June 18 - Goatertainment - tricky puzzle time!
6Ok, I’m back up to 8/9ths of my max health, so let’s get the party rolling.
If you have a guess, please whisper it to me, to avoid spoilers in the comments.
THE PUZZLE:
Look at these four maps.
THE HINTS:
A certain kind of person would want to know which direction each arrow was pointing in. The events described happened in the last 40 years. They are in chronological order, earliest to most recent; at least 1 year passed between each. The starting point and direction of the arrow matter.
THE QUESTION:
What super-specific kind of person would care about these arrows at 4 super-specific times, and why?
LASTLY:
You will know you are right when you are right.
- 15 comments, 22 replies
- Comment
There may be a few red herrings. You may enjoy this puzzle, but you also might not.
Oh geez, no nibbles, eh? OK. About 4 years passed between each map snapshot.
Nobody has it quite yet, but one person is definitely on the trail…
Latest hint: I’m not sure this specific type of person actually existed. But if they did, they’d want to know about the green arrows.
@UncleVinny Not even a real person who exists? Bah. Sorry I can’t even.
@therealjrn once you figure out what the green lines are, the specific sort of person (even if imaginary!) will be apparent.
I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 100,000.
What is it?
@therealjrn is this in base 2? If yes then a number that only has 1’s or 0’s or both in it.
@therealjrn 92,101.
/image 92101
@eonfifty mmmm, so close.
@therealjrn Is it a real number that exists?
/image imaginary number
@eonfifty I’m not sure this specific type of number actually exists. But if it did, it’d want to know about the patterns.
@therealjrn OU812?
/image OU812
Just how important are these green arrows? Are they specific vectors whose origins and magnitudes matter, or are they just green arrows starting at approximate locations and pointing generally northeast?
/image green arrow imaginary
@eonfifty The tips of the arrows and their lengths – although they are green – are actually red herrings. The angle of the lines is definitely not arbitrary. A globe might be worth a gander…
@eonfifty @UncleVinny Oh fer da luvva…sheese.
Blah. All I can figure out is what the event was, not what the arrows mean. So stuck.
By the way… congrats to one person who figured it out! It’s definitely possible. Go team! I believe in you!
/giphy my brain hurts
The real question here - your health has 9 parts?
@kdemo my actual health is best described by a continued fraction, but I rounded it off to 8/9.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continued_fraction
What was the answer?
@llangley
OMG… Have you been working on that all this time?
@chienfou lol no! I was doing mini-purge on my gmail for the word “puzzle” and a reply came up. I was intrigued…
@chienfou @llangley oh hello! I’ll whisper y’all the answer to avoid spoilers for others
@chienfou @UncleVinny wow…great puzzle!! I was intrigued because I live right on the upper edge of the 4th map! And worked 40+ years just east of its origin! Thanks
I did not see this when it was originally posted. That Tampa one makes me think a LEO was in contact with someone.
Update many years later: I wish I’d made all the arrow lengths the same. All that matters is the starting location and the direction.
@UncleVinny Well that Tampa starting location could be the hockey rink. Sportsball/concert could have involved a lot of adult beverages or other substances. I stand by my LEO involvement.
The New York location is the Chinese food seasoning/sportsball arena known as MSG. Again a place where substances used can get a LEO involved.
Also, it has been over 7 years since this was posted. Just post the answer.
You know… maybe posting what kind of map projection you’re using would help folks. Is this great circle, mercator, or what?
You know… maybe posting what kind of map projection you’re using would help folks. Is this great circle, mercator, or what? Are the individual pictures oriented with North to the top of the page?
@chienfou these are just screenshots from Google maps, so whatever they use, I guess. North is straight up.
@chienfou
Whoops… The edit posted as a separate post…
@chienfou Don’t worry. From the starting point and the direction of the Tampa arrow you will not know it. You might make a lucky guess but it is doubtful. I am guessing the others are all just as accurate.
@chienfou @yakkoTDI Yakko is in denial as to the correctness of my puzzle, but I am patiently explaining it in whispers.
@chienfou @UncleVinny I am not in denial. The city of Mecca is South of Tampa and your arrow points North East.
Tampa
Coordinates: 27°56′51″N 82°27′31″W
Mecca
Coordinates: 21°25′21″N 39°49′24″E
Now if you can provide information that Google doesn’t know how to provide GPS coordinates and they are incorrect then I will accept you as the coordinates leader but otherwise just accept that you are wrong.
@chienfou @yakkoTDI You are misinformed about how Muslims decide which direction they should face when praying. They face in the direction of Mecca, using the the path on a globe that gives the shortest distance, i.e., as a plane would fly in order to get there sooner.
I’ll reattach the screenshot I sent you earlier, from a site actual Muslims use, to decide which way they should face.