October 3, 2012
The trail continues!
Attention Smithsonian sleuths: the second web puzzle is being unlocked today! I hope you are all sitting in front of your computers, wearing deerstalker hats, holding magnifying glasses, and pressing “Refresh” constantly. None of that will actually help, of course. It’s just how I like to imagine you.
I know we’ve already thrown a lot at you, but be warned: the tricks and traps have only begun.
Here are a few (non-spoiler!) answers to questions we’ve received from a bunch of solvers.
“Can we answer the puzzles in any order? Or do you have to solve one before going on the next one?”
Apart from the first puzzle, the password hidden in the magazine, the Great American History Puzzle’s steps can be solved in any order–until you get to the last puzzle, that is, which can only be accessed and solved by finishing the previous nine.
“Is it okay to work in teams?”
We can’t really stop you! This is a Smithsonian treasure hunt, but that doesn’t mean that we have Nicolas Cage hiding in your basement, going through your old stuff and spying on you. I suspect that solvers working in teams will do very well in the contest…but, of course, if they win the grand prize (a free trip for four people to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, or cash equivalent up to $10,000), they’ll have to fight over how they share it!
“How many people are working on the puzzle?”
The website officially opened only 48 hours ago, but hundreds of people have already cracked the first password. That number will probably go up considerably as word of the contest gets out over the course of October. So don’t look back! Someone might be gaining on you.
“Why isn’t my answer to Puzzle #1 working? I’m sure it’s right!”
I mentioned this yesterday, but solvers using digital copies of the October issue of Smithsonian should be especially careful about the first puzzle answer, since pixels are sometimes a lot less legible than print, due to resolution issues and whatnot. We’ve also had reports of solvers having trouble getting the answer to Puzzle #1 accepted until they tried a different web browser. So far we can’t duplicate any of this, so it may just be our old friend “user error,” but if you’re desperate, switching browsers might be worth a shot. Don’t worry about getting in trouble for making multiple submissions: we aren’t enforcing any kind of “guess limit” for the first password, due to the print-vs.-digital issues. (But for subsequent puzzles, that won’t be true, since the Rules specifically prohibit “unsportsmanlike” tampering. Stay tuned to this blog for more details.)
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I have to say, I hope this is the toughest its going to get because this one is just impossible without a catelogue of the smithsonian’s holdings.
Sitting in front of my computer, wearing sweats, cussing constantly! Solved the Cryptogram in 20 minutes but darned if I know exactly what answer you’re wanting; place, type of transmission, person, call letters, inventor, etc!! ARRRGGGHHHH!
Loving the puzzles so far! Just one slight question.
Am I right in assuming that after putting an answer in one of the puzzle squares, and the web site responds with “Correct”, that I actually am correct, and I haven’t stumbled upon one of the dreaded red herrings refereed to in the beginning?
Thanks for the fun.
Yes! If it says “Correct” you are indeed correct.
– The Puzzle Team
I see TJ telling me ‘sorry wrong answer try again’ even before I have entered any attempts in that login session.
Does everybody see this issue ?
Don’t worry: The puzzle is coded so that the “wrong answer” will display until you enter a correct answer — that is, the TJ display doesn’t “refresh” each time you go into the puzzle. It says “wrong answer” only because the previous answer in a previous session was incorrect, and it “remembers” this.
Keep trying! The Puzzle Rules allow more than one attempt to answer the puzzle.
Also, read Ken’s blog for some clarification/hint to solving the first puzzle.
– The Puzzle Team
One important point is that the puzzle doesn’t “refresh” each time you load it; that is, if you previously typed an answer and it was wrong, then it will continue to display the “wrong answer” message until the correct answer is typed.
– The Puzzle Team
Right there with ya, Kim!
Is there any kind of guess limit on Puzzle 3? I want to enter a few ideas I have, but not at the expense of being disqualified.
Two days of submitting answers via Firefox were fruitless but this morning the password worked via Internet Explorer. This evening, using Internet Explorer, my answer to the anchor puzzle came up “wrong” and immediately the website switched me back to the password “wrong answer” message. Logging back in on either IE or Firefox gets me no further than the password page and it continually reports a “wrong answer” for what was correct this morning. Meanwhile my husband, using the same password that gained my entrance this morning, gets “wrong answer” on both Firefox and Dolphin. I’ve deleted cookies, shut down both browsers, and even turned off my computer, to no avail. What “user error” should we consider before we give up?
Sorry for your frustration; we’ll look into this. One issue might be that your browser “saves” the data that is entered in form fields, and so it may be that the browser automatically enters the previously wrong answer. Is that possible? Is anyone else having problems with browsers?
