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The final answer is a single word.

Since ancient times, people have searched the stars for signs and to guide them in the right direction through the darkness.

Puzzle image

Hint:

The constellations themselves are a word list, not any form of indexing into the final answer.

Hint 2:

Each word found in the grid contributes one letter to the final answer. Take the word "direction" in the flavortext literally.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Is there a puzzle after decoding all the braille? Figuring out that it's braille is fine as a puzzle mechanic, but translating all 154 letters is more tedious than fun. $\endgroup$
    – Alpha
    Aug 10, 2017 at 0:07
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, decoding the Braille is just the first step. When I get home I can post the ASCII version if people want. Sadly 11x14 cells is as small as I could make the puzzle while still putting all the information in it. (The Braille was originally less obvious with the cells being closer together, but test solvers just got lost.) $\endgroup$
    – Aranlyde
    Aug 10, 2017 at 2:56
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    $\begingroup$ Yeah, if there's a text version available that can be tossed into a translator, I think that'll help people get to the 'solving the puzzle' part. Good looking puzzle by the way! $\endgroup$
    – Alpha
    Aug 10, 2017 at 3:49
  • $\begingroup$ cancerjsypratf zauugrelsetoob lqsagittariusy u#rsdsiwusexga snshievs#eozey dviuaomtyunkml orionzpoesfwip ciwgtg#eroabnh awipoxyaidrtiq ragyntocvanidc disuruataucaox $\endgroup$
    – Aranlyde
    Aug 10, 2017 at 6:42
  • $\begingroup$ Is there a reason parts of the Braille light up? $\endgroup$
    – diggity
    Aug 10, 2017 at 11:18

3 Answers 3

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9
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The answer is

CANCER

The background is

braille

And says:

cancerjsypratf
zauugrelsetoob
lqsagittariusy
u#rsdsiwusexga
snshievs#eozey
dviuaomtyunkml
orionzpoesfwip
ciwgtg#eroabnh
awipoxyaidrtiq
ragyntocvanidc
disuruataucaox

It appears that this is a

wordsearch of the constellations that appear

Here are all the words:

enter image description here

CSV (Words in caps):

CANCERjsyPratf
zAuugrelSETOOB
lqSAGITTARIUSy
u#rSDsiwuSexGa
snShIEvs#EozEy
dviUaOMtyUnkML
ORIONzPOeSfwIp
CiwgtG#ERoaBNh
AwipoxYaIDRtIq
RagyntoCvANidc
DiSURUATaucAox


GEMINI, CASSIOPEIA, DRACO, ORION, CANCER, CYGNUS, SAGITTARIUS, TAURUS, ANDROMEDA, PERSEUS, BOOTES and LIBRA

With the hints about 'direction' - The letter at the end of each word (grey) gives a message reading top to bottom:

enter image description here

JULY #D ZODIAC (thanks @ffao for a bit of help with this bit)

The '#d' doesn't seem to make much sense but if we take it as

'Number d' that gives '4'

Meaning the final clue is

July 4 Zodiac

And the zodiac for the

fourth of july is CANCER.

Previous idea that proved incorrect:

Here is an overlayed image (red letters are part of a constellation):

enter image description here

Remaining letters are

SYTFELQREANHSAFPOAQGNODIAUOX - not very helpful

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  • $\begingroup$ Doing what you did for cancer, I did the same for the other three (taurus, orion, sagitarius). Orion is: XZEYML, Sagitarius is: #VOMTYUZEG# and Taurus is: ONKWNHI. Putting these together you get: XZEYMLIWADS#VOMTYUZEG#ONKWNHI. In alphabetical order, that becomes: ADEEGHIIKLMMNNOOSTUVWWXYYZZ##. One thought I had was that the constellations only light some of the braille, maybe if you translated that you could get to a more english-looking answer. I tried to do that but since I am not good in braille I couldn't recognise some characters. $\endgroup$
    – diggity
    Aug 10, 2017 at 11:07
  • $\begingroup$ I was using google images for my translation, so I only had the basic alphabet. Maybe someone with a bit more adversity in braille could help with that idea. $\endgroup$
    – diggity
    Aug 10, 2017 at 11:08
  • $\begingroup$ Really? In what way? $\endgroup$
    – diggity
    Aug 10, 2017 at 11:12
  • $\begingroup$ chat doesn't work for me shrugs $\endgroup$
    – diggity
    Aug 10, 2017 at 11:16
  • $\begingroup$ But, I'll try looking into other methods then... $\endgroup$
    – diggity
    Aug 10, 2017 at 11:17
3
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Partial answer, mainly data.

