37 solvers only! Bump cause this event need more solvers :D
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Bump for solved. OMG, that was harsh. Whitelisted you, you son of pure evilness. :)
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Bump for fully solved! Thank you so much for all the interesting facts, clever puzzles and GAs, Nordhbane!
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Thought I had the 29 piece puzzle figured out. Got 6 of 8 items and tried to brute force the other 2. No dice.
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:-o
Then maybe I don't have 6. It worked out like I did, though.
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If you have 6, and know their positions and need to brute force two more, you're looking at over 1200 combinations. But really, if you have 6 and know they are right, the other 2 should be as well, or you've done something wrong.
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I have found leaked links of ITHs that are locked behind passcodes, that's a really dickish move. If I find out who did it (like I did last time), I will make sure you are suspended from the site.
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For the record, I'm always using two different computers if that helps (work/home). I did log with account though from both, at some point at least to have things saved just in case. In any case I didn't even enter GAs so it's not like I'm affecting anything/anyone. :P
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No, this is a leaked link, posted on a site. And I do believe I've found who did it. Just need to reference some of the writing patterns to make sure.
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So, 4xmpl, you're skilled enough to recognize my simple english from others?
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With a large enough sample, yes. Especially when the group I need to distinguish is very limited. For example, you're the only one that's ever written the abbreviation "4xmpl" to me. So if you had posted under another username, I could have figured out who you are based on that. Small things like that give people away. Common spelling errors (I have a few that I almost always mistype, but that I fix before posting, because I know about them :P), phrases used, etc.
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Well crap - why do people need to cheat when they can "buy" hints?
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Gahhhh.. if you know who did it and who used it, let me know.. my blacklist has plenty of space!
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Bump for having given up after all. Last puzzle is a son of a ***....
My congratulations though, to the crazy minds that solved it..
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You can do it. I tried for 2 days and had given up. Then spent some time talking it over with someone else and finally cracked it.
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I tried for 2 more days, but I still literally have nothing on it.
Indeed two minds are always better than one, however I don't have that kind of help.
Thanks for the moral support though. (and to Momo too)
Edit: Solved !
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I agree with aiziks - you CAN do it! Just keep looking at it in different ways :-)
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Solved at last!
Hey, I think this single post of yours Momo was more helpful (to me at least) than all the hints combined together. :P
I'd rather buy your hint. xD
And I'm not kidding. :O
All the other stuff was just confusing me after all.
I guess my mind works in weirder ways that I thought.
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Well that wasn't really a hint - just a general suggestion for any problem solving effort. But glad it helped :-D
I usually suggest my dev's talk out their, "I am stuck", with another developer - 1) sometimes verbalizing a problem ends up solving it and 2) another person can sometimes see different solutions. But I am also a big proponent of "walk away for a while". I find that my brain continues to process the problem and when I return to it, I can "see" it in a different way. Lastly, 3) Trying different approaches, even if they sound "off the wall", spurs creativity - and ultimately, puzzle solving is very creative :-)
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Oh, you'd be surprised how much evidence you've left behind on your way to the top! :P
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The cheater has been caught and I've submitted a user ticket.
They've learned from their mistake and I hope others learn from it as well.
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Watched the film today and I suddenly figured out the answer for Q7 of Top. So now I'm back to the game with Q3 left lmao
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Perhaps watching another movie would help you figure it out. :)
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43 technically now.
1 haven't said anything either in top of pyramid or bumped the thread (or anywhere in the entire event, I know who it is though, because Detective Nordh).
2 haven't bumped the thread saying they are done. So won't add them to Hall of Fame yet.
Still hoping you can make it to the end in time. :)
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Made it to to the top. Thanks Nordhbane for the ride!
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Again, many thanks for the puzzle, awesome work Nordhbane! :-)
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Awesome work on yourself! :D You managed to pull through on all my evil puzzles.
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Having trouble with V2Q5 (First ruler of 'rus people? Am I not reading this correctly?) , tried 4 variants , all wrong.
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Notice the part about Kiev. I believe, if I've read it correctly, that they weren't called 'rus before that part of history, so you're trying the person that came before that happened. Same people, but hadn't gotten the name yet. When you find the correct person you can read more about it there. On that page it claims that person was the first ruler of the 'rus people. There's also a whole discussion about it after the ITH. :P
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Got it now, thanks! The wiki article was a bit misleading perhaps.
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At least now we know the Russians comes from the strong swedish vikings!
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And this is another kinda trigger, 'cause there are many people who try to prove slavic origin of Rurik.
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Good thing Rurik wasn't the first leader of the 'rus then! ;D
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At first, it is Rus'. At second, the Rus' were also a group of varangians and Rurik was their leader. And you're talking about Kievan Rus'.
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Wow, that PA-AC Q3 is tough. The search goes on...
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A lot of people seem to think so. :) It's one of the questions that has surprised me the most that it's difficult for people to find.
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Common sense requires common experience, and then there is hindsight. I am sure that it will seem very simple once I finally find it. If it is movie-based, then I may not have seen the movie, or seen it so long ago that I do not remember the name or context.
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Yeah, this time though I can find it easily myself, without using prior knowledge of the language, just using simple search terms I would have used if I encountered a question like that. That's what's surprising me, that people either doesn't use the search terms I would have used, or is not looking at the results the same way I do. Either people are trying to be too specific with google, or trying something I'm can't think of. It would be nice if people who have solved it tell me what they were searching for to both find and not find it so I can get an understanding of it. :)
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You are an evil genius overlord mind beyond comprehension Nordh!
