A/B Testing

Dear friends,

This weekend is the MIT Mystery Hunt and Grandmaster Puzzles is very happy to be a sponsor of this puzzle event in 2020.

If you are new to this site, there are lots of different fun genres of logic puzzles to explore and you can follow some of the links to the left to find these genres including our easiest puzzles to get started. The Intro to GMPuzzles and Logic Puzzles 101 books are some great titles to try as well.

As part of the pre-Hunt activities for the team I compete with, I created the attached puzzle set in the style of a Mystery Hunt puzzle. Like most puzzlehunt puzzles, it is missing some of the instructions you may want to have but I think you may still be able to figure it out. It has a final answer which is a word/phrase. We will post some hints and/or the answer in the coming weeks.

Puzzle PDF for A/B Testing

Teaser image 1 = Framed!:

A/B Testing by Thomas Snyder

Teaser image 2 = Easy as 1, 2, 3:

A/B Testing by Thomas Snyder

Solution: Puzzle solution packet; or full solution including steps to final message.

  • Jack Bross says:

    Enjoyed the puzzle set. Solved all ten and obtained a ten-letter phrase — if there’s another layer of meta past that it hasn’t hit me yet.

    Unccl gb frr gur “ercrngrq pyhr pyhfgref O” chmmyr glcr znxr na nccrnenapr urer. Nyfb gur hfr bs “qrsnhyg frggvatf” gb fhccyl cneg bs gur chmmyr sbe “pyhr flzzrgel O”

  • Muhorka says:

    Really nice set of puzzles! I like mostly, how differently A/B pieces worked with all grids. My favorite was (5) vs (6+4). Thanks for nice fun and looking forward to see, if my “final answer” is good one 😉

  • Jeff says:

    That was fun! As a reward, I think I’ll go for an afternoon swim.

  • Freddie Hand says:

    Very enjoyable, and impressive constructions too! I liked (4) vs (7) the most but they were all fun to solve.

  • Scott Handelman says:

    Very fun, thank you. I thought the easiest/hardest were the 5 and 6 4, respectively. Took me a bit to find the message but I got there. It definitely made up for the scarcity of Nikoli variants in the Mystery Hunt this year.

  • Zach says:

    Long time solver, first time commenter here! A fun set of puzzles. I actually managed to find the final answer by brute force first, and was in the middle of preparing a comment wondering how I was supposed to find it when I realized the trick. Clever!

  • SS says:

    OK, I need a hint. 🙁

    V fbyirq gur 10 chmmyrf. V guvax gur arkg fgrc vf qbvat fbzrguvat jvgu gur pelcgvp chmmyrf gvgyrf naq yvaxvat gung jvgu gur nafjre xrl. Pna nalbar cebivqr n fhogyr uvag? Gunax lbh!

  • Michael says:

    @SS: Have you tried finding what the first page is asking for? That should give you one number for each puzzle.

  • SS says:

    I think so.

    V nyybpngrq na nafjre “glcr” sbe rnpu chmmyr naq pnyphyngrq n ahzore sbe rnpu chmmyr. Ohg pbhyqa’g svther bhg jung gb qb arkg. V unir abg lrg svtherq bhg gur fvtavsvpnapr bs rnpu chmmyr cntr’f gvgyr.

  • Michael says:

    Gur chmmyr cntr gvgyrf ner vagraqrq gb uvag lbh gbjneqf gur chmmyr glcrf, juvpu lbh nyernql svtherq bhg lbhefrys. Fb lbh jnag gb or ybbxvat ng gur svefg cntr. Gur nzbhagf va gur “gnoyr” ba gur svefg cntr ner vzcbegnag eryngvir gb gur ahzoref lbh sbhaq.

  • SS says:

    Thanks for your help. Though I’m still not there yet. 🙂

    Nu, BX, abj V haqrefgnaq gur chmmyr gvgyrf. V gevrq nyvtavat gur #f va gur fnzr beqre nf gur fhozvffvba cebprff yvfg beqre, ohg fcyvg ol Nf naq Of. (Guvf yrnirf fbzr nzovthvgvrf.) V gura nqwhfgrq gung ahzore ol gur nevguzrgvp bcrengvba naq gevrq hfvat na n1m26 plcure. V unir gbb znal pbafbanagf gb znxr n jbeq, fb V’ir fperjrq fbzrguvat hc.

  • Michael says:

    Lbh jvyy unir gb erbeqre gur Nf naq Of. Abgvpr nalguvat nobhg gur tevqf gung zvtug vaqvpngr na beqrevat?

  • SS says:

    Nu, svanyyl tbg vg! Gunax lbh sbe gur pyhrf. Gurl jrer nzovthbhf rabhtu gb uryc jvgubhg tvivat vg njnl.

    Whfg phevbhf – ba gur ‘Ercrngrq Pyhr Pyhfgref’ – fubhyqa’g vg or 4 (Pnir) if *8* (Xhebznfh)?

  • Michael Tang says:

    Pbatengf! Naq gur frpbaq glcr vf Xhebggb, abg Xhebznfh, V guvax.

  • SS says:

    Nu lrf – V qvq abg ernq gur ehyrf pybfryl rabhtu, naq zvkrq hc gur anzrf. Gunax lbh.

  • LorenR says:

    I was a little behind on solving these puzzles but after I quaffed the answer (7+3), I seem to have finally caught up.

    Thanks for posting it!

  • Bret Kugler says:

    Are more hints and the solutions to this puzzle posted? I am still struggling with some of the puzzles. It has been a fun puzzle so far!!!

    • Avatar photo drsudoku says:

      I added two packets, one with the puzzle solution images and a separate one with the full solution including route to get to the hidden message. If you would prefer hints, where are you stuck? There are no separately posted hints except what some of the solvers may have added as comments.

  • Bret Kugler says:

    Thank you for the posts!!! I think I can proceed right now. I made 2 wrong assumptions. 1) For the “Repeated Clue Clusters”, I thought the puzzle was a cave puzzle. Found out it was a type of puzzle I have never tried. 2) For the “Easy as 1, 2, 3”, tried to use A in top puzzle and did not work. Did not consider using in bottom since did not need to in the “Framed!” puzzles. Will press forward. Hopefully, my mind will be more flexible. Enjoying this type of puzzle.

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