong) jargon. Anyone else getting anywhere?
I’ve been working on this all morning and I have reached about the same result as you Retrinary. I went though all of the International Maritime flags and it seems as though the inner circle corresponds to the alphabet in the proper order. From there I translated and tried to work with each line.
First line:
U, Y, H, J, V, U, C/W, J, Y, V, R, M/X (conversion)
L, Q, T, U, M/X, L, J/G/K, U, M/X, O/N (in -> out)
J, K, I, C, P, J, A, C, K, P, Q, R/V (out -> in)
etc for other lines… (I can type it up if someone wants to compare in more detail)
I wasn’t sure whether to work the cipher from the inside out or outside in and while noted the spacing and points as you did, I can’t see what to make of them either. I’m going to try a few more ideas and I’ll post back if I stumble onto something that might work. :)
Hey Septentriones!
Right, I think I’ve got all the duplicates down now. They are as follows,
23/26 01/15 18/22
07/11 03/23 13/24
W/Z A/O R/V
G/K C/W M/X
I hope that is relatively clear. I’ve tried going through to code I’d written out all ready now knowing all the duplicates, but I’m still getting nothing >:(
Is the fact that the word “JACK” appears in the first line (if you’re working from the outside wheel) a false positive?
Also, septentriones, how did you get the ‘L, Q, T, U, M/X, L, J/G/K, U, M/X, O/N’ sequence? The “J/G/K and O/N” bit confuses me.
Shucks, the whole thing confuses me :S
I agree with all the duplicates you mentioned and I’m not sure if the “JACK” is an accident or not. I’m putting together full charts right now to try and be able to look for patterns. For the alternate sequence I was working with the inner ring and translating outwards. I’m not sure which is correct so I did both. Here is what I’m up to right now: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7105/7310060334_869eca0ca8_b.jpg (I’ll focus more on the outer -> in for now since there is the “JACK” that may be important). And yeah, I’m a bit confused too, lol!
Something that doesn’t convince me from your and Redtrinary conversion of letters: i simply tought inner and outer similarities between bars and colours percentage. Something that is baffling me is some identical bars, like outer number 23 and 26, how can we translate them?
Plus: some percentage doesn’t seems right to me.
Last of all: the first row in your scheme, where did you get that letters from? i would put instead A, B, C, D…
Yes, I think the Jack in the cyphertext is a false flag.
Ahh, I see how you were doing it now. Thanks. That really threw me. I haven’t found anything else yet (I got a little distracted by Jon’s Diver sketches on his website :3).
I’m still a little curious about the black dots on the left hand side. Any thoughts on those? They’re obviously there for a reason. At first, I assumed it was telling me to pick only thee letters from the first sequence, thirteen from the second and fifteen from the third. Problem is, there aren’t thirteen letters in the second sequence!?!?
The dots have to do with the method of decoding. You must use the dots one the cyphertext somehow.
I’ve solved the puzzle but there is still a question I don’t know the answer to. If you want to work together with me on it please reply here. I want that pin!
I’ll happily help you with whatever the question is. I still haven’t solved the puzzle though, so I’ll have to divide my time between the two.
Awesome! We can work it out… can you email me privately at tifaret at hotmail dot com? Thanks!
Can i help you too? i’m digging the flags and i got some ideas on how to use the dots, if that’s the problem!
I would be interested with working with the three of you on it. I had several other things to do earlier but now that I’m back. You can email me at galeanstarfire at gmail dot com
Solved it! I had some help from a fellow Alpha Fan, so it only seems fair that I should help others in return. If you need a hint or just want to bounce some ideas around in a “hot or cold” fashion, drop me a message at squashy _ josh @ hotmail . co . uk
Lets hope the next prize is some sexy diver artwork, eh ;)
Solved too thanks to the help of other, i was mistaking A LOT with those colours of diving flag. I still find hard those part and asking me why i’m still finding that so much difficult.
Only consolation i got the correct answer to the question at the first try – and petrified, and get eyes wet.
oh, yes, i forgot to comment: Sexy Diver or Sexy Charlie? It’s a tough choice i think. >_>
Charlie is always sexy though. ;)
Sexy Diver all the way! That body hair is just glorious. And that nose… Nom Nom Nom :D
Charlie though… Not so much :(
Been working on this all day on and off…. I’ll get it eventually!
Good luck, Selene!
Okay, I’m giving up! My head is all jumbled up and I’m not gonna get anything done today if I keep this up. Good luck to everyone else!
Good effort! Don’t be afraid of getting help from these other dudes. They’ve got some good leads.
Okay, I have solved it! Pretty cool. I liked the puzzle, even if I seemed to find the right answer just by trying every wrong answer first.
