My assumption here is that the glyphs, patterns-of-four, are the "letters" or "numbers" in whatever code this is. That might be entirely off base of course.
The total number of possible patterns of those suit icons is 16, i.e. 2 to the power 4. So there are five possible patterns that are not used (16 -11) — they don't appear on the card back.
I had a friend who used to work for the NSA. Had the most amazing instinct for finding patterns of anyone I ever knew. Unfortunately he died last year, or I would have laid this puzzle before him.
As you can probably guess I am stumped by this conundrum so I’m just following other players’ workings and trying to understand different thought patterns.
I wonder if the division by 2 is relevant, represented by the line down the middle with two shades of pink 🤷♀️🤷♂️ or there are two sides to the solution.
@Michael - Okay you jokester you , lol . You've had your fun , you got everyone all confused so come on now and admit it . This really has something to do with '' Mother's Day '' doesn't it ! I knew it ...
There are 11 variations/patterns. Of those there are some singles and some that repeat. There are 3 patterns that only show once, 2 patterns that occur twice, 1 pattern that occurs three times, 1 that occurs four times, 1 that occurs five times, 1 that occurs six times, 1 that occurs eight times and 1 that occurs eleven times. These numbers are including the patterns either side of the G and the F.
Given that there are two patterns with the G and the F, I was wondering if they were the key and that is why I thought about binary. Two patterns either side of G comes to a sequence of 8. Binary is in sequences of 8.
This then also minimises the size of the sentence (if indeed that is what it is) and means that the 3 in a row that seems to be confusing actually makes a bit more sense.
Hi Jabba, thank you for your impressive variations.
I look at the solution in a slightly different manner. From my point of view the letter G at the top and F at the bottom are not part of the text for the code, but are there to simply show us that 2 designs make 1 letter. An alphabet can be made simply by knowing how each pair of designs are manipulated to represent another letter. When I say text I mean the letters located in the square in between the examples given for G and F.
For example, the designs for letter G are found in the first row of the square...designs for letter F are located at the beginning of the 3rd line.
To find the designs for other letters we only have G and F to work with...which is fortunate because G follows F in the alphabet. Put the designs representing F to the left side of G as per the alphabet and we can see how G was formed from F. The designs for both are almost identical except G's spade has been changed to the colour red.
Since there are 20 letters in the code it means a lot of work and patience will be needed...if my solution is right.
Hi @anglais thanks for another interesting way to approach the puzzle.
As each design changes by one element - from your example of the spade changing colour between G and F - then the alphabet can be determined by mapping single changes in the designs. The key to establishing this is to determine which design represents a particular letter and take it alphabetically from there. I hope I’ve understood you correctly.
Are you still working from a base of nine? I saw earlier that you had found the word ‘Michael’
Hi @fingsaint, I put aside the base nine because of the complications and limitations.
I stumbled on to this other ¨possible" solution by observation and a little intuition. The problem with this idea is relating it to the alphabet.
First, we have to have a letter that relates to the colour all black, notice there are no symbols all red in colour.
The problem is or was, where to start so that the patterns will match our known patterns of F and G. Fairly simple.
Since all black is needed and G and H are mostly black, it stands to reason that all black is the base to start from.
Obviously b is used for black and R for red
A = bb bb
bb bb
B = Rb bb
bb bb
C = bR bb
bb bb
D = bb bb
bR bb
E = bb bb
Rb bb
F = Rb RR. Here is where the problem starts...why is the configuration not Rb Rb/bb bb so that G can move onto
bb bb a normal rotation of the R to get G = Rb bR/bb bb ?
G = Rb bR
bb bb
I'm pretty sure there are some brilliant minds out there that can find the proper sequence to the alphabet problem or even better yet, find a better solution. So far this is all I can come up with...for now.
PS. The Michael thing you are referring to was a bit of a joke or polite sarcasm ☺️, I should have made it a bit clearer...sorry about that.
@fingsaint, not sure what's happening to the text getting so screwed up. The base of the designs are not under the top as you can see, also, The phrase "Here is where the problem starts...why is the configuration..... so that G can move onto a normal rotation etc, etc. The phrase does not include bb bb. Just verifying, I'm sure you knew that.
