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Post by efanton on May 2, 2020 13:14:27 GMT -5
Before I give the next puzzle just a few words.
If you haven't previously taken part in a 'Just for Kicks' hunt PLEASE READ the Introduction and the Rules thread first.
Its still worth reading this again if you have taken part in a previous hunt. The format of these hunts is slightly different to most and to get most enjoyment out of them understanding how they work and are scored will hopefully increase that enjoyment.
PLEASE DO NOT POST COMPLETE SOLVES or solves to stanza's, post hints or ideas by all means, discuss theories, work together if you need to and are stumped.
Would you enjoy a crossword puzzle that had been almost completely finished by someone else before you start?
These hunts for enjoyment of solving a puzzle in a relatively short period of time, and posting solves spoils the enjoyment for others.
These hunts are not super difficult, they will increase in difficulty but it is expected that multiple people should reasonably expect to reach a final solve after a bit of time and effort has been put in.
This hunt is not about just getting the solution, its about solving as many clues as possible and gaining a greater score by submitting solves for both clues and the final answer. That helps eliminate intelligent guesses.
Please look at the Hunt Number 1, SOLUTION and RESULTS thread if you wish to understand the scoring system better and that by submitting just a final answer will not make you the winner.
And with that said on to the next hunt.
I have adjusted the difficulty level on this one to be a good bit harder than previous hunts.
Hopefully I have the balance right, I still expect multiple people to solve this hunt, but its more likely that this hunt might need a hunt.
You have two weeks to submit your solutions to me by private message.
He failed to conquer
This precious stone set in the silver sea
some years Before AD,
But secret writing he did leave
If you had a key,
one clue you will get
to help you use the key,
you must add to the alphabet
the numbers 1, 2, 3, ...
You only understand the use before encryption
W2F86G45yeQ
yIx4KzHRy9Q
xyNVA6Dtub2
one more riddle to give a date
Sedaka sang sweetly
a god of the gate
a windy city cut off completely
What was once great no longer exists
the eye no longer sees
but the greatest its said was here
Who could it possibly be?
Who or what am I?
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Post by efanton on May 6, 2020 13:53:53 GMT -5
5 days with with no one submitting a solution, I hope I didn't raise the difficulty too much.
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Post by chipveres on May 6, 2020 16:56:33 GMT -5
That cipher is a doozy, even if you know who created it.
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Post by efanton on May 13, 2020 14:17:05 GMT -5
Well it seems a hint might be required. I wasn't expecting that to be honest.
As these are not your usual hunts where prizes are involved, and that I expect normally for more than one person to get a solve I will leave it to you the participants to decide what sort of hint I give.
Suggest which stanza you need a hint on, or which particular line, and if no solution has been submitted by Friday midnight (UTC/GMT ish) I will leave a hint related to that.
If there is more than one suggestion I will leave a hint for the most popular request.
Post yourr suggestions below in this this thread.
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Post by artofhiddenmessages on May 14, 2020 10:55:12 GMT -5
Hello Efanton,
I am really stumped on this entire riddle! Since the beginning of the riddle seems like the best place to start, I would like to know who "he" is in the first stanza. I've had some ideas, but the AD date just doesn't seem to fit.
Thanks for offering a hint.
Even though this is more difficult than your previous riddles, I am still enjoying it!
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Post by chipveres on May 14, 2020 11:12:55 GMT -5
Anything about the cipher, please. It seems obvious until I try to crack it.
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Post by efanton on May 14, 2020 20:46:53 GMT -5
A HUGE apology is owed to you all
I do take considerable time to check and test my hunts before posting but somehow I made a HUGE blunder when posting this one.
Sometimes its hard to to see your own mistakes especially when there are no spelling errors.
The first stanza should read
He failed to conquer
This precious stone set in the silver sea
some years before AD,
But secret writing he did leave
If you had a key,
and NOT
He failed to conquer
This precious stone set in the silver sea
some years after AD,
But secret writing he did leave
If you had a key,
I have amended the original post. I really am sorry about this. I'm sure many of you will immediately suss out the first stanza within a few hours.
