9
$\begingroup$

This is a "sorry for messing up yesterday's clues" puzzle.

For each shape below, divide along grid-lines into identical pieces (rotation and reflection allowed). The first shape has 3 pieces, and the second has 6. I tried to make the grids look pretty :)

Then find the hidden message, which definitely does not describe you, dear solver. To decode it you will need these numbers: 137211214 and 2136412. Good luck!
grid shapes

If no one has solved this in a day, I'll start posting hints. Also - is there a better tag than for finding a phrase?

EDIT: I accidentally swapped the # of pieces. It's 3 and 6, updated now

Smaller hint:

Each number corresponds to a word, and each word is 5 letters

Medium hint:

Break the numbers up with spaces

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
4
  • $\begingroup$ Are the black squares included? Also a bit confused for the second as there are 47/49 squares with and without the black squares, but neither of those are divisible by 3... (word is fine btw :) ) $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Jun 2, 2020 at 20:09
  • $\begingroup$ Black squares are not included. There are 30/48 squares without black $\endgroup$
    – bobble
    Jun 2, 2020 at 20:17
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, turns out I can't count :P $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Jun 2, 2020 at 20:18
  • $\begingroup$ I made a mistake though - just edited it to be correct. $\endgroup$
    – bobble
    Jun 2, 2020 at 20:19

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6
$\begingroup$

To add the cherry to the top of @BeastlyGerbil's cake, the final answer - which the OP says "definitely does not describe you, dear solver" - is:

SMART ALECK

To find this, realise that the two tesselating shapes are:

An 'F' and a 'Y'. These are the 6th and 25th letters of the English alphabet, respectively.

enter image description here
Image courtesy of @BeastlyGerbil's answer here - go upvote!

Taking the two strings provided by the OP - 137211214 and 2136412 - we can:

Split these into numbers conveniently in the range of 1-26. Although there are many possibilities for these choices, only one arrangement will lead us to the answer: 13-7-21-12-14 and 2-13-6-4-12.

Convert these into letters using A1Z26, to get MGULN and BMFDL. Now recalling the 'F' and 'Y' tile shapes, apply rot-6 (since F is the 6th letter) to the first string and rot-25 (since Y is the 25th letter) to the second to get the answer, SMART ALECK.

Since a 'Smart Aleck' is "a person who is irritating because they behave as if they know everything", it is rather a relief that the OP does not hold us in that regard!

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ Good job! Maybe the second hint was a little too much... $\endgroup$
    – bobble
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:47
  • $\begingroup$ @bobble To be honest, I'd already sussed Hint 2 was required, so I didn't really need it. Hint 1 with the word lengths was the more vital of the two to me... $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:48
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Reminder to self: don't assume that your solver's brains will do that same logic as yours. $\endgroup$
    – bobble
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:49
6
$\begingroup$

Partial answer: Shapes found!

The grid is cut like so:

enter image description here

The shapes:

Spell 'f' and 'y' but I'm not sure what that means.

I got these by counting the number of squares and dividing by the number of shapes so I knew the squares per shape, and then looking at the edges and possible recurring shapes.

Not sure what the numbers mean just yet but think A1Z26...

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
9
  • $\begingroup$ Good job! I figured that the cutting would be the easy part... using the numbers requires an 'ah hah!' moment. Also, rot13(vg'f abg n w) Edit: also rot13(vg'f abg n g). I guess the shape wasn't good enough... it is a rot13(ybjrepnfr s) $\endgroup$
    – bobble
    Jun 2, 2020 at 20:35
  • $\begingroup$ I've found you the final answer (see my contributed answer here) - feel free to add it to yours for a complete solution (I insist this time!) :-) $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:44
  • $\begingroup$ @Stiv no I insist! :P I simply found some shapes, that’s the easy part here! The cipher is much harder to find, all I did really was find 2 letters :) $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:46
  • $\begingroup$ Well, here we go again! :-) I'll link to your answer and borrow the image then... (Ever thought of just merging our accounts, so we can find complete solutions all in one go?!) (JOKE) $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:50
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Well, when this all gets sorted out, I think you and me should get an apartment together...! (again, JOKE) $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:57

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.