Post by Todd on Jul 27, 2016 8:19:46 GMT -5
Hi everybody, do you have any idea how the digits mentioned in the crossword puzzle's solution could be used?
As I said in a previous post, I received a brass-coloured tag from our Curator in the past static1.wikia.nocookie.net/curios-and-conundrums/images/7/7c/Brass_tag_MPC_Q8296.jpg and it has the following letters and digits on it: MPC Q8296.
Anyone else received a similar tag and is willing to share them?
Massimo Ferrario
Posted almost 2 years ago
Someone else here, I believe Dillon (?), mentioned that he had received a tag, as well, but it is currently missing. The Curator said on Twitter that the missing tag has doomed us all. I don't think anyone else has mentioned having received one yet.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
I'm pretty sure we all guessed what the letters MPC stand for. But what about the Q and the following four digits?
And I just noticed that 8296 is pretty similar to the 8496 that you can read at the end of the "WANTED - Young man to learn the drug business; must come well recommended and be willing to work. 133 Sonoma Boulevard. 8496 " ad. Does this mean anything to you?
I am not familiar with US postal addresses, so that number could just be a zip code. Or the ad reference number.
Massimo Ferrario
Posted almost 2 years ago
ZIP codes are five digits long, and we didn't start using them until the mid-1900s. The second want ad is taken from a 1920 movie, so that would put them well before ZIP.
I'm not too familiar with want ads, especially older ones, but I believe the numbers at the end are just reference numbers. Pretty sure they're -not- phone numbers, since until the 60s, telephone calls were handled through switchboards rather than directly dialed numbers.
But yeah, I noticed the similarities between your tag and the digits in the ad. Not sure what, if anything, is linked between the two, though. And the Q has me stumped, as well. My first thought is that the digits are part of a phone number, but we need that other tag to see if they match up. Or figure out what the pictures have in common (since that was the final clue from the crossword).
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
What does it say about the digits in the solution of the crossword puzzle? (I haven't yet received my paper and am not sure if I ever will as I just subscribed to C&C. Maybe I'll just get the second one?)
I like Elim's phone number theory. But the Q is a big mystery for me too.
I also noticed that the numbers 8296 could also be read upside down as 9658..
Let's hope the other tag will be found!
Aurora Borealis
Posted almost 2 years ago
Just in case there's someone who hasn't finished the crossword but wants to solve it on their own (sans spoilers), click here for the final solution.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
Luckily, I have the day off of work tomorrow, so in addition to securing a Christmas tree, I am going to toss through my car with a fine toothed comb to try and find that dastardly tag!
Dillon Sparks
Posted almost 2 years ago
Hi, Dillon! Did you have any luck finding that brass tag? If not, we might still not be completely doomed. With the membership packages soon to arrive, perhaps a duplicate of this tag errant will appear.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
My apologies, as work of late has swallowed up the bulk of my time. That said, I did not have any luck, sadly. I'll continue to hold out hope, but that may be an errant pursuit. Maybe the curator will be benevolent and send a new tag to someone less prone to loss?
Dillon Sparks
Posted almost 2 years ago
Bummer… Thanks for looking, though! I'm sure we'll find the digits somehow.
On a similar vein (or perhaps vain…) does anyone have any thoughts on the last set of digits? "What the pictures have in common." I've yet to find any common ground, especially not one that can be converted to numbers.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
About the pictures, I'm clueless too. I cannot easily link some of them to the articles, but I have no idea if this "unrelatedness" can be a clue. The pictures are: * crow on page 2 * four women in '20 swimsuits on page 3, * crown on page 5, * crosier-like staff (my Italian background could be deceiving me) on page 6 Hmm... I just noticed while writing that list that crow-crown are two similar words: does anyone see any other "verbal" similarity between the pictures?
Massimo Ferrario
Posted almost 2 years ago
Could someone please scan the pictures to wiki? How many images are there? Two?
And no problem Dillon, if the tag is lost, it is lost. I dont think we are doomed.. At least not yet.. Let's just hope another tag will turn up..