I was not expecting people to be stumped on the 1st stanza, its the 3rd stanza that has something new that you probably have not seen before and that was where I thought you might need a hint.
In these hunts I have endeavoured to introduce something new or novel to each hunt, to keep them interesting and fun.
As you have all lost a week I will still post a hint, but obviously you might now wish to change your suggestion. I will look to see if there are any new suggestions and post a hint of Saturday morning. If no new suggestions for a hint are posted I will post a hint regarding the first stanza.
Once again please accept my sincere apologies.
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Post by artofhiddenmessages on May 14, 2020 22:06:51 GMT -5
That definitely changes things. I may change my hint suggestion too, but I need a bit of time to look things over. Since it is late here, I will look at the riddle again tomorrow.
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Post by artofhiddenmessages on May 15, 2020 12:24:53 GMT -5
I have decided that I would like a hint about Stanza 2, Line 2, which is, "to help you use the key". Now that Stanza 1 has been made a bit more clear, I feel that I need something to help me decode the cipher. And if there is a "key" for the cipher, I would like to know what that key is.
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Post by efanton on May 16, 2020 9:17:42 GMT -5
A hint as promised
For the 1st stanza you are looking for a person, and a year that might be key to progressing in the hunt.
As an added bonus, being that yours truly feck'd up in a massive way, there is a Shakespeare reference in the 1st stanza.
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Post by artofhiddenmessages on May 16, 2020 16:09:26 GMT -5
Well...here is where I stand with this riddle:
I feel confident in who "he" is. And I feel confident in what the Shakespeare link is identifying. It reinforces the "he", if I have the correct person!
I am at a loss for a date from the first stanza. It could be many. But some seem more likely than others.
I've tried a lot of different things with the cipher to no avail.
And the windy city clue seems like it should be obvious, but I can't seem to get it to fit.
I have not yet given up.
Efanton, how many total points are in this riddle? And what is the end date?
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Post by efanton on May 16, 2020 19:02:09 GMT -5
Well...here is where I stand with this riddle: I feel confident in who "he" is. And I feel confident in what the Shakespeare link is identifying. It reinforces the "he", if I have the correct person! I am at a loss for a date from the first stanza. It could be many. But some seem more likely than others. I've tried a lot of different things with the cipher to no avail. And the windy city clue seems like it should be obvious, but I can't seem to get it to fit. I have not yet given up. Efanton, how many total points are in this riddle? And what is the end date?Each hunt lasts the calendar month. As for points I haven't finished writing up the solve yet. Lots going on in this one, as you can already see. However there is nothing mad going on, everything is pretty straight forward once you have sussed out a few key lines. |
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Post by efanton on May 22, 2020 19:06:30 GMT -5
Time for another hint.
The hunt revolves around stanza 3. Understand that and the rest of the hunt should be relatively simple.
The trick to solving stanza 3 is to solve the first line of the stanza. You will need nothing else from any other stanza or the rest of the stanza to solve that line. Look at it closely and all will become apparent.
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Post by efanton on May 25, 2020 11:23:09 GMT -5
No feed back so not sure if that last hint was useful to you. Not sure now if anyone is still trying to solve this one.
Its coming to the end of the month. In a day or two I will start releasing small daily hints to help this hunt reach a close if people are still actively trying to solve it.
If no one is trying to solve it anymore then I will leave things as they are.
I think it was a greet little puzzle with an interesting twist, but of course there's an obvious bias in me saying that.
It would be a shame though not to leave it untouched so that someone in the future had the opportunity to solve it if they wished, if there is no one currently trying to solve it now..
So shout out, what type of hints would you like the see in the final few days. I will drop the next hint Wednesday evening and every evening from that point onward if people are still actively trying to solve this hunt.
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Post by chipveres on May 25, 2020 13:00:07 GMT -5
I'm still trying, but completely unable to crack the code.
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