Competition of the Month - March Brainteaser Edition!

[Aarah]

Welcome one and all to the Competition of the Month!

These monthly competitions are a chance for you to demonstrate your creativity and talents while getting a chance to know your fellow members and have a little fun. Each month is going to have a different theme and a different talent – and maybe a surprise or two! But only one member can wear the purple coins and fancy title of CotM Winner! Do you have what it takes?

The basic rules are as follows:

Spoiler:

» Members can contribute pieces based on the talent (writing, art, screenshots, etc.) and theme during the submission period, after which no further entries will be accepted. Then we will vote via a poll to see who gets to wear that month’s winner’s badge!

» If you are posting artwork, please post a link from an off-forum website such as Photobucket; if you are posting a written piece, please hide it under a spoiler when creating a new post. This is to ensure that posts are not too long and the thread appears orderly for everyone. If you are unsure how to do either of these, don’t be afraid to ask!

» Be respectful and polite about your fellow members’ work. Anyone who says anything rude about another’s work will be hearing from a member of the Mod Squad and may not be allowed to participate in the next competition. There is no such thing as “good” or “bad,” and everyone has a unique way of demonstrating his or her talents. Enjoy the variety!

» All members are welcome to join, including moderators. Don’t forget that we’re members, too!

»UESPOINTS!
UESPoints (UP) are a chance for all you lovely UESP users to earn reward points for your achievements and for participating around the forums. The CotM is now awarding UESPoints as a prize, in addition to the usual 1st place prize of the purple coins.
Here's how it will work: When the voting period is over, UESPoints will be awarded based on what position you came in.

1st Place - 3 UESPoints + Purple Coins
2nd Place- 2 UESPoints
3rd Place - 1 UESPoint

2nd and 3rd place have to have at least two votes to qualify for UESPoints.

Ever feel like you're not challenging your brain enough? If so, then you may benefit from a little cerebral workout!

For the March competition, your task it to create a TES themed puzzle or brainteaser!
Anything that you would find in a typical puzzle book or magazine is great, or even something a bit different. As long as it is word or image based and requires using your brain skills to figure it out, then we want to see it!
You can choose to include the answers/solutions with your submission or, if you prefer, you can wait till after the poll is over and submit them then.
Feel free to comment on the submissions, but please don't submit any solutions for other people's entries.

Our schedule for the March event is as follows:
March 8-28: Competition begins! Start planning and send in those submissions!
March 29-31: Voting period – vote for your favorites!
April 1: Our winner is announced!
Please note that all times are determined by me, Aarah, and therefore will run according to Greenwich Mean Time. (Click here if you’re unsure when, exactly, that is!)

Remember that the CotM is not possible without you, so please participate, contribute, discuss, and vote!

As an aside, if anyone would like to join the street team to help plan and set up the CotM, please send me a PM Until then, have fun and good luck!

(This fun event is hosted by yours truly. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them within this thread or by sending me a PM by selecting the appropriate button below my signature. Have some suggestions on what you'd like to see? Head over to the ideas thread and join in on the discussion!)


Entrants
Aarah
Knight Captain Kerr
MetaCthulhu
Deandra
Wolfborn

[Aarah]

Here's my entry.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE! There are 12 differences between these two pictures. Can you spot them all?

Hidden:

[Wolfborn]

Nicely done! Got 'em all, but it took a while.

[Aarah]

Thanks, Wolfborn. And congrats for spotting em' all!

[Kerr]

I always hated these things as a child. And I don't like them as an adult either. But I wanted to enter something, so here's a wordsearch. All the words should be in it, unless it screwed up. Why not print it out and find them to prove that they are there.

Hidden:

That last thing you need to find sounds like good advice. You should all do it.

[Aarah]

Nifty wordsearch, Kerr! Yep, all the words are in there...and I even found a rogue cow as well!

[MetaCthulhu]

Classic problem, in TES format. If it's unclear, let me know .

Hidden:

You are presented with three levers and three doors. Behind door #1 is a goat. Behind door #2 is a new horse. Behind door #3 is another goat. If you pull a lever, it opens one door and locks the other doors.

As you go to pull one of the levers, another one of the levers pulls itself and reveals the goat behind door #1. Now for the crux of the riddle: Should you pull the lever you chose originally, or should you pull the other remaining lever?

