The Puzzle at the End of This Book

The puzzle is available here: www.mit.edu/~puzzle/2017/puzzl...
This is originally from the 2017 MIT Mystery Hunt, accessed here: solutions.monsters-et-manus.co...
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Twitter: / flebpuzzles
I'm a Top-10 finisher in the US Puzzle Championship and just released a logic puzzle game on Steam! The game is called RYB: store.steampowered.com/app/547050
Intro song: Tekvision - Mycoplasma
Intro template: /SDJGRedstoneDJ

[@notaquantumphysicist8664]

This is some Illuminati conspiracy level stuff

[@uoilo]

lol ok

[@exert2020]

Sarah Moustafa sure you did

[@exert2020]

Sarah Moustafa ok. 10 minutes to find two words starting with A and S. Clue - H2, A, V4, O, C5

[@exert2020]

Sarah Moustafa hurry up. this is far less obscure than the book in this vid...

[@exert2020]

Sarah Moustafa Sarah Moustafa long enough. A-1,H-2,O-3,V-4,C-5 . ALPHABET - A=1 H=8 O=15 V=22 C=29 (26+3). 1,8,15,22,29 all dates for Saturday in April. Answer = April + Saturday

[@AnonYmous-mc5zx]

And then if you put makeup on the back of the book, you notice an old Gaelic word which means "Independence", which you can attribute to The Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was featured in a Nicolas Cage movie titled "National Treasure" with 2 movies. The Roman Numeral for 2 is presented II, which also looks like the number 11. So you go to page 11 of the book and you notice Grover is holding a parchment. The parchment seems to be raised on the page a bit, so doing some careful digging you notice its actually a flap on the page. Under the flap is a string, which you can pull to reveal a secret compartment revealing an embarrassing picture of SpongeBob at the Christmas party!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Darn, I was going to put all those steps in a second video, but you got it before I could reveal the hidden puzzle!

[@traci12paul]

CameraBot Productions dude are you serious??

[@legolukesiev]

lol

[@ramoxfireleaderofgauntlets3554]

Anon Ymous Tell me this is a joke......... Right? -Guy

[@carolekelly2688]

And to believe people thought that the ORIGINAL puzzle was obscure. Man😰

[@doctorclassic7161]

I feel like this puzzle is way too obscure.

[@TurkeyMeat]

they gotta make it super hard since these puzzling teams are ridiculously good

[@thetopchili2975]

His complaint wasnt that it was difficult. It was that the puzzle is too obscure; in as being difficult to understand without a comprehensive knowledge of a certain subject.

[@pinetree5184]

I don't think it's obscure. The weird words, braille, morse code, muppet names, hand positions, changing red font, and green words all stick out as something is off. Once you work out each of them, it is clear. The Green words one I think was the hardest for me, and the ending how you recognize they are all the same number of letters.

[@DWardington]

I think the only one that is stupidly hard is figuring out what the fonts are

[@OneDollarWilliam]

Maybe it's because I do some graphic design work, but I got 4 out of 5 fonts right off. On the other hand, never having been exposed to the higher class of crossword clue I couldn't work that out at all and I didn't even notice the semaphore.

[@AgentMidnight]

I've never heard "Ken" to have a definition of 'understanding', so I guess I learned something new today

[@grayroot141]

It's used a lot in Scotland.

[@OneDollarWilliam]

It's a holdover from Norse that transitioned into the English word Can, As in: to be capable of. Around the 12th century the middle English word kennen (or cennen) split into ken-nowe (Can-know). Eventually they split apart into Can and Know, but in the dialectical speech of Northern England and Scotland the Ken-nowe was simply shortened to Ken. Use of the word did maintain some popularity among English poets as in Shakespeare's "The Rape of Lucrece" - "'Tis double death to drown in ken of shore" or Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" - "Nor shapes of men/ nor beasts ye ken/ the ice was all between."

[@leorael9532]

you expanded your ken

[@bijuliuscaesar]

You can add at to your ken.

[@spectrelex3051]

Sarah Moustafa similar to katniss.

[@myifanw]

Understanding = Ken how?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Ken can mean knowledge, as in the phrase "beyond my ken"

[@FLEBpuzzles]

It is one of those words you really only see in crosswords.

[@ninja_sloth3906]

Ah dinnae ken whit ye mean, lad.

[@nmotschidontwannagivemyrea8932]

The word ken, until now, was beyond my ken.

[@oakey03]

Ah whadya hink 'af at, ye Pajama-Wearing, Basket-Face, Slipper-Wielding, Clype-Dreep-Bachle, Gether-Uping-Blate-Maw, Bleathering, Gomeril, Jessie, Oaf-Looking, Scooner, Nyaff, Plookie, Shan, Milk-Drinking, Soy-Faced Shilpit, Mim-Moothed, Sniveling, Worm-Eyed, Hotten-Blaugh, Vile-Stoochie, Cally-Breek-Tattie?

