Microsoft puzzle answers, plus more |
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Microsoft puzzle answers, plus more
This weekend we posted a pair of puzzles -- technically cryptograms, as some readers pointed out -- from Microsoft's College Puzzle Challenge. Several people posted the correct answers in the comments, but for anyone who's still stumped, read on for the solutions. And if you're looking for more puzzles, see the full archive on the official College Puzzle Challenge site.
As many of you figured out, the solution to the first puzzle involves reordering the stock symbols until they spell out a phrase when reading down the columns. The phrase (as pictured here) is HURRICANE OR THE MENACE, which leads to the answer, Dennis. (As in Hurricane Dennis or Dennis the Menace.)
The key to the second puzzle is to read the binary codes next to the burglars as indicating whether their flashlights are either "on" or "off" at any given point. If one burglar's first digit is on, draw a line from the flashlight. If the next burglar's first digit is off, no line. And so on with all the first digits, around the floor plan. The result is an alarm-clock style letter -- in this case, "J." Then do the same with all the second digits, the third digits and then the fourth. The word that emerges is "JAIL."
(See this PDF for a deeper explanation.)
Hope everybody enjoyed this weekend diversion. Thanks for playing.
About Todd Bishop
Todd Bishop is co-founder and managing editor of TechFlash. He has covered Microsoft and the technology industry for more than five years, most recently as a daily newspaper reporter and blogger based in Seattle.
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