Solution:

Step 1: The poll spells out the required characters for the first step, v-4-q-C-1-M-o. It has 7 characters which lead to one of the most used websites on SG: Imgur.com. You just found Tabletop, something every puzzle needs.

Step 2: The hint on that page repeats a hint given in the poll, ...in a past.... This hint should have lead you to my old Giveaways, conveniently the one named Pixel Puzzles Japan: UndeadZ. You just found Puzzle with missing Pieces, now you actually have something more visual than just pixels. I added decoys to all my other Giveaways, sorry!

Step 3: The hint was a "poem" ending in Could the past be deleted? that sure would /reek!, the slash in front of reek was no accident. It was supposed to be a hint to a discussion title, with the deleted bit it should have lead you to a closed thread by me called reek, reachable my typing reek in the discussion search. You just found a Puzzle Piece, now we are getting somewhere!

Step 4: The next hint was right there in the reek thread, it says When I win a game on SG I always say thank you. No really, check it out., which should have lead you to my won games page. I mostly enter invite only GAs so there were not that many wins to check, but it is easy to overlook one I guess. The win you were looking for was conveniently for the game Puzzle Agent, I made the Thank you I posted there extra big for your convenience :P You just found a Puzzle Piece, progress!

Step 5: On the Imgur.com page I type a little filler stuff and end in That will go into my >Gaming Top Ten< mistakes :/. Typing 'gaming top ten' in the discussion search on SG would have lead you to the 'poor bear' I mentioned in the filler bit, his thread is this one. Scroll down to find my comment which has Top 10 SG Puzzle Pieces... in it and a picture. You just found a Puzzle Piece, Felix awaits!

Step 6: The hint is a little rhyme about Felix. The first 3 lines of the rhyme contain the words to look for on Google, namely Felix, Foursquare and letters and the rest are a guide to using the result of the search. Google finds Foursquare Cipher as the the first result, sounds good. We are however after the 3rd result, a way to decrypt it, the Toolbox. Type Puzzle in box 1, Piece in box 2, enter ALKT2IR from the rhyme in box 3, make sure it is set to decrypt and tadaa! GLOT2MS comes out, find it on imgur.com, profit! You just found a Puzzle Piece, now lets all repeat after me: I hate you Felix!

Step 7: The Q.W... step, or the 'lets skip it'-step :P The hint that you got from solving Felix was a series of coordinates Q3W29, Q5W4, Q4W12, Q2W10 and Q1W178 These corresponded to words in the opening post as seen below this solution. The questions are part of the count. The first and last coordinate gave 2 characters, the others just one, which lead to the following code 80oz1t4. Adding it to an imgur.com url got you the final piece. You just found a Puzzle Piece, this piece short explains how to assemble the puzzle.

Step 8: Assembly. It's pretty simple to make something readable out of all the components. You need a program like Photoshop, GIMP or even an online editor like pixlr.com. Open the first image, the table as I called it earlier, this should be the bottom layer. Next open the Puzzles with missing Pieces, select all (ctrl+A), copy it (ctrl+C) and paste it in the other open file on top of the first image (ctrl+V), when done correctly it should make a new layer exactly as big as the table layer and magic should happen, an actual puzzle should appear. (on small screens you may want to zoom in the notice it) Now do the same steps for the puzzle pieces and put them exactly in the right spot, Pixel Perfect, all pieces fit only in one hole. When done correctly a character should appear on the puzzle piece.

If every one of these steps is done correctly you should now have a 5 letter code to a Giveaway.
For an explanation on how I created the actual images you need that code, I'm explaining that on the Giveaway page :P.

Original post :

Puzzle? I've solved a few puzzles on SG, and it's been awesome, but like many solvers tefore me I started thinking about making a puzzle too. I felt very inspired and had big plans, but I am a bit of a scatterbrain and procrastinating is a hobby of mine...so weeks later I still had plenty of ideas but nothing to show for them.

