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Letters In Boxes #10
Happy birthday to us! Well, sort of. Today we release the tenth installment of our Letters In Boxes series! We're not actually celebrating any birthdays yet, given we've not even been around three whole months yet. We don't have any cake or presents, or even a donkey to pin tails to. But that's not a problem, we can make do with what we've got. (Though we'll gladly take the cake and presents.)
For the tenth time, here's how Letters In Boxes works: Below we've got a puzzle to start you off. Click on it to open it in a new window. When you've worked out a solution, focus your attention on your browser's address bar, which in this case reads "https://jayisgames.com/images/lettersinboxes/starterforten.gif". Change the filename (namely, "starterforten") to your answer, using all lower-case letters and no spaces (be sure you stay in the same directory). If you're right, you're one step closer to winning a fabulous prize! If you're not, you'll get an error message, but you're free to back up and try again.
This batch of puzzles contains four puzzles to solve. On the fourth puzzle, you'll find the email address for sending your final answer. We'll hand out a prize to the first correct entry we receive, plus ten additional randomly-selected correct entries. Please include your Casual Gameplay account display name with your entry. You must be at least 13 years of age to enter. Only one submission per participant, please. Offer void where prohibited. Your deadline for submitting your answers is Monday, August 15th at 11:59 PM (GMT-5:00). Give it a whirl, you might end up with a nice present if you win!
Update: Congratulations to these 11 winners! :D
All eleven winners were given a choice of prizes or an entry into a GRAND PRIZE drawing to be held at the end of August! Congratulations and thanks for playing with us! Look for another Letters in Boxes again soon!
- SirNiko ...First!
- eoyount
- sillyme2
- tigrita
- ThemePark
- LaserGhost
- An Onyx Mouse
- lunalein
- snickerless1
- CurtisFir
- saytn
Yay, more LiB! Got #1 immediately, not sure what to do with #2. Hmmm.
Also stuck on two.
Stumped on two. Do the letters at the bottom stand for something?
roman numerals maybe?
For #2,
they aren't roman numerals, but think about what else the two letters could represent. Hint: Notice the pattern.
Now, #3
wondering the significance of "bulls-eye." Feel like I'm overthinking it...
About #2, I've noticed
one of the words you can find in the box, "pleat", was the answer to one of the previous puzzles.
What does it mean?!?!
I'm also stuck on 2 but think I may have the letters at bottom
Vowel Consonant Consonant ???
A couple of ideas:
There are an awful lot of 6 letter words hidden in the grid, so maybe we're supposed to find them all, and will end up with 6 letters left that will make our word.
However, I have also noticed that replacing a U for a C in the grid reveals a 6 letter word. Perhaps the idea is to replace 6 letters with the letters at the bottom, and write down the replaced letters in order, giving us the word needed.
@merc: Yes, they stand for something. But not that.
All the V's stand for the same thing. All the C's stand for the same thing.
@nerdypants: No, that isn't relevant.
For the letters under # 2 what about
Vowel Consonant Consonant...
I'm stuck on how that would work though...
Okay, got 2, now what to do with three...
Regarding 2
I'm not sure what hints I should give, given how young the contest is. So I'll just say... the clue is a pattern.
Teach me to post without previewing.
[I fixed your spoiler tags >:| -Jay]
Got #2!
Paddle_Duck, you are definitely on the right track.
Puzzle 3 was stolen from the Labyrinth!
[Was it really? If it was, I either don't remember it, or I haven't gotten there yet. My apologies! -Steve]
I got them all. Number 3 is the hardest, because you need to look up something elsewhere on the internet to use as a reference to solve it.
The method to 4 is obvious, the trick is actually solving it.
Labyrinth?
*type in "you remind me of the babe" as answer*
*it doesn't work*
Aw, man.
Arg, still can't get #2
I can find a couple sets of letters that follow the given pattern, but none of them mean anything.
Isi:
You might be on the right track, but are you going in the right direction?
Sorry about the accusation of theft! The puzzles have thus far been totally original, so I'm willing to accept that it was a coincidence you came up with the same idea.
To be honest, I was more pleased to think that somebody else has ventured into the Labyrinth to know the puzzle in question! I was hoping that I'd spotted where you got the idea.
A better hint is needed for #3, saying that it comes from a movie doesn't help unless you can remember the entire movie in your head, which I can't. And I've only been able to find information about one puzzle that occurs in that movie, but it didn't originate from there.
The letter grid on #2 is an incredible construction. There are at least 16 words in there. Very cool.
Make that 19.
I got #2, but I was left thinking "Was that really how I was supposed to get that? Did I miss something?"
For the love of me, I can't figure out 3.
It is not related to the movie "Labyrinth" at all. The Labyrinth I am referring to is another ARG that was featured on JayisGames in ages past. Use the search bar to find it, it is the third result for Labyrinth.
But you don't need to know about that to solve this puzzle. That's a totally unrelated comment not intended to help you solve it.
Use the word that appears under the puzzle. It will guide you to an item that will show you how to spell out the answer one letter at a time. I recommend google image search.
ThemePark: I don't think they are talking about the movie. Then again, I haven't solved it either.
Well, I'm probably not winning any prizes for being first (what else is new?), but came up with an answer. And I solved (correctly, I hope) #4 without any hints, whee.
Well, I have been staring at #3 for a while now and gotten no closer to an answer.
I get the hint:
You're talking about a dart board, obviously. Either that or Daredevil's nemesis.
But I cannot figure out how I'm supposed to superimpose a circular dart board onto a rectangular letter grid and thus get the answer. Somehow the numbers on the board should tell me which letters to pick but I fail to see how.
I had no idea what to do for #1 for the first two blanks, but apparently
the answer I figured out for the third was all I needed, and fit in the other two.
#2: Well, *that* took a while to find. I figured out what the hint meant (it's been mentioned above) but it just took me a while to sort through the puzzle.
I had to look in multiple directions to find the answer.
Now I'm stuck on #3. The hint seems fairly obvious as to what is being referenced, but it doesn't seem to help me solve the puzzle any...
@ThemePark: You're so close.
A dartboard has a number of numbers around its outside. You'll find that the grid for #3 has the same number of letters around its outside.
You should be able to sort things out from there.
Thanks, @OtherBill, that hint was just what I needed to solve puzzle #3.
I think I may have noticed the dartboard numbers thing before, but miscounted the number of squares on the grid. :P
...And now I've finally solved #4. A puzzle which I loved because I knew most of what to do just by looking at the puzzle; it just took a little while to solve (and work out a few bits). Relatively easy, overall.
Thanks OtherBill, that hint got me through #3 with a breeze. Probably wouldn't have noticed that myself.
#4 was easy enough, only had to look up a couple of words.
I thought I had it. All I need to know is
how many letters is the answer? I have the letters but I don't know how many.
#4 was really fun! I'm always best at those sorts of puzzles. Only needed a bit of help from Mr. Thesaurus.
May I have a hint for the first one? I'm completely stumped.
@wctaiwan:
What word can fit on the first line and complete the phrases "bowling ____" and "_____ acres"? Similarly, what word can fit on the second line? And the third?
Do the three words have anything in common?
@V2Blast, @ThemePark:
My apologies, perhaps my clue was a bit too straightforward--I regretted posting it as soon as I clicked "Submit", but there was no way to delete it.
[Sure there is, just request a mod to delete it by posting another comment, or send a message to our contact address (found in the footer). We'll take care of it as soon as we see it (which is usually fairly quick). -Jay]
@OtherBill:
Too straightforward? Nonsense, it was just what we needed, so no worries. :)
Wait a minute.... How does this work? I don't get it :P
Vince:
What don't you get?
