Dr. Sudoku Prescribes #68 – Word Search
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools; use tab to alternate between a line drawing mode and a shading mode.)
Theme: Grandmasters
Rules: Standard Word Search rules.
Answer String: Enter the final message, related to what you are getting today, revealed by solving the puzzle. Enter the answer in all capital letters, with no spaces or punctuation.
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 8:30, Master = 11:30, Expert = 23:00
Solution: PDF
I’m confused as to the answer key.
You may not have found the final message yet. Once you have, just enter it in all CAPS without spaces, hyphens, or other punctuation, like this: “THEFINALMESSAGE”
Hmm that should maybe easily be accepted as correct ?! After all if you take “Enter the final message” to the letter, the obvious silly answer would be “THEFINALMESSAGE” 🙂
Ah, ok I’ve got it now, but what exactly is supposed to suggest that particular message as opposed to, say, SOAK A RUDE SORE (with spaces removed, of course), or typing in some row/column which is our standard method of answer key with a Sudoku? (I’m being slightly facetious here, but I want to know if I missed something in the cluing)
You’re on the right track but not there yet.
Never mind, i’d didn’t know the word “facetious” 🙂
Eryngrq gb jung lbh ner trggvat gbqnl va gur nafjre ragel grkg vf zrnag gb pbasvez gur nafjre cuenfr, juvpu vf vaqrrq jung lbh ner trggvat gbqnl naq abg whfg sebz zr ohg nebhaq gur vagrearg. Lbh ner abg trggvat n EHQR FBER abe qb lbh arrq gb FBNX vg.
>>JUNG LBH NER TRGGVAT GBQNL NAQ ABG WHFG SEBZ ZR OHG NEBHAQ GUR VAGREARG.
?? ZNLOR V’Z ORVAT BOGHFR, OHG V QBA’G FRR GUNG V’Z TRGGVAT GUR ‘EHA NEBHAQ’ SEBZ LBH BE NALOBQL RYFR BA GUR VAGREARG GBQNL. ABE QB V FRR UBJ NALGUVAT VA GUR CHMMYR CBVAGF GB GUNG BGURE GUNA VG UNIVAT 2 FGRCF JUVPU QBRFA’G RKNPGYL PBAFGVGHGR ‘EHA NEBHAQ’ (VR CHECBFRSHY RINFVIRARFF)
>> LBH NER ABG TRGGVAT N EHQR FBER ABE QB LBH ARRQ GB FBNX VG.
JRYY, UBJ QB LBH XABJ?
YBBX, V’Z ABG FNLVAT GUR CHMMYR JNFA’G SHA, OHG VS V PNA’G FRR UBJ GUVF CHMMYR YRNQF GB GUNG NAFJRE BA ZBAQNL, V’Z CEBONOYL FPERJRQ BA SEVQNL JURA V’YY ARRQ ZBER GUNA WHFG GUR NOVYVGL GB ABGVPR N CUENFR NYBAT GUR QVNTBANY.
Fb gurfr pbzzragf gb lbh qba’g pbhag? Yrg zr tb svaq gur znantre.
Vs “Gbzsbbyrel” svg gur pbafgenvagf V pbhyq unir tbar jvgu gung. V gerng n ybg bs jung tbrf ba gbqnl nf checbfrshyyl qrprvgshy, ohg jvgubhg gur artngvir pbaabgngvbaf creuncf bs gur hfhny vqvbz.
V FRR “EHA NEBHAQ” NF QVFGVAPG SEBZ “CENAX”… V THRFF ZL PBZCYNVAG VF GUNG VG’F VZCERPVFR PYHVAT. UBJ NOBHG “EHFR” BE “EHFRQ” VAFGRNQ?
Guerr guvatf:
1) Va ZVG Zlfgrel Uhag yvatb, n “Ehanebhaq” vf n chmmyr gung gnxrf lbh qvssrerag cynprf, juvpu guvf chmmyr pregnvayl qbrf. Vg bsgra vaibyirf bar xvaq bs chmmyr erirnyvat n pbzcyrgryl qvssrerag glcr bs chmmyr juvpu, ntnva, vf na ncg qrfpevcgvba.
2) Nf lbh fnvq lbhefrys, lbh jbhyq or ng n ybff vs gur chmmyr jbhyq unir lbh qb fbzrguvat gung jnf zber pbzcyvpngrq guna “ernq gur qvntbany”. Jurer jbhyq gur zrffntr “EHFR” or uvqqra? Va zl fgvag nf na rqvgbe sbe gur Zlfgrel Uhag, bar guvat V yrnearq vf gung gurer whfg nera’g gung znal tbbq, hapyhrq jnlf gb uvqr n zrffntr va n Fhqbxh be nal bgure glcr bs tevq ybtvp chmmyr. Gur orfg vf cebonoyl gur zbfg qverpg: gryy gur fbyire rknpgyl jurer gur zrffntr jvyy or.
3) Gubznf fnvq gur jbeq jbhyq or fbzrguvat lbh’er trggvat. “Trggvat gur ehanebhaq” vf n cresrpgyl inyvq cuenfr. V’z abg fher jul EHFR jbhyq or n orggre nafjre.
RYY, ARIRE UNIVAT QBAR N UHAG (ZVG BE BGUREJVFR), V’Z ZVFFVAT GUR PBAGRKG BS GUNG CNEGVPHYNE VQVBZ. GUBHTU V PNA FRR JURER VG JBHYQ PBZR SEBZ, GUVF VFA’G GUR SVEFG FHPU CHMMYR V’IR QBAR, V’IR ARIRE URNEQ GUNG HFNTR, NAQ V’Z ABG FHER GUNG VG ERNYYL YVARF HC JVGU JUNG V GUVAX BS NF TRGGVAT GUR “EHA NEBHAQ”.