Aurora Borealis
Posted almost 2 years ago
Hi Aura, there are a lot of pictures in the first issue of C&C: I uploaded some of them to the wiki (see curios-and-conundrums.wikia.com/wiki/Special:NewFiles). In the next days I'll try to upload them all.
Massimo Ferrario
Posted almost 2 years ago
Hrm… crosier is a similar word, as well. By the way, that's also what I get out of it, so I don't think it's just your Italian background I noticed a few crosses on various things… the occuliser has one on the bulb, the crosier has one, as does the crown. The alerion's tail looks like a cross. The Giant's Causeway is a "crossing". The bird is walking "across" the page. The one man in the communist article looks "cross" (angry) at the other gent.
I haven't fit crosses into the the 1920s swimsuits, nor the moon and stars. But if cross is what we're looking at, maybe we are supposed to multiply the numbers on the tags together to get the third number. And that third might be a phone number? Just thinking out loud.
If it matters, the swimsuit style is called a "skirted maillot". Maybe it's a cross between different styles?
By the way, what qualifies as "pictures" in this newsletter? Do we need to consider the castle on the front and the Cthuloid idol on the back? What about the professor's photo? If you count everything that is picturish, I'm counting 13.
Aura, Massimo is getting those photos posted right now. Or he already has. He's pretty awesome like that.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
Oh sorry Massimo, I must have been here exactly at the same the as you yesterday, as I didn't see your last post when I was writing my own. And thank you so much for the scan!
Wow, so we should find something all the pictures in the newspaper have in common.. I thought there would be just a couple of pics in the crossword puzzle.. I really should work now.. but perhaps I shall take just a quick look at those pictures...
Aurora Borealis
Posted almost 2 years ago
Back in February (I think) I received an envelope with the Andrew McKabe obituary and a brass tag with the exact same letters and numbers, "MPC Q8296". I thought everyone had gotten one! I wonder if all the numbers are the same, or if I just happened to get a duplicate.
My copy of Curios and Conundrums arrived the day before I left for New Zealand, and I've only just gotten back, so I haven't had time to really go over it in-depth yet. I'm looking forward to doing it soon.
Jay Parke
Posted almost 2 years ago
I thought I recalled, back when the membership packages were available, a picture of a brass tag on the order page. I just sent an email to the Curator asking if it's possible to get a copy of that image. However, I may have made a fool of myself… I think that I'm getting it confused with something I saw on this page. Oh well. I guess we'll see what comes of that.
On the bright side, that page has an image we don't yet have on the wiki, from the back of an Andrew McCabe obit. I'm going to add it to the wiki; if the owner is on this forum and would like me to remove it, please let me know.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
Maybe we're focusing too narrowly on what the missing brass tag actually is. It might not be a tag similar to the Massimo and Jay received at all. What if it's actually from another clue… like, a brass plate used on the Hyak steamboat. I haven't found anything promising on that end, but still looking.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
I just finished saving all the C&C volume 1, issue 1 pictures on the wiki.
I also uploaded an image taken from the MPC Facebook page: it was posted by FB user Jocelyn O'tron and shared by the Curator on Feb. 22nd. It shows a brass tag identical to the one I received earlier this year.
Massimo Ferrario
Posted almost 2 years ago
Thanks, Massimo! I received a reply from our Curator, and he confirmed that I was mistaken about the image; I was misremembering the photo posted on the aforementioned blog.
So far all confirmed brass tags we have are identical. I suspect the missing one is, as well, so we shouldn't fret much on that front. In which case, we either haven't received the missing tag, and it's to be included perhaps in the next issue of Curios and Conundrums. Or, we have the info to find the missing tag, but it's something we've been overlooking (like the steamboat ticket).
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
Or then we should use the same digits twice, but for example in different order or multiplied or something like that. And there is still the Q, perhaps it has something to do with the solution (or then not). Would Q have some numerical value?
Aurora Borealis
Posted almost 2 years ago
Letters can usually be assigned a numerical value -- usually the one that is their order in the alphabet (17 in the case of 'Q'). Another option could be the ASCII value of the letter (81 for capital 'Q').
Q could also be an offset for a Caesar cipher (also known as a "rot" cipher, as in "rotation"), in which case an encrypted bit of text could be deciphered by substituting any As we find for Qs, Bs for Rs, etc.