One important point is that the puzzle doesn’t “refresh” each time you load it; that is, if you previously typed an answer and it was wrong, then it will continue to display the “wrong answer” message until the correct answer is typed.
– The Puzzle Team
The rules state that puzzle solutions should be submitted by email. The Puzzle site provides space beneath each puzzle icon for typing the solution. So this space must be the “email” referred to in the puzzle rules. But this space will not accept the entire decoded message to puzzle #3. So either there’s a glitch with the Puzzle site or the Puzzle solution is not the entire decoded message. I’m thinking the latter.
Actually, only the FINAL set of answers (ie, all the answers to all the puzzles) need to be sent via email. The space under each grid icon is for entering the answer to each puzzle. See the Rules for more details.
– The Puzzle Team
Kim: Me too (except for the sweats). It’s 90 degrees here and no solution after the easy cryptogram.
Please check Ken’s blog post for clarification and help in solving Puzzle #1….and good luck!
– The Puzzle Team
Ack! Help!!
I am finding the cryptogram clue rather vague and it is driving me crazy! I feel like I have tried every permutation of everything related I can think of!! Has anyone been able to solve #3??
Has anyone successfully solved the October third puzzle? I thought I had the answer that fit the clue, but when I typed it in, I was told “wrong answer”. But given computer glitches, it makes you wonder if your answer is actually correct…
How many guesses do we get for puzzle #3?
Ken Jennings is hilarious. That line about “Nicholas Cage hiding in your basement” cracked me up.
Is there a limit on how many guesses we can make on the 2nd web puzzle?
Keep at it! FYI, the puzzle rules do not prohibit you from making more than one attempt at solving a puzzle.
– The Puzzle Team
This one is really frustrating, especially given that there’s a wrong answer that, because of the vagueness of a portion of the clue, I believe fits.
Stuck on Puzzle 3. Got the hidden message, thought I was on to something but no luck with the answer. This one is tough!
I am hoping that maybe a later puzzle will shed more light on puzzle #3. The decoded clue #3 is the toughest so far with so many rabbit holes to follow. Might be the one that does me in, only time will tell. Back at it!
I’m right there with ya, Kim! The password puzzle and web puzzle 1 weren’t too bad, but now I’m staring at the deciphered clues for web puzzle 2, I’ve tried several guesses, and now I’m just stumped. Anybody get this one yet?
I am also stumped by #3. My big concern is getting bumped due to a guess limit. I have 3 areas I am focusing on and 2 of my incorrect answers could have been phrased a couple ways each. That was 8 guesses for 2 ideas.
[joke mode on]
Did the creators of wd40 stop at try 29? No, they pushed on. Did Thomas Edison stop at 30 tries? No, he took 3000 tries to get the incandescent bulb! Did Thomas Jefferson complain that there were 86 changes to the original Declaration of Independene draft? No, he did not!
Not only is trying hard and not giving up “sportsmanlike,” it is the American way!
[joke mode off]
Please don’t bump us for that reason! I’m having a great time losing sleep trying to figure these clues out.
Thanks!
Keep at it! FYI, the puzzle rules do not prohibit you from making more than one attempt at solving a puzzle.
– The Puzzle Team
Puzzle 3 is killing me. There is obviously a red herring, but my eyes are falling out trying to figure this one out. I have tried EVERYTHING. Ugh.
I have solved the cryptogram, found the icon, found the reference and entered what HAS to be the password to no avail. I really don’t think I’m that obtuse. Please tell me there is some problem with the computer on your side!
Some people appear to be entering answers to the first puzzle that are ALMOST correct. Read Ken’s blog post for further info.
– The Puzzle Team
Ken Jennings, precious life blood being wasted on Puzzle #3, oxygen running out…brain cells dying…shaking fist in air as last action on earth…
It appears that you either know how to interpret the
plaintext from the cryptogram or you don’t, and I don’t.
It will be interesting to see what kind of an
explanation is made after the contest is over.
First one was tricky but good; never found the icon, but figured out what it must be. Short trip to correct password. Obviously correct, once you see it.
Second one, lots of red herrings I thought, but after I figured it out, I had to learn a thing or two (to quote Bart Simpson: “Wait a minute! This is educational…!”)
Third one, I solved the cipher pretty quickly, now am totally flustered, since I don’t want to try a shotgun approach to answers, but don’t see any “obvious” ones…yet?
Got past puzzles 1 and 2 and deciphered 3…but the solution to 3 and the entire puzzle 4 have me baffled!
Larry and Dunkin, I’m with you. I was able to decipher the coded message of #3 almost immediately, but its directive has me stumped. #4 is just plain nuts. I have no idea what the puzzle even is.