This is the first time I've participated in LiB despite having haunted JiG since 2007, so... P:
I'm pretty proud that I've made it this far! But I'm still stuck on #3, despite OtherBill's lovely hints. I am just not understanding which letters I should be choosing...
and the obvious 'bullseye', which I took from a mental superimposition of a rectangular dartboard to be some combination of 'zin' or just 'i', doesn't work.
A bullseye is not the correct thing to use to solve that puzzle, but it is a great place to start your search.
Actually, nerdypants, I don't get anything... How does the puzzle work?
Vince:
Since you haven't played before, it may be a good idea to look at the previous LIB contests because they have all the answers posted and small explanations of the solutions.
asfghn:
The hint says bullseye, but maybe you should be directing your attention outwards from that point...
Again, a Google image search (or a trip to good ole Wikipedia) might be really helpful.
More on #3:
I'll be honest in saying that my first thought on seeing "Bullseye!" was archery. That's very close to being on the right track, but that's not exactly the right kind of bullseye for this puzzle.
Check out Google image search, and dart around quickly until you find an interesting pattern.
The challenge then is knowing what to do with it.
(My previous clue will be applicable at that point.)
This had to have been one of the easier Letters in Boxes, at least lately. I think it took me about an hour to go from start to finish.
Still holding out hope for a win (I really would have liked to get "And Yet It Moves" from the last contest).
I laughed at myself for not getting number 3 right away because I actually got SO DARN CLOSE and still missed it.
I said to myself, "Okay, I guess I take the 20th letter, and then... This isn't spelling anything intelligible; I must be on the wrong track. Besides, why would the puzzle be this big, then?"
...And about half an hour later, I'm smacking my forehead and marking up the grid like crazy.
Oh, and good job overall on this set of puzzles, guys! While 1 and 4 were fairly obvious, 2 and 3 really made you think.
I read somewhere something that I agree with heartily: Most of the best puzzles are completely baffling until you finally realize what the key is, and then they become simple. Puzzles 2 and 3 definitely fit this description.
Well, I'm having a hard time really understanding, but here goes...
For #1:
Bowling-ALLEY-Acres is my guess, but I'm not really sure
Putting-?????-Peace
Seafoam-GREEN-Grass
I'm probably totally wrong and absolutely off track; Please help! D:
I don't even know if I'm close :/
@Vince:
You're on the right track, but Alley is incorrect.
Don't think of it as a single phrase, "Bowling _____ Acres". Think of it as two unrelated phrases that happen to share one common word, "Bowling _____" and "_____ Acres".
Green is correct, though. (Hope this helps!)
Ohhh! I think I got the bowling one! Thanks Bill! :D
And once I get all three words should I
Submit as one answer? Or find a relation between all three words?
Wh... wha?
I found a relation to a film, entered my answer and found myself shifted on another LiB entry puzzle O_o
Gonna have to try again now...
Vince:
That's supposed to happen. When you find the correct answer and enter it in the address bar of your browser, you'll be taken to another puzzle to solve. Keep doing that, and eventually you'll get a message saying, "Here's your final puzzle," and giving you an email address to send your final answer to.
Unless you got take to a puzzle from a previous installment of Letters in Boxes, in which case yeah, you did something wrong.
"Unless you got take to a puzzle from a previous installment of Letters in Boxes, in which case yeah, you did something wrong."
Yeah that's what happened to me, I think it was from LiB #7...
Anyways, I'm still trying...
Aha! There we go! Finally moving on :D
Now, for number two...
I'm guessing the letters at the bottom
Have something to do with roman numerals.
*pondering*
After all, the letters may also mean
V=Vowels
C=Consonant
I try following that pattern yet I can't find any words that make sense...
And reversing them makes CCVCCV.
If we consider Y as a vowel, I can find the word PLENTY...
*enters PLENTY as an answer*
Nope, there goes my answer... Hmm...
