CHRISTMAS PUZZLE– THE SOLVERS

by Leigh Lundin with CJ Dowse

Taking first place in our Christmas contest, CJ Dowse of South Africa submitted the first winning entry. I became aware of her after she submitted a puzzle to Criminal Brief, which tipped me she liked words and puzzles.

For the game, my colleagues and I provided tools and hints as best we could, trying to strike a fair challenge. Concerned the contest might be too hard– or too easy– I asked a few readers for feedback. As my colleagues and I expected, the trickiest part was figuring out how to get a toehold.

CJ is a research editor. Keeping detailed notes set her apart, creating a journal in which she not only recorded details of her attempts, but what she was thinking at the time as she explored byways and blind alleys. (Notes in blue and pink are her observations after the fact.) Angela, James, and I prevailed upon the terminally shy Ms Dowse to share her thought process with us.

On more than one occasion, you’ve expressed an interest in how women’s minds’ work…. well, here are the convoluted reasonings of one.

At times, her perambulations became almost painful to watch. At one jaw-dropping point, I was sure she had the solution. In my eMails, I often sign with a simple "L". In sending her journal one day, she made a joke out of my signature by saying "It’s an ‘L of a good puzzle." She stunned me by moving on without realizing how close to a solution she was, but I wondered if a subconscious corner of her brain hadn’t already seized upon the answer.

Much of this my thinking took less time to happen than it will take you to read – but it’s a gender thing – the drive to use our daily word quota (grin) And so…

CJ set herself a harder challenge, more intent on the puzzle than the prize. When she realized James would be offering additional hints during the second week, she refused to read those extra ‘clews’, wanting to solve the puzzle with original clues only. That decision amazed me.

After I read Sun 20th and realised my efforts were way off course – plus I had friends here who looked at CB and they said there were clues – but I didnt want to know anything about them – (hands over ears, chanting lalalalalalalalala)

Early on, CJ got it in her head the answer might be Christmas carols, so she launched into the game with that in mind. The following comes from her notes:

Try #1

Latched onto the idea each day was represented by a Christmas carol or song – and there’d be some over-arcing solution linking them all – had in mind Joy to the World.

Sun 13:  God rest ye merry gentlemen;  Suggested by: The Adventures of the Dancing Men

The melody in the video wasn’t meant to count but could have been a hint.

Mon 14: Silent Night My first ‘breakthrough’, or so I thought.

Suggested by no barking from the curious incident of the dog

Tues 15:  Nous vous souhaitons un Joyeux Noël  (We wish you a Merry Christmas)

Suggested by limerick – foreign frog/French, not borin’  born?

Considered The First Noël, but couldn’t find a French version of the carol and, anyhow, would it be known to most readers?

Wed 16:  Santa Claus is comin’ to town

Suggested by reference to nice, not naughty   

Thu 17:  The Twelve days of Christmas

Suggested by repeated mention of gifts, presents, list of gifts

BTW  – The first letter of each book title mentioned, TMTHD, when run through the crypto solver offers up, among others, AGAPE and BIBLE, as well as piper, fifth, ninth.

Fri 18:  While shepherds watched their flocks by night

Suggested by reference to Father Brown (shepherd) concerned for his congregation (flock).

Sat 19: The Wassail Song or Song of the Wassail Bowl

Suggested by John’s reference to unusual or mixed genre. This carol doesn’t celebrate nativity – celebrates New Year

Take first letter of each day’s carol – GSNSTWT – run them through the Crypto Solver, found on the same site as the text frequency counter

Amongst possible letter substitutions, got DEJESUS – looked back in case I’d made an error in the first two days – but was sure beginning carols were strongest – it was latter ones which were more tenuous

Then spied GENESIS – to be born – the coming into being of something

Also, found in Bible and Torah so includes both Christmas and Chanukah

Saturday’s carol could have been Song of the Wassail – then GSNSTWS yields NATALIA – Latin for birthday, Christmas day 

HOWEVER:

CB Sunday, 20^th   – message pointed out specific days and the above relies on all days’ contributions

Also, too many variables for any solver to arrive at the same answer

Would have saved a lot of effort if I hadn’t ignored the import of the text frequency counter thingy – my fault! After I felt I‘d exhausted everything that could be put into it, decided it was more a hint at an avenue of attack and eventually text frequency became blurred with text substitution. Talk about not seeing the wood for the Christmas trees!

