Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Salvius]

Hi folks,

Well, once again, the Badge Puzzle goes unsolved. I am actually surprised this time, because it was much easier than it was the last two years.

Most of you figured out that the numbers in the lower right corner were nothing more than the count of the total number of letters in the person's name. But that number was significant.

Each person had a single letter of his or her name replaced with a different letter. Many of you notiuced the preponderance of "U"s and "Y"s when vowels were replaced; that was the first clue.

The second and revealing clue was that "U"s and "Y"s were only used when the letter count number was EVEN. When it was ODD, the only vowels which were used were "A", "E", "I" and "O".

Once you figured that part out, the rest was easy. The consonants worked the same way. There were a BUNCH of consonants which were used when the letter count number was EVEN, but when it was ODD, only "B", "L", "G", "T" and "D" were used (they were NEVER used when it was EVEN).

So add the 4 vowels to the 5 consonants and you come up with "O", "B", "L", "I", "G", "A", "T", "E" and "D"; and I think you can see the answer to the puzzle there, the 9-letter word OBLIGATED.

So, I'm sorry that nobody got the answer to this one, it was pretty simple, and worth $2,500.00. Next year it will probably be harder again

>>>Vinny

[Mark]

I'd say that its simplicity was part of why it wasn't solved.  I busted my brain on this all weekend but my ideas were more complex than this.  I did come up with one solution "Izod Hanky" but then found a badge that invalidated that solution.  I'll be there next year with my thinking cap on and this time it's going to be SOLVED!!

Mark

[Kate Beaman-Martinez]

Talk to Ken in EG. We were talking about it yesterday and he mentioned that he was going to try and solve it when he's sitting in VG.

[wcshoe]

Wow. I was incredibly close this year. I came up with "Wakefield."

As we all know, Ruth Graves Wakefield is the inventor of the chocolate chip cookie. We are all obligated to her...

[Lovious]

I think the whole problem of people not solving the badge puzzle this year was entirely my fault.  Some weird flux of reality caused me to lose my badge within about 10 minutes of getting it... this loss of Wicheal Smith undoubtedly caused everyone's calculations to go horribly astray.  For that I apologize... however, I think that it was balanced by the incredibly good beer at the beer tasting night that became the beer tasting 4 nights... even though vinny called my prize beer "Budweiser on Steroids"... a statement that caused me to kick him out of my room (though I still love him... just not willing to let him darken my beer tastings again :-P)... well I had a point at some point... and that's that you are all Godot!!  So come and have a good time, like I always have... now please excuse me as I get my liver replaced for the n-th time.  Where n = one divided by the number of beers consumed in a persons lifetime further divided by my age then take that answer and multiply it by the number of beers I have had in my lifetime.

Hmmmm I think this belongs in weird links and stuff... sans links.

Michael
Don't Drink and Post... you might spill your drink and ruin your Key1935yhgs