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We're in the year 2016 so it's finally time to take puzzles to the 3rd dimension!

So let's see what those beautiful times bring us today:


(click to enlarge)

Everyone of you clever sods could as well have a look at the real thing
(please give it some time to load).

PC controls:

  • Hold left mouse button: rotate cube
  • Mouse wheel: zoom in and out
  • Hold right mouse button: move cube parallel to screen

Mobile controls (tested on Android and iOS):

  • tap: stop automatic rotation of cube
  • 1 finger: rotate cube
  • 2 fingers: zoom in and out
  • 3 fingers: move cube parallel to screen

The cube shown above appears to have, like most cubes, 6 faces of which each one carries a more or less mysterious entity. After decrypting all of them we should be able to find out what this is all about!

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    $\begingroup$ Ok, this is cool. $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 19:55
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    $\begingroup$ very creative ! $\endgroup$
    – Maxime B
    Commented Aug 18, 2016 at 7:57
  • $\begingroup$ @MaximeB Thank you. Still there is one person who downvoted the question. I'd really like to know the reason! Maybe my sloppy CAD? $\endgroup$
    – Avigrail
    Commented Aug 18, 2016 at 7:59
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    $\begingroup$ Nevermind the downvote, they hate us cause they ain't us $\endgroup$
    – IAmInPLS
    Commented Aug 18, 2016 at 8:44
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    $\begingroup$ @Emrakul how can I upload the 3D model to Stack Exchange and make it available forever? Right now it's in my Dropbox and I may delete it at some point but don't want the link to break. $\endgroup$
    – Avigrail
    Commented Sep 11, 2016 at 20:08

3 Answers 3

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These form a rebus-like clue.

1: U-turn
2: flat (British synonym for "apartment")
3: binary for into (interpreting tall cylinders as 1 and short cylinders as 0)
4: wire
5: frame

So the message is...

"turn flat into wireframe". Doing that on the URL given lets us see a chest inside! It lines up perfectly with the magnifying glass and contains the number 5106 in it. Also, the room itself (the "flat") has the words "PSE ID" in it.

enter image description here

So the solution is...

Avigrail himself! He's user number 5106 here on PSE.

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  • $\begingroup$ I see what you mean about the 5106 thing. Not sure how it fits in yet. Maybe this is some sort of rebus? $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 20:18
  • $\begingroup$ ...How did you get inside the box?! I can barely manipulate the thing, it rotates about the 5th face it seems (possibly a clue?) $\endgroup$
    – Avik Mohan
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 20:19
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    $\begingroup$ @AvikMohan: Scroll to zoom in. Then zoom through the box. $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 20:20
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    $\begingroup$ Also 4+5 could be 'wireframe' which would fit with the modern 3d sort of theme $\endgroup$
    – Avik Mohan
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 20:23
  • $\begingroup$ @AvikMohan: Ooh, clever. $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 20:23
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I think that others have found the answer and not realized it! They're just missing the meaning of the faces.

Here's the breakdown of each face as others have already found:

1: Turn (turn arrow)
2: Model (architectural model of a room) <<< This is the one others are missing
3: Into (Binary. Short Cylinder = 0, Tall = 1)
4: Wire (a literal wire segment)
5: Frame (Picture frame)
6: Look Here (Magnifying glass)

The key that others have missed is that the message tells you to...

Change the model into a wireframe model by changing the URL from
http://www.viewstl.com/?embedded&bgcolor=white&url=https://www.dropbox.com/s/btne9unv3vcw8t7/cubeRev5.stl?dl=1&shading=flat&noborder=yes&orientation=front%22%20style=%22border:0;margin:0;width:100%;height:100%
to
http://www.viewstl.com/?embedded&bgcolor=white&url=https://www.dropbox.com/s/vzmlvyypck8gf4b/cubeRev4.stl?dl=1&shading=wireframe&noborder=yes&orientation=front%22%20style=%22border:0;margin:0;width:100%;height:100%

Which reveals the secret interior!

Wireframe

Zooming inside the model (back in solid form for visibility), shows the treasure chest:

Chest

Zooming in more lets us read the secret message of

5106 (Avigrail's user ID number)
5106

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    $\begingroup$ Aaaah I was so close! Well done for getting it though $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 20:47
  • $\begingroup$ @BeastlyGerbil: Nope, he's missing something. $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 20:48
  • $\begingroup$ How funny is it that we found so much of the puzzle without taking the proper steps haha! And good pickup on the user-id thing, never would have found that $\endgroup$
    – Avik Mohan
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 20:49
  • $\begingroup$ No, it's not "model" - it's "flat"! $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 21:09
  • $\begingroup$ @Deusovi I could see it either way. "Flat" gives a more direct link for how to change the URL but the image isn't an entire flat; it's just a single room. I think you're probably right about what OP intended, though. $\endgroup$
    – Engineer Toast
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 21:13
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The hint says

You can count to six right?

Well I can and I've noticed

There is a number on each face

1:

The U-turn arrow

2:

The living room/lounge

3:

The cylinders (@Deusovi point out its 'into' in binary

4:

The wire

5:

The picture frame

6:

There isn't actually a number that I've noticed but the last face left is the magnifying glass

EDIT:

@Deusovi points out that going inside the box leads us to 5016. The magnifying glass probably is telling us to zoom in

Putting it all together

I think we'll end up with a 6 word sentence:

You turn life into wire frame 5106. (Or something like that)

You turn from the U turn, life from living room, wire frame from the wire and frame, into from the cylinders as binary and 5016 from inside the box. Need to fill in the gaps though to make it make sense :/ (thanks for help from @AvikMohan!)

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    $\begingroup$ I think the U-turn could be interpreted as 'You turn', so that perhaps the thing goes something along the lines of 'you turn (life? from living room) into a wireframe' but I'm not sure how the 5106 fits in. I think the 5106 has a bit more too it. $\endgroup$
    – Avik Mohan
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 20:37
  • $\begingroup$ @AvikMohan nice thinking! $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 20:37

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