PS: The hints on the last puzzle now that I read them again indeed make some sense after all, such a shame that I could not make sense of them earlier, before finishing this due to their first step requirement. :O Would have saved me some hours of pointless googling, decoding and trying stuff. :/ That first step was such an obligatory requirement, that if one could not see it, all the hints only made things worse. Well I'm glad they at least helped other people, so maybe it's just me that had so much trouble with the beginning of this. Don't pay attention to this fool, he's getting very rusty as it seems and blind too, as years go by. <---
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At least it's solvable. Compared to old cases, this has more than double the amount to any other case ;)
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Yup, if I could solve it, I'm pretty sure it is. :P
Well there are various reasons for the increasing number compared to older cases, amongst others:
- Puzzle Agency fanbase. It can only grow as time goes by. Time is our ally.
- Better advertisement
- Nice hint system to up the rewards/motive.
- Giving enough time for more people to solve it.
- And the best. You are a famous puzzler now in SG and attract more attention than before. Maybe that sounds like a bit of a stretch because you are certainly not the only puzzler around here, and I'm not undermining others but bear in mind that at least from my perspective you have managed to glue me in most of your puzzles with some inexpicable means or another and probably because I love logical and/or creative puzzles, something few of the other puzzlers manage so often without making a puzzle near-impossible. It's like hitting all the right notes in terms of overall difficulty, at least that's the way I see it.
All these contribute to a decent amount of solvers.
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Actually, the previous case was one of the lows. :P And this is as long as most of the previous ones. And it's been a while since I even did any puzzles. And I've advertised this less than the previous as well.
So only point that remains is the hint system. :)
I think having it reflect Jeff's pyramid events helped a lot, plus of course making it level 1 instead of my usual level 2. :P And of course it's a lot bigger than my normal ones (I will add a few more GAs soon to reach 100!).
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It was? Well timing is also important I think. Some times there's simply no free time at some periods of year to spend on puzzles. You got the christmas holiday with this one as well as January, which I always find some of my favorite months to delve into some puzzling. It's regrettable that I did not manage to find time for Jeff's latest pyramid. A usual case of bad timing for me, and maybe I needed a break.
PS: Anyway I whitelisted you, for various reasons of providing me with great puzzles over the last few years. I was almost sure you were already on the list, but it seems for some reason or another, I was wrong, maybe I resetted it at some point, I'm so forgetful.
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yep, but i'm exhausted, even with hint have no idea... :)
it's more difficult to researching on non-native language though :)
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Perhaps if you say the hint out loud a few times you'll come up with the answer. :)
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Bump for seven days to go! well except Vermitude/Vermitide - whatever - that one ends 1/29 because of , well stuff :-p
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Speaking of that, once it's ended, should I remove the link to it since I will want to post the answer?
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Not sure what you're asking but it's your event so whatever you'd like to do is fine by me :-)
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I mean, once I post the solution, people could get to your GA without actually having done any work, so I can remove the link to your bonus reward from my GA so that noone can reach it after the event is over.
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Late to the party but bump for solved! Thanks to Nordh for another fun case and to everyone who bought hints. :)
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bump for solved!
thanks for ur hard work, and special thanks for funny passcodes, love it :D
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Another case solved!
Started late this time but really enjoyed the journey!
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The Puzzle Agency Storyline has been going on for almost a year, and this is the 9th part. No previous experience is required though, so join us on this adventure, and enjoy the event.
Solutions
Optional Story:
When you arrive back from your mission to take down the Order of the Jigidi, you're met by a young girl who introduces herself as Katie. Nordh tells you he met Katie and her mother Cathy almost a year ago while working undercover inside Quiz HQ, a building shaped like a pyramid and home of the International Terror Heathens, or ITH for short. Even though they worked there, it was noticable that the staff didn't have any idea what was really going on behind the scenes.
"While mom, Cathy, was investigating some strange things going down at the Quiz HQ she just disappeared", Katie explains. "I haven't heard from her in over a week, and she told me if things went bad I could always count on Nordh here to help me."
Katie hands you her Security badge from work. "You can use this to gain entrance to the bottom level of the Quiz HQ. Nordh tells me you did an excellent job undercover in the last place and if he trusts you, I do as well. So, please, find my mom and bring her safely back home."
Well, you asked when the next one was going to be, but you had at least hoped there'd be a short time to rest up between missions. And while you knew you had to take on ITH one day, this new development makes it even more important.
Ancient Egypt Passcodes to reach the next level
Ancient Greece Passcodes to reach the next level
Vikings Passcodes to reach the next level
World War 2 Passcodes to reach the next level
This Puzzle Agency story takes place in two different locations. Nordh will help you from the Puzzle Agency mansion to try and guide you to the top of the Quiz HQ pyramid. There will be a set of quiz-like ITHs that symbolizes the different floors of the pyramid. You must start at the bottom and solve the first 5 ITH links before you can unlock the next level. Between each floor a more proper puzzle has to be solved to continue on your way upwards.
Codes deciphered are used on itstoohard.com.
No more hints can be bought.
Hint system
You can buy hints for everyone to use by creating GAs and sending me links privately. Let me know if you're interested. The GAs will then be added as rewards for solving the different levels, and a hint(s) for that level will be added.
Level 1 (WW2): 1-4 points GA value
Level 2 (Vikings): 5-9 points GA value
Level 3 (Ancient Greece): 10-19 points GA value
Level 4 (Ancient Egypt): 20-29 points GA value
Level 5 (The top): 30+ points GA value
You can, for example, create 3x10 point GAs for a level 5 hint. Or 1x8 points can give you two hints for level 1. You can even make a train with someone else to reach a higher level if you hand them in together.
As an addition, it should be games. No clickteam fusion GAs ;P
Last chance to buy hints will be January 16th, after that I will remind all complete solvers to check the top for any new GAs that may have arrived so they have a chance to check them out.
If anything seems wrong with an answer, tell me what question it is and I'll give it a look. You can try to drop subtle hints on what the answer should have been.
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