@anglais thanks, ah yes I can see what you mean 🙂
Looks like you’ll need a big whiteboard and marker pen to set out all those permutations! But it’s clearly a way-in to solve it. And it has an overlap with other avenues of seeing each design as discrete symbols.
Thanks for clearing up the ‘Micheal’ result because I found it difficult to place that answer in your technique.
@zudensternen@jabba I was thinking about computer codes which are written in strings of numbers or commands. So do you think there is any merit in reading the symbols in separate lines across the page instead of groups of four? ie starting from the top there are two rows across, then a break, another two lines of code, a break etc until the end. Lines expanding and decreasing in length. 🧐
Hang on, what if it’s as simple as red and black representing 0 and 1? So that the code is binary. I’ve just tried the third row, top line starting red heart 0, black spade1 ie 01000010 put it into the converter and it comes out as letter B! @Michael
I don’t have time right now to complete all the lines, so I’ll come back to it later to see if it works out a solution…
‘It includes some messages you almost got’
ok @braynededd that’s us 😉 it’s a song title with the word ‘love’ in it, we can get this by process of elimination 😂
I’ll go first: All you Need Is Love
okay @ fingsaint . This should be a piece of cake . I just Googled " love songs '' and it says there are about 100 million . Do not be deterred ! Another site said he knows of 1,187 songs with '' love '' in the title '' .. I'll throw in one '' Cant buy Me Love , over to you . We'll probably end up with a '' Love Hangover '' ( Diana Ross '76 ) lol ....
Well...the love thing turned out to be a bummer 🙃. I think I'll take another shot. Checked some of my earlier suggestions...mentioned Green Felt Feb 21st, suggested Greenfelt as the answer Feb 26th so will try again. @Michael, is the code "greenfelt.net" ?
I’m baaack 🙂 like a dog with a bone, a solution is out there some where …
My interpretation of the exchange between Michael and David is that they’re considering if it would be a total let down if after all the attempts at decoding, it just turned out to be a marketing slogan for GreenFelt. But then again maybe 🤔 … we should steel ourselves for an advert … I can hear the evil cackling from here 😈
@fingsaint . Thanks for the info . Greenfelt must be into a lot of stuff , very versatile , I've often wondered where Paul McCartney's band got it's name . I never would have guessed . Who was it Jim , Dave , Michael ???
Hi @fingsaint, you are on the right track but there were 2 hints in the card backs. First on was GF on the top and bottom...then the word Love showed up everywhere when the cursor was displaced. I like the way you put out the answers you have been thinking about...I also have been thinking.
Here are some of my possible solutions to the code:
" Love Greenfelt ".
" I love Greenfelt ".
" We love Greenfelt ".
and because there are so many hearts.
' Everybody loves Greenfelt ".
If I do get it right, it's because of your inspiration and ideas we have exchanged so...you would also be right.
Boy did I miss Greenfelt the last couple of days...thanks Jim, Dave and Michael for bringing it back. You guys must be exhausted. Had to get my Freecell fix on other competitors games. Didn't realize how feeble and awkward other game sites are...set-up usually complicated to play and constant interruptions. Believe me, you have no competition I found nothing even close to Greenfelt.
Hi @anglais I guess at best we’re just making stabs in the dark 🙂 but even if we did manage to stumble across the ‘right’ phrase it wouldn’t be counted and probably not mentioned as a ‘win’ 🏆 at the end of the day the task the greenfelt guys set was to decode and show how it was worked out.
Really, I was just having fun 🥳 not serious with the suggested answers. I’ll pop back to this thread now and again ready to applaud whoever manages to unravel the code - could be days, weeks or even years!
Hi @fingsaint, nice to hear from you. For someone who was not giving serious answers...some of them were pretty darn good. I'll probably be coming back now and then just to see if someone had the solution.
Take care and enjoy, in the meantime I'll just relax a little 🏝.
@anglais Thanks for the complement. Green Felt may not look the best (Jim and I are not graphic designers) but we worked really hard to make it feel great. We always try playing other online solitaire games and want Green Felt to be the absolute best playing one out there.
