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riddles >> what am i >> Puzzle in a puzzle.
(Message started by: joshiyanvolnd on Oct 1st, 2007, 7:44pm)

Title: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by joshiyanvolnd on Oct 1st, 2007, 7:44pm
4x 4x 8 16 6
12 2x 8 18 8
1x 2x 18 7 4x
14 5x 12 4x 12
18 2x 2x 4 6

W H AxT AxM Ix?

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by Noke Lieu on Oct 17th, 2007, 4:55pm
isn't it a terrible feeling to compose a riddle, and then no-one post into it?
No answers yet, partly due to it beng quite tricky, partly due to me and time.

I tried (and I assume many others have) converting the numbers to letters, assuming that it was a 5x5 crossed word thingo.

Didn't work.
Any other ideas?

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by joshiyanvolnd on Oct 18th, 2007, 12:08pm
u are on the right track, but its more complex. u have to open your mind to more possibilties. As a hint, I will tell you this: Your starting point is to figure out what you notice about the sentence What am I?

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by pex on Oct 18th, 2007, 12:35pm
Well, I can see that [hide]a number followed by "x" seems to be a vowel; others are consonants.[/hide] Haven't figured out the code yet though.

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by FiBsTeR on Oct 18th, 2007, 4:33pm

on 10/18/07 at 12:35:45, pex wrote:
Well, I can see that [hide]a number followed by "x" seems to be a vowel; others are consonants.[/hide] Haven't figured out the code yet though.


I thought about this, although [hide]if we can assume that "4x" and "4x" are the same letter in the first line, there aren't many common words that begin with two of the same vowel. I also thought that since the "x"s follow only numbers in {1,2,3,4,5}, these would be the vowels. However, in the third and fifth lines, the number "4" appears without an "x" after it...[/hide]  :-/

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by Noke Lieu on Oct 18th, 2007, 4:47pm
I took the assumption that 4x meant 4th vowel, giving the first line perhaps going to be ooze.

But then that meant that the 6 should have been 2x. So perhaps on occassion, x=3.

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by Joe Fendel on Oct 20th, 2007, 8:48am
Going with Noke's idea, if Nx means the Nth vowel, then N might be the Nth consonant.

This doesn't work really well, though:

OOKTH
PEKWK
AEWKF
RUPOP
WEEFH

My instinct is that this is the correct vowel-consonant pattern of the words, but it's just not as simple as "Nth".  With that idea, I'd concentrate on the 1st and 3rd "word" going across.  How many V-V-C-C-C words can there be?

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by DC1E2L on Oct 21st, 2007, 1:11am

on 10/20/07 at 08:48:53, Joe Fendel wrote:
With that idea, I'd concentrate on the 1st and 3rd "word" going across.  How many V-V-C-C-C words can there be?

Could you grep this?

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by Grimbal on Oct 21st, 2007, 4:57am
There are many entries in my dictionary that I don't recognize as English words.  But here are few.

aargh aught ants earls earns earth eight iambs oaths oomph, ought ousts (and depending how you consider 'y') yacht yacks yanks yards yawns yells yolks yurts

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by DC1E2L on Oct 21st, 2007, 5:05am
There are only 2 odd numbers in the grid, are they of any signifigance?

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by joshiyanvolnd on Oct 24th, 2007, 7:20pm
They are not any more special than the other numbers. Most of you are beginning to open up the right possibilities(especially about vowels you are getting close). However, remember to think outside the box and to be careful to not constrain your thoughts and ideas to the normal flow of things.

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by Ghost Sniper on Oct 25th, 2007, 4:54am
I tried counting backwards, with U being 1x, and Z being 1, but I still got nowhere.  :P

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by joshiyanvolnd on Oct 27th, 2007, 6:43pm
to give you all a little push, ghost sniper is the closest so far

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by FiBsTeR on Oct 27th, 2007, 7:08pm
[hide]Do the meanings of the numbers change per line?[/hide]

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by joshiyanvolnd on Oct 28th, 2007, 2:55pm
no

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by Grimbal on Oct 29th, 2007, 2:47am
Isn't there an x missing at the end of the third line?

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by gotit on Oct 29th, 2007, 4:27am
Assuming that Grimbal is right, [hide]Ix AxM HAxLF[/hide].

The hidden line is [hide]"TWO OF ME MAKES FOUR FROM THREE."[/hide]

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by joshiyanvolnd on Oct 30th, 2007, 6:32pm
Bingo. Now what is the answer to the riddle? I think you hinted at it. Sorry about that third line by the way.

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by FiBsTeR on Oct 30th, 2007, 6:53pm

on 10/29/07 at 04:27:40, gotit wrote:
[hide]"TWO OF ME MAKES FOUR FROM THREE."[/hide]


[hide]-0.5[/hide]?  ::)

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Oct 30th, 2007, 8:58pm
Or [hide]3.5[/hide].

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by gotit on Oct 31st, 2007, 3:44am
I already mentioned my answer. Its [hide]HALF or 1/2 or 0.5[/hide]

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by FiBsTeR on Oct 31st, 2007, 4:21am
Back in "my day", [hide]four from three meant 3-4=-1[/hide].

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by mikedagr8 on Oct 31st, 2007, 4:22am

on 10/31/07 at 04:21:56, FiBsTeR wrote:
Back in "my day", [hide]four from three meant 3-4=-1[/hide].

When did "your day" occur?  ::)

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by FiBsTeR on Oct 31st, 2007, 5:42am
I was referring to elementary/grade school, and it intuitively makes sense that X apples from Y apples means taking X apples from Y apples, and thus you'd be left with Y-X apples.

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Oct 31st, 2007, 8:17am

on 10/31/07 at 04:21:56, FiBsTeR wrote:
Back in "my day", [hide]four from three meant 3-4=-1[/hide].

I know.  Just a little poor-English stretch.

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by Ghost Sniper on Oct 31st, 2007, 10:27am
Joshi, you there?

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by joshiyanvolnd on Nov 1st, 2007, 5:25pm
Logical, and i can see how it works and understand your thinking, but the answer is not a number.

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by Eigenray on Jan 9th, 2008, 1:21am
I can't imagine this puzzle having a real solution.  :-X

Title: Re: Puzzle in a puzzle.
Post by mikedagr8 on Jan 9th, 2008, 1:36am

on 01/09/08 at 01:21:23, Eigenray wrote:
I can't imagine this puzzle having a real solution.  :-X

;D



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