[@Garyados]

Finally my pokemon Knowledge comes in handy

[@elizablack1240]

MrLuckygalaxy ikr

[@gamegirl8722]

same here

[@tylerwunch]

ikr

[@0m7064]

MrLuckygalaxy OH YESSSSSSSSSSS

[@peggytan3878]

AHAHAHAHAHA lol I'm also very knowledgeable in Pokémon

[@doongi2001]

Could you make a video where you solve a puzzle for the first time? It would be interesting to see your thought process

[@FLEBpuzzles]

That sounds like a good idea! Stay tuned...

[@bee5120]

+FLEB How long does it normally taje you to solve a new puzzle for the first time?

[@notreal77]

It'd be cool to stream it

[@cryotious]

doongi01 Q

[@LameFaun]

This feels like an absurd conspiracy theory video.

[@Illintentsw]

Wtf does makeup have to do with anything?

[@ianjerzyk4098]

Its a series of like 170 puzzles that all give a one word answer. Then you use the 170 words to complete the final answer/solve the final puzzle.

[@redditss.storys]

when is the final coming out ?

[@CabaccaEntertainment]

I believe it was a part of the mystery hunt he was a part of, so he might or might not show that puzzle. He just wanted to highlight this puzzle from the set of puzzles that he had to solve for that even because he found that this one was cool. English is not my first language so not sure if I explain correctly. I can not think of right word to describe some things.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

It was an answer used in the metapuzzle for this round. The Mystery Hunt is arranged in rounds, with sets of puzzles. As you solve the puzzles, the answers themselves form a puzzle. Usually the answers are very constrained! In this case, the set of answers to this round were all 6 letters, so they could be folded up into cubes. There were 8 puzzles, and the 8 cubes from the 8 puzzles formed a 2x2x2 cube. You can read more about that metapuzzle here: solutions.monsters-et-manus.com/hunt/solution/cube.html The metapuzzles are usually designed first, because they're the hardest to write, and then the puzzles for the round are written to have the answers needed for the metapuzzle. In this case, they needed to have a puzzle with the answer MAKEUP and chose this set of mechanics for it.

[@Joey28P]

I thought the answer was "MAKEUP", because the puzzle itself is, in some way, "made up". The puzzle that was supposed to be at the end of the book is non-existent, at least not in the way that it was described to be beforehand. From the last speech bubble you also get the implication that the puzzle that was previously promised is made up, and instead you get another puzzle. So I guess in some way you get the answer to the first puzzle, by solving the second puzzle. But I'm probably reading into this way too much and I'm not even sure if what I said makes sense heh.

[@averybloch]

Understanding clues KEN? Don't understand that connection

[@thespine309]

Avery Bloch It's some word used mainly in Scotland. There are some more knowledgeable people around in this comment section explaining its meaning and origin if you're into that

[@Emile.gorgonZola]

ken is a formal-ish word, so you just didn't have it in your vocabulary

[@NOGOODHOODnz]

The author of this book has too much time on their hands...

[@GhostMojojojo]

...or to much time for their brain because it's clever... we all know that hands don't give any idea for these puzzles. it's kinda disappointing because the puzzle is not yet complete... kinda not satisfying.

[@Blaze5857]

NOGOODHOODnz 123rd like

[@prodtheontar]

I was BAFFLED when they got to pkemon names

[@GasparLewis]

I remember solving this at like 3 in the morning... about an hour before Death and Mayhem won the whole thing. But it was a great time and there were tons of spare copies, which I happily grabbed for myself. (Subscribed!)

[@deathstardoesstuff]

"Six Muppets" 100,000+ people are typing... 10 pictures taken moments before disaster

[@daniellebeckman2406]

the monster at the end of this book was literally my favorite book EVER when i was little.

[@Gei4Mei]

This is blowing my mind and it makes me feel so ignorant!

[@donnypassary5798]

This is the kind of puzzle that always fascinates me. A bunch of subtle puzzles hidden in plain sight combined together to solve the metapuzzle. Keep up the good work!

[@pinetree5184]

Yea it's lovely.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@haysdixon6227]

I find it amazing that this is solvable. I especially loved the Braille and semaphore parts.

[@johnnystanley2264]

The link only takes me to the solution!

[@jjason18795]

Open it up, first words I see are all the answers cause they're in bold FML

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Oh shoot! I'll go change that now. Sorry about that!!!