With regard to wild stabs in the dark, I'm trying to avoid a "hotter, colder" type hints completely. Like I said earlier, if you get it you'll know it!
BTW, This thread sparked my interest and I tried to decode it knowing the answer but not the encoding details and I had to eventually give in and look at a cheat sheet that @Michael made. @Jim (who doesn't know the answer) has also attempted to decode it and has fallen short. I still think it's doable, but it's a little tricky.
Hi @David thanks for the feedback... @fingsaint and I have been working fairly, or should I say quite hard trying to come up with a reasonable solution. Even if we sort of wish for "hotter, colder" hints, we know that our hard work would make any right answer less valid should we receive them.
With regards to your competitors, sincerely, it was a complete shock to find that type of amateurism. I spent quite a lot of time trying to find something reasonable to play on but couldn't find anything comparable to Green Felt. You @Jim and @Michael have achieved something very special and I know everyone appreciates the long hours it must have taken. Thank you and the "guys for your dedication to your "baby".
Comments
Hi @fingsaint, the reason there are 11 is that that's how many different patterns of the four red-or-black suit icons are present among the 44 groupings of four on the card back. Here is the image of the card back that @david posted: https://forum.greenfelt.net/discussion/comment/31411/#Comment_31411
My assumption here is that the glyphs, patterns-of-four, are the "letters" or "numbers" in whatever code this is. That might be entirely off base of course.
The total number of possible patterns of those suit icons is 16, i.e. 2 to the power 4. So there are five possible patterns that are not used (16 -11) — they don't appear on the card back.
I had a friend who used to work for the NSA. Had the most amazing instinct for finding patterns of anyone I ever knew. Unfortunately he died last year, or I would have laid this puzzle before him.
@zudensternen ah, ok I get it. So even though there is a complete alphabet you are only looking at the 11 used as a starting base?
If only Alan Turing was still around 😎
As you can probably guess I am stumped by this conundrum so I’m just following other players’ workings and trying to understand different thought patterns.
I wonder if the division by 2 is relevant, represented by the line down the middle with two shades of pink 🤷♀️🤷♂️ or there are two sides to the solution.
@Michael - Okay you jokester you , lol . You've had your fun , you got everyone all confused so come on now and admit it . This really has something to do with '' Mother's Day '' doesn't it ! I knew it ...
Hey @Michael,
this sounds
about right.
I I
C
H
A
E
L
F
Have no idea what happened there...so, once again
Hey @Michael...this sounds about right;
Michaels Code
There are 11 variations/patterns. Of those there are some singles and some that repeat. There are 3 patterns that only show once, 2 patterns that occur twice, 1 pattern that occurs three times, 1 that occurs four times, 1 that occurs five times, 1 that occurs six times, 1 that occurs eight times and 1 that occurs eleven times. These numbers are including the patterns either side of the G and the F.
Given that there are two patterns with the G and the F, I was wondering if they were the key and that is why I thought about binary. Two patterns either side of G comes to a sequence of 8. Binary is in sequences of 8.
This then also minimises the size of the sentence (if indeed that is what it is) and means that the 3 in a row that seems to be confusing actually makes a bit more sense.
Thanks @jabba mind-bending logic
Here’s the pseudo hieroglyphic version for a different way of looking at the grouping pattern (I think it’s right …)
For budding Egyptologists 🥸
@fingsaint & @jabba, than you for moving things forward.
@Michael, any time you would like to weigh in with a hint or indication we're on a right track / dead end, that would be nice! 😏
For the explorers of number based codes, would a ASCII converter help? Text to numbers or numbers to text
https://www.duplichecker.com/ascii-to-text.php
Hi Jabba, thank you for your impressive variations.
I look at the solution in a slightly different manner. From my point of view the letter G at the top and F at the bottom are not part of the text for the code, but are there to simply show us that 2 designs make 1 letter. An alphabet can be made simply by knowing how each pair of designs are manipulated to represent another letter. When I say text I mean the letters located in the square in between the examples given for G and F.
