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Here is a new type of puzzle poem I made. Enjoy!

Note: The title is named like that for a reason.

I have a number in mind, it is super cool,

But there's something you need to know, or you will find it like a fool.

The greatness of this number, the primes you need to understand,

Prime number 21 is the greatest, here's why it's the "great man":

A mirror, not the one made of glass,

Prime number 12 is the opposite, of the above you learned in class.

Here's another one, you're sure to appear in shock,

Multiply it's digits, and you will get 21, what a surprise in stock!

Now, it has another name, from famous science and math geeks,

In fact, if in front of the big metal and glass box,

A geek there is the name of the number I speak.

Apply a code, another prime, you know,

Do with the first provers too,

And you get the special code.

This code very special,

Unlock a safe for hidden secrets

For the secrets of the universe,

Wait, I'm wrong, it's a number, now I'll speak again in verse!

ughhhh...

What do you think is the code to the safe?

BONUS: Tick only to the first who finds the special "secrets of the universe" number.

Note: Only use the now encoded words in order: the geek, the H guy, (Spoiler revealed), and the last one.

Hint #1:

The last one mentioned's name is 4 words long

Hint #2 (Super Hint):

The big black box has something to do with the title.

Hint #3 (Spoiler Hint):

The 32 letter phrase has no actual meaning, it is just random 32 letters, which you can get by solving the clues. And, there are no spaces.

Hint #4 ( Just realised this):

You would be angry at the first 4 letters, so here's a clue: Avengers

Hint #5:

@hexomino has got right for the majority of the question, but he got "the provers" wrong. Try to think literally with the first ever provers of the Sheldon Conjecture.

By the way, no more hints from here, so I am hoping someone would solve it ;)

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  • $\begingroup$ Can you tell us how long the final code should be? I have a possible answer in mind but the last connection is a bit loose and I'm worried the code is too long. $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Commented Sep 28, 2020 at 9:36
  • $\begingroup$ 32 letters long $\endgroup$
    – user71418
    Commented Sep 28, 2020 at 9:48
  • $\begingroup$ Okay, no, I haven't got it but I think I can see what the general idea is, just missing the last step I think. $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Commented Sep 28, 2020 at 10:09
  • $\begingroup$ Notice that rot13(21 vfa'g n cevzr ahzore, fb vg zhfg zrna gur 21fg cevzr). $\endgroup$
    – user71418
    Commented Sep 28, 2020 at 11:09
  • $\begingroup$ I think most people will have gotten the first bit and understand what Kaboom-y numbers means but I think it's the last bit where it gets a bit tricky (turning all that information into a four word phrase). $\endgroup$
    – hexomino
    Commented Sep 28, 2020 at 12:51

1 Answer 1

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I have a number in mind, it is super cool,
But there's something you need to know, or you will find it like a fool.
The greatness of this number, the primes you need to understand,
Prime number 21 is the greatest, here's why it's the "great man":

Here we are talking about the 21st prime number, which is 73, and the author is going to tell how great it is (already this may sound familiar to a lot of people).

A mirror, not the one made of glass, Prime number 12 is the opposite, of the above you learned in class.

Simply put, if we reverse the digits of 73, we get 37, which is the 12th prime number and 12 is the reverse of 21.

Here's another one, you're sure to appear in shock,
Multiply it's digits, and you will get 21, what a surprise in stock!

If we multiply the digits we get $7\times 3 = 21$

Now, it has another name, from famous science and math geeks,
In fact, if in front of the big metal and glass box,

This is referring to the constant reference to the number 73 in the TV show The Big Bang Theory especially by the character Sheldon Cooper. He mentions in the show all of the properties above. The big, metal and glass box might be referring to the T.V.

A geek there is the name of the number I speak.

I think this is Sheldon Cooper. In fact, 73 is referred to as a Sheldon prime, and is the unique prime with the stated properties

Apply a code, another prime, you know,

This sounds like we might have to apply a rot13 shift which, when applied to SHELDON gives FURYQBA. The first four letters here FURY ties in with Hint 4 (being a synonym for "angry" and a character from the Avengers movies, Nick Fury).

Do with the first provers too,

As has been clarified, the first provers does not refer to the Greeks but to, literally, the first provers of the Sheldon conjecture which I think are Carl Pomerance and Chris Spicer. So we possibly have to also apply rot13 to their names - Pney Cbzrenapr, Puevf Fcvpre

As clarified by the OP, the first ever provers refers to

Hadamard and de la Vallee Poussin, the provers of the Prime Number Theorem

This code very special,
Unlock a safe for hidden secrets

So maybe what we do is to put it all together SHELDONHADAMARDDELAVALLEEPOUSSIN and take rot13 to get FURYQBAUNQNZNEQQRYNINYYRRCBHFFVA

For the secrets of the universe,
Wait, I'm wrong, it's a number, now I'll speak again in verse!

The obvious choice would be 42 from the Hitchhiker's Guide but I'm not sure how this fits in with the rest of the puzzle.

Title

Kaboom-y refers to the "Big Bang"

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  • $\begingroup$ You are correct for almost everything, but you are incorrect about the provers. When I said provers, I litterally mean the first ever provers of this "Sheldon Conjecture". Notice, I didn't put the [no-computers] tag. Instead, there is the [history] tag. Does that mean anything to you? $\endgroup$
    – user71418
    Commented Sep 29, 2020 at 1:24
  • $\begingroup$ Still, you tried though, so you deserve an upvote ;) $\endgroup$
    – user71418
    Commented Sep 29, 2020 at 1:39
  • $\begingroup$ And, the "secrets of the universe" number, does that remind you of anything? $\endgroup$
    – user71418
    Commented Sep 29, 2020 at 1:42
  • $\begingroup$ Wrong again with the provers, the conjecture actually has been proved before it existed, by 2 people, before Mr. Riemann wrote his unsolvable hypothesis. $\endgroup$
    – user71418
    Commented Sep 30, 2020 at 14:07
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Helpful? This may be connected. $\endgroup$
    – Voldemort's Wrath
    Commented Sep 30, 2020 at 14:54

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