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Puzzle In xkcd Book Finally Cracked

Posted by kdawson on from the be-there-or-be-somewhere-else dept.

An anonymous reader writes "After a little over five months of pondering, xkcd fans have cracked a puzzle hidden inside Randall Munroe's recent book xkcd: volume 0. Here is the start of the thread on the xkcd forums; and here is the post revealing the final message (a latitude and longitude plus a date and time)."

11 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. Uh by Threni · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The start of the thread, containing spoilers, isn't much use if you want to attempt the puzzle and haven't got the book. Do I need the book? If so, this is something of a non-story, isn't it?

    1. Re:Uh by war4peace · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Wait, there is a puzzle? Where? xkcd? What's that? Who? What year is it?
      Oh, it's /. - nevermind then, all makes sense now.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    2. Re:Uh by kestasjk · · Score: 4, Informative

      These are comics with computer science / math / physics jokes..

      --
      // MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
    3. Re:Uh by j00r0m4nc3r · · Score: 5, Funny

      So, this is obviously an invitation to another party.

      Or a trap.

    4. Re:Uh by Zarf · · Score: 4, Funny

      So, this is obviously an invitation to another party.

      Or a trap.

      You've been listening to Admiral Ackbar too much.

      --
      [signature]
    5. Re:Uh by dotancohen · · Score: 4, Informative

      You mean this:
      http://xkcd.com/240/

      --
      It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
  2. Bring in the mice! by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 4, Funny

    So we now need to build a computer to know what the actual question was...

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  3. Google maps link by shird · · Score: 4, Interesting

    FYI, a google maps link to the location:

    http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.769573+-122.483123&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16

    time and date: 2010-06-26 14:28:57

    --
    I.O.U One Sig.
    1. Re:Google maps link by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 4, Funny

      What are the laws surrounding drinking alcohol in the Golden Gate Park?

      BYO.

      --
      Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  4. Re:The problem is that there's no article. by Angostura · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Indeed. Having read the thread, I suspect I've just witnessed a mathematical game of Mornington Crescent.

  5. Solving the XKCD puzzle... by AdamTrace · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As I suggested in the linked XKCD forum, now that the puzzle is solved, it would be really nice to have a full write-up of the entire thing, including the unsolved puzzles themselves and a little more detail and background about the whole thing. That would have made for a much more interesting story to the general public.

    Direct linking to an unorganized web-forum thread isn't really much of a story. Oh well.

    For what it's worth, the puzzles in the XKCD book were really fun. They ranged from pretty simple (ROT-13, etc) to fiendishly clever. Even though every comic is available online for free, I'm glad I spent the money on the book.

    I was lucky enough to solve the final puzzle myself, and therefore happened to be the first person to have all eight keys and decrypt the message. As lame as this might sound, it was pretty thrilling.