The "Final Answer To Everything" Game, Questions & Answers Thread

Originally posted by sillinous1

Originally posted by glengineer


Another question: how does 8 + 6 + 2 get you 431.html ? Is it as obvious as "just cut them all in half" , or is ther something more?

It was the answers to questions 8, 6, and 2 added together.

It is somewhat strange that it was half of all the numbers... hmm... was that intentional?

And I think the question was 2 + 6 + 8, and 431 is the reverse of half of those numbers.

I think that everyone who contributed to this game should be rewarded. nuff said

Originally posted by Freenrgy2

Originally posted by glengineer

Originally posted by Springer

Originally posted by Freenrgy2


320 - The only way I got this was multiplying 240 * 4/3. I figure that it had to do with the way the fractions were being divided (you multiply by the reciprocal). Perhaps someone reduced too early.

[edit on 27-7-2006 by Freenrgy2]

Ding! Ding! Ding we have a winner!

Wait, are you saying that 320 was the correct answer?

I thought the question would, using standard mathematical .... ooooh, what do they call it? parenthesis first, then exponents, then multiplication/division.... anyway, would produce 20, not 320. If I remember correctly, it was a straight 1/4 * 1/2 * whatever.... and came up with 20.

To divide fraction A by fraction B you multiply fraction A by the reciprocal of fraction B.

[edit on 27-7-2006 by Freenrgy2]

But two-thirds of one-half of one fourth of 240

one fourth of 240=60
one half of 60=30
2/3 of 30 = 20.

Where's the reciprocal called into the problem? In common word problems (remember your fourth grade math class?) the word "of" meant "multiply. Half of something is 1/2 times. Two of something = 2 times.

Originally posted by maximusX
I think that everyone who contributed to this game should be rewarded. nuff said

I was compensated twice via applause points. That's enough for me.

Originally posted by Freenrgy2

Originally posted by maximusX
I think that everyone who contributed to this game should be rewarded. nuff said

I was compensated twice via applause points. That's enough for me.

I was compensated enough in two ways.

One, finding the ATS forums site, which has a surprisingly polite clientele, with flaming extinguished quickly. I got it full in the face when I announced that I had solved the last question - "yeah, sure he did" - and many raced to my defense. I'm a polite guy, and I expect others to be polite, too. Nice to see that here there are a large number of polite intelligent folks.

Second, when I typed in groktosurvive.html and got the final page, WOO HOO! I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest! I was first, and I had done it, and maybe I was going to win it.... alas, I was unable to confirm, but that's ok. It was worth it anyway.

______ is two-thirds of one-half of one fourth of 240 ?

The answer is 20. I have put it into my calculator ten times and each time it comes out 20.

Yeah, figuring out "grok.html" which was arguably the question that stumped the most people for the longest time was an amazing feeling. I haven't had a lightbulb moment like that in quite sometime.

It also led to an interesting battle of greed vs helping others. What most people don't know is that there were 4 of us in the Illuminati chatroom for several hours pondering over this question. We all sort of agreed that since this was the end of the game, our answers would stay between us. We concluded that if we didn't reveal the grok answer, we'd buy ourselves a 12-24 hour head start at cracking the next question.

When I finally got the answer, I was not only torn on whether or not to reveal it to the people I had an agreement with, but whether or not it should be revealed to the main group as a whole.

Initially, the group and I agreed to keep it between ourselves. A couple of us also posted intentionally misleading ideas on where we should look for the answer. We then realized that it wasn't in the ATS spirit to do this. I do regret even considering that. It's easy to get caught up in the moment.

You can see when we finally reached the agreement to post the answer here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

The top 3 people (Mechanic, Imperium, and me) were 3 of the 4 in the chatroom (the 4th was Fiverz).

Just a quick little side story. I bet there are a lot of stories like that.



[edit on 27-7-2006 by Cutwolf]

Originally posted by infoseeker
______ is two-thirds of one-half of one fourth of 240 ?

The answer is 20. I have put it into my calculator ten times and each time it comes out 20.

And generally math problems are worked left-to-right.

First off congrats to sillinous, I sent you a u2u. Welcome to the ATS sister site network. ID is willing to help you out when you decide what to do with your site.

To Springer and SO: You guys are are madmen with these puzzles. I kept saying, no no I won't be lured in. But you got me, I was right there with the rest trying every obsure thought in my head. Brings back those bitter-sweet memories. Springer I dropped you a u2u also bud.

I would also like to know if there were more q_ questions or clues embedded.
What did y'all think of the tin.wiki follow along?

Some ID members have formed a online game club called "Sherlock's Spyglass" they would love for folks to pop over and join them in some puzzle solving. www.ignorancedenied.com... for those new around here.

Cheers,

Z

[edit on 7/27/2006 by zsandmann]

Originally posted by infoseeker
______ is two-thirds of one-half of one fourth of 240 ?

The answer is 20. I have put it into my calculator ten times and each time it comes out 20.

Incidently, I totally concur. "of" by itself in a word problem is used to denote a product. Working left-to-right 2/3 * 1/2 * 1/4 would be 1/12, which times 240 would yield 20.

First of i wanna thank everyine here at ATS for the great game I know that this must have taken alot of time to make and for that i thank you Springer and S.O.
Two questions:
1. Was,SS.O, You guys?
2.Early in the game why did ATS deny involvment?

[edit on 27-7-2006 by The_Result_was]

I believe SSO stands for Springer & Skeptic Overlord. They're the only ones who knew the answers to the questions and they also took dual control over HUNT_ADMIN.

Originally posted by Freenrgy2

Originally posted by infoseeker
______ is two-thirds of one-half of one fourth of 240 ?

The answer is 20. I have put it into my calculator ten times and each time it comes out 20.

Incidently, I totally concur. "of" by itself in a word problem is used to denote a product. Working left-to-right 2/3 * 1/2 * 1/4 would be 1/12, which times 240 would yield 20.

2/3*(1/2*(1/4*240)) = 20

I agree. Oh well, (they're not engineers...pfffft).

Originally posted by Freenrgy2
How long is the new game supposed to last

We're taking what we learned here, and will be applying that to a game that plays longer.

What additional prizes are you contemplating.

I really like the format of having a game with an intense viral component that creates a high-value domain name when it's all finished. So we have a KILLER UFO-centric domain for the next game, but there will also be intermediate prizes along the way.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

Originally posted by Freenrgy2
How long is the new game supposed to last

We're taking what we learned here, and will be applying that to a game that plays longer.

What additional prizes are you contemplating.

I really like the format of having a game with an intense viral component that creates a high-value domain name when it's all finished. So we have a KILLER UFO-centric domain for the next game, but there will also be intermediate prizes along the way.

I liked the length of this game. Maybe extending it to 7-10 days, but 20+ is pushing it. I think you'd see a huge dropoff in participation after about 2 weeks, especially if delays are forced by roadblocks that users have little control over. The "unique referral" roadblock was an interesting way to do it, but even that would grow quite tedious if used repeatedly.

I also think after 20+ days, you'd see an increase in frustration within the thread and people would be more likely to form splinter groups and not help the community.

It's one thing to give away some of the final answers in a game that lasted 5 days, but in a game you devote 20-30 days to figure out, you'll have a lot of people on the fence about sharing reconsidering their options.


And killer is in bold? Are the clues starting already? Only kidding...I think.

[edit on 27-7-2006 by Cutwolf]

I don't need a reward for the work I put into it. I answered two questions more than I thought I'd be able to answer. One was downright crazy (klaata) and the other was the last one and glen as you put it into the thread I was boasting to the chat that I figured it out. alas, I am dumber than most. I still don't know how you get to the first post on ats.

I’ve already posted my thanks to everyone on the other thread. Great game and congratulations to the winner! It will be great to see what you do with the site.

No questions about the game it was pretty cut and dried and well done over all. I hope these are a regular feature from now on. I would not want to admit some of the words and phrases I tried in frustration though.

It would be nice for many of us I think if there were contests that are not based on speed so much. To compete in this one required the ability to stay at it for hours every day to the exclusion of everything else which is great for students on break, retired persons or those who have that much time on their hands. A game for those of us who work long hours and have families and homes to deal with would be a thought for the future. I’ll be here until midnight tonight to make up for yesterday. It was addictive I have to admit. It was worth the extra hours to give it a try.

Prizes don't matter. The reward is in the doing.

You'd be surprised how long people will hang in there on a good game. Find the rings lasted several months, especially if you add in all the pre-game hype and crazy characters running around posting gibberish.

Hi all,
Yeah, I figured alliances were made through longtime ATS members through chatrooms or whatever. It didn't bug me, it's human nature (survival). I knew I had little chance of winning because of my inexperience with this forum (being a newbee and knowing little to nothing of some of the subjects). Overall, I was impressed with those who chose to share answers at all, be it when they got the info or a little later.

However, I was mostly impressed with those who got to the place to confirm (cutwolf, trollingnewb) but still came back to give hints to those left behind. You learn alot about people in moments like that. They had no obligation to do so but for the sake of their own ethical standards. And it's a choice that could cost you the win. This is what I got the most of playing this game and what I was most curious to see at the end and it kept me going (that and I wanted to know what the game creator thought the final answertoeverything was). It was fascintating to take part in.

You all were great players (even the misleaders, they have a role to play) and, in my book, winners.


[edit on 27-7-2006 by sunshine7]

All I have to say is that was amazing. I cant wait to play along with the next one. I remember the first day of posting... I went to bed at 15 pages, woke up... and I believe it was past 100 hahaha. Truly awesome.

Thanks for the fun


-8th