Or Q it could be a reference to a particular book, and the digits could be referring to say Page 82, Line 9, Word Six. The second brass tag might have a similar code to another book and/or phrase.
Too many options
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
Has anyone read Bernard's advice for the gentleman? I think it may contain clues to the what the pictures have in common.
"Don't be distracted by a woman in a revealing outfit " -- Swimsuit picture "or flights of fancy from far away places" -- hrm, maybe referring to the picture of the relic on the back and the offices on the front?
Instead focus on four things:
Wisdom (from watching quietly) -- ?
Honour (as from princes and kings) -- the crown?
Faith (in yourself of powers above) -- ?
Humility (knowing your place in the universe) -- the star and moons?
Can anyone else make his post tie into anything? I'm sure it's part of this riddle!
Elim Horton
Posted over 1 year ago
Yes, I also have been paying attention to Bernard's words after the latest news from our Curator.
If we would indeed try to focus on four things, my guess would be they are: Wisdom = crow (or raven, bird..), Honour= crown, Faith= crosier, Humility= crescent moon (or sky, heaven, moon..). So what they have in common would be the letters CR.
But then again I might just see what I want to see. It is hard to know how deep we have to dig in order to find a solution for the problem at hand.
Or then a different solution all together: what about hieroglyphs? I'm sure there is a bird symbol, and a staff. But what about moon and a crown? Or, they all seem to have been also vessels in Royal British Navy, and heraldic symbols..
I've been also thinking about the riddle's solution in general. First I thought the solution could be a phone number as someone suggested, but then again it seems weird that our Curator would have been mailing tags with parts of a phone number to people since last February (Or then he is cunning in that way!). Now I tend to think that the numbers have some other meaning to him.. could it be a message of some kind?
Aurora Borealis
Posted over 1 year ago
I was thinking the bird might symbolise wisdom… thanks for confirming it I like the idea of their being hieroglyphs, but I can't make them fit. A bird, sure… maybe even a crooked staff, but I can't place a crown or moon.
What if the commonality is that the pictures each represent a virtue, which Bernard has spelled out for us? Faith, wisdom, humility, and honour.
Proverbs 15:33 says, "The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, And before honour comes humility."
Elim Horton
Posted over 1 year ago
Do you think the mysterious brass tags we have received this week could help us with the solution of the crossword puzzle?
As far as I know, we now have 2 different brass tags in our hands: the first one "MPC Q8296" and the second "A0571".
Could they be the brass tags mentioned in the solution of the crossword puzzle? And if yes, what do they mean? 8296-0571? Any thoughts?
Q could also signify "question" and A "answer"?
Aurora Borealis
Posted over 1 year ago
Ahoy! Since having recently received my catch up packages (for I am but a new member here), one thing stands in common that has yet been told. Four pictures in full color. These four pictures also seem to loosely line up with Bernards words. Likewise, every picture has somthing involving the number 5, it seems. Just some thoughts as I proceed into the second section.
Steven Hearrell
Posted over 1 year ago
In the most recent crossword there is mention of the number four at least twice, as well as mention of pictures. I have a feeling Steven's observation has something to do with this. I have not yet finished the puzzle, however, so I am still unsure of the actual answer.
Pippa Brighton
Posted over 1 year ago
I failed at spoilers once again. Alas. I am sorry. I now realize it is the ' not the () that you use. My mistake. One I will not make again, of course.
Pippa Brighton
Posted over 1 year ago
Just starting to get into the puzzles in the prolog. Was thinking of the clue about the pictures. since I just signed on with chapter 3 I don't have the artifacts that pertain to the prolog. Looking at this discussion is it possible the picture clue is something as simple as the pictures are all things that start with the letter C? Starting with the cover you have a castle, a communist, a crow, a celtic design, some cuties, a costume/a creepy guy, the causeway, a crown, a contraption, a crook, Cthulhu/a crate/ the writting on the crate also begins with a letter C since I don't a brass tag, I'm going to assume there were 2 different tags one with the MPC Q8296 and the other being the A0571. Could this mean the solution to the first puzzle is Q A C or A Q C?
