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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Parchment Revealed, but first...a Puzzle

Gentlemen,
As our minds have just recently been stretched, and as the chosen selector of our next cerebral carnival, I feel my inner scholar beckoning me to continue to push the literary limits of myself and those around me. As Joey Chestnut prepares to eat 47 burritos in 10 minutes by stretching his stomach with 66 delicious hot dogs in 12 minutes, we too, the MOP, prepare to embark on our next intellectual journey no sooner than we have ravaged the last parchment and squeezed every last drop from its pages.

As our storied tradition dictates, the manner and method of unveiling the identity of the next parchment is as symbolic and sacred a ritual as we have. Before you today I humbly attempt to inform you in a manner befitting to our tradition and challenge you in a manner mindful of our synaptic prowess. Still too, as the tentative date for the inevitable mental orgasm of discussion and debate is set at October 17th, I endeavor to be efficient and concise in the unveiling ritual. So without further adieu I present to you the challenge to reveal the next parchment.

First, you will see a "folding challenge." It is a mental exercise designed to challenge one's ability to visualize objects in space and manipulate them in their mind. Of course, such a "challenge" is incorrectly labeled when a man of the parchment be the one to ponder it, yet in the spirit of expeditiousness I feel it appropriate. You too may find that the nature of this challenge may prove to be a subtle hint as to the identity of your next parchment, albeit likely in hindsight. You must follow the instructions for this mental exercise and choose the letter of the pattern that solves the puzzle. Once you have chosen a letter, click the corresponding link below which will take you to your next puzzle.

Of course, it is possible to choose the wrong letter (a deliberate practice common among many of us of exceptional brilliance who use "wrong answers" as a means to bring balance to our almost incessant exactitude). If the wrong letter is chosen you will still be taken to a puzzle, but the solution to the puzzle will make it clear that another path must be followed. Only the one true solution will present itself clearly and be accepted by a strong mind without question. Now, on to your challenge.

Below you will see 8 folding patterns surrounding a triangular prism. Two of these patterns can be folded along the dotted lines to form identical same colored prisms. You must correctly identify these 2 patterns and then select the corresponding letter for one of them (either one will work) in the list of hyperlinks below for your next puzzle.




Choice E

"There comes a time when the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge but can never prove how it got there." -Albert Einstein

Yours in Palimpsest,
Margraf Readie McPageturner

8 comments:

Lord Lloyd de Papel said...

Very clever Brother Readie...very clever indeed. I let out a squeak when the parchment title was finally revealed to me...a good squeak!

Pompous de la Pundit said...

I must admit, at first i thought the book was Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory!! Nicely done Readie. I am anxious to get started with this parchment since it is outside my genre.I also must say that i understand and agree with Papel's latest email; i.e. tying the book with venue or mission, etc.

Count Lapiz Von Pluma said...

Bravo! My favorite part may have been solving the incorrect choices...that I obviously did AFTER finding out the book...well done.

Master Lieb Schmear said...

I must say I am very excited with this parchment! With our vast knowledge of wormholes and parallel universes, we should profoundly enjoy this novel. Hopefully we do not find too many flaws in Mr. Gerrold's physics and cosmotology! I am also starting to wonder is Readie has a secret he has not yet told us...that he too can travel through time.

Count Lapiz Von Pluma said...

I agree, Lieb. It's almost as if he gave us Michio just so we could have our physics straight before he hit us with this. Is it possible that he has been planning this double-doozy of a book selection? I, too, am eager to start the good read.

Count Lapiz Von Pluma said...

I don't know about you guys, but I've revisited this post three times just to enjoy the narrative provided by Readie, as well as to learn the meanings of cool words, such as palimpsest, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Palimpsest. I just hope Gerrold's prose is half as good as this!

Master Lieb Schmear said...

So you may or may not know that Radiolab is my very favorite podcast in all the world but I wanted to share one of their episodes with you. It is by no means their best one but it is still awesome and has to do with "time" so I thought it was quite apropo. Give it a listen and I promise you won't regret it. Better still, listen to a few more and you will be hooked for good! Prepare to have your mind blown!
http://www.radiolab.org/2007/may/29/

Master Lieb Schmear said...

btw, my very favorite episode is probably "Words". FASCINATING!

http://www.radiolab.org/2010/aug/09/