Can you solve Puzzle Fantastica #3? - The Final Clue...

longitude. so there.

U
S
D
A

N S
A A
C L
L T

OINK!

Loin, side, legs, hams, ribs, feet?

Ai yi yi! What does a nice Jewish boy from Los Angeles know from pork products?!?!?

Starry eyed (Optimist)
Ship Shape
501 (Levi's Jeans)
Short Circuit

spam

shorts
painting
asteroid
m...?

or are those minus signs?

and is it significant that the order of the first four clues given in clue #5 is different than the original order?

When I saw "pork" products, the first thing I thought of was "bacon" - as in Kevin Bacon degrees of separation. That could work, especially the way the picture is laid out.

Maybe each clue leads to another clue (with the picture as a guide). These new clues then maybe are more obvious at leading to the solution.

This is tough.

Dijkstra's algorithm?

Of course!

It must be...

S

P

A

M

!

The hand-drawn bits in the last clue are cryptic.

O.K. so let's see if we can first solve the hand drawn bits.

1. looks like a star with an eye or a sideways "A." Something to do with space, something to do with orientation?

2. Rectangle within a rectangle: a frame, a television, meaning that something is "inside something" like a container or something?

3. A vertical line? The number 1, the letter I, up/down, a wall?

4. A circle with a line. This one comes across as a globe, the earth, something to do with planets, geography, maps?

Jenjen is on to something. Well, actually 4 somethings. Diane also.

The misplaced order is an accident. No significance there.

I have been thinking along those same lines, but to no avail.

The first one. An asterisk. A star. The letter A. An "upside down letter A" quantifier from propositional logic. All star? Could the A be a sideways D? Could it be an eye looking to the left. Is the asterisk meant to meant be a wildcard symbol or a footnote symbol?

So, an important issue is what is up, down, left and right in this puzzle? For example in the third part of Clue 5, is it an I or a 1, or could it be a minus sign or dash?

Or is it one of rebus puzzles where there is a word and symbol equation. You know :) - s = mile.

And, was the puzzle solveable without Clue 5? If so, these may be an overlay as opposed to part of the formula necessary to solve.

If one leads to the other, how can the order not matter. So, in Clue 5: First a star, then a board. That leads to starboard, etc...

Just continuing the conversation.

I'd been making some sort of progress, perhaps.

I also thought the asterisk in #1 was supposed to represent a star. And the "A" was rotated, so it had something to do with a rotation of a star. The "spirograph" pattern actually looks like a Barycentre, or center of mass, of a system of rotating objects. Like a star/planet, or a binary star, or maybe black holes.

The second clue is Bellerophon, which according to Wikipedia at least, was the first planet discovered orbiting a star outside our solar system.

The fourth clue: The drawing looks like the orbital orientation of a planet, tilted on its axis as it rotates. It's not a zero or null character. There's a company called Outdoor Research that makes various lines of shorts, including the "Axis" brand and the "Equinox" brand. Though I could not find this pair of shorts on their website.

The third clue: I'm not really sure about this. Although the "1" that was recently appended could be a reference to the first planet, or Mercury. :-)

Oh, there's the Keck observatory on Hawaii. They were the first (hence the digit 1) to find an earth-like planet outside our solar system.

Looking further at clue #1: maybe each dot (including the one in the middle) represents a planet or star, and the path it takes relative to the planet in the middle, such as demonstrated in the Ptolemaic Solution at http://faculty.fullerton.edu/cmcconnell/Planets.html

For example, if you follow the example of Mars with respect to Earth, and follow the red dot of Mars as it makes its way around the deferent, it traces a path similar to those on clue #1.

So maybe that clue represents something like the paths traced by several of the planets with respect to Earth, during a given period of time, such as 24 hours.

The answer is 51 Pegasi b, the first planet discovered outside our own solar system. Here is my reasoning; I tried to credit the first person who made the interpretation I used. The clues are referred to in the order they first appeared (which is different than the final image of clue #5).

The final clue included the admonition to remember that "It's all about the pork products...." So, I looked for connections to Kevin Bacon movies or stars linked to him, but I eventually concluded that the reference simply meant that all the clues were connected to the same "star." (See also the hint following clue #3).