APB_art
Posted over 1 year ago
As I said in a previous post, I received a brass-coloured tag from our Curator in the past static1.wikia.nocookie.net/curios-and-conundrums/images/7/7c/Brass_tag_MPC_Q8296.jpg and it has the following letters and digits on it: MPC Q8296.
Anyone else received a similar tag and is willing to share them?
Massimo Ferrario
Posted almost 2 years ago
Someone else here, I believe Dillon (?), mentioned that he had received a tag, as well, but it is currently missing. The Curator said on Twitter that the missing tag has doomed us all. I don't think anyone else has mentioned having received one yet.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
I'm pretty sure we all guessed what the letters MPC stand for. But what about the Q and the following four digits?
And I just noticed that 8296 is pretty similar to the 8496 that you can read at the end of the "WANTED - Young man to learn the drug business; must come well recommended and be willing to work. 133 Sonoma Boulevard. 8496 " ad. Does this mean anything to you?
I am not familiar with US postal addresses, so that number could just be a zip code. Or the ad reference number.
Massimo Ferrario
Posted almost 2 years ago
ZIP codes are five digits long, and we didn't start using them until the mid-1900s. The second want ad is taken from a 1920 movie, so that would put them well before ZIP.
I'm not too familiar with want ads, especially older ones, but I believe the numbers at the end are just reference numbers. Pretty sure they're -not- phone numbers, since until the 60s, telephone calls were handled through switchboards rather than directly dialed numbers.
But yeah, I noticed the similarities between your tag and the digits in the ad. Not sure what, if anything, is linked between the two, though. And the Q has me stumped, as well. My first thought is that the digits are part of a phone number, but we need that other tag to see if they match up. Or figure out what the pictures have in common (since that was the final clue from the crossword).
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
What does it say about the digits in the solution of the crossword puzzle? (I haven't yet received my paper and am not sure if I ever will as I just subscribed to C&C. Maybe I'll just get the second one?)
I like Elim's phone number theory. But the Q is a big mystery for me too.
I also noticed that the numbers 8296 could also be read upside down as 9658..
Let's hope the other tag will be found!
Aurora Borealis
Posted almost 2 years ago
Just in case there's someone who hasn't finished the crossword but wants to solve it on their own (sans spoilers), click here for the final solution.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
Luckily, I have the day off of work tomorrow, so in addition to securing a Christmas tree, I am going to toss through my car with a fine toothed comb to try and find that dastardly tag!
Dillon Sparks
Posted almost 2 years ago
Hi, Dillon! Did you have any luck finding that brass tag? If not, we might still not be completely doomed. With the membership packages soon to arrive, perhaps a duplicate of this tag errant will appear.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
My apologies, as work of late has swallowed up the bulk of my time. That said, I did not have any luck, sadly. I'll continue to hold out hope, but that may be an errant pursuit. Maybe the curator will be benevolent and send a new tag to someone less prone to loss?
Dillon Sparks
Posted almost 2 years ago
Bummer… Thanks for looking, though! I'm sure we'll find the digits somehow.
On a similar vein (or perhaps vain…) does anyone have any thoughts on the last set of digits? "What the pictures have in common." I've yet to find any common ground, especially not one that can be converted to numbers.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
About the pictures, I'm clueless too. I cannot easily link some of them to the articles, but I have no idea if this "unrelatedness" can be a clue. The pictures are: * crow on page 2 * four women in '20 swimsuits on page 3, * crown on page 5, * crosier-like staff (my Italian background could be deceiving me) on page 6 Hmm... I just noticed while writing that list that crow-crown are two similar words: does anyone see any other "verbal" similarity between the pictures?
Massimo Ferrario
Posted almost 2 years ago
Could someone please scan the pictures to wiki? How many images are there? Two?
And no problem Dillon, if the tag is lost, it is lost. I dont think we are doomed.. At least not yet.. Let's just hope another tag will turn up..
Aurora Borealis
Posted almost 2 years ago
Hi Aura, there are a lot of pictures in the first issue of C&C: I uploaded some of them to the wiki (see curios-and-conundrums.wikia.com/wiki/Special:NewFiles). In the next days I'll try to upload them all.
