104 replies to this topic

[fabpig]

Well I got immersed in these:
http://japanese.abou...so/a/blank3.htm
http://en.wikipedia...._writing_system

and a few others, and now my head hurts, so I'm resting for a while .

Does FUMA NATSURU mean anything to anybody?

[Aaryan]

Fabby's on the right track. It's a language, probably a form of Japanese; that's what "characters" refers to. We may have to figure out the language and translate the given numbers.

Edit: Wait a sec, fab gave a link that contains three parts of the Japanese language; Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana. At least two of them should make the H and K. Also, the paintbrushes probably refer to Asian calligraphy.

Edited by Aaryan, 01 August 2012 - 10:21 PM.

[fabpig]

@DD - If the last number of the sequence could be 21, 28, 42, does that also apply to the 1st one? If so, FUMA NATSURI could be NAMA NATSURI. But Y-San seemed quite happy with your sequence....

For those having fun with the above links, this is a

Spoiler for what I did

found the Hiragana / Katakana charts and assigned numbers to the syllable sounds. The charts are in columns of 5 or 10, depending on website. It could be I'm counting across instead of down, it could also be that the number eg 28 means column 2 row 8 or vice-versa Or it could be I'm flying off at a tangent.

Incidentally, Google translate gives NAMA NATSURI as "RAW FISHING" !!

Edit to correct my Japanese

Edited by fabpig, 02 August 2012 - 12:00 AM.

[DudleyDude]

grrrr, was writing up my failures and realized I had made a mistake and then found the answer. The actual sequence should be 28,31,48,21,18,42. I found a nice table for the Hiragana characters that was in "alphabetical order" and I used it to decode to Hu Ma N Na Tu Re -> Human Nature. I think this is probably the final answer.

[fabpig]

grrrr, was writing up my failures and realized I had made a mistake and then found the answer. The actual sequence should be 28,31,48,21,18,42. I found a nice table for the Hiragana characters that was in "alphabetical order" and I used it to decode to Hu Ma N Na Tu Re -> Human Nature. I think this is probably the final answer.

I would think so. It makes a lot more sense than

Spoiler for this!

"RAW FISHING"

Nicely done DD

[Yoruichi-san]

A smile slowly crossed Orin’s face. Of course! The sequence...the brushes...it all made sense now. He turned to the characters, the kana twins. “I have read your characters!” he declared, holding his chest up high, eyes blazing with confidence.

Just then, a strange thing happened...the brushes disappeared from the twins’ hands and re-materialized in front of Orin. Pausing for only the slightest moment, he took one in each hand.

With 4 strokes of Hiragana’s brush and 1 stroke of Katakana’s, he wrote he first character,

Spoiler for hu

After being engendered into the space, the characters pulsed and then shot towards their respective character, flying into their chests. Was it the agents’ imaginations, or did the twins’ outlines seem slightly fainter?

With 3 strokes H and 2 of K, he flourished the second character,

Spoiler for ma

Following, 1 stroke H, 2 strokes K,

Spoiler for n

No, it was not their imaginations. The characters were fading with each character. Orin went on to the second word. 4 strokes for Hiragana, 2 strokes for Katakana,

Spoiler for na

1 stroke for Hiragana, 3 strokes for Katakana,

Spoiler for tu

Only the barest outline of the anime characters remained now. With a respectful bow of his head, Orin painted the final characters with 2 careful stroke for Hiragana and 1 for Katakana,

Spoiler for re

http://upload.wikime...77px-?‚?-bw.png
http://upload.wikime...?ƒ¬-bw.png

The twins returned his bow, as if to say: It appears we were wrong, you are worthy opponents indeed. Then they vanished.

There was a rumbling, and the ground they stood upon shook. As the agents of Sector Lambda struggled to maintain their balance, a portion of the ridge in front of them began to collapse. A moment later, the ground stilled once more and they saw that now before them stood a long earthen staircase.

And hence they climbed, up the moss covered steps to the summit of the ridge. And from there...

...a chasm.

They could see nothing but a sheer drop to darkness below. In the distance, they could see the other side of the ravine. But how were they to get across?

Suddenly, the brushes Orin realized he was still holding flew out of his hands. As they did so, they shimmered and lost their form, metamorphosing into pure green energy. The energy split in different directions, becoming an array of nearly square, translucent green platforms. There was one platform in front the agents. Carefully, Orin touched his foot down onto its translucent surface. It seemed solid enough...a deep breath, and he shifted his weight onto it.

It held without even wavering. After studying it for a moment, Captain Wraith followed suit, then the rest of the team, one by one.

After the final member stood on the platform, the platform in front of it lit up. The Sector Lambda agents looked at each other, that was where they were suppose to go, they guessed, but it was too far to step...

Abruptly, they felt themselves propelled forward by a force. Before they realized what was happening, they landed on the platform in front of them. The platform they had been standing on had vanished, they realized, and something else...on the opposite side of the array, a faint outline of a final platform just became visible. This platform would connect the array to the other side of the gulf.

The platform they now were on had a number “1” on it. The three platforms 1 unit away now lit up. “Well...” said Wraith slowly, “I’m guessing we can only move to platforms at an exact distance from the current platform of the number on the platform. Once we move off a platform, it disappears and its ‘energy’ is added to the final platform. I’m guessing we can need to ‘visit’ every platform on our way to the final platform in order to sufficiently ‘power it up’.”

[vistaptb]

Numbering the squares like those on a chessboard, I've put together the following links:
h7-h8
a4-a1
a3-a2
f8-g8
c6-e6
b6-a6

[vistaptb]

A few additions to the list.
h7-h8
a4-a1
a3-a2
f8-g8
c6-e6
b6-a6
g6-g7
b7-f7
f1-f3
c3-b3
d4-c4
d7-d5

[DudleyDude]

A few additions to the list.
h7-h8
a4-a1
a3-a2
f8-g8
c6-e6
b6-a6
g6-g7
b7-f7
f1-f3
c3-b3
d4-c4
d7-d5

I'm not sure I understand the b7-f7. Couldn't f7 also be reached from d7? If so, I think this eliminates most of your following deductions.

But I do think that this is a good approach although I'm sort of hoping one of the programmers will just write an exhaustive search to find the right path...

[vistaptb]

Yeah, you're right. I guess I missed that. It's nice to see a puzzle where we can understand the rules, though.