So there is no puzzle then? Yes there is one! I have finally gotten off of my lazy bum and put a little something together. This puzzle is a bit simpler than my initial plans, but I hope it is still fun enough and not too frustrating.

Who is it for? Anyone is free to try of course, but I think it's a bit easy so the reward is lvl1+. and upwards. If I get 80 solvers I'll be happy.

Any other requirements? Being able to make it from a to z would be a pro. Hmm, and I'll just tell you right now that Paint won't cut it in this case. This may not be a cake, but it does come in layers. I think it ends on saturday.

Poll? Oh, uhm, o, okay, yes, here, have a poll. I apologize in advance because you will soon find out for yourself anyway...there is no potato in the poll!

8 years ago*

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Question ? Suggestion.

View Results
The v is for visible, as you can see.
The 4 is a number, it comes after three.
The q was for question, but not anymore.
The C is for complex, a word we ignore.
The 1 should come first, but not in this case.
The M is for mystery, it's right in your face.
The o is for obvious, and it comes last.
The above sequence starts it, the rest's in a past.

Reserved ?


edit :
2 players solved it within seconds of each other, too close to call... :)
But they haven't actually found all the pieces, my last step may be a bit too Revilhearted... (no hint, just that his puzzles make me feel dumb for not seeing "it")

edit : 4 solvers :)


HINTS

The Beginning. (step 1)

Show me your kitty!,
expression or cake.
But where do we put them,
from where do we take?
The ! [ and (
are what make them appear.
But the place between ()
is from whence they do rear.
So next time you load up
a Nicholas Cage.
Notice the digits,
check the poll, stop the rage.


In a past (step 2)

I'm not a time-traveler, but I can travel back,
back to my beginnings, to pick up the track.
Once I was greedy, to most still might be,
the gift of giving is what has set me free.


Slash! Ahaa! (step 3)

I need to know!!!!
-Nope.
Where do I go?!!!
-Nu-uh.
I'll give up hope!!!!
-Go ahead.
I really can't cope!!!!
-Aw.
Give me a hint!!!!
-Nah.
Don't be so skint!!!!
-Shush.
Tell me what to do!!!!
-Stop shouting.
I really hate you!!!!
-Grrrr!
I don't need this!!!!
-So bugger off!!
You know what I wish?!!!
-Hmm?
A hint you terrible host!!!!
-DISCUSSION CLOSED!


Easy Peasy (step 4)

Thank you is for bots!
Unless I win, then it's common courtesy?
Hey wait, this doesn't rhyme...
Travel back in time!


Mistakes of the Past (step 5)

If you found the third step
this one is equal.
Just that this one ain't closed
it can still have a sequel.
So just search for Top 10,
but with 10 as a word
And a bear will appear,
Find my post, it won't hurt.


Felix (step 6)

Who?
Where?
What?
Google and your toolbox will appear.


Q. W.... (Step 7)

Can you count?
Yes.
Back to the start.

Hint 2 (step 7)

I understand you all have Questions.
So do I...
But how do we Word them?


TIP:
To assemble you need a program like Photoshop, but that's not as "freely" available as it used to be.
Seeing as we discourage piracy (okay, maybe not Pixel Piracy) on this website there are plenty of free alternatives.
GIMP worked for nellyneko, but that requires an install, if you are not prepared to install a program I advise www.pixlr.com , their online editor is what I used myself to make this puzzle on my 300$ netbook from 2010.

Big Fat Pixel Perfect Puzzle Breaking Hint for Step 1 below here

View attached image.
8 years ago*
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After finding the first thing, I don't even know where to start with it. I shall heroically wait for hints!

8 years ago
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Such hero, many horse....uhm, that doesn't sound right.
Already waiting for hints, hmm, maybe I suffer from Puzzlemakers Delusion...there seems to be a lot of that on SG..."It's Easy!!"

P.S. None of this is a hint.

8 years ago
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No worries, I wasn't expecting you to post any hints just minutes after the puzzle was posted. :) I am a patient person. And don't judge the difficulty based on me - I suck at this particular type of puzzle.

Any chance the thing you uploaded got nerfed in the process? It looks like a single-layered cake to me.

8 years ago
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My guess is that the layers ship separately :)

8 years ago
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Good guess - how could you have known? :)

Anyway, bump for solved...that was a fun one!

8 years ago
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Glad you "liked" it :D

8 years ago
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Such beautiful words. I will have some fun with this as soon as I get home.

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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7 s,ʇı '5 ɹo '8 ʇou sı 7

edit : oh for flip sake, my numbers ain't flippin' flippin'... :/

View attached image.
8 years ago
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8 years ago
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There is no 3D, so you can take those glasses off :)

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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The final part has an explanation with it so people that can find it all but can't use it get the idea (hopefully)

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_stacking

That's the same idea, just simpler software required :)
GIMP, Pixlr.com, Photoshop if available, or anything that can handle layers and transparency :)

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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Ah ok.
Everything that matters should look the same, black and white grainy pixels, anything else is just a distraction :)

8 years ago
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8 years ago*
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Hello, this is the Pixel Perfect Puzzle Helpline, how may I help you?

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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Ah yes, Step 4.
For puzzles people always look in the makers old given games, I decided to do something else so I left something on the other side of my ratio.
Thank you, thank you.

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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I think he might be 47's colleague, you know that game with 47?
He likes puzzles more than hitting men though I think.

(still so cryptic...lol. Sorry!! Google : 47 game (unless you know the guy I'm talking about) = missing word 47)

8 years ago
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Hmm trying to get to the puzzle. My head hurts :(
Can I ask if spelling mistakes in the thread are intentional?

8 years ago
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They are, but not for step 1.

8 years ago
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Now I hate you even more
EDIT: Mmmm ok I got it
EDIT: Hating again

8 years ago*
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Yes, YEEESSS! Come to the pixelated side!

Oh...wait...you are pixelated!
Darn...

8 years ago
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EDIT: Hating a bit less

8 years ago
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1 more... (want to do it the right way)

8 years ago
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mmmmmmmmmmm still trying to fin something lol

8 years ago
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I'll try this in GIMP, hopefully it will work this time ^^ (the last few picture puzzles didn't, even Paint did a better job :/ )

what's with all the rhyming?

8 years ago
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Oh, just that regular text looks so boring, I hope the rhyming will make people hate me less.

I made it using a photoshop alternative, so it should work... crosses fingers

8 years ago
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it's working so far, I think ...
oh god, four three more pieces?! XD

8 years ago*
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Is there a picture somewhere?? lol

8 years ago
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I'll just tell you right now that Paint won't cut it in this case

that's what I got from that sentence in the post

8 years ago
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View attached image.
8 years ago
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All will become clear...lol, if you know what to do :P

8 years ago
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I'll keep trying, Everything is still foggy...

8 years ago
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"if you know what to do" - I think I understand the layers concept, but this may be beyond my skills...virtually zero experience in such tools, even assuming I find all, what, 20?, layers... :P

nice puzzle, for the right person

8 years ago
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bump for kind of solved
I'm not getting the last bit, and it'll probably take a while need to get back to work now :(
maybe I'll do it tomorrow :)

8 years ago
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Bump for fully solved!

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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1 euro less than what nellyneko charges your 'friend' :3

8 years ago
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don't sell yourself short - I still haven't graduated puzzle-solving-school, so I'm only charging student prices :P

8 years ago*
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One does not simply graduate from puzzle-solving school.

View attached image.
8 years ago
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but then how will I know when I've learned enough about puzzle-solving to solve them all? (」゜ロ゜)」
I need a diploma or something to remind me that I should know stuff...

8 years ago
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Congrats :)
It's always good to get some early solvers so people know it is possible :)

8 years ago
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Ok, I stuck at rhyming about foursqare. I have no idea what to do next.

