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Desert Diplomacy Begins!


hrtbrk

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It's possible you assumed more than a clue said -- or it's equally possible that we overlooked a connection we should have made. Once we have all the clues, if your solution fits with every single clue, it's technically correct, regardless of whether you made an extra assumption or not.

 

I didn't double-check all the clues after I filled mine in (I thought I'd gleaned all the info from most of them, and I wrote down the ones I still had left to solve -- it's very possible I overlooked something). I'll double-check when I get home from work later and let you know.

 

Edit: Just double-checked. None of the clues give any more info, and all my blanks correspond to other blanks, so I odn't think I can fill any more in. Guess we'll just have to see what tomorrow brings.

Edited by siniri
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At this point, I'm just gonna wait until the end to try and put together the clues. I don't want to have to rearrange things more than once. :P

I should have expected that TNT would throw a wrench into what people thought they solved. Good thing I like puzzles.

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At this point, I'm just gonna wait until the end to try and put together the clues. I don't want to have to rearrange things more than once. :P

I should have expected that TNT would throw a wrench into what people thought they solved. Good thing I like puzzles.

 

I kinda thought they would mix it up, it is TNT after all. but I like puzzles too so it didn't stop me from getting out there and resetting my grid :nerd:

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I have 22 checks and 43 blanks..... I need to go back and recheck things.

Also, is it ok to check answers with someone else on the forum? I don't know if you can/can't? I just want to make sure I'm not messing something up.

 

EDIT:

Never mind, manage to get down to 34 28 blanks now. One more clue should do it! (And I think TNT is releasing one more clue since there are 14 in total according to people over the Neoboards?)

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Today's final clue doesn't really help me all that much. I have to say that I thought I was fair at these things, but this one has me stuck with only 10 checks. I've tried every trick I know to get past it. I hate to set it aside and let it simmer in the back of my brain (something I would normally do), but there's rumours of better prizes based on how fast you solve it. I still haven't figured out how many clues are "false", since past puzzles have had them.

 

I need more fish in my diet, obviously. More Omega-3's. *hahaha*

 

EDIT: Just realized what I dummy I am and filled in a missing clue. Up to 16 checks now. Still behind, though. Wahhh.

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So I put in my answer, and it says this:

 

Princess Amira and her advisors are considering your evidence. They are most certainly not finishing up a hand of Sakhmet Solitaire. The royal guard advises you to return when the time has run out on the clock.

 

Does this mean I'm wrong? I read on the boards that there are rumours of better prizes for faster solves. Help!!

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I re-extend my offer to anyone struggling: if you PM me your grid, I can let you know if there are any mistakes and suggest which clue(s) you should look at next. (I'll also give you examples of the logic behind how to solve certain clues, and general tips for solving logic puzzles.)

One important tip: As you add check marks, make sure you transfer information from one area of your grid to another. If you know that the Mirage Maniacs stole Coltzan's Shrine, and the Maniacs were not 3am, 4am, or 5am, and the Shrine stealers were not 12am or 1am, you know that the combo was not 12am, 1am, 3am, 4am, or 5am -- and were therefore 2am. After you have checks on your grid, every time you put an X anywhere on the grid, check both ways along that X's row and column. For every check that you see between the two, you'll need to transfer that X to another area of the grid.

General tips: If you get stuck, check to see if you can transfer any X's, and reread any of the time clues -- can you eliminate any more times for either part of the clue based on your current X's (e.g., if the Maniacs were before the shrine stealers, and the Maniacs' earliest time is 2am, the shrine stealers' earliest time is 3am, so you can X 12am, 1am, and 2am; conversely, if the shrine stealers' latest time is 5am, the Maniacs' latest time must be 4am, so you can X 5am for them). Also reread the two "of guild X and guild Y, one is guild M and the other is guild N" clues. If a guild can't be X or Y, it also can't be M or N. And then just reread all the clues to see if you missed anything or can solve one with the new info you've gathered.

Some people don't like to work logic grids. This puzzle can be solved by listing each guild on a separate line, like a simple table (you might find the grid easier to get a bit of info, and then transfer to the table). I found it easiest to organize the table by time.

