Let's Fire Up Those Neurons!

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by Gauri03, Jul 23, 2014.

  1. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    17,880
    Likes Received:
    25,953
    Trophy Points:
    590
    Gender:
    Female
    3 people have solved the puzzle so far. Should I wait or announce the answer tonight?
     
  2. jskls

    jskls IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,896
    Likes Received:
    24,888
    Trophy Points:
    490
    Gender:
    Female
    I'm still lost ... Tried Israel, Peace, writer , Author, booker prize , chair person, sculptor, architect etc. it has nothing to do anything with God of small things right? Not sure about others, Go ahead post ur answer.

    I shall post the answer to my puzzle later
     
    3 people like this.
  3. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    17,880
    Likes Received:
    25,953
    Trophy Points:
    590
    Gender:
    Female
    OK, so here goes:

    The answer is Krishna Hutheesing. She was the youngest sister of Jawaharlal Nehru.
    The first photo is of the Hutheesing temple built by her husband’s family – a wealthy Jain family from Ahmedabad.
    The second photo is her daughter-in-law, American violinist Helen Armstrong.
    The third photo: The Hutheesing family trade included wooden furniture in association with Lockwood de Forest.
    The fourth photo: She visited Israel in May 1958.
    Fifth photo: She wrote a few books – the autobiographical “With no regrets”, “We Nehrus” and “Dear to Behold”
    Sixth photo: Her son Ajit was a leading Wall Street venture capitalist.
     
    4 people like this.
  4. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    17,880
    Likes Received:
    25,953
    Trophy Points:
    590
    Gender:
    Female
    A super simple one.
    Swati's Puzzle II.jpg

    Name the person associated with India and these picture.
     
    7 people like this.
  5. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    13,370
    Likes Received:
    24,115
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    Dear Satchi,

    Jeez! She visited Israel and hence one of the clues is Israeli flag! You can't comprehend what you have put me through by this flag. I assumed I was looking for a Jewish person. I was way off in finding the right person. I am not going to even explain how many mistakes I did in this one.

    I went after Bernie Madoff as one of the target and he happened to be a Jew and he owned a Yacht named "Bull". Anyhow, I didn't get this right, not because I was busy but I didn't attempt it right. After the clue came in I knew I was looking for a woman and I couldn't get anywhere closer.

    I am glad at least a handful got it right.

    Viswa
     
    3 people like this.
  6. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    13,370
    Likes Received:
    24,115
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    Dear Satchi,

    Can you give some textual clues about the images especially the first few? I am going nowhere with #3189.

    Viswa
     
  7. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,211
    Likes Received:
    13,034
    Trophy Points:
    445
    Gender:
    Female
    I've put down a few pointers to help new puzzle makers make their puzzles more appealing.

    I hope this will be taken in the right spirit. These are my observations based on all the new puzzles we've had in the past few weeks. This is not directed at anyone in particular and I really don't want to offend anyone. My apologies if this makes anyone feel bad. I'm a little frazzled by all the sensitivity on the thread of late.

    The point of a rebus (a picture puzzle) is to convey words through images. Our puzzles are hybrid rebuses, meaning they convey ideas using images. The purpose of the images is to collectively identify a unique person or thing. While constructing a puzzle, it is important to ensure that it doesn't require prior knowledge. Prior knowledge can be an advantage for a player but it should not be a prerequisite to finding the answer. When the puzzle necessitates the recognition of the images to be solvable, it becomes difficult if not impossible to get to the answer without a reverse image search, which defeats the purpose of the exercise.

    A good puzzle should contain a few images that provide searchable keyword clues and a few that can be used to corroborate the answer. It is perfectly okay to have one or two images that need direct identification, but the puzzle should also include other images that provide just the right set of keywords to lead one close to the answer. The images do not have to be facts about the answer. They have to be ideas that convert to searchable keywords. Remember the person solving might not recognize the images, so make the images searchable. In JAG's puzzle, I found the lake by searching for "Lake+island+surrounded by mountains". The solver will use ideas from the images to search. It is okay to have one or two images that need to be identified directly like people or logos/emblems or buildings, but also include a few images that don't rely on prior knowledge. In general, keep the images that need direct recognition as corroborative clues.

    For instance, JAG's puzzle on the enclaves is a very good example of a well chosen set of images that provide the right keywords to get to the answer. The island, the enclave nations - Vatican, Lesotho, when coupled with India, could lead one to the answer without needing any prior knowledge of the Indo-Bangladesh enclaves. The Eskimo+waiting was a very good corroborative clue to a work on the subject. Overall that was a well constructed puzzle. With sufficient time and effort, it was impossible not to find the answer. All of Soka's puzzles are excellent examples of perfect puzzle construction. Viswa's St Thomas puzzle, and Jskls' Thiruvalluvar puzzle are other good puzzles. I knew nothing about St Thomas' India connection or Thiruvalluvar but I found the answers just by following the clues.

    If you want to test the solvability of your puzzle, pick a few keywords from the images and conduct a Google search to see if you get close to the answer. If you cannot find at least one or two sets of keywords from your images, that lead to the answer via a Google search, then your puzzle needs some tweaking.

    In short, puzzle-makers, always try solving your own puzzle using a keyword search, assuming no prior knowledge. If you can't do it, then others won't be able to either.
     
    9 people like this.
  8. butterflyice

    butterflyice Local Champion Staff Member Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,589
    Likes Received:
    1,646
    Trophy Points:
    283
    Gender:
    Female
    This personality has featured in our discussions many a time on this thread. Stray feathers flock together.
     
    2 people like this.
  9. butterflyice

    butterflyice Local Champion Staff Member Platinum IL'ite

    Messages:
    1,589
    Likes Received:
    1,646
    Trophy Points:
    283
    Gender:
    Female
    Related to one of the puzzles that you posted!
     
    1 person likes this.
  10. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    13,370
    Likes Received:
    24,115
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    @gauri03,

    Excellent guideline and great choice of words. Thank you for guiding some of us who have recently joined this exciting thread.

    Viswa
     
    3 people like this.

Share This Page