All Questions
27
questions
6
votes
1
answer
686
views
Help me unlock an old laptop
My nerdy roommate has some really important notes for an upcoming exam and he won't give them to me! So I stole his laptop and now I need to find the password, which is why I'm here. I think you'll ...
9
votes
1
answer
971
views
Escape from a Grand Canyon
This is part 44 of the puzzle series Around the World in Many Days. Each part is solvable on its own.
Dear Puzzling,
Can you help me out here? I am trapped inside a small room that’s locked from the ...
10
votes
1
answer
830
views
A Letter and Puzzle From Grandma
[ EDIT: It's OK to skip the long, boring letter for now, and go straight to Stage 1 of the puzzle.]
Dear Grandson,
I could use a break, so I came to your grandpa's farm to unwind. However, woe to me! ...
3
votes
0
answers
314
views
Will you regret solving this puzzle?
It's February and you walk into the Smithsonian American Art Museum. A piece of artwork was recently bought for $2,061,966 USD, but you are confused that the museum bought this ugly artwork that even ...
6
votes
1
answer
256
views
A musical response
This puzzle is my own creation.
The other day one of my coworkers asked me whether I was up for a challenge. I said sure, so he handed me a piece of paper.
"Find the response that's hidden in ...
8
votes
2
answers
563
views
Locked in an alien crypt: Jewels on the floor
Dazed, you slowly regain consciousness. You don’t know how you got here, but one thing is certain – your exploration of this otherworldly planet has reached an ugly end. Trapped in an alien crypt, ...
10
votes
1
answer
396
views
A puzzling stained glass window
On a recent trip to Europe, I visited a beautiful gothic abbey. Walking up the dark aisle between old wooden pews, the air heavy with the odour of incense, I could only marvel at the beautiful stained ...
7
votes
1
answer
511
views
Does this contain a cosmic riddle?
I have recently returned from travelling the globe, and while I saw many sights on my Ulyssian adventure, one in particular remains with me...
While walking through an ancient Middle Eastern cave ...
18
votes
2
answers
2k
views
NASA analyzing message from space
$\hskip3in$Newsflash
Since our space probes and radio beams first plumbed the cosmos, mankind has sent into the void numerous notices describing our location. Today NASA announced the recovery of a ...
20
votes
1
answer
397
views
Twenty Questions - a visual puzzle
"Okay, are you male?"
"Yes. 19 left."
"Are you alive?"
"Well, that's... complicated..."
"Okay, are you real?"
"No – 17."
"17? You're ...
15
votes
1
answer
540
views
The Maze of Hermes
An entry into Fortnightly Topic Challenge #46: "Tales From the Cryptic"
THE QUEST
I have been running a role-playing game, in which my friend plays a halfling named Ptolic. Recently, Ptolic ...
8
votes
0
answers
344
views
We found text from the year 2040!
Recently, the first surviving examples of text from the ███████████████e discovered! The unearthed artifacts included a collection of rectangular tablets inscribed in the hitherto unknow███████████████...
23
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Bob's unnecessary trip to the shops
Alice and Bob live in London, UK. On a Friday, as per usual, Bob leaves for work before Alice. At lunchtime he receives a WhatsApp message from his friend Charles:
Sorry to cancel on you last week (...
17
votes
7
answers
4k
views
Sightseeing on Crack
Recently I went on an around-the-world vacation.
Unfortunately, I dropped my phone just as I was getting out of the cab at the airport before my first flight out. Not so bad in and of itself, but ...
54
votes
9
answers
8k
views
Shady business in the local paper
I work as a delivery man for our local newspaper and noticed something that has my alarm bells ringing. The embassy of Warfaretania has ordered exactly nine issues of our paper, from December 1 ...