So a partially completed table might look like this (with fake names):

Time Method Guild Item

12am ransom Maniacs shrine

1am passage/scare/hypnotize Dogs teddy

2am accio Screamers/Goons/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

3am passage/scare Screamers/Goons/Runners/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

4am airship Screamers/Goons jewelled Coball

5am passage/scare/hypnotize Runners/Goons urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

 

Say there's a clue that scaring was after the Screamers. You can cross off scaring at 1am because the Screamers couldn't be at 12am (the only time earlier):

Time Method Guild Item

12am ransom Maniacs shrine

1am passage/scare/hypnotize Dogs teddy

2am accio Screamers/Goons/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

3am passage/scare Screamers/Goons/Runners/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

4am airship Screamers/Goons jewelled Coball

5am passage/scare/hypnotize Runners/Goons urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

 

And maybe another clue says "Of the guild that stole the sand sculpture and the one that scared, one was at 3am and the other was the Goons." Look carefully at that 4am row. Can it be either the sand sculpture guild or the scaring guild? Nope. So it's also not 3am or the Goons:

Time Method Guild Item

12am ransom Maniacs shrine

1am passage/scare/hypnotize Dogs teddy

2am accio Screamers/Goons/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

3am passage/scare Screamers/Goons/Runners/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

4am airship Screamers/Goons jewelled Coball

5am passage/scare/hypnotize Runners/Goons urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

 

Woah, now you know the Screamers were at 4am. That means you can cross them out for all the other times:

Time Method Guild Item

12am ransom Maniacs shrine

1am passage/scare/hypnotize Dogs teddy

2am accio Screamers/Goons/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

3am passage/scare Screamers/Goons/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

4am airship Screamers/Goons jewelled Coball

5am passage/scare/hypnotize Runners/Goons urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

 

You can also go back to that clue about scaring being after Screamers and fill in some more info:

Time Method Guild Item

12am ransom Maniacs shrine

1am passage/scare/hypnotize Dogs teddy

2am accio Screamers/Goons/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

3am passage/scare Screamers/Goons/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

4am airship Screamers/Goons jewelled Coball

5am passage/scare/hypnotize Runners/Goons urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

 

Wow, by crossing off scaring for 3am (since we know scaring was at 5am), we now know that 3am was by secret passage. And so we can cross off passage for 1am, which must have been hypnotization. We have all the methods! And now we can look again at this clue: ""Of the guild that stole the sand sculpture and the one that scared, one was at 3am and the other was the Goons." We know that scaring was not 3am -- so scaring must be Goons. And that leaves the sand sculpture at 3am:

 

Time Method Guild Item

12am ransom Maniacs shrine

1am passage/scare/hypnotize Dogs teddy

2am accio Screamers/Goons/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

3am passage/scare Screamers/Goons/Runners/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

4am airship Screamers/Goons jewelled Coball

5am passage/scare/hypnotize Runners/Goons urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

 

Note that we also know the Cats were at 2am, which leaves the Runners for 3am. (You could also note that with 5am eliminated for the Runners, the only place they could fit is at 3am, so 3am can't be Cats.)

 

Time Method Guild Item

12am ransom Maniacs shrine

1am passage/scare/hypnotize Dogs teddy

2am accio Screamers/Goons/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

3am passage/scare Screamers/Goons/Runners/Cats urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

4am airship Screamers/Goons jewelled Coball

5am passage/scare/hypnotize Runners/Goons urn/sand sculpture/pyramid

 

You actually learned quite a lot from 2 clues.

 

If you're getting frustrated with your grid, this table can be easier for a lot of people to visualize (though a bit tough to get started -- I recommend doing as much as you can by grid, then transferring the info to a table.)

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I have it down to the one I need being the only one NOT filled in. -_- I need to solve for the wedding ring. I have it down to two guilds, at two different times, and two different methods. :/ They are the only ones not filled in on my grid! *-_-

 

*Edit: Never mind, I have the method, just not guild and time for the ring, which I need, and the scroll, which I do not.

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People have been reaching out to me from both Desert Diplomacy topics, and I've offered assistance in both, so I feel I need to post this message in both. My apologies for the duplication.

 

Alright, based on the rule TNT has established here, I will not confirm anyone's answers for them, because that would still be considered sharing answers.

 

In addition, when giving assistance, I will not be able to tell you if you messed up anywhere on your grid/table (since that would entail you sending me answers -- partial answers are still answers). If you get stuck, you can message me telling me how far you've gotten (e.g., I've linked guild X with a time and method, and I've linked method Y with an item -- and narrowed down their time to 2 different times -- just don't tell me which time/method/item, so you're not actually giving me answers), and I can give general suggestions based on which clues I think might get you unstuck. I can also give you examples of how to solve certain generic clues (which I already have, somewhat -- see my posts above), which bear only slight resemblance to clues in the actual puzzle (basically, generic logic puzzle-solving tips, vs. tips specific for this puzzle).

 

I do want to help people, but I don't want to break the rules now that TNT has clarified them, nor do I want to encourage anyone else to break the rules. Sorry. Hopefully I can still help.

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