Massimo Ferrario
Posted almost 2 years ago
Hrm… crosier is a similar word, as well. By the way, that's also what I get out of it, so I don't think it's just your Italian background I noticed a few crosses on various things… the occuliser has one on the bulb, the crosier has one, as does the crown. The alerion's tail looks like a cross. The Giant's Causeway is a "crossing". The bird is walking "across" the page. The one man in the communist article looks "cross" (angry) at the other gent.
I haven't fit crosses into the the 1920s swimsuits, nor the moon and stars. But if cross is what we're looking at, maybe we are supposed to multiply the numbers on the tags together to get the third number. And that third might be a phone number? Just thinking out loud.
If it matters, the swimsuit style is called a "skirted maillot". Maybe it's a cross between different styles?
By the way, what qualifies as "pictures" in this newsletter? Do we need to consider the castle on the front and the Cthuloid idol on the back? What about the professor's photo? If you count everything that is picturish, I'm counting 13.
Aura, Massimo is getting those photos posted right now. Or he already has. He's pretty awesome like that.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
Oh sorry Massimo, I must have been here exactly at the same the as you yesterday, as I didn't see your last post when I was writing my own. And thank you so much for the scan!
Wow, so we should find something all the pictures in the newspaper have in common.. I thought there would be just a couple of pics in the crossword puzzle.. I really should work now.. but perhaps I shall take just a quick look at those pictures...
Aurora Borealis
Posted almost 2 years ago
Back in February (I think) I received an envelope with the Andrew McKabe obituary and a brass tag with the exact same letters and numbers, "MPC Q8296". I thought everyone had gotten one! I wonder if all the numbers are the same, or if I just happened to get a duplicate.
My copy of Curios and Conundrums arrived the day before I left for New Zealand, and I've only just gotten back, so I haven't had time to really go over it in-depth yet. I'm looking forward to doing it soon.
Jay Parke
Posted almost 2 years ago
I thought I recalled, back when the membership packages were available, a picture of a brass tag on the order page. I just sent an email to the Curator asking if it's possible to get a copy of that image. However, I may have made a fool of myself… I think that I'm getting it confused with something I saw on this page. Oh well. I guess we'll see what comes of that.
On the bright side, that page has an image we don't yet have on the wiki, from the back of an Andrew McCabe obit. I'm going to add it to the wiki; if the owner is on this forum and would like me to remove it, please let me know.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
Maybe we're focusing too narrowly on what the missing brass tag actually is. It might not be a tag similar to the Massimo and Jay received at all. What if it's actually from another clue… like, a brass plate used on the Hyak steamboat. I haven't found anything promising on that end, but still looking.
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
I just finished saving all the C&C volume 1, issue 1 pictures on the wiki.
I also uploaded an image taken from the MPC Facebook page: it was posted by FB user Jocelyn O'tron and shared by the Curator on Feb. 22nd. It shows a brass tag identical to the one I received earlier this year.
Massimo Ferrario
Posted almost 2 years ago
Thanks, Massimo! I received a reply from our Curator, and he confirmed that I was mistaken about the image; I was misremembering the photo posted on the aforementioned blog.
So far all confirmed brass tags we have are identical. I suspect the missing one is, as well, so we shouldn't fret much on that front. In which case, we either haven't received the missing tag, and it's to be included perhaps in the next issue of Curios and Conundrums. Or, we have the info to find the missing tag, but it's something we've been overlooking (like the steamboat ticket).
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
Or then we should use the same digits twice, but for example in different order or multiplied or something like that. And there is still the Q, perhaps it has something to do with the solution (or then not). Would Q have some numerical value?
Aurora Borealis
Posted almost 2 years ago
Letters can usually be assigned a numerical value -- usually the one that is their order in the alphabet (17 in the case of 'Q'). Another option could be the ASCII value of the letter (81 for capital 'Q').
Q could also be an offset for a Caesar cipher (also known as a "rot" cipher, as in "rotation"), in which case an encrypted bit of text could be deciphered by substituting any As we find for Qs, Bs for Rs, etc.