8 years ago
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Cool concept, really cool. Now I just need to figure out what it means. Also, when the puzzle is over, mind explaining how you made it?

8 years ago
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Thanks :)
Sure thing, I also thought it was pretty cool so I made it happen instead of getting distracted as per usual :)

8 years ago
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Bedtime Bump!
It's been awfully quiet, is it that difficult ?

8 years ago
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Yes. It is that difficult...

8 years ago
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Okay, I'm on the hunt to find the pieces. Found 3 so far and I'm a little clueless as to where I need to go next.

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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Sounds about right :P

8 years ago
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I only found two things and I'm out of ideas where else to look. so...

8 years ago
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Still lost ? Given up?
I'm feeling less cryptic now :P

8 years ago
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not all that lost anymore, still missing 2 pieces though =(

8 years ago
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Final 2 steps or did you go out of order somehow ? :)

8 years ago
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I'm not quite sure if I managed Step 1 already or if I did Step 7.
I definitely haven't managed Step 6 yet.

Edit: I got the sequence that starts it and thought it's Step one, but might be Step 7 :S

8 years ago*
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Step 6 is Felix.
Felix works at Foursquare and his hobby is Letters, and he likes to Google.

Step 7 is Q.W... its the hardest part and involves Counting.

Step 1 is the Tabletop, a big piece, not a puzzle piece shape.

8 years ago
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OK, so it's 6 and 7 I'm still missing. Trying 6 now...

8 years ago
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I'm stuck on Felix and 7..; I think Felix I saw something that would help me solve that but now can't find it... My wife cleared off my desk with all my note scribblings on it...

8 years ago
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I bet it said something like: must search Google for Felix from Foursquare and letters....

ok, bedtime :)

8 years ago
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Oh yeah, found Felix and he seems to be an interesting guy!
a.k.a. BUMP

8 years ago
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After finding the first pieces I decided I'm not going to install anything besides the beloved Paint. :P

... may return to this later. But there's so much catching up to do, I'm a little overwhelmed with all these puzzles ...

8 years ago
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A site like pixlr.com has an online editor that does the job (i made to puzzle with it)

8 years ago
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Thanks, but I already found something ... but I didn't search for more pieces yet, I'm at step ... well 4 apparently

8 years ago
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Oh bugger, it was early morning when I typed that on my tiny tablet, the / is step 3.

8 years ago
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Oh ok, that explains my confusion ... the hint doesn't help me though. I'll have another look at this tomorrow.

8 years ago
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What / ?
EDIT: nevermind. I have bad memory.

8 years ago*
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It's deleted.

8 years ago
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But

Hint for step 3: The / is not a typo.

8 years ago
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TIP:
To assemble you need a program like Photoshop, but that's not as "freely" available as it used to be.
Seeing as we discourage piracy (okay, maybe not Pixel Piracy) on this website there are plenty of free alternatives.
GIMP worked for nellyneko, but that requires an install, if you are not prepared to install a program I advise www.pixlr.com , their online editor is what I used myself to make this puzzle on my 300$ netbook from 2010.

Hint for step 3: The / is not a typo.

8 years ago*
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First I need to find the image 0_0

8 years ago
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I'll be making a hint section soon, I wasn't expecting this much confusion :)

8 years ago
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That would be much appreciated :D!!!!!

8 years ago
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Hints added, see reserved post :)

8 years ago
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Seems I understand the image technique, but not the puzzle-solving. I have three images doing what they're supposed to do visually (I think) in GIMP, but I think I might have skipped step 3, and I have no idea about steps 5+.

8 years ago
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It's best to follow the order. It can be solved while missing 1 of the pieces but you may miss out on a hint/lead.
You lack 3 but have 4 ?

8 years ago
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I think so, based on your hints...pretty sure the third piece I have is from 4, but I don't know what this business is about a "/" for 3.