Clue 1 shows a collection of epicycles (Matthew), a star, and an eye. Ptolemy, of course, is most noted for his epicycle model of planetary motion, based on his observations of their motion in relation to the stars beyond. Ptolemy described the motion of planets and offered details on 48 constellations in his treatise on astronomy, Almagest. The fist extrasolar planet "observed" in 1995 was found in the constellation Pegasus�one of the constellations described by Ptolemy. The star 51 Pegasi, around which the planet orbits, can be seen with the naked eye and was likely observed by Ptolemy (I don't know, however, if Almagest refers directly to the star).

Clue 2 is the album cover for the Hawaii 5-0 soundtrack, followed by the number 1. Adding 50 and the 1 together yields the 51 of 51 Pegasi. In addition, the two sides of a record are commonly referred to as the "A side" and the "B side." If I am looking for a planet, it cannot be "A," as that nomenclature is not used in naming planets�hence 51 Pegasi "b." I was a little thrown off here by AlanM's comment about the Keck observatory in Hawaii (sometimes referred to by its location on Mauna Kea. The Keck was not the first to witness 51 Pegasi b; that distinction goes to the Observatoire de Haute-Provence, which is in the southeast of France.

Clue 3, as most everyone quickly recognized has a picture of the ship HMS Bellerophon (Dave S. was the first to note this). 51 Pegasi b was given the nickname Bellerophon (Matthew was the first to connect the ship to this planet with the same name). Interestingly, only a handful of the currently 287 extrasolar planets so far discovered have been given nicknames. Next to the ship is a rectangle within a rectangle (at first I thought this was a mirror, until jenjen noted differently), the planet Bellerophon being "within" the 51 Pegasi system observed by Ptolemy.

Following Clue 3, David gave a hint with this epigraph:
Puzzle Fantastica #1 was too hard
Puzzle Fantastica #2 was too easy
Puzzle Fantastica #3 is ...
and the observation that all the clues pointed to a common answer. Jacqui's clue that this epigraph would end with "just right," and thus was a reference to Goldilocks, led me to thinking about the "Goldilocks Zone," which has to do with extrasolar plants, with our beloved 51 Pegasi being the first discovered. The "Goldilocks Zone" is a nickname for the habitable zone (HZ), or the region of space with favorable conditions for life. This is the region where conditions for life are "just right" (get it? Nudge, nudge; wink, wink). Ironically (as the ellipses suggest), 51 Pegasi b is anything but "just right." At 0.5 Aus, the planet resides with inside the HZ, which for 51 Pegasi has been calculated at between 1.20 and 2.0 Aus. This connects quite nicely to the penultimate clue.

Clue 4 consisted of a pair of shorts and the representation of a planet on its axis. Bellerophon, orbiting 51 Pegasi, is "short" in two ways. First, the planet lies incredibly close to 51 Pegasi (only 7.5 million km or 0.5 AU as noted above), much closer that Mercury is to our Sun. Its estimated temperature is around 1200 Celsius (dang hot�even in Phoenix). Secondly, it has a short orbital period; one orbit (that is, one Bellerophonian year) is 4.2 Earth days. Didier Queloz, who led the team that discovered that planet, at first thought that there must be something wrong with the data since the planet was so close to the star.

BTW: The constellation Pegasus in one of the places the SETI has its ears pointed at

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bellerophon_(1786)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(constellation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51_Pegasi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51_Pegasi_b
http://faculty.fullerton.edu/cmcconnell/Planets.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._M._Keck_Observatory
http://www.novacelestia.com/space_art_extrasolar_planets/gas_giants.htm…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasolar_planet
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11427824/

spam
shorts
painting
asteroid

So, onto the second clue. What could the connection be between the ship and a double rectangle?

It could be a frame, thereby an allusion to the gallery this painting is in, or to the painting itself.

Or, might it be a symbol for canvas itself, as in the the canvas used in the sails. This canvas is also known as duck.

Or might it be a movie screen, leading to the film allusions to Bellerophon, particularly Forbidden Planet?

If it is on its side, might the frame be the yellow National Geographic logo?

these last few comments seem to be in the right direction. my first thought on the second clues second clue (the boxy framey thing) was that it was a screen or tv or movie frame. something filmed? a tv show? i don't know what bellerophon is, but apparently others do. sounds like a good direction to pursue.

From my earlier theory, the rectangles could represent that the clue is around the frame of the image, where "Bellerophon" is written.

It seems less likely that it would refer to the Citadel on the left. But it's spooky, since right next to me on the floor sit a Dell computer.

AlanM, also in the frame area is the number of guns -- 74.

There are other key numbers, 50 for Hawaii, 64 for a chess/checkerboard, the number of orbiting moons, planets, stars, electrons, whatever, in the first clue.

