Wha!
March 10, 2010 7:47 AM   Subscribe

Big puzzle in XKCD book solved! As you might have noticed, XKCD's recent book contained difficult puzzles. Well, it turns out that an encryption puzzle that was previously unsolved has been cracked... and the answer contains the coordinates for a rather specific place on June, 26th, 2010 at 2:28 pm. There are still over three months to work on your raptor dance. Wah?!
posted by markkraft (17 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: This does seem a little like News For People Who Own Randall's Book, and we've had a couple XKCD-related threads in the last month already. -- cortex



 
While specific, it would be totally funny if people got there on the date and time and they found out that nothing was planned... or if their solution, while elegant, was a solution to a problem which _could_ have two solutions... and this was the wrong of the two solutions...
posted by Nanukthedog at 7:52 AM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]


Oddly, this sort of invites this criticism from yesterday's post. You don't need to be smart to participate; you just need to have a computer and be aware that smart people exist.

[NOT SMART]
posted by roll truck roll at 7:56 AM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]


Considering that this group of crack cryptologists (get it? I slay me) are meeting in San Francisco, and that San Francisco was the site of one of the Zodiac killings, perhaps they'd like to take a break from all the raptor dancing and fedora wearing to solve the Zodiac's still-unsolved 340-symbol cipher (accompanying letter here).

Come on internets, you can do it!
posted by Pastabagel at 8:00 AM on March 10, 2010


I have a funny feeling there's an open thread this could fit into quite nicely.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:02 AM on March 10, 2010 [2 favorites]


"While specific, it would be totally funny if people got there on the date and time and they found out that nothing was planned..."

We're talking about a creative geek meet up in *San Francisco*, you know...

It doesn't matter if nothing is planned, when a significant amount of your participants have a "no spectators" / "maker" ethic. There will almost certainly be more to do and see than in prior XKCD meetups.
posted by markkraft at 8:05 AM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]


I was disappointed by that "raptor" dance. This is a raptor dance. So is this (with leg-dangling and everything!).
posted by rtha at 8:22 AM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]


"In the last half dozen months, there have been maybe 2 websites who have figured out The Secret, and a maybe another ten who have gotten as far as Reddit has. However, until now, ALL of those people have had the good taste to not SPOIL IT FOR EVERYBODY by posting the answer somewhere that is easily Googleable. I think that the fact that you guys have posted this out in the open like that is very sad and joy-killing."
posted by cashman at 8:28 AM on March 10, 2010 [9 favorites]


Chris Onstad hides secret eggs benedict recipe in latest Achewood cookbook. Upon decyphering (by assigning alphanumeric equivalencies between page numbers and words in "Just like Heaven" by the Cure) the lucky reader can make the recipe and exclaim that it is "Incredibly rude to the tastebuds".
posted by codacorolla at 8:28 AM on March 10, 2010 [3 favorites]


From the slashdot thread: "This story would be a lot more interesting if it was comprehensible without the book. As it is now it might as well be a stealth ad for the book."

QFT.
posted by albrecht at 8:28 AM on March 10, 2010 [3 favorites]


From the slashdot thread: "This story would be a lot more interesting if it was comprehensible without the book. As it is now it might as well be a stealth ad for the book."

QFT.


Flagged as XKCD Blue. (Or, XKCD Blew, if you're a grumpy blogger.)
posted by availablelight at 8:32 AM on March 10, 2010


I think that the fact that you guys have posted this out in the open like that is very sad and joy-killing.

Uhh... whu? Did he expect an Amazing Race-type setup where the first people to the location at that time win some awesome prize?

Also, I think June 26th is the first day of Pride weekend, but I guess most people just go to the parade on Sunday?
posted by muddgirl at 8:45 AM on March 10, 2010


muddgirl, he's making fun of this debacle.
posted by graventy at 8:48 AM on March 10, 2010 [2 favorites]


Why would people want to buy a book based on a problem, if all of the problems in that book were already solved?

I would also argue that there are plenty of smart people who are too smart / too busy to spend their time obsessing over an encryption problem.

Judging from the prior meetups they've held, it seems to me that part of the appeal of going was that several fellow XKCD fans actually showed up.
posted by markkraft at 8:50 AM on March 10, 2010


(Oh, and on a practical level, I think it's a really neat example of how a creative person can build community with their fans.)
posted by markkraft at 8:54 AM on March 10, 2010


muddgirl, he's making fun of this debacle.

Oh, haha. I thought he was quoting someone over at Reddit.

That said, there's a pretty big different between the type of code at jwz.org and the type of code in the XKCD book. One was pretty clearly meant as an easter egg, and the other was pretty clearly meant to be a group-solve-type effort.
posted by muddgirl at 9:16 AM on March 10, 2010


June 26th is my birthday. So there's that.
posted by GatorDavid at 9:28 AM on March 10, 2010


*grumble*

I blame English majors.

*grumble*
posted by grubi at 9:52 AM on March 10, 2010


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