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SafeCracker 3 enter image description here

Our Last Safe To Conquer

Ok, team, this one might give us a little trouble. Nothing we can't handle though... let's go...

This safe model is "The NevaCrak 9000" - the most secure safe there is.

Our only way in is to look at our puzzle, and simply find the block that doesn't belong.

A couple blocks are blank and are to be ignored. Only concern yourself with blocks with numbers and letters. Also disregard any of the flaire going on in the background.

THAT's IT

Everything is riding on you... go open that bad boy!

And here is the NevaCrak 9000

Which block does not belong??

( only one correct answer, no tricks or worplay involved )

The Safe

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    $\begingroup$ @JohnS. "What comes next number puzzles" can also have many correct answers... $\endgroup$
    – noedne
    May 2, 2019 at 17:25
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnS. This has nothing to do with being a new member but rather the content of the puzzle itself. We’re all trying to provide guidance on how you can improve your questions and what’s considered on-topic here. I sincerely hope you don’t take any of our criticism personally! :) $\endgroup$
    – HTM
    May 2, 2019 at 23:32
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnS. I understand your frustration. You wrote a puzzle with a solution that clearly works when you find it. But I encourage you to think for a moment from the puzzle solver's perspective. Ak19 came up with a rule that works perfectly well to find an odd block out. From their perspective, they have no way of knowing that this is not the solution you intended. When you tell them it's not what you had in mind, it may feel unfair that their valid solution is deemed incorrect. It's important for puzzles to have unique solutions, but it's easy to miss things no matter how good your intentions. $\endgroup$
    – noedne
    May 3, 2019 at 3:13
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnS. Compare the current question to a similar one: "What is the odd one out among the values 1, 2, 3, 4, 5?" Without any additional specifications from the author, any number of answers would be equally valid (5, because it's the only multiple of 5; 4, because it's the only composite number; etc. etc.), and thus the "correct" answer becomes a subjective choice. It's not the task itself that is problematic, but rather determining whether a possible answer is right or not. Also, I'm not sure how being a paid member of SE is relevant to this conversation. $\endgroup$
    – HTM
    May 3, 2019 at 5:10
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnS. Please realize that many people enjoy asking their questions here not only because they like seeing how people approach their puzzles and like to see their efforts validated when people get pleasure from solving them, but also because this community is good about providing feedback on how to improve puzzlecrafting. Nothing in these comments is singling you or your puzzles out, and none of the advice or responses to you given by the community is in any way out of place. Please take the advice you've been offered in the spirit in which it was given; it may even improve your puzzles! :) $\endgroup$
    – Rubio
    May 5, 2019 at 22:56

10 Answers 10

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The odd one out is the

green block with 5246.

This is because

for all the other numbers on the other blocks, combining the first and last digits and dividing by 2 gave the middle two digits. However, 5246 does not apply to that rule. To conform it to that rule, it would have to be 4248 (one of many possible fixes)...

Safe Cracked!

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  • $\begingroup$ The answer should be a single block (the ones that have a letter and number); not a complete group of blocks $\endgroup$ May 2, 2019 at 17:52
  • $\begingroup$ Yes. Ok, I am giving a very small , yet critical Hint: It's all a numbers game, it's allll a numbers game. $\endgroup$
    – John S.
    May 2, 2019 at 18:32
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnS. Didn't Ak19 correctly identify this block in an earlier answer? $\endgroup$
    – noedne
    May 2, 2019 at 23:40
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnS. While Invent's original answer (divisible by 3) is an accurate pattern and a good find, Ak19 posted it first. It's also not the same as your "correct" answer. At all. You just got tired of waiting for someone to discover your solution and decided to give it away to someone. $\endgroup$
    – David K
    May 3, 2019 at 12:12
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    $\begingroup$ No, there are many correct answers, as I have been pointed out. I wlll never make a puzzle with multiple solutions again. Not intentional anyways. He got a correct answer, we can't take that away from him. I am new here, so this is a learning lesson. I will be more specific in the future if I submit more. Thank you for your comment, though. $\endgroup$
    – John S.
    May 3, 2019 at 18:28
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The

green block with the number 5246

doesn't belong, because

it is the only number not divisible by 3 where all the others are.

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  • $\begingroup$ Ak19, that is a very good suggested answer, however, it is not correct. You are thinking along the correct path, however. $\endgroup$
    – John S.
    May 2, 2019 at 16:48
  • $\begingroup$ @Invent: 99.99999999% $\endgroup$
    – John S.
    May 2, 2019 at 17:55
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    $\begingroup$ This is the right answer, for a slightly weaker reason than the ‘‘official’’ one. $\endgroup$ May 3, 2019 at 2:20
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    $\begingroup$ all the numbers had exactly 3 prime factors. they were all (2,3,X) for mostly very large X (ranging from 11 to 1583). The only outlier is 5246 with prime factors of (2,43,61) once I saw this I couldn't look away! $\endgroup$
    – stew
    May 3, 2019 at 7:13
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    $\begingroup$ @stew: Your comment is essentially the same as David K’s answer. $\endgroup$ May 4, 2019 at 16:17
3
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I'm going to guess the:

Black block.
It's the only one that isn't a tetris piece :P

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I will guess that it is

Green block 5246

My reasoning is that

All other blocks have numbers that are divisible by 6, and it is the only block that has two prime factor other than 2 and 3. The prime factors of all other numbers are some number of 2s and 3s, and one other larger prime number. 5246 factorizes to 2, 43, and 61.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ This is equivalent to Ak19’s answer, but worded in a more complicated way. $\endgroup$ May 3, 2019 at 2:21
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    $\begingroup$ @PeregrineRook It is an expansion of Ak19's answer, but they are not equivalent. The OP indicated that Ak19 was thinking along the correct path, so I dug deeper in that direction. $\endgroup$
    – David K
    May 3, 2019 at 11:53
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    $\begingroup$ Ah, I see.  OK, you’re right.  Your answer encompasses Ak19’s answer, but you found something more. (Now it turns out that Ak19’s answer was very close to what the OP was looking for, and yours was not, but that doesn’t reflect badly on your answer.  It just goes to support the argument that the question is too broad, because it has too many different answers.) I would upvote you, but I already did. $\endgroup$ May 4, 2019 at 16:17
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The answer is:

The green block with the number 9498.

because

The average of the numbers on the green blocks is not a whole, even number (as it is for the other sets of blocks) and the number 9498 here is a duplicate of another block. This block could be 9496 which would make it valid.

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My answer:

When arranging the numbers in the order of the word Stack Exchange, and then doing an absolute value of the difference between any number and the following number, I get a pattern that the difference value rises then drops alternatingly, except at the Black A where the value remains the same. (Differences: 4176,8214,8214,3150,5088,1950,5274,2152,4252,0,4224,3126 - rise fall neutral fall rise fall rise fall rise fall rise fall)

Below is Meant as comment, but alas

@John S posted the following in a comment at https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/a/83526/60039

[ {C, 8412}, {E, 174},{H, 5246},{C, 7398},{A, 9498},{S, 4236},{A, 198},{T, 8412},{N, 9498},{G, 5274},{E, 2148} ]

It is missing data.

The last three are the orange blocks, the second to last three are the black blocks, the third to last three are the green blocks and the first 2 are only half of the yellow blocks, the x and k are missing.

However:

There are two pairs letters with same numbers, 9498 and 8412.

Also:

John stated elsewhere its just a numbers game...which makes sense because the letters spell out Stack Exchange

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I would guess it is the:

Yellow block that has the E and the number 174

Why?

All other group of blocks follow the pattern of increasing/decreasing the number as the letters advance through the alphabet.

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Answer:

The Black A

Reason:

It's the only one that has 11 as a factor

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1
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The answer might be:

The yellow one

Reasoning:

All the other blocks have only letters when looked at from a specific direction.

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3
  • $\begingroup$ No, sorry. We are looking for an individual block that just doesn't fit the criteria of all the others. - But that was a reasonable guess! $\endgroup$
    – John S.
    May 2, 2019 at 15:40
  • $\begingroup$ HERE IS THE DATA SET FOR THIS PUZZLE... Now, we are back to our regularly scheduled "What doesn't belong in this pattern?" puzzle. [ {C, 8412}, {E, 174},{H, 5246},{C, 7398},{A, 9498},{S, 4236},{A, 198},{T, 8412},{N, 9498},{G, 5274},{E, 2148} ] $\endgroup$
    – John S.
    May 2, 2019 at 19:06
  • $\begingroup$ Delete this question. Not editing it. ANSWER WAS SIMPLE: take first number and last number , combine. Divide by 2. will give you middle number. ONLY ONE block doesn't fit criteria. People had fun trying, you can delete. Thanks. $\endgroup$
    – John S.
    May 3, 2019 at 11:20
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I noticed that

if you open out the net of each, centred on the side showing the letter, any numbers above, below and to the right are all aligned in the same direction as the letter; and the number on the left is on its side, with its top pointing to the left. The only exception is the Yellow K block, where the number on the right isn't aligned in the same direction as the letter.

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    $\begingroup$ Looks like there is more than one valid solution :( $\endgroup$ May 2, 2019 at 16:51
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    $\begingroup$ If there's more than one block that's different from the others in a notable way and the challenge is to figure out what specific difference you had in mind, then the puzzle is basically "read the puzzle author's mind". Let's hope it turns out that the odd-one-out property John S intends is much more compelling than the two other perfectly plausible ones suggested so far... $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan
    May 2, 2019 at 17:42
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    $\begingroup$ It is the other way around >! This is a hint. $\endgroup$ May 2, 2019 at 18:33
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnS. typically we use Rot13 to hide hints or spoilers in comments. But I’d strongly recommend you put the hints in the original post, since they would be considered part of the overall puzzle $\endgroup$
    – HTM
    May 2, 2019 at 19:12
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnS. A "What's next?" like you describe should also be closed for being too broad... $\endgroup$
    – noedne
    May 2, 2019 at 21:24

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