I think I solved #4, but its not obvious what I should send in... all the
crossword clues
fit, but I expected
one down
to make a word or other recognizable pattern... am I missing something?
@Vince:
One of your ideas is right--recall that words in word-search puzzles can go in any direction (including upwards, backwards, and so on).
@Evan:
If all of your row/box answers make sense, then I don't think you're missing anything at this point. However, recall that the word "one" has more than 1 definition.
@OtherBill
I know Bill, but even looking in all directions doesn't make me find any words...
Yes! Found for #2, that was nicely hidden!
Alright, onto #3; I'm starting to get used to this :)
The "Bullseye!" makes me think of darts, or archery, the fact to get a perfect score... Some of the letters in the grid spell "PRIZE"... Getting a perfect score earns you a prize?
The letter "I" is in the center of the grid... "I" sounds like "EYE", in relation to the bull's eye...
Oho! I'm off with that! Really, I'm totally on a roll here...
So #4 seems like your go-classic crosswords puzzle... Hmm...
For #4, I'm having a small time understanding:
For the square words, should we write them as
1-2
3-4?
Because if that's right, none of the words across make any sense.
Either I'm missing something here, either the words implicated are extremely obscure...
Ah, well, I don't think I'll make it...
Better luck next time then.
It was all fun, thanks a lot to those who kindly helped out. :D
I cant figure out the final clue on #4.
I tried going to the number 6 and then one down, and many other things, but I cant get what the word is supposed to be.
@Vince
No one said that was what you were supposed to do ;)
Vince:
Those square words can go in any order.
sirgren:
If there are six words going across, then what would "one down" mean?
@nerdypants
Thanks, I think I have it
No love for the Easter egg? Ah well. Here are this week's answers:
Puzzle 1
Puzzle 1 Answer
The key to the first puzzle was to figure out what five-letter word could follow the words BOWLING, PUTTING, and SEAFOAM, and precede ACRES, PEACE, and GRASS. That word is GREEN.
Puzzle 2
Puzzle 2 Answer
The string of Vs and Cs at the bottom represented a series of vowels and consonants. Hidden in the grid was one word that had a vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant pattern, and that word is ACCEPT.
Puzzle 3
Puzzle 3 Answer
To solve this puzzle, you needed to take a look at a standard dartboard (as suggested by the caption, "Bullseye!"). If you transpose the numbers around the edge of the dartboard to the twenty boxes on the outside edge of the grid, and read the corresponding letters in numerical order, you find FINAL PUZZLE IS SPRAYED.
Puzzle 4
Puzzle 4 Answer
The goal of the final puzzle was to fill in the grid using the "Across" clues that simply read straight across, and using the "Squares" clues to check your work. The "Squares" clues were four-letter words that fit into the boxes in no particular order.
The answers to the "Squares" clues were:
1. BARE
2. FOND
3. MORE
5. FIRE
6. PEAS
7. COAL
9. SNOB
10. TART
11. EELS
The answers to the "Across" clues were:
1. RANDOM
4. BEFORE
5. REPEAL
8. FIASCO
9. BOTTLE
12. SNARES
Once all the letters were in place, the final step was to heed the puzzle's hint: "Six Across Make One Down". The fifth column in the grid held the puzzle's only vertical word, ORACLE.
Winners will be announced soon!
@Steve: Easter Egg?
@Steve: Stereo? I thought it might belong to a prior LiB, but couldn't find it. Is that what you were talking about?
Not stereo. I threw in an extra image with some potentially helpful information, but no one seemed to find it (or at least, no one mentioned it, neither here nor in their contest entries). It would've been found by concentrating on the first puzzle.
@Steve: then what does Stereo belong to? I looked through all the prior games - or did I just miss it?
Stereo was the answer to the first puzzle in LIB #9.
Well........since the game is over, are you gonna tell us what the easter egg was? Since no one found it, it must be pretty obscure. Anything to do with no conferring? All those letters are contained in first puzzle.
