I've been meaning to get back to giving some steps for how to solve some mystery and puzzle boxes.
I'm going to use one of my own boxes as a bit of a walk-through, but we're going to solve it together. It's the box I planted for Plant-a-Mystery Box day, called Follow the Reader (click on the link to see the clues). This box has had one finder and I'm pretty sure she won't mind me giving others some hints.
To figure out where the box is, you have to solve this code
0439554934
0375826688
0439709105
0439888069
0440416795
0142401072
0064472590
0061227285
0192750976
0517189682
1557091625
0440415632
0142400890
0064403149
0440439884
0439228905
0441005489
0385732953
0590664875
0807593664
Any ideas where to start? Let's work it out together through the comments section. No idea is wrong in the beginning...in fact the more ideas you have, the more broadly you can think, the more likely you are to arrive at techniques to try. So, what do you notice when you look at this stream of numbers?
One hint: The title of the box is a definite clue. This box has a lot to do with books.
10 comments:
My first 2 observations are that each "set of numbers" is 10 digits long, and none of them are repeated.
10 digits
books
googled info about books
came up with the ISBN for books
googled each number and came up with answers
lionsmane
A little more searching and I have figured out the location. Man, I wish I was in Houston right now.
Thanks dewberry for a great tutorial and I look forward to the next installment for solving mysteries.
lionsmane
Lionsmane is quick!
Try it for yourselves...
There are lots of things that use numbers as identifiers.
So this isn't a traditional cipher per se, but it functions much the same.
My son has been reading Chasing Vermeer and now the Wright 3 and he's highly absorbed in the codes the author uses. One of the things I love about the book is the way that the illustrator uses the same concept to send you a secret message. Now that's a technique I'd like to try!
Since lionsmane figured it out for me, is it still okay to go find it?
I'm sorry - I shouldn't have posted the answer.
lionsmane
Hey Lionsmane,
That aha moment is just thrilling, isn't it?
I just will have to think of a better one for you...
And as to those in Houston, please feel free to come find the box. It's not in the world's greatest spot, so
1. it probably won't last.
2. please make it last by being super-sneaky. It's in a VERY public spot.
Happily thinking up more mysteries!
dewberry
Shoot, I would've figured it out sooner or later anyway, lionsmane(I think).
Boots Tex
You do have a better one - well actually two - Surrender Dorothy! and Landlubbers Beware. I have been working on those for a while now and don't feel like I am even close to solving them.
lionsmane
I hope you'll come back and hunt around here again--we have all the new OZ boxes and a lot of fun Terrors & Mythological Creatures to tempt you...
As for those two boxes, Landlubbers should be the easier of them to solve. But in spite of that, it has significantly fewer finders than Dorothy.
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