I got some help from Redtrinary, so I guess I should pay it forward too. If anyone wants help I am at drazahoib at outside dash life dot com. But now I am going to sleep
Finally solved the cipher! I was overthinking the method to translate back. Just a question, will we get an email if we followed the steps correctly? I believe I submitted the correct answer but I’m not positive after all the time it took me to solve. :)
There’s no email, but maybe I should do that. I can confirm yours went through, though. ‘Grats!
Thanks! It was a really fun puzzle. I hope you’ll post more of them in the future.
I’m impressed with everyone’s work and cooperation! AF has quite the clever fanbase.
Here’s a hint: what shape do the dots form? The dots give you important information for solving the associated cyphers.
If anyone wants some hints you can email me at galeanstarfire at gmail dot com I won’t be giving away the puzzle but I can help you along your way. ;)
Glad to see you’re spreading the love ;)
Glad to do so. I still can’t believe I over-thought how to translate once I had the letters identified. I got stuck thinking of the puzzle as a traditional circle cipher and trying all those in -> out and out -> in combinations. I facepalmed when I figured out the final trick. ;)
Great puzzle crafting, I loved the idea of the whole thing. I hope there will be more in the future. If anyone needs some help I’d be happy to provide some hints to keep you from over-thinking it. Thanks to those who helped me ^^
Jon could you make a confirm mail for who’s got in when we’ll reach 10 pins left? As Septentriones said we can’t be sure of having answered all right, and i surely don’t want to claim two pins re-entering the answers. (Funny fact: me and septentriones gave different answers to the… the… you know, second line of chypered thing, so that’s pretty odd, because it seamed to me that i got all correct and the pin number went down, but… who knows!)
Or maybe we’re both right… If that’s the case I can think of a few more possibilities as well…
Sure. You both got one.
I would say that’s something that probably should happen, as I had the same thought on my entry. I’m not sure if anything and everything was accepted, or if you were off by a letter, the system would block you out, etc. There’s certainly multiple ways it could be interpreted.
The system will only give you the adventure message if you’re successful. Everything else tells you “No”.
Appreciate the clarification Jon.
So I’m in, I remember clearly that message!
… and how i thought you were actually saying that with a sadistic evil grin in front of my face. Or a spotless child like Dora the Explorer’s brother, with rainbows in his eyes.
And how I didn’t believed you.
*sorry, I’m still pretty shocked thinking about it*
Very awesome puzzle. Lots of fun.
I’m at the unfair disadvantage of being dumb.
I have been silent up till now, but I figured it out and can probably help people out… I certainly would not have got it alone. My email is LightestOne@gmail.com, we can figure something out from there.
Or just ask your question in reply…. there needs to be a edit button on this thing.
I think that 15-dot cipher is really screwing me up right now. I’m not sure what I’m doing anymore, but I’m pretty sure it’s wrong.
Undo my life!
I think it helps to focus on how it’s different than the other two.
You can do it!
Curse you and your emotional support!
I want to give up, but I feel the need to persevere…
I KNOW I can solve this! I’ve been wrapping my head around this since Sunday – I’m glad I seem to have a little more time to work it (I need more of an understanding before I want to approach the community for hints)
Also, while I have your ear – just wanted to let you know I found my way to Alpha Flag through the Io9 blog post, and read through to your current comic in one sitting. I couldn’t tear away. Amazing concept, fantastic art, and I’m spreading the word!
If I don’t make it this time, I hope to prove I’m an Alpha Fan soon!
Thanks so much! I’m glad you really enjoyed it.
Good luck on earning Alpha Fan status, too.
Good luck with the puzzle! I was happy to see the io9 post yesterday too, sadly I can’t see to log into io9 anymore though the other Gawker sites work fine so I couldn’t comment about the Alpha Fan pins. Anyway, if you do need any hints you can contact a bunch of the readers here (through email or the comments) and we’ll nudge you in the right direction. :D
Haha, I was rather happy about it, too! It totally blew up the stats for the day.
Likewise, io9. Banging my head, just asked for a hint via email!
Thanks to septentriones for the hint!
Welcome, I hope it helped. :)
Thanks, Jon! Made my Saturday. :)
Rebekah
I’m glad! Thanks for working on it!
Over-thinking was the real danger. Got it though, with a bit of help. I will proudly look at the date on the card and remember it as “the day I spent far to little time studying for the bar.”
I also was drawn here by io9, though I have no idea what I was doing on the site. I am extremely grateful for that bit of happenstance! You’ve created a very fascinating thing in this comic.
Sure was fun cracking the code, took me a good few hours, especially the last cipher