[@spookytook]

I can't believe you

[@gurkanozil]

Manny Perez i can't believe you've done this.

[@FirstLast-lk3dq]

Gurkan Ozil Important video quote???

[@fishermanWyatt-qg6tw]

keep up the good work! i like your short and simple videos

[@theovolz3073]

I went to the website and started doing the puzzle myself. I gave up after finding a few words and came back here to see the result. I'm so glad I did.

[@davisgarrad7891]

"When you get to the end, you realize that the only thing to solve is the book itself," at the particular moment, my mind was blown

[@madjdogsdavid1906]

I wonder how long I took him to realize they were Pokémon names 😂😂😂🤓

[@Robertlavigne1]

This was so fun to do. I was unable to find the pokemon puzzle but managed to get the rest. Then with your help on the pokemon puzzle I managed the ending after coming back to it a few time throughout the day. Thanks for sharing. I just stumbled on your channel in my feed. I love puzzles and escape rooms and never knew that there was such a community built around these types of puzzle. I am excited to work through some more puzzles from this hunt. You've got my sub!!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you very much! I'm glad you were able to get it in the end! It's not an easy puzzle!

[@eugenetswong]

I'm surprised that "The Monster At The End Of This Book" was well known. I thought that it was an obscure book that only I and a few others knew about.

[@mjjyjby749]

PLEASE DO MORE PUZZLE HUNT PUZZLES!!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!

[@diogeneticist3585]

I got the Braille, Morse Code and Semaphore ones, couldn't figure out the green puzzle but knew one was there and had no idea about the other puzzles, a lot more in-depth than expected!

[@i0am0random]

I would literally have never solved this in my life if it wasn't for the solution... I praise who ever solves these sorts of cryptic puzzles

[@tylerkincade8557]

dude your a genius. i can do any metal ring puzzle iv ever been handed, bought or whatever. but this one blows my mind

[@niko9023]

About the font thing: Some of those fonts are pretty common, and also, there's a website named identifont.com, where you can identify fonts.

[@jxu7775]

In my opinion, this has to be ONE of the best Fleb has covered.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm glad you liked it!

[@syedrafiqkazim448]

I just couldn't believe it when you started naming pokémon

[@sc00mp]

Why can't I stop watching these videos

[@g1um10]

That is awesome, loved it!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you!

[@b_Wtv14]

This is probably the best puzzle ever

[@TaterTots620]

wow i wonder how long it took to make this puzzle so that everything matched up perfectly

[@oddryblack3066]

my favorite so far

[@joad1013]

So brilliant !

[@jbftcmof]

I just found your channel! Maybe I was the 100'000th subscriber?! I like: the descriptions of the puzzles you give before the spoiler break(although the solving is pretty cathartic also). I don't like: how you make them all look so easy

[@FLEBpuzzles]

This one was solved during a competition, which I don't have the film for. I think it took our team an hour or two to solve. Our team was 150 people, but where was about 10-20 (this number may be completely wrong, but that's my impression) puzzles unlocked at a time, and our core team was about 40 people. Next year I would film us solving the MIT Mystery Hunt, but we won! So we're writing next year! I'll try to film more about wrong paths, I think that's a good idea. Thanks for subscribing! You might have been the 100,000th subscriber, although I don't know how to check!

[@legolukesiev]

This puzzle is so cool!

[@petrescuework-difficultcas6581]

Whoever solved this without hints is a true genius

[@warcatbattalion]

hey puzzlers

[@GameGems]

This is so cool!

[@breathinginsilence]

This is frickin awesome!!!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thanks!

[@good2333]

one of the coolest puzzle

[@eugenetswong]

Ah, an MIT event! No wonder it was so difficult for mere mortals. FLEB, congratulations on finishing so well. I hate solving these, but knowing that there are people that would enjoy hunting through them, I'm inspired to create some. A good place to offer these puzzles is with the reddit secret Santa. I thought that it would be fun to hide my wish list in the puzzle, so that the giver will have to find what I like.

[@josem7590]

I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS

[@topmiacaremid7583]

Disappointing ending.

[@LiamMoffitt]

TopMia CareMid the answer is one of many to make a larger phrase, there are other puzzles you solve along this one

[@Pierr.e]

The Monster at the End of This Book was my favorite childrens book ahhhh I read it every night as a kid.

[@contramuffin5814]

That's a really cool book, I want one

[@dappercuttlefish9557]

I came in going "I'm decent at puzzles" and left going "HOW MANY LEVELS IN WIZARD DO I NEED TO TAKE!" It's also kind of sad that of the 2 puzzles I realized were puzzles, it was Pokémon and fonts.

[@orionhunt5331]

this is a very creative puzzle

[