Also thought there may be a country thing/Christmas around the world going on related to song/story’s origins – again, linked by some common carol – ie Joy to the World 

• Sun 13 – England
• Mon 14 – Austria
• Tue 15 – France
• Wed 16 – Nigeria

Thus far, this is more detailed but not unlike readers who wonder if we might be tracking Santa’s sleigh continent to continent or coding a letter to St. Nicholas. CJ returns to her Christmas carol hypothesis. No one has yet mentioned the text analysis letter frequency counter and at least one person turns to a peripheral tool called the Crypto Solver, but it’s early days in the contest.

Try #2

I believe in Father Christmas    

(Emmerson, Lake and Palmer)

Checked Dancing Men and Silver Blaze again and saw in dog quote it was not Watson but Gregory who asked the question. The word Gregory doesn’t appear in any Christmas songs I know – so looked for carols written by a Gregory – and got this one by Greg Lake of ELP.

Also – song title: Believing in something that isn’t there, is ‘missing’ –  Father Christmas and Christ Child?

Suggested by references to:

14^th   ‘Dog in the night’ quote involves Inspector Gregory not Watson. Song is written by Greg Lake

14^th What’s not there? Dog not barking because person wasn’t a stranger – ie if Father Christmas or Christ Child came to someone’s home.

13^th, 17^th, 20^th Chanukah – Festival of Light – Gregorian calendar 11-19^th 12/09

15^th Foreign, frogs/French – St Nicholas or Père Noël  – Father Christmas

16^th assistant Virginia – thought of letter: Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

18^th All part of the whole  – heaven/hell anguish, pain, excitement – right/wrong

19^th mixed genre – outside the norm of Christmas carols

20^th uncommon  – this is an uncommon carol

Analysis of: I believe in Father Christmas    

They said there’ll be snow at Christmas	13th video – though not meant to count
They said there’ll be peace on earth	13th a season of peace unto you
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the virgin’s birth	16th Yes, Virginia – there is a Santa Claus
I remember one Christmas morning
A winter’s light and a distant choir	13th, 17th, 20th  –  Hanukah
And the peal of a bell and that Christmas tree smell
And their eyes full of tinsel and fire	18th Suggests innocence (Father Brown)
They sold me a dream of Christmas	16th scam – selling idea of Christmas
They sold me a silent night	16th scam & 14th no barking
And they told me a fairy story
’till I believed in the Israelite	13th 17th 20th Reminds us Christ is Jewish
And I believed in Father Christmas
And I looked at the sky with excited eyes	18th Suggests innocence (Father Brown)
’till I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn	13th, 17th, 20th  –  Hanukah
And I saw him and through his disguise	18th Father O’Connor ‘sees’ people
I wish you a hopeful Christmas	17th It’s a wonderful life
I wish you a brave new year
All anguish pain and sadness	18th paradoxes- all part of the whole
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there’ll be snow at Christmas
They said there’ll be peace on earth
Hallelujah noel be it heaven or hell	15th French, foreign & 18th all part of whole
The Christmas you get you deserve	16th naughty/nice  = 17th get what you deserve

HOWEVER:

• Too many other lines which could have been used or better used as clues
• Some clues in CB columns not satisfactorily accounted for here
• Not sure Gregory ‘link’ is something JLW would use

13th, 20th Videos weren’t meant to count – but appeared he was going to cut down tree – then played his saw ie unusual, not what it seems. Talk about barking up the wrong Christmas tree!

Here at Criminal Brief, I receive the above over the course of two or three days. When I see the over-analyzing, I begin to fear the puzzle is too tough. Others are working on it too, such as Yoshinori Todo, so I hold hopes light bulbs might start to flicker on. The first week starts to draw to a close.

Try #3

What was common to all? Some form or seasonal greeting – from everyone bar JLW.

SUN 13: Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, and Season’s Greetings!

…spirit of the season, A season of peace unto you! 

MON 14:  nothing

TUE 15:   Limerick hint – We wish you a Merry Christmas 

WED 16: good wishes of the season

THU 17: Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Chanukah.    Also hint at ‘A Christmas Carol’ through mention of Scrooge and the three visiting ghosts, as well as the graphic, so added Tiny Tim’s “God bless us every one.”

FRI 18: Enjoy, and Happy Hanukkah!

