Dec 2024 - Shapes

Tap on any hint box to view it.

Location

  1. Those dashes are minus signs. What does it mean to subtract one word from another?
  2. The first two words to subtract: POTHOLE – POLO = THE
  3. THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

Angle

  1. Do you think you will be drawing angles in this puzzle?
  2. What do you think the underlined phrases are for?
  3. Do you see any figures that can be strung together to make three-syllable words. Perhaps a word that relates to kidnapping or make fizzy.
  4. With twelve dots each getting used just once, how many angles will you draw?
  5. One of the angles is AB-DUCK-SHIN (abduction = kidnapping)
  6. A second angle is CAR-BONE-EIGHT (carbonate = make fizzy)
  7. The final two angles are ROW-MAN-TICK (romantic = hopeless lover) and SCREW-TIN-EYES (scrutinize = look really closely).
  8. In the flavor text, what do you think “from acute to obtuse, angles have always seemed larger than life!” refers to?
  9. Start with the smallest (most acute) angle, then go larger and larger.
  10. SOLUTION: THEY SAY 3S A CROWD!

Square

  1. How many of the sixteen “square related” words can you figure out?
  2. (SQUARE) AWAY, BACK TO (SQUARE) ONE, (SQUARE) DEAL, FAIR & (SQUARE), (SQUARE) FOOT, FOUR (SQUARE), (SQUARE) INCH, (SQUARE) KNOT
  3. (SQUARE) MEAL, (SQUARE) MILE, (SQUARE) NUTS, (SQUARE) PANTS, (SQUARE) PEGS, (SQUARE) ROOT, TIMES (SQUARE), (SQUARE)YARD
  4. Do you notice they all have something in common.
  5. Cut apart the nine squares and see if you can arrange them to form these sixteen 4-letter words. (They form a little square clusters which can start in any corner and which can be read clockwise or counterclockwise.)
  6. In the flavor text, what do you think “read some old letters left over” refers to?
  7. Try reading the letters you didn’t use – left to right top to bottom.
  8. NOTICE THE CHARACTER IN EACH SQUARE JUST PAST TWELVE
  9. Think of each square like a clockface. Where would just past twelve be?
  10. TTHIOPBIS
  11. In what order do you think these nine letters should be read?
  12. ITS HIP TO B [SQUARE] !

Hexagon

  1. Don’t forget: Liza always lies.
  2. If you’re not familiar with nonogram puzzles, start with the QR code or go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonogram
  3. Some hints to get you started: the (3 3) column and the (7) column are gimme’s. So are the (1 2 2) slant and (5 3) slant
  4. Usually nonogram solutions look like objects, but not this one. Instead the 47 shaded in hex cells create a maze challenge. Can you determine the path from START to END?
  5. The path goes through these letters in this order: ITHTEWSASEPAARETNOHTOLTHELETTERSOYOGIUCWAANTLX! But what do we do with that?
  6. Fill in the empty boxes to the right and below the hex grid with the missing number sets indicating the numbers and gaps of shaded cells in each downward sloping diagonal.
  7. The output numbers starting on the right and reading clockwise: 0, 1, 3|2, 2|1|2, 1|4, 3|2|1, 11, 3|1|2, 3|3, 2, 0, 0. What do you think you do with those?
  8. Use these number sets as steps to pause at along the path. Pause after 1 step – which lands you on “I.” Then pause after 3 more steps – which lands you on T, then pause after 2 more steps on W…
  9. IT WAS PATHOLOGICAL!

Circle

  1. It’s a word search. What do you notice about the one answer that is given?
  2. Do you notice how the hints each have two words (or phrases) they are made up of?
  3. The first three phrases are: (A)UT(O)BIOGRAPHICAL CIRCUMNAVIG(A)TI(O)N, CI(R)C(U)LAR A(R)G(U)MENT, D(O)UGHNU(T) DONA(T)I(O)N. Parentheses indicate shared letters.
  4. The second three phrases are: INTERLOCKING MÖBIUS STRIPS, TITANIUM HULA HOOP, UNICYCLE PEDALERS These involve overlapping circles, but with no shared letters.
  5. Do you notice that every phrase involves a part that is circular and a part that is not. Example: HULA HOOP is circular, TITANIUM is not.
  6. What do you think is meant by “embrace those things inside Õun’s comfort zone and outside Øystein’s”?
  7. Read left to right only the letters in the circular parts – but outside the noncircular parts.
  8. THAT DESERVES A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!

Meta

  1. Extract the four four-letter words – one from each of the four puzzle solutions.
  2. IT (WAS P)ATHOLOGICAL, THEY SAY 3’S A (CROW)D! IT’(S HIP) TO B (SQUARE)! THAT DESERVES A RO(UND O)F APPLAUSE
  3. What do you think Shape “Shift”-er refers to?
  4. Shift all the letters in the four extracted words forward or backward by the number indicated.
  5. What do you think “draw your own semifor”-mal conclusions refers to?
  6. Take each shifted letter and look up its semaphore symbol.
  7. Draw these semaphore symbols on their corresponding shapes (hearts, kites…) in the bottom grid.
  8. What do the assembled semaphore symbols spell out?
  9. RUBIK’S (CUBE) HAPPY 50TH

Bonus

  1. Can you name all the shapes?
  2. ARC, CIRCLE, CONE, CUBE, CYLINDER, ELLIPSE, HEXAGON
  3. KITE, LINE, OVAL, PENTAGON, PRISM, PYRAMID, RECTANGLE
  4. RHOMBUS, SEMICIRCLE, SPHERE, SPIRAL, SQUARE, TRAPEZOID (TRAPEZIUM), TRIANGLE
  5. There’s only one three-letter word, and there’s only one ten-letter word.
  6. Once the crossword grid is filled out, notice the large arrow pointing upward and the second arrow leading out of the frame.
  7. SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT