9
$\begingroup$

The puzzle below contains a wealth of information. However, if you were to make a list, you will soon realize that there's something missing.

You're task is to fill in all the blanks. Have fun, and make the most of it!

enter image description here

Hint 1:

It's all about making the most!

Hint 2:

One of these had to pay more than four billion USD in penalties at one point

Hint 3:

If you want to solve this, you might want to start in the garage!

Hint 4:

I won't take you seriously if you're dependent on others. Being part of a family is good though.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
0

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4
$\begingroup$

I think I've got the answer, helped in large part due to Quantoss' initial thoughts.

As Quantoss noted, there are three encryption strategies: countries, car companies, and people. Specifically, given the theme of the puzzle, these are the nine top countries by GDP per capita, the nine largest car companies, and the nine wealthiest individuals. In order, they are:
Countries: QA, LU, SI, BR, IR, NO, UN, KU, SW
Car companies: TO, VO, ME, GE, FO, HO, SA, BM, NI
People: JB, BG, WB, BA, CS, AO, LE, MZ, MB

So,

Each of the numbers can be obtained by substituting the country/company/person with their rank order. That is, 1 is QA in the top row, TO in the middle row, and JB in the bottom row.

Furthermore,

The colors also stand for specific numbers. Red is 1, Blue is 3, Green is 5, and Yellow is 9. We can fill all of this in and solve the rest of the Sudoku easily.

Solution:

IR | SI | BR || NO | UN | KU || SW | QA | LU ||
NO | UN | LU || QA | SW | IR || SI | BR | KU ||
QA | SW | KU || SI | BR | LU || IR | NO | UN ||
-----------------------------------------------------------
BM | FO | NI || SA | HO | TO || GE | VO | ME ||
GE | VO | HO || BM | FO | ME || SA | NI | TO ||
SA | TO | ME || NI | VO | GE || BM | FO | HO ||
-----------------------------------------------------------
MB | AO | JB || CS | WB | LE || BG | MZ | BA ||
BG | MZ | LE || BA | JB | MB || AO | WB | CS ||
WB | BA | CS || BG | MZ | AO || JB | LE | MB ||

(Formatting is a mess, any tips on making the solution more readable are appreciated!)

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ Well done. I suggest pasting the image into ms paint our something similar and just add text on top of the image. $\endgroup$
    – Stewie Griffin
    Jun 13, 2019 at 5:19
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I visit here at work on breaks, maybe I'll remember to do that at home so it's more readable. :) Excellent puzzle! $\endgroup$
    – Somebody
    Jun 13, 2019 at 12:32
3
$\begingroup$

Not an answer, but a few thoughts. Don't have much time to work on it, but maybe it'll help someone else :)

First of all, it's a kind of Sudoku

"The puzzle below contains a wealth of information" + Hint 1 = Sudoku has to be filled with 'something' connected to rich people/companies

Hint 2 - Google was fined a $4.3 billion by the EU for Android antitrust violations

Hint 3 - Some of the most famous companies started in garages

Some 'graphical' thoughts below:

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ I think the three sets in each row share a scheme, since they share several components. SW, IR, NO are in multiple sets in the top row, for example. $\endgroup$
    – Somebody
    Jun 12, 2019 at 16:51
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Yeah! Shame I didn't have more time to work on it. But great idea combining sudoku with all those correlations $\endgroup$
    – Quantoss
    Jun 13, 2019 at 10:38

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.