I'd like to know what that Easter egg was, too.
You're on the right track with the "no conferring" thing. (Funny how it's clear no one heeded that suggestion!)
As for whether or not I'll give you the egg, I'm still trying to decide how to handle that situation. My first mistake was probably mentioning that there was an Easter egg to be found at all, especially since it was of no consequence anymore (it contained a subtle hint for how to approach some of the later puzzles). But now that it's in the open, I've painted myself into a corner and I'm not sure how to get out of the situation. I suppose it's only fair to post the Easter egg, even though it's now an embarrassment to my name seeing that it was a failed experiment in obscure references (not that it wasn't a failure to begin with... well, read the egg to see what I mean).
Easter Egg
"Here's your starter for ten, no conferring" was/is a line from the long-running British game show University Challenge, similar to most academic bowl programs in the states. That's all I'll say about the Easter egg, the egg says the rest of what you need to know.
So that out of the way then, a question for those still reading this discussion: When it comes to Easter eggs, is it better to know or not know that one is hidden in something? I can assume that no one stumbled upon this one accidentally (which is what I was hoping for), so should I have leaked anything retrospectively or not? I'd love any feedback you can provide.
Steve -
I don't see any harm in noting that there was an egg that nobody caught. You picked the perfect spot to hide it too!
The first puzzle was so easy that it seems everyone just typed in green and moved on without bothering to search for anything hidden there. Guess that's why they call 'em Easter Eggs (hidden in plain sight). Imagine if your 'egg' was just a note that said, "you need to add 'peace' to your first puzzle answer". Since no one found the egg, no one would have entered 'greenpeace' and we'd all still be looking for it. Granted a tougher puzzle but certainly no worse than having scissors and tape to fold and construct a di-deca-heidral-tri-lateral-quadra-whatch-ma call-it.
I say "keep 'em coming" and brag about it when you sneak one by us. Thanx for all your puzzles. They're fun.
Considering I never would have figured that out, not being British and not having seen any of their game shows (or much of TV in general), I like that you pointed it out. Having Easter eggs that no one ever finds seems to defeat the purpose of hiding them, at least to me.
Ack. I wondered why there was a University Challenge reference in it!
Also once you've got the link in the Easter Egg, is it supposed to take you to another? As I've got the link but can't seem to do anything with it.
@Dom: Nope, it was just a standalone puzzle, no extra links to follow. Want to go ahead and announce your findings?
They're all fictional Professors.
Roy Hinkley = Gilligan's Island
James Moriarty = Sherlock Holmes
Hubert Farnsworthy = Futurama
Hershel Layton = Professor Layton series of games for the DS.
On a side note, I absolutely adore Only Connect and I'm so glad it's back for a new series ;P
Okay. I have an issue. For puzzle three, I got the answer the day this Letters in Boxes was released. However, when I attempted to insert the answer into the url, every time it came up as not working. I tried using with spaces, without spaces, it never worked. I finally gave up and waited until the answers were officially released. And, surprise surprise, the actual answer was what I got. I tried again, and it still didn't work. I'm slightly frustrated because I feel as though I had a shot. And it still is not working now.
@Spizzle, I had the same problem. I entered the answer for #4 and consistently received the error message. So I figured that I was missing something, gave up and waited for the answer - and yep, I was right.
@Spizzle:
The puzzle answers have always been one word. From your comment I'm sure you thought the entire sentence was the answer, but if you read the sentence instead, you get the answer that would take you to puzzle #4
@chelle:
You got the error message because there has only been an image for checking that your final answer is correct in 2 LIBs, every other time you've had to just hope that you got the right answer.
Is there a list of winners hidden somewhere here and I'm being blind or are they not up yet?
[Winners are up. I usually like to wait to get confirmations from all the winners before I post the names, yet I still haven't heard back from one of the winners of this round. -Jay]
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