OK, so now the connection between the original third clue and its new add on.

Hawaii Five-0. Does this clue stand on its own, or does the add-on modify it?

So, is it 501, as in Levis or the IRS designation for nonprofits as 501(c)(3), or is it 50 minus 1 which would make it 49, or 7 squared, or Alaska's place in the state line-up.

Or, is the add-on NOT a one, but a directional line, either horizontal or vertical, depending on how you look at it, an on (vs. 0 for off) symbol.

Or, is it the letter i? Hawaii minus i? Or Venture (the Ventures perform the song) & i = Venturi, as in the Venturi effect?

The fourth clue. Shorts. Checkers. Chess. Alternating. Checkerboard. Purina.

The add-on. Tilt. Bishop moves diagonally in chess. King can move back and forth in checkers. Chinese checkers. Chubby Checker. Twist. Circuit. 1:35. 7:05. 10:20. 4:50. Saturn without rings being continuous. Snake swallowing beach ball.

So, therefore...

> (A star) gyrates.
> A collection of guns.
> Where he did his films and shows (and where Stitch hangs out).
> The moves of a king in both black and white (music).

ELVIS!

Oh, it's all about the pork? He loved those peanut butter, banana, jelly, bacon, etc. sandwiches!

How about Jupiter? Some of the things fit.

Clue #1 could represent the epicycles/retrograde motions of other planets with respect to Jupiter.

Clue #2 has a big "H" for Hydrogen, which is mostly what Jupiter is made of. And Hydrogen is element #1, the second part of clue #2. Also, the photo has a big red (kinda) spot in the lower left, just like Jupiter.

Clue #3 - coming back to Bellerophon, it was Zeus who eventually killed him. Zeus's Roman name is Jupiter. Coincidentally, Jupiter is also the name of several British ships that had 50 guns.

Clue #4 - I'm still working on it.

>>> Clue #4 - I'm still working on it.

Well, in Holst's The Planets, Jupiter is the Bringer of Jollity.

Can't think of pants much more jolly than those! :)

this is so a jackal

Is there any more connection between Bellerophon and any of the planets? Or other gravitational bodies? Putting AlanM's thoughts on Jupiter together with jenjen's notice of the meaning of the second symbols, with Joe's thoughts about that square being a movie screen or something. He says, "leading to the film allusions to Bellerophon." I can't get far on the 3rd and 4th clues, but with those first two, it just seems there must be a connection that can lock in the pattern that the 3rd and 4th would help confirm.

Well, if it is a movie, rather than a television show or painting, then Forbidden Planet, based on The Tempest, may be just the ticket.

The hand-drawn clues may be something to do with perspective.

The star-gazing eye suggests that we should be looking up.

The two rectangles could represent the rough shape of the boat+deck when viewed either from below or above.

The single line could represent the album itself when viewed from below or above.

And I can't stop seeing the circle+two lines as a stick-person viewed from above, presumably wearing checker shorts.

Almost completely unrelatedly, I also have:

HEAvens = HEAd
HAwaii 50 = HAM
BELLerophon = BELLy
SHOrts = SHOulder

again, possible cuts of pig.

I do also like the idea that the clues have something to do with Bacon's four Idols of knowledge (http://www.sirbacon.org/links/4idols.htm) but it has yet to drop into place...

Orbits:Solar/Star > Radiation
Bellerophon:74 Guns in border content > Weapons
Wave:Length > de Broglie hypothesis
Checkers/Twist:Chubby > Fat Man

Atomic energy?

I think Will (above) has a pretty strong case: 51 Pegasi b

To the ideas already laid out:
"orbit" and "star visible" from the schematic
"Bellerophon" and "contained within" from the painting
"Short Period Orbit" and "short distance" from Shorts
"b " from an LP a/b side

I add:
"tidally locked"

Perhaps there are more connections and possibilities worth considering. Here are some more ideas..

There is a binary star system II Pegasi in the constellation Pegasus. There is the mythological connection between Pegasus and Bellerophon. And there's a connection between a binary star and the pattern in Clue 1, a center of mass of interacting bodies. AG Pegasi, IM Pegasi and IP Pegasi are other star systems in Pegasus; there is a neat photo of the latter at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970822.html

II Pegasi emitted what might be the largest stellar flare ever detected (captured by the Swift satellite on 12/16/2005). See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/monster_flare.html

Solar flares emit high energy waves, protons and alpha particles. There are at least three possible connections with the Hawaii 5-0 photo. There is a wave in the photo. Hawaii has the Keck observatory. And the symbol for Hydrogen is H, which is element #1.