Beastly Gerbil has already found out what the star chart is about:

The constellations are drawn on a background of Braille letters. There are twelve constallations and all shown constellations also appear in the grid of Braille letters, which is like a wordsearch puzzle.

Below are the twelve constellations with the letters used for stars and the wordsearch name highlighted. The brightest star of each constellation is marked with parentheses. 

Andromeda (Alpheratz)         Cassiopeia (Shedir)           Boötes (Arcturus)

. . . . . . . . . . R A . .   C . . . . . J . . . . . . .   . A N . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . O O .   . A . U G(R). . . . . . . .   Z . U . . . . . S E T O O B
. . . A . . . . . . . .(S)Y   . . S . G . . . . . . . . .   . . S . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . D . . . . . . . . .   . . . S . . . . . . . . . .   . . .(S)D S . . . . . . . .
. . . . . E . . . . . . . .   . . . . I . . . . . . . . .   . . S . . E . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . M . . . . . . .   . . . . . O . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . O . . . . . .   . . . . . . P . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . R . . . . .   . . . . . . . E . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . D . . . .   . . . . . . . . I . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . N . . .   . . . . . . . . . A . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . A . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Draco (Etamin)                Gemini (Pollux)               Libra (Zubeneschamali)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . L S . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . T T . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . .(S)I W U . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . G .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . O . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . E .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . M .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . L
O . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . I .   . . . . . . . . . . . . I .
C . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . W(G)T . . . . . . . N .   . . . . . . . . R . . B . .
A . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . I P O X . . . . . . I .   . . . . . . Y A . D R . . .
R . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . Y . T . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . .(V)A . . . .
D . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . U R U . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . T . . . . . .

Orion (Rigel)                 Cancer (Tarf)                 Perseus (Mirfak)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   C A N C E R . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . P . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . E . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . R . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . X . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   U # . . . . . . . S . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .(Z)E Y   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  (S). . . . . . . . E . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . M L   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   D V I . . . . . . U . . . .
O R I O N . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   O R . . . . . . . S . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . I . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . W . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . A . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .  (D). S . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Sagittarius (Kaus Austr.)     Taurus (Aldebaran)            Cygnus (Deneb)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . S A G I T T A R I U S .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . V . # . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . O . . .   . . S . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . O M T Y U . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . N K . .   . . . U . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . Z . .(E). . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . .(W). .   . . . . N . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . G # . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . N H   . . . . . G . . . . . B . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . I .   . . . . . . Y . . .(R)T . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . . . . . . C . . . I . C
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .   . . S U R U A T . . . . . .   . . . . . . . . . . C . . .

What's the final answer?

I don't know. I suspect that it is a twelve-letter word. Using the letters of the brightest stars' positions or the first letters of their names doesn't give anything useful. I also thought that the drawn constellations and their names would have a single letter in common, but that's not the case.

What is with the number indicator? You can mirror it to get a V. Most other letters can also be mirrored.

Perhaps the above chart might be useful for other star-gazers.

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4
  • $\begingroup$ Ah I missed Libra. Thanks for doing this! This is very helpful $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Aug 10, 2017 at 14:05
  • $\begingroup$ I hope the data is better than tha typing. (I blame the breadcrumbs in the keyboard at work.) $\endgroup$
    – M Oehm
    Aug 10, 2017 at 14:11
  • $\begingroup$ Haha :P You know I quite like 'Beatsly' Gerbil :P $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Aug 10, 2017 at 14:14
  • $\begingroup$ You made me think of a better way of cluing the right answer in the future :) To be honest, it was hard enough getting the constellations to fit the letters that needed to exist while still being recognizable/accurate, so the keyword cluing is something much simpler. $\endgroup$
    – Aranlyde
    Aug 10, 2017 at 15:09
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Zodiac

How i reached this answer

Some of the identifiable words listed are zodiac signs (Cancer, Sagittareus) and the title 'Reach for the stars' is a very specific homage to the zodiac.

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    $\begingroup$ I think you're missing a couple of steps here. Could you give us a more in-depth analysis of the picture (e.g. what do the highlighted stars mean?). I'm also not sure on your link to the title (could you explain how it's a very specific homage?); my interpretation was that 'Reach for the Stars' referred to touching the stars (i.e. how braille is read by touch). $\endgroup$
    – Alpha
    Aug 10, 2017 at 3:55
  • $\begingroup$ (also listed: orion, taurus) $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Aug 10, 2017 at 6:49
  • $\begingroup$ Zodiac is not the correct answer. You'll know it when you find it. $\endgroup$
    – Aranlyde
    Aug 10, 2017 at 7:11

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