SAT 19: … everyone has a great Christmas

SUN 20^: This day doesn’t count so these clues shouldn’t affect outcome:

• …as Chanukah ends… 
• …another Christmastime video … …  
• …season’s greetings (video title )

What was missing? – a contribution from JLW

How could JLW literally contribute his ‘nothing’?

No dog bark, silent night, quiet night – so we can all sleep ie have a good night

Hence:

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

HOWEVER:

• Seems a bit weak to do all the work writing columns for almost throw-away lines.
• Not enough in each column to indicate the whole song/poem –‘Twas the night before Christmas
• Many lines could have been put to use or better use

Now, I really fret the puzzle is too difficult. John remains phlegmatic, while Deborah and Steve remain their usual cheerful selves. I think Rob is starting to worry, too. When CJ realizes we’re sprinkling additioinal clues during the second week, she refuses to read on, wishing to solve the puzzle based upon the original clues. At one time or another, my colleagues speculate Jeff Baker, Stephen Ross, or Terrie Moran might be on the right track.

I’m convinced no one will finish the game. Authorities will remove my word processor, the MWA will demand the return of my membership card, and I’ll have to retire to Florida in obscurity. Oh, wait… I’m there now.

Then, I return one evening to find a flurry of eMails. I answer the first few from CBers and respond my telegraph lines remain silent. Then I read notes from CJ Dowse that start off determinedly, but half way through, resolve changes to excitement which changes to giddiness as… well, read on.

Try #4

Desperation stakes!  Need to come at this from a completely different angle but still use all I’ve learned, because I can’t clear it from my mind!

So – new approach: If I were a detective, who is the mastermind behind all this mischief – the chief protagonist? The biggest clues should come from what is known of that wicked mind through CB writings. Wouldn’t ignore rest of the criminal gang, but they are following a master plan.

• Elegance
• • Like good programming, the puzzle would probably be elegant.
• Reverent or irreverent? Sacred or secular? Silly or serious? 
• • Easy – the puzzle would probably incorporate all or much of the above
• It would be unusual, uncommon, quirky
• • Marching to the beat of a different drum, it would most likely require lateral thinking, "outside the box"
• Would the answer – a Christmas message – be from a book or song title?
• • Christmas books/stories more limited – readers need access – takes time to read – too long.
• • Readers more likely to know Christmas music rather than Christmas books
• Playing with words  [The most important consideration of all]
• • So thoughts of word play tools
• • • synonyms/antonyms
• • • homophones/homonyms
• • • onomatopoeias
• • • palindromes
• • • anagrams etc.
• Additional Tools
• • The seven CB columns 13 – 19^th 
• • The text frequency counter   13^th

Something had to go into the darn frequency counter – but what?

L called it a text counter (implying whole words) –but in my first three attempts, I could only see its traditional use – counting letters/digits, which I then tried to replace using English letter frequency patterns in the hope of divining an answer. I saw patterns in everything – looking at every mention of numbers, first letters of each word in sentences /paragraphs/ song titles reminiscent of 1^st November word play 

I ran so many things through the solver – if had been monitored by a secret agent – someone would be convinced of a coup or plot planned for Christmas Day!

Took the titles of all the most popular Christmas carols and songs – everything from Away In a Manger to Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer! – and turned them inside out, upside down and back to front.

[Got distracted by thoughts of childhood ditties – Jingle bells, Batman smells and shepherds washing their socks by night.]

First became last, day become night, night / knight, white / black, coming / going, away /a way / aweigh, Merry / Mary and vice versa. Even took into account dog is an anagram for God!

Noël… My eye lit upon The First Noël, again. But…

Noel = No ‘L’– synapses connect like a string of tangled Christmas tree lights and it looked good enough to warrant further investigation. After three earlier tries, am cautiously optimistic.

Knew I needed a whole lot of text to stick in the #@!*& counter where all letters would be present, except the L

First – tried the Dancing Men messages – although seemed unlikely they would link to all the other columns. Stopped as soon as I hit Elsie. L.C?

All the reindeer names? Nope – foiled by Rudolph and Blitzen

Next, bunged in all the Christmas greetings from try #3 plus JLW’s ‘quiet’. Was short the ‘L’ but also ‘B’ and ‘X’. I’m excited! Rushed to read over CBs looking for a missed seasonal greeting – and suddenly remembered the limerick link to l’Oulipo and the ‘no e book’

Thought – I wonder… couldn’t be, he wouldn’t!! Checked each column and there it wasn’t  – not an ‘L’ in sight! One column with no L’s, yes, but all seven (actually 8) – amazing! And it fit all the criteria I thought they’d want in a puzzle!  No L = Noel. Noël!