An anagram of GINGHAM SHORTS is HIGH ANGSTROMS. Which could relate to the high frequencies emitted by stellar flares (ok, those might be low angstroms actually).

The Clue #5 portion of the gingham shorts might represent the directional nature of the flare emissions from the plane of a binary star system. Or galaxies?

The clues could also refer to galaxies (or emissions therefrom) in Pegasus, as opposed to a binary star system. It certainly accurately depicts how black holes/quasars/blazars/AGN (active galactic nuclei) in a spiral galaxy emit jets from their galactic poles ( http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/active_galaxy.ht… )

Globular Cluster M15 is one such possibility. Or, it could be NGC-1, the first object listed in this catalog of objects in space.

Gravity, equilibrium, electromagnetic, nuclear, military, twist > Force

Oh, and aren't pigs force-fed in the process of producing pork products?

May the force be with you.

There is a binary star system II Pegasi in the constellation Pegasus. There is that mythological connection between Pegasus and Bellerophon. And there's a connection between a binary star and the pattern in Clue 1, a center of mass of interacting bodies. There are other binary stars systems in Pegasus; IM Pegasi and IP Pegasi are two -- there is a neat photo of the latter at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970822.html

II Pegasi emitted what might be the largest stellar flare ever detected (captured by the Swift satellite on 12/16/2005). See http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/monster_flare.html

Solar flares emit high energy waves, protons and alpha particles. There are at least three possible connections with the Hawaii 5-0 photo. There is a wave in the photo. Hawaii has the Keck observatory. And the symbol for Hydrogen is H, which is element #1.

An anagram of GINGHAM SHORTS is HIGH ANGSTROMS. Which could relate to the high frequencies emitted by stellar flares (ok, those might be low angstroms actually).

The Clue #5 portion of the gingham shorts might represent the directional nature of the flare emissions from the plane of a binary star system, or galaxies.

The clues could also refer to galaxies (or emissions therefrom) in Pegasus, as opposed to a binary star system. It certainly accurately depicts how black holes/quasars/blazars/AGN (active galactic nuclei) in a spiral galaxy emit jets from their galactic poles ( http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/active_galaxy.ht… )

Globular Cluster M15 is one such possibility. Or, it could be NGC-1, the first object listed in this catalog of objects in space. Both reside in Perseus.

I was also trying to make Stephen Hawking fit.

He developed the Wave Function of the Universe.

And an anagram of Stephen Hawking would be "Knee-high pants," if it weren't for the extra w.

August Ferdinand Mobius.

Enough already! When a whole month goes by without a comment, it's time to reveal the answer, if indeed there is an answer better than the ones already suggested. :-)

Or at least a clue!

Otherwise we are left with such conjecture:

The solution is William Shatner.

How do we get there? The clues lead us to:

STar
creST
maST
twiST

The ST obviously leads us to "Star Trek."

The remaining letters are an anagram of "camera" a judge's private chamber and "writ" a formal order, when taken into account with the pork products often used to make a certain type of bean dish popular in the northeast, lead us to "Boston Legal."

There! On to Puzzle Fantastica #4!

David, come on now, the first clue to this puzzle was given back in October. Just tell everyone that my solution is the correct one and be done with it. Really, this is taking longer than my dissertation :-)

Gravitationally curved path ==> Orbit
Ocean tool ==> Trident
Pineapple plantations ==> Juicy Fruit
Twist candy ==> Spearmint

GUM!

It is seeming pretty likely that this has all been some sort of a gag, and there is no answer. Or, the answer is that these four items have collectively less in common than any other set of four items in the universe.

I and others have poured hours into this puzzle, only to be met with tubular silence for almost 6 months now. That's not very nice.

Congratulations all, I think we are coming up on the first anniversary of this puzzle!

Shall we all have a celebration on October 11?

Hey Will, AlanM and Joe,

Sorry for the delay (is it the 1st year anniversary?). Things have just gotten so hectic the last year that it was too easy to let this go on the wayside. I'll get this moving again next week for sure.

I'm sure you accidentally typed next week, but meant next month. Which means we might expect some movement on this sometime soon, right?

Apologies again. But I'm on it right now.

Since tomorrow is Rememberance day, I'll put it up on wednesday morning.