8 years ago
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Yea, I expected that and the final step to be the hardest.
Lets see...I know, lets rhyme! :P

Slash! Ahaa! (step 3)

I need to know!!!!
-Nope.
Where do I go?!!!
-Nu-uh.
I'll give up hope!!!!
-Go ahead.
I really can't cope!!!!
-Aw.
Give me a hint!!!!
-Nah.
Don't be so skint!!!!
-Shush.
Tell me what to do!!!!
-Stop shouting.
I really hate you!!!!
-Grrrr!
I don't need this!!!!
-So bugger off!!
You know what I wish?!!!
-Hmm?
A hint you terrible host!!!!
-DISCUSSION CLOSED!

8 years ago
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Solved!

Yeah, right. You might as well have said "P!nk r466!+5 !n +h3 6r00m (/053+." - I probably would have understood it just as well. :'(

Next puzzle!

8 years ago
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OK, wow, short memory indeed...I found a stinking poem. I'll noodle on what to do with it.

8 years ago
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Nahh, I got nothing. The past reeks of something, but it's just me stinking up these puzzles, which is the same as the present and future it seems.

8 years ago
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/pixel-perfect-puzzle-more-hints-in-reserved-post
and
/reek
look kinda similar...
worth a [search...] ? :D

8 years ago
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slap
Another entry added to my pattern recognition subroutine.

8 years ago
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Understand what to do with 6 now, but it'll need to wait until I get home from work tonight. Progress => happy face. :)

8 years ago
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Good stuff :)

8 years ago
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Stuck on last step =/

8 years ago
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Still stuck?
Know what to do with the images? :)

8 years ago
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I'm still missing the last piece actually.
Tried every possible combination that makes any sense that I can think of, but no luck. :(

8 years ago
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Have you been able to put the pieces together, or not yet ?
Many players (well, from the few that finished so far) have used what they had and bruteforced it, then solved the last bit later.

Hint for solving step 7 :

It's a Question of Words, I Count on you to get it.

You are looking for 7 characters.

8 years ago
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With the 4 pieces I have, I only managed to get 2 letters. The others doesn't seem to work..
As for step 7, I'm getting crazy here. I must be missing something obvious, or I can't count. It matches with all the hints, but I can't get it right!

8 years ago
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Getting the letters to appear takes Pixel Perfect precision, hence the name of the puzzle :) If the letters dont appear you may want to zoom in a bit and try small adjustments with the arrow keys ?(depends on the program i guess)
The questions are part of the count.
You will want 2-1-1-1-2 characters, makes 7 total.

8 years ago
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Got it! Thanks :D

8 years ago
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Step 3 push was enough to get through, though stuck at step 7, don't want to use POWER.
Edit: and unstuck - efil! :P

Solved!

8 years ago*
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Yay! Now i can stop worrying and open the gates a tiny bit further tomorrow maybe :)

8 years ago
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Bump for solved!

8 years ago
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Awesome :D Good to see yesterday wasn't a fluke :)

8 years ago
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Bedtime bump! Feel free to solve or rage, the other thread with the poll for hints is still open for complaints too :)

8 years ago
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Well I absolutely love your puzzle... I have step 1 and two and four too... And figured out what to do... So like I stepped eight what little bit I had and aha! Wow too cool... Now I can figure step 3 but not fully as I'm new here... And Felix huh what a? And where's a hint for five... And seven clueless... And I rrrrrreally want to solve this...

8 years ago
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I'll add more clues today. It starts out challenging to keep the puzzle masters (this term was trademarked by Lemmjng, I used it without the proper authorization....) busy, after that the gates slowly open with hints :)

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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Ok thanks for the clues-- so got step 5, and even step 3... left with Felix and Q. W.... (step 7)... will beat my head against those two for awhile... getting closer! Hope I beat the deadline...

8 years ago
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Bump for solved :>

8 years ago
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Good job :D Now go finish it :P

8 years ago
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Bump for solved

8 years ago
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Nice! Good job :D
Ah yea, I see you entered the GA :)

8 years ago*
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Stuck at Q W :-(

8 years ago
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