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Circular as this puzzle may not look
Devilish forces have already found the book
Heavens, of course, would never stay still
If only it were easy, they would have got the seal

North is where the enemies always hide
Why is The Almighty always right?
You cannot complain, you cannot escape
Even if it cannot divide the magic shape

Joy will increase, and suffering will eradicate
Mastering chronobarbology is to change the Fate
Rendering everything above as nothing but rubbish
Zoom now, with great victory shall you finish

It has been told, glory comes first from the Chinese
Prophecy says it originates in India or Greece
You really need not suspect the entire being
Because the crucial part lies in one silver lining

Do not worry, stanzas are only for beauty
Go for where you start from, and you will see
On the surface is this riddle nonsensical
So what is needed is outrageously numerical

Hint:

This poem might look bad but it's difficult to make it better while maintaining the constrained writing .

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  • $\begingroup$ Are the minor grammar mistakes of "forces has" and "stanzas is" intentional? $\endgroup$
    – Luke Bickell
    Commented Jul 13, 2017 at 1:43
  • $\begingroup$ @LukeBickell Oops, sorry. They aren't. Thanks for pointing out the mistake! I'm not a native English speaker, btw. $\endgroup$
    – William Nathanael
    Commented Jul 13, 2017 at 3:16
  • $\begingroup$ @Nathanael I saw that you were from Indonesia so I thought that might be the case :) $\endgroup$
    – Luke Bickell
    Commented Jul 13, 2017 at 3:24
  • $\begingroup$ Love the reference to chronobarbology here $\endgroup$
    – Aric
    Commented Oct 17, 2017 at 10:04

3 Answers 3

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Alright, long time lurker, but finally found an unsolved puzzle that I figured out the answer to in order to create an account. :P

As @DavidFoong mentioned, the answer is indeed pi. The steganography in the puzzle relates to the first letter of each line and its corresponding A1Z26 number. Each digit of pi adds its value to the previous letter to make the next letter, i.e.:

C = 3
D = 3+1
H = 3+1+4
I = 3+1+4+1
N = 3+1+4+1+5
W = 3+1+4+1+5+9
Y = 3+1+4+1+5+9+2
E = 3+1+4+1+5+9+2+6 (Looping back around from Z26 to A1)
...
S = 3+1+4+1+5+9+2+6+5+3+5+8+9+7+9+3+2+3+8+4+6

Which when removing the + signs (and adding a period) gives us 3.14159265358979323846, the (approximate) value of pi!

Along with this, the puzzle also includes several side clues to lead us to the answer. @DavidFoong has most of the side clues solved, so check out his answer for those. The couple that he missed are:

Even if it cannot divide the magic shape

Due to pi being an irrational number, it cannot be divided by a division sign (e.g. 22/7, where 22 and 7 are divided by /).

Do not worry, stanzas are only for beauty
Go for where you start from, and you will see

The text is (mostly) filler, with some hints mixed in. Where you're starting from is the start of the sentence.

You really need not suspect the entire being
Because the crucial part lies in one silver lining

This refers to the block of text itself, i.e. you don't need to read all the text, just the letters that lie along the line on the left made by the blockquote.

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  • $\begingroup$ You got the correct answer! I prefer yours rather than @DavidFoong 's answer because this is the main puzzle, while Foong's is just the side clues. $\endgroup$
    – William Nathanael
    Commented Jul 14, 2017 at 0:35
  • $\begingroup$ Awesome! Are there any particular side clues you want to add to the answer to make it 'complete'? I'll accept any edits/additions you want to make, unless you think there are some side clues that haven't been solved yet. $\endgroup$
    – Alpha
    Commented Jul 14, 2017 at 0:49
  • $\begingroup$ The last two lines of the fourth stanza suggests that the answer lies on a line (do you see it?) and the "Go for where you start from" means it's the starting letter. And, "cannot divide" suggests irrationality. By the way, welcome to Puzzling! $\endgroup$
    – William Nathanael
    Commented Jul 14, 2017 at 1:34
  • $\begingroup$ Updated. Let me know if I've misunderstood anything! $\endgroup$
    – Alpha
    Commented Jul 14, 2017 at 3:47
  • $\begingroup$ Also thanks! Probably won't post too often, since it's rare that I have an answer to an unsolved question. :P I'd say that's a good indication of the quality of your puzzle! $\endgroup$
    – Alpha
    Commented Jul 14, 2017 at 3:50
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Wild guess, but is it:

pi

I got lost somewhere along the line, but there are a few reasons I think this might be the answer.

Circular as this puzzle may not look

referring to a circle. Went ahead and drew one

North is where the enemies always hide

put a point at the top of the circle. I should note, this ended up pointing me nowhere

Why is The Almighty always right?

put a point on the right. (draw a right triangle)? Not really sure what to do with this, but it got me thinking about pi

Rendering everything above as nothing but rubbish

the religious hints mean nothing. This could also be another instruction on what to do in the circle.

It has been told, glory comes first from the Chinese Prophecy says it originates in India or Greece

pi was approximated in several different countries. The first was most likely China. Later on, India and Greece used different methods to approximate it.

On the surface is this riddle nonsensical

another line about how some of the text mean nothing

So what is needed is outrageously numerical

the answer is a number

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  • $\begingroup$ Correct answer! It is indeed pi. However, I won't accept you figure out the main steganography needed to get pi. PS: The North thing and Almighty thing isn't meant to be taken literally, or meaningfully. And there is no need to make a circle. $\endgroup$
    – William Nathanael
    Commented Jul 13, 2017 at 13:50
  • $\begingroup$ @WilliamNathanael Sweet! I'll take a crack at it. $\endgroup$
    – David Foong
    Commented Jul 13, 2017 at 14:14
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Is it

0

Why:
Even if it cannot divide the magic shape

Cannot be divided

It has been told, glory comes first from the Chinese
Prophecy says it originates in India or Greece

Zero originates from Mesopotamia, went to the Indians, then to the Greeks and Chinese gave it it's circular shape.

On the surface is this riddle nonsensical
So what is needed is outrageously numerical

Don't try to make sense of the words, look for something numerical

Circular riddle

0 has a circular shape

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  • $\begingroup$ can't understand this "The number of letters before the word"?? Can you explain it bit more. $\endgroup$
    – Anurag
    Commented Jul 11, 2017 at 8:15
  • $\begingroup$ @Anurag I edited it, I meant counting the number of letters $\endgroup$
    – Styx
    Commented Jul 11, 2017 at 8:21
  • $\begingroup$ But from Circular to Fate, there are 413 characters only in riddle. Not sure if this is the correct answer. $\endgroup$
    – Anurag
    Commented Jul 11, 2017 at 8:32
  • $\begingroup$ Good try, but not the correct answer. Zero is, to some extent, a bit boring. I think this requires a bit of simple steganography. $\endgroup$
    – William Nathanael
    Commented Jul 11, 2017 at 9:59

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