V’Z ABG FHER EHFRQ VF N JBEQ, OHG VS VG JNF, GURA TRGGVAT “EHFRQ” JBHYQ PYRNEYL NCCYL GB NCEVY 1, GUBHTU CREUNCF ABG GUVF CNEGVPHYNE CHMMYR.
V PNA’G FCRNX SBE HAPYHRQ CUENFRF. UBJRIRE, V JNF NAGVPVCNGVAT NG YRNFG FBZR FBEG BS AHQTR VA GUR EVTUG QVERPGVBA RVGURE VA GUR CHMMYR GRKG BE GUR ERFHYG CHMMYR ERTNEQVAT JURER GB YBBX NAQ ABG WHFG GUR PBAGRAG BS GUR ZRFFNTR ENGURE GUNA UNIVAT GB ERNYVMR GUNG GURER JNFA’G N PYHR (FBZRGUVAT GUNG’F FVTAVSVPNAGYL ZBER QVSSVPHYG, VZB).
avpr fcbvyre flfgrz… jbexf sbe zr !
ohg V thrff, rirelbar gung frrf tvoorevfu vzzrqvngryl ebgf vg…
ba gur bgure unaq, jub pna jvgufgnaq bcravat n fcbvyre gnt… 🙂
Finished the puzzle in 7 minutes, but no luck in getting the answer key. I was only able to decipher the half of it. 🙁
My big take-away from this puzzle is that I apparently didn’t know how to spell “Gauguin”.
Loved this kind of puzzle ! Took me 50 minutes but only because I took the final answer as a instruction. 🙂
Once I was finished with that I entered it as answer and it was accepted, and then I did it again of joy 🙂
I maybe would have taken it one step further at the end, and maybe also at the beginning (e.g. give the last names, search for the first names). I like !
Oops : spoiler alert in my post…
Don’t read if you want to find the answer yourself…
Do we have access to spoiler tags?
I'm assuming the code tag doesn't work as a spoiler tag...it does in some places.I don’t have a spoiler tag in the system. I suggest rot13 if you have something to say that you want obscured.
Should have timed myself. I think I barely fell into the Master territory. This one must have been fun to create.
Very intricate puzzle. I like how you demonstrate how answers can not only be hidden, but also staring you right in the face.
It’s only a pity that vafgrnq bs “QFE” ebj fvk qvq’ag pbagnva “QEF” nf n fvtangher…
V zrna bs pbhefr ebj fvk bs gur fhqbxh, ebj frira bs gur jbeq frnepu…
Vs lbh ernyyl jnag gb svaq “QE F” va gur tevq, whfg ybbx ng gur gjb ybjrfg qvntbanyf. Gung jnf abg chg va ba checbfr! Lbh pna bayl zrrg fb znal pbafgenvagf ng bar gvzr naq “Inyvq Jbeq Frnepu” + “Vafgehpgvba gb frpbaq chmmyr” + “Inyvq frpbaq chmmyr” + “Inyvq uvqqra nafjre nsgre fbyivat frpbaq chmmyr” ernyyl yvzvgf ubj zhpu V’z vapyvarq gb uvqr n fchevbhf QE F.
That was really cool.
ps. Is there by any chance a site that ROT13’s a whole website? I don’t really want to copy paste this whole comments section.
Big fan of this one! Thanks Dr S.
Took me less than 10 minutes, but that’s only because these are the exact kind of puzzles I’m used to doing. 🙂 Very cute how all the parts came together, though.
13:20 whee. Even though I did read the comments before solving (and knowing that the answer of the Word Search is an instruction), it need some time to realize that you need to take the whole grid and not only the gibberish after that.
Is this supposed to be an April Fools joke that is played very well? 😛
Can someone give me the answer to this puzzle?I dont know what to do with the remaining unused letters after marking all the words.I rearranged some letters and i m getting sudoku,Kakuro etc., but i feel there is something deeper to this puzzle than just rearranging.If it is not possible to reveal here send the solution to netsky493@gmail.com. I will be grateful and by the way i cant make out head or tail of the gibberish going on above.You guys are in a totally different level to understand and reply in coded language.I am new to all this .Never seen something like this before.Will take some time to get used to these hidden puzzle, hidden msgs and so on….
Do not rearrange the letters.
It is typical in a word search to just read a message directly from the letters in order. Please do so, in left-to-right order starting at the top row and going line by line. The first 16 letters should tell you something about the entire set.
I’ll be writing more about this puzzle this weekend if you have the patience to wait.
Gah! I forgot to find “MARC,” which explains why I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out why V unq avar pbyhzaf, ohg gra ebjf.
After whacking myself with the Stupid Stick… onward!
Very nice. I didn’t time myself but I certainly needed no more than 5′ on the Word Search – however, it’s a pity that V arrqrq nobhg nf zhpu gvzr gb ernyvmr gung V unq gb ernq “HAHFRQ NER FHQBXH” vafgrnq bs “HAHFR QNER FHQBXH”, n cerggl ravtzngvp fragrapr vs lbh jnag zl bcvavba.
That’s a surprising trap since the message is “HAHFRQ NER N FHQBXH” so HAHFR QNERN FHQBXH wouldn’t make any sense but perhaps HAHFRQ NERN FHQBXH could. Definitely seems like a name that needs a new variation.
My bad, I didn’t have the puzzle in front of me and forgot a letter – but it wouldn’t have made much of a difference anyway. I agree that this last name sounds rather good, I am pretty sure something interesting can come up from it. I’ll be watching…
I found and solved this puzzle today!
I wanted to have known this great puzzle on the April fool 2013;-)
Anyway, I really enjoyed this puzzle. Thank you Dr. Sudoku!!