[all_freed]

Spoiler:

well if the lever pulled itself then that means the other doors are locked but since #1 is open that means if i pull another level the first doorwill stay open. so i get either two goats or one goat and a horse. win win!

[MetaCthulhu]

so i get either two goats or one goat and a horse. win win!

Hidden:

[Deandra]

Classic problem, in TES format. If it's unclear, let me know .

Actually, the new format entirely changes the mathematical implications, since there is no indication that the mechanism that causes the levers to pull themselves know anything about the silly Breton named Montihal who hosts a game show in a Dwemer ruin. If it is pure chance that the automated lever has revealed a goat, then the probability of finding a horse behind either door is actually 1/2 whether one switches or not.

If, however, the levers are constructed in such a way that regardless which lever one touches, they will always reveal a goat, then of course one should switch, because the probability of finding a horse behind the other remaining door is 2/3.

It is also entirely possible that the levers have been set up in such a way that nothing is revealed unless one touches the lever that opens the door to the horse. In that case, one should stick with the original choice in order to be guaranteed a horse.

[Deandra]

I had some fun with my entry:

Spoiler:

[Aarah]

That is awesome, Deandra!
Now, I'm off to get a 20% discount at Spotless Goods Shipping Concern!

[BetaB17]

Idk about you.. but I kind of want that prize of a dozen soul gems... they better not be filled n especially not with pettyy souls tho >:(

[Wolfborn]

Wow, Deandra. I haven't done yours yet, but I definitely will when I get some time. Nice work!

This is turning out to be an awesome contest!

[Wolfborn]

Coming in late to the party with my entry. Here's a good old-fashioned logic puzzle which I created to tease your brain with:

Hidden:

One Loredas evening late in the Month of Rain’s Hand, King Helseth of Mournhold held a banquet for a number of his spies from the various Tamrielic provinces. Helseth and his five guests sat at a large, round table loaded with the best food and drink Tamriel had to offer. The five guests included an Argonian, a Khajiit, a Bosmer, a Breton, and a Redguard. Each guest practised a different profession: there was an Assassin, an Agent, a Nightblade, a Thief, and a Mage. In honour of the occasion, each guest wore a splendid robe of a different colour: one Yellow, one Orange, one Red, one Green, and one Blue. During dinner, the following facts were observed:

- King Helseth sat between the Bosmer and the Nightblade.
- The Thief sat next to the guest wearing Red.
- The Khajiit spent much of the dinner conversing with the Thief and the Nightblade.
- The Mage sat between the guest wearing Orange and the Agent.
- The Breton did not sit next to the Redguard.
- The guest wearing Blue sat between the Argonian and the Assassin.
- The Khajiit was not wearing Orange.
- The Redguard wore the Yellow robe.

Using the information provided, match each guest with their race, profession, and robe colour.

Clarification note: The third clue regarding the Khajiit talking with the Thief and the Nightblade is not meant to imply that the Khajiit is sitting between the two. Thanks to Aarah for pointing out this source of potential confusion.

(Feel free to PM me if you think you've solved it and want confirmation, but please DO NOT post the answers in this thread. Thank you.)

[Deandra]

Wolfborn's logic puzzle was a lot of fun!

[Wolfborn]

Thanks, Deandra! Glad you liked it.

[Aarah]

I concur!
And I just did your puzzle, Deandra. It was good indeed and I enjoyed translating the symbols.
(Ha ha, for the joke. )

Also - one week left to enter!

[Deandra]

Yay, I'm so glad somebody actually solved it so that they can appreciate the cheesiness

[Wolfborn]

Cheesy puns FTW!

I'm off to get some troll fat candles.

[Aarah]

Last day for submissions, puzzlers!

[Aarah]

Poll is up! Get votin'!

[Aarah]

Congratulations, Deandra! You are our March CotM winner!
I think you should bring out a monthly TES magazine, cos your page is great!

Well done to Wolfborn for getting second place too! I really enjoyed doing your puzzle.
Points for both of ye!

Thanks to everyone who entered and voted. The Brainteasers were all mucho enjoyable!

[Wolfborn]

Congrats on a well-deserved win, Deandra! And good work, everyone who entered -- this CotM was a lot of fun!

[Deandra]

Thanks! I loved the topic, and it was great solving everybody's puzzles.