For example, the designs for letter G are found in the first row of the square...designs for letter F are located at the beginning of the 3rd line.
To find the designs for other letters we only have G and F to work with...which is fortunate because G follows F in the alphabet. Put the designs representing F to the left side of G as per the alphabet and we can see how G was formed from F. The designs for both are almost identical except G's spade has been changed to the colour red.
Since there are 20 letters in the code it means a lot of work and patience will be needed...if my solution is right.
Good luck and bonne chance ☺️.
Hi @anglais thanks for another interesting way to approach the puzzle.
As each design changes by one element - from your example of the spade changing colour between G and F - then the alphabet can be determined by mapping single changes in the designs. The key to establishing this is to determine which design represents a particular letter and take it alphabetically from there. I hope I’ve understood you correctly.
Are you still working from a base of nine? I saw earlier that you had found the word ‘Michael’
Hi @fingsaint, I put aside the base nine because of the complications and limitations.
I stumbled on to this other ¨possible" solution by observation and a little intuition. The problem with this idea is relating it to the alphabet.
First, we have to have a letter that relates to the colour all black, notice there are no symbols all red in colour.
The problem is or was, where to start so that the patterns will match our known patterns of F and G. Fairly simple.
Since all black is needed and G and H are mostly black, it stands to reason that all black is the base to start from.
A = bb bb
bb bb
B = Rb bb
bb bb
C = bR bb
bb bb
D = bb bb
bR bb
E = bb bb
Rb bb
F = Rb RR. Here is where the problem starts...why is the configuration not Rb Rb/bb bb so that G can move onto
bb bb a normal rotation of the R to get G = Rb bR/bb bb ?
G = Rb bR
bb bb
I'm pretty sure there are some brilliant minds out there that can find the proper sequence to the alphabet problem or even better yet, find a better solution. So far this is all I can come up with...for now.
PS. The Michael thing you are referring to was a bit of a joke or polite sarcasm ☺️, I should have made it a bit clearer...sorry about that.
@fingsaint, not sure what's happening to the text getting so screwed up. The base of the designs are not under the top as you can see, also, The phrase "Here is where the problem starts...why is the configuration..... so that G can move onto a normal rotation etc, etc. The phrase does not include bb bb. Just verifying, I'm sure you knew that.
@anglais thanks, ah yes I can see what you mean 🙂
Looks like you’ll need a big whiteboard and marker pen to set out all those permutations! But it’s clearly a way-in to solve it. And it has an overlap with other avenues of seeing each design as discrete symbols.
Thanks for clearing up the ‘Micheal’ result because I found it difficult to place that answer in your technique.
@fingsaint, I'm going to recheck some of my info...could be a misstep somewhere.
@zudensternen @jabba I was thinking about computer codes which are written in strings of numbers or commands. So do you think there is any merit in reading the symbols in separate lines across the page instead of groups of four? ie starting from the top there are two rows across, then a break, another two lines of code, a break etc until the end. Lines expanding and decreasing in length. 🧐
Hang on, what if it’s as simple as red and black representing 0 and 1? So that the code is binary. I’ve just tried the third row, top line starting red heart 0, black spade1 ie 01000010 put it into the converter and it comes out as letter B!
@Michael
I don’t have time right now to complete all the lines, so I’ll come back to it later to see if it works out a solution…
Sounds interesting...will check the discussion later on tonight. Good luck on this one.
I was trying to remember something about the card encoding and found this discussion between me and Michael, it includes some messages you almost got.
Clear as mud @david 😂
Oh, a substitution cipher?
‘It includes some messages you almost got’
ok @braynededd that’s us 😉 it’s a song title with the word ‘love’ in it, we can get this by process of elimination 😂
I’ll go first: All you Need Is Love
… unless it’s one of @anglais words 🤔
Right, I obviously need to walk away from this thread for a while 🙂 and head back to real life (playing solitaire)
@Michael, just a guess..." Love pops up everywhere "
From a phrase I used on 23rd February when I first discovered the word Love pops up when moving the cursor across the card back.
