7
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This is a prequel to ASCII Puzzler 2: Arrows Depicting Movement, Things, or Pointing Out Objects, ASCII Puzzler 3: The Trees, and https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/32439/ascii-puzzler-4-not-a-rebus

o
I ---> {}--{}
I       QQQQQQ <--> QQQQQQ
I       AAAAAA <--> AAAAAA
I       CCCCCC <--> CCCCCC

Figure out the sentence using the block of text above.

Hint 1:

The first thing (read top to bottom, o I I I I) is also a cereal brand

Hint 2:

Do, obviously, not trace: Base everything you know on this image MICROHARDNESS That is the key to unlocking this clue.

Hint 3:

Q, A, and C stand for something.

Hint 4:

Q: Is it a well known phrase or just some arbitrary sentence?
A: Well, it relates. Somehow, this arbitrary clause kills puzzlers' brains. Keep thinking.

Hint 5:

It is {}---{}.

Hint 6:

You're barely scratching the surface of this puzzle... try harder. Maybe your answer will stack up to good answers of hard questions.

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11
  • $\begingroup$ this is puzzling $\endgroup$
    – cr0
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 0:03
  • $\begingroup$ Looks like a rebus. $\endgroup$
    – Element118
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 1:17
  • $\begingroup$ @Element118, I added the tag. It is a rebus. $\endgroup$
    – bb216b3acfd8f72cbc8f899d4d6963
    Commented May 6, 2016 at 1:38
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I'm terrible with Rebus puzzles, but if it helps someone else, I think maybe hint 1 alludes to "Post", a cereal brand, and the structure of i's looks kind of like a pole/post. $\endgroup$
    – Bulldogg6404
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 11:12
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @Bulldogg6404 I was thinking that was a possibility, but why the lower case i at the top when the others are capitalized? $\endgroup$
    – paste
    Commented May 9, 2016 at 13:01

1 Answer 1

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6
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I'm guessing it's something like

Post to the Stack Exchange Question/Answer Community

Explanation

The I's on the left are a post, putting a thing that looks like it could be an empty question and answer onto a Stack of things being exchanged (the bidirectional arrows). The rest I was just guessing at what Q, A and C could stand for. No idea why there's six of one and half a dozen of the other being exchanged though.

Hint 3:

Q A and C stand for Question, Answer, and Community, respectively (see the stackexchange.com homepage for those )

Hint 4:

Taken as examples: Q is the Question and A is the Answer

Hint 5:

Don't know. Could be related to a stack trace (which unwind sometimes when curly braces are closed) or items being pushed onto a stack. Or it could just be saying that that item is what's being posted.

Hint 6:

Maybe referring to a scratching post. Also, the word "stack" appears in it.

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7
  • $\begingroup$ Can you provide explanations of Hints 3-6 before I mark it right? $\endgroup$
    – bb216b3acfd8f72cbc8f899d4d6963
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 0:00
  • $\begingroup$ for Hint 3 : What's usually under the Answers ? maybe ... Comments. $\endgroup$
    – Red-Jeweled
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 6:58
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, that sounds good. Do you know what the microhardness is about? Is it something to do with indentation as suggested by Pat G? $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 13:05
  • $\begingroup$ @Anton They're under the questions, too, though... $\endgroup$
    – paste
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 14:02
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @hexomino Maybe something to do with having to indent code (the curly braces) in order to format it? $\endgroup$
    – paste
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 16:09

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