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This puzzle is part of the Monthly Topic Challenge #1: Restricted Title: xkcd 1xxx


Shortly after Cueball dodged a bullet, he receives an e-mail from Megan. To his misfortune, the topic is once again Star Wars...

Hi Cueball!

I know you love puzzles and I just got word you're also a Star Wars fan, so guess what I've prepared for you ;) This (imprecise) lightsaber clock hides the name of my favorite Star Wars character. Tell me who it is so I know you're not lying about all this :P

enter image description here

Cueball does not want to face the horrible consequences of admitting he has never seen Star Wars. Can you help him solve Megan's puzzle and make him look like a Star Wars fan


It might not look like it, but there are 3 steps in this puzzle, so partial answers are welcome.

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    $\begingroup$ Not enough progress to post even a partial solution, but in case it helps anyone else rot13(Gur qvtvgf 1, 3, 6, 10 naq 12 ner ercynprq ol gur yrggref H, V, T, Z, E, erfcrpgviryl (ybbxf n ybg yvxr vzthe ohg BC vaqvpngrq gung bayl guvf vzntr vf arrqrq.) Naq gur fznyyre grkg arkg gb gur E vf "k2" fb creuncf gurer ner 2 E'f.) $\endgroup$
    – SQLnoob
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 18:44

1 Answer 1

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Megan's favourite character is

Yoda

The first thing to notice is that

Like SQLnoob wrote in the comments, the numbers 1, 3, 6, 10 and 12 have been replaced by U, I, G, M and R in the Aurebesh script. Reordering these gives IMGUR and reordering the replaced numbers in the same way gives 3, 10, 6, 1, 12.

Now, there is also x2 written besides the 12 so taking A1Z26 for the numbers 3, 10, 6, 1, 24 gives CJFAX.

Taking them lowercase brings us to the following imgur link depicting the galaxy map of Star Wars.


Now, we can overlay the clock with the center of the deep core of the galaxy like this


Next, we should look for the planets that the clock hands are pointing at. Furthermore, we should look for planets in the same colored regions as the clock hands.

The hand pointing north points at Ord Mantell inside the Mid Rim. The hand pointing south east points at Denon inside the Colonies and Ando inside the Mid Rim. The hand pointing south points at Yag'Dhul inside the Colonies.

Taking the first letters of these planets and putting them in the correct order gives
YODA

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  • $\begingroup$ Argh, you beat me to it by 2 mins! I just noticed OP's edit to the puzzle in response to my comment, which gave away the crucial step. Good job! $\endgroup$
    – SQLnoob
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 20:00
  • $\begingroup$ Neat, but do we allow clues stored externally on ephemeral images? $\endgroup$
    – smci
    Commented Jul 1, 2022 at 22:50
  • $\begingroup$ @smci The image is uploaded to i stack.imgur, so yes. It is considered self-contained, just like an image directly in the body of a post is fine. $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 2, 2022 at 5:45
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    $\begingroup$ Stackexchange pays Imgur for the hosting of i.stack.imgur.com. any picture drag+dropped onto stackexchange posts is uploaded there. $\endgroup$
    – masterX244
    Commented Jul 2, 2022 at 17:07
  • $\begingroup$ @masterX244 and Lukas: Ah ok, thanks $\endgroup$
    – smci
    Commented Jul 2, 2022 at 19:19

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