Cryptos

[Cryptos]

*ignores desperate puzzle solving attempts as he uses the reprieve to add more levels*

Let's try for $6 today, shall we?

*winks*

[Jase]

This one seems preety harsh and none us us still have anything

[dresherm]

I'm just wondering how many degrees of seperation are between the clues and the answer. Normally they give a clue thats a direct hit to obtain an answer, or at least a clue that leads to another clue. Of course, maybe they have and we're just overlooking something...

And I don't believe he's devious enough to make this a Grand Cru cipher....

[kuang]

I took a look at that the other day, and can't see how the data in the level could even come close to providing enough info to feed that cipher system.

Here's a thought - is the picture a real picture or a logical one. If it's logical then the following cases may apply:

1. The bottles have their labels to the viewer, in which case the mirror shows the back of the label and the colour of the contents.

2. The bottles are facing towards the mirror, in which case the labels will be invisible to the viewer or appear in reverse in the mirror.

If it's a real picture (and I've failed to trace one..) the clues may be a key to the picture's contents.

I'm pretty certain the words are irrelevant in themselves, but were just chosen because certain letters satisfy the needs of the code - they're too disparate to be anything other than a means to an end.

[fred]

I agree, Kuang. Have you tried other number bases besides hex? When I get some time (thesnow will arrive at midnight tonight in Fort Collins) I'll try some number base stuff to see if there isanyway of establishing commonalities among the words in the different A groups. Maybe it will lead to something that wioll allow us to jump to the D group and some special wine word will pop up. Maybe.............

[dresherm]

Well I can safely say that if I were in that room and only given 20 min to figure out the password, then in 21 min I'd be headed back to the states empty handed.....

[fred]

Yeah. Thank goodness we don't run this puzzle under a timer. L34 is killing us, unless we are working faster than the speed of light, in which case our lack of progress can be attributed to our speed of bewilderment................

[kuang]

*grins*

This is just a gut feeling but I'm not sure it's anything as complicated as number bases. Based on Jamieson's last reminder to himself, it was more a simple crib for his own purposes rather than message for someone else, and so the answer was easily calculated from the reminder rather than through resorting to an encryption system.

I get the feeling that A and D refer to words that will explain the process that needs to be carried out to each line - this is where my 'across' and 'down' thinking came from, as it's straightforward and cryptic enough that only the writer would latch onto it immediately. I've tried a few shifts and anagrams to test this theory, but have drawn blanks. I'm just trying to kick my brain into 'don't overthink it' mode so I don't try too hard and miss the obvious...

[Cryptos]

*mutters about Google ads*
$6 Tuesday, $9 Wednesday and only $2 today... Need $5 per day if I'm to get a check this month... If I get to $100 by the end of the month (the requisite amount to get a check for April), I'll give you all a hint.

At least they're in US dollars.
*attempts to convert american to canadian dollars and realizes that currency conversion might be an interesting theme for a level*

[Cryptos]

20,000 hits! *punches the air*

This weekend I'll be adding Google Search boxes to each page for your convenience and my profit.

[kuang]

You see, oh ye of little faith?

Build it, and they will click..

[Cryptos]

20 000?!?!? That wasn't all ME was it?!

I meant on the hit counter on the first page.

[armadillo_pie]

Level 34 - The Painting

Oy! This one is giving me fits!

I was reading Kuang's last (as always) detailed and insightful post, and it occured to me that perhaps we are not all in agreement as to the information about the painting.

Quote: "...and soon find a post-it note stuck behind the edge of a little modern painting of some wine bottles before a mirror set up on one wall."

Now, I'm not sure how everyone else is reading that, but I'm understanding it as "there is a painting of some wine bottles in front of a mirror" -- meaning that the mirror is an object within the painting. Both the wine bottles and the mirror are objects within the painting.

I think, if the painting is a clue, it would be a very different clue if the painting were somehow propped up in front of an actual mirror.

How are others processing that information?

I wish I had something more useful to contribute.

[kuang]

I was thinking about that earlier, as my brain is now starting to leak out of my ears

'a little modern painting of some wine bottles before a mirror set up on one wall'

I originally thought this meant that the painting depicted bottles in front of a mirror and that this painting was hung on a wall in the real world room with the door lock. On reading it again and thinking about your post, it occurs that the painting could be of a room, and the mirror happens to be on one of the imaginary walls with the bottles in front of it. I haven't found a painting ike the former, but it now occurs that there is a famous one resembling the latter and I can't quite put my finger on the artist or title. I know it's last century though, not sure it that counts as modern.

My current thinking is that the duplicate prefixes and the apparently random words imply that the clues may be a key rather than parts to be processed. This would place more significance on the painting though, and I'm not prepared to concede that just yet

EDIT: The painting I was thinking of was actually from 1882, and was entitled 'A Bar at the Folies Bergere' by Manet. I'm pretty sure that's not the right one.

[Cryptos]

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