Got it! That’s it! Eureka! I have it! I know it! I’m exhilarated!

Excitement! champagne fizzing in my veins, I’m bubbling over… and for that, I thank you, thank you all.

Subsequently checked the second week’s clues and reread the CBs with new eyes – all the careful wording, the Great Detective, links to things containing information with L’s, footnotes etc. What a great game! WELL DONE!

On reading Tue 22nd, thought clue referred to deliberate Gregory/Watson error but it couldn’t have been – so checked quote online and saw the word ‘would’ with it’s unwanted ‘L’ had been left out! Fiendishly clever, JLW!

PPPS Amazing how our minds work – I got the NO ‘L’ – NOEL before I realised what had to be looked at – never imagining for an instant it would be everything! (sigh) K.I.S.S: Should have KEPT IT SIMPLE, STUPID

But …

CJ’s challenge wasn’t over. She tried submitting the answer through our web form… and struck a glitch. No matter what she tried, she could not get the web form to accept an answer.

James and I tested the web form before and after taking it live, trying it with FireFox, Safari, and Internet Explorer under Windows and Macintosh. We’re unclear what it didn’t like about CJ’s submission from the other side of the globe, a reminder the web is still in its Model T stage.

CJ may or may not have assumed the glitch signalled the contest was over, but she ecstatically sent me her final journal entry which bubbled with giddiness at having solved the puzzle. I knew we didn’t have a winner yet and shot James a message. James opened a new contest eMail address, allowing CJ– elation bouncing off the walls– to complete her submission.

A little late to mention now, but I’d have played for the sheer enjoyment without a prize! CJ

Two other entries were close as James announced on Monday, Jeff Baker and Cindy Kerschner. Congratulations!

During the week, we learned of another development. Rob had hoped a brilliant acquaintance might try the puzzle. The man’s computer died and took a week and a half to be repaired. By the time he got his computer back and remembered the game, it was over. However, he played the game anyway and… Well, I’ll let Zeke tell you about it.

Some tasks are harder than others. Decapitating the Great Boot Virus that turned my desktop to a doorstop on Dec 16 was too hard for me. By the time my wife’s genius brother stuck in a new hard drive, I had forgotten about the contest.

You have to credit me – I behaved. I read just the items that were proper hints, and just the first hundred characters of those, because I didn’t figure out how to find the rest.

The description of the contest was pretty straightforward, so I was seeking for awkward phrasing and stringing together first, second… characters of every word or second word or so on. Since I had tiny chunks of text, it didn’t take much time to decide that there were no repeated messages hidden that way. After about ninety minutes of that, it struck me that the character after "k" was absent without permission and I said "Duh" and checked. Then I messaged Rob and read the next week’s worth of broader and broader hints.

My congrats on the phrasing. I most enjoyed Watson conversing with the Great Detective.

*** Zeke wrote his response as a Noel lipogram!

CJ and Zeke Hoskin solved the puzzle from opposite directions. CJ Dowse intuited common Christmas expressions including Christmas carols and kept them in the back of her mind as she sought solutions in the content of the articles and psychology of the Criminal Brief perpetrators. Zeke Hoskin approached from the opposite side. He analyzed samples of text with less regard to the articles themselves and realized the letter L was missing during an entire week (actually eight days) of b_ogging (as Steve Steinbock liked to say).

If James’ head swells, neither his Stetson nor his admiralty hat will fit, but colleagues and contestants agree his ‘dog in the night’ was a brilliant clue, with Rob’s titular hint a close second and Deborah’s.

For me, this has been an exciting trip. Everyone at Criminal Brief joined together to create a Christmas experience for our readers. In the future, this may become a minor Wikipedia footnote under blog games or lipograms, but that can’t describe the joy and satisfaction of my colleagues hammering out clues and our puzzlists solving them.

Thanks to Dr. Paul Abrahams and l’Oulipo and thanks to Terrie Moran at Women of Mystery and Bill Crider. But I especially want to thank our readers and CJ Dowse for making our efforts worthwhile.