@braynededd, if my answer isn't right try using the last word you used on the 23rd.
okay @ fingsaint . This should be a piece of cake . I just Googled " love songs '' and it says there are about 100 million . Do not be deterred ! Another site said he knows of 1,187 songs with '' love '' in the title '' .. I'll throw in one '' Cant buy Me Love , over to you . We'll probably end up with a '' Love Hangover '' ( Diana Ross '76 ) lol ....
Well...the love thing turned out to be a bummer 🙃. I think I'll take another shot. Checked some of my earlier suggestions...mentioned Green Felt Feb 21st, suggested Greenfelt as the answer Feb 26th so will try again.
@Michael, is the code "greenfelt.net" ?
I’m baaack 🙂 like a dog with a bone, a solution is out there some where …
My interpretation of the exchange between Michael and David is that they’re considering if it would be a total let down if after all the attempts at decoding, it just turned out to be a marketing slogan for GreenFelt. But then again maybe 🤔 … we should steel ourselves for an advert … I can hear the evil cackling from here 😈
Nice one @braynededd 😎 two down, only 999,998 to go
“GreenFelt, the best thing since sliced bread!”
“GreenFelt, just do it!”
“GF, because you’re worth it”
“Greenfelt gives you wings”
🤠
@fingsaint . Thanks for the info . Greenfelt must be into a lot of stuff , very versatile , I've often wondered where Paul McCartney's band got it's name . I never would have guessed . Who was it Jim , Dave , Michael ???
Hi @fingsaint, you are on the right track but there were 2 hints in the card backs. First on was GF on the top and bottom...then the word Love showed up everywhere when the cursor was displaced. I like the way you put out the answers you have been thinking about...I also have been thinking.
Here are some of my possible solutions to the code:
and because there are so many hearts.
If I do get it right, it's because of your inspiration and ideas we have exchanged so...you would also be right.
Boy did I miss Greenfelt the last couple of days...thanks Jim, Dave and Michael for bringing it back. You guys must be exhausted. Had to get my Freecell fix on other competitors games. Didn't realize how feeble and awkward other game sites are...set-up usually complicated to play and constant interruptions. Believe me, you have no competition I found nothing even close to Greenfelt.
Hi @anglais I guess at best we’re just making stabs in the dark 🙂 but even if we did manage to stumble across the ‘right’ phrase it wouldn’t be counted and probably not mentioned as a ‘win’ 🏆 at the end of the day the task the greenfelt guys set was to decode and show how it was worked out.
Really, I was just having fun 🥳 not serious with the suggested answers. I’ll pop back to this thread now and again ready to applaud whoever manages to unravel the code - could be days, weeks or even years!
Best of luck and enjoy 👍
Hi @fingsaint, nice to hear from you. For someone who was not giving serious answers...some of them were pretty darn good. I'll probably be coming back now and then just to see if someone had the solution.
Take care and enjoy, in the meantime I'll just relax a little 🏝.
@anglais Thanks for the complement. Green Felt may not look the best (Jim and I are not graphic designers) but we worked really hard to make it feel great. We always try playing other online solitaire games and want Green Felt to be the absolute best playing one out there.
With regard to wild stabs in the dark, I'm trying to avoid a "hotter, colder" type hints completely. Like I said earlier, if you get it you'll know it!
BTW, This thread sparked my interest and I tried to decode it knowing the answer but not the encoding details and I had to eventually give in and look at a cheat sheet that @Michael made. @Jim (who doesn't know the answer) has also attempted to decode it and has fallen short. I still think it's doable, but it's a little tricky.
Hi @David thanks for the feedback... @fingsaint and I have been working fairly, or should I say quite hard trying to come up with a reasonable solution. Even if we sort of wish for "hotter, colder" hints, we know that our hard work would make any right answer less valid should we receive them.
With regards to your competitors, sincerely, it was a complete shock to find that type of amateurism. I spent quite a lot of time trying to find something reasonable to play on but couldn't find anything comparable to Green Felt. You @Jim and @Michael have achieved something very special and I know everyone appreciates the long hours it must have taken. Thank you and the "guys for your dedication to your "baby".