Cue flashback music.

For as long as I can remember, I've always had an ardent interest in riddles. The first riddles, or semblance of riddles, ever presented to me came in the form of an IQ test. My parents were in the process of enrolling me in kindergarten. A couple of grey habited nuns led me and a dozen other kids into a library whose shelves have been moved to the walls to accomodate a grid of desks and chairs. Each desk had a long white folder and a #2 Mongol pencil. We were instructed to sit, open the folders and answer sheets of mimeograph paper with symbols on them. The questions were in the "What figure comes next" format and, although I didn't know then, they are supposed to measure mental capabilities like logic, spatial analysis, etc. I finished the test in record time. I dunno what my scores were then, but I got in to kindergarten.

I've always felt my brain is tweaked, like my mom dropped me when I was an infant or something. I can commit a grade school friend's phone number to memory and still write it down now even if that friend has moved abroad and the line has been disconnected. I can absorb useless trivia and totally irrelevant information. I can generally grasp concepts easily. But for some obscure reason, I can't remember if a friend who I visit frequently lives in "old site" or "new site". I can't memorize which of the pin or the amount comes first when you pass cellphone load.

In highschool, I met and became close with relatives from planet Nerdnia. It was a real comfort... not to know that I wasn't mentally imbalanced, but to know that many are mentally imbalanced as well. ( :P )

Anyways... stop the flashback music.





I stumbled upon Notpron when I was random bloghopping. I haven't encountered anything resembling it online. It is an online riddle created by a smart (and I must add, cute) german named David Muennich. It basically presents you with a picture and some overt and hidden clues testing your skills in ciphering, logic, math, chemistry, music, programming, image manipulation, etc (and by etc, I mean your knowledge of german chocolate brands can also be tested... hehe) The aim is to get a password that you place in the URL which allows you to go to the next level. It can get extremely difficult especially in the later levels but it is also extremely addictive. I finished all the positive 86 levels and got as far as 34 in the minus levels (with the aid of help forums!), I haven't finished it cause the author decided to make players pay to play (rhyme?) the final levels... which I think sucks.




The current online riddle I'm working on is the Tim Tang Test. The creator of the riddle is Tim Nicolas Tang. He is intelligent, uber friendly, and can be the most annoying person in the world when he responds to your queries about a level with more cryptic answers. It takes on the format of Notpron, a pioneer of this type of game, but riddles of the TTT are usually more logical and more interesting.

I am now on level 89 and eternally stuck! It is a level on music... I love listening to music, but I haven't the slightest idea about it's technical side... well until now that is. This puzzle makes you read up on things you wouldn't even consider picking up in a book store. I have learned a thing or two about astronomy and computer programming because of some of its levels.

If interested you can start here. I must warn you however that there is a high risk of losing sleep and losing a chunk of your sanity. If you do wish to undertake the riddle, do not look for spoilers because as their name implies, it spoils the whole riddling experience. Tim however has set up a TTT account on Facebook with a forum for the discussion of these riddles when you're stuck. You can access it here, but I think you need to create an account before you can join the discussions. I am currently the PM Officer for levels 43-49. So if you ever get that far I'd be able to dish out hints.






The picture is of a tesseract I made in one of the Notpron levels. I know the craftsmanship is horrid but I did solve that level with that. hehehe


The title is the riddle of Bilbo Baggins which allowed him to "win" the One Ring from Gollum.









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Labels: blah (3x), flashback music please, geek am i