Or Q it could be a reference to a particular book, and the digits could be referring to say Page 82, Line 9, Word Six. The second brass tag might have a similar code to another book and/or phrase.
Too many options
Elim Horton
Posted almost 2 years ago
Has anyone read Bernard's advice for the gentleman? I think it may contain clues to the what the pictures have in common.
"Don't be distracted by a woman in a revealing outfit " -- Swimsuit picture "or flights of fancy from far away places" -- hrm, maybe referring to the picture of the relic on the back and the offices on the front?
Instead focus on four things:
Wisdom (from watching quietly) -- ?
Honour (as from princes and kings) -- the crown?
Faith (in yourself of powers above) -- ?
Humility (knowing your place in the universe) -- the star and moons?
Can anyone else make his post tie into anything? I'm sure it's part of this riddle!
Elim Horton
Posted over 1 year ago
Yes, I also have been paying attention to Bernard's words after the latest news from our Curator.
If we would indeed try to focus on four things, my guess would be they are: Wisdom = crow (or raven, bird..), Honour= crown, Faith= crosier, Humility= crescent moon (or sky, heaven, moon..). So what they have in common would be the letters CR.
But then again I might just see what I want to see. It is hard to know how deep we have to dig in order to find a solution for the problem at hand.
Or then a different solution all together: what about hieroglyphs? I'm sure there is a bird symbol, and a staff. But what about moon and a crown? Or, they all seem to have been also vessels in Royal British Navy, and heraldic symbols..
I've been also thinking about the riddle's solution in general. First I thought the solution could be a phone number as someone suggested, but then again it seems weird that our Curator would have been mailing tags with parts of a phone number to people since last February (Or then he is cunning in that way!). Now I tend to think that the numbers have some other meaning to him.. could it be a message of some kind?
Aurora Borealis
Posted over 1 year ago
I was thinking the bird might symbolise wisdom… thanks for confirming it I like the idea of their being hieroglyphs, but I can't make them fit. A bird, sure… maybe even a crooked staff, but I can't place a crown or moon.
What if the commonality is that the pictures each represent a virtue, which Bernard has spelled out for us? Faith, wisdom, humility, and honour.
Proverbs 15:33 says, "The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, And before honour comes humility."
Elim Horton
Posted over 1 year ago
Do you think the mysterious brass tags we have received this week could help us with the solution of the crossword puzzle?
As far as I know, we now have 2 different brass tags in our hands: the first one "MPC Q8296" and the second "A0571".
Could they be the brass tags mentioned in the solution of the crossword puzzle? And if yes, what do they mean? 8296-0571? Any thoughts?
Q could also signify "question" and A "answer"?
Aurora Borealis
Posted over 1 year ago
Ahoy! Since having recently received my catch up packages (for I am but a new member here), one thing stands in common that has yet been told. Four pictures in full color. These four pictures also seem to loosely line up with Bernards words. Likewise, every picture has somthing involving the number 5, it seems. Just some thoughts as I proceed into the second section.
Steven Hearrell
Posted over 1 year ago
In the most recent crossword there is mention of the number four at least twice, as well as mention of pictures. I have a feeling Steven's observation has something to do with this. I have not yet finished the puzzle, however, so I am still unsure of the actual answer.
Pippa Brighton
Posted over 1 year ago
I failed at spoilers once again. Alas. I am sorry. I now realize it is the ' not the () that you use. My mistake. One I will not make again, of course.
Pippa Brighton
Posted over 1 year ago
Just starting to get into the puzzles in the prolog. Was thinking of the clue about the pictures. since I just signed on with chapter 3 I don't have the artifacts that pertain to the prolog. Looking at this discussion is it possible the picture clue is something as simple as the pictures are all things that start with the letter C? Starting with the cover you have a castle, a communist, a crow, a celtic design, some cuties, a costume/a creepy guy, the causeway, a crown, a contraption, a crook, Cthulhu/a crate/ the writting on the crate also begins with a letter C since I don't a brass tag, I'm going to assume there were 2 different tags one with the MPC Q8296 and the other being the A0571. Could this mean the solution to the first puzzle is Q A C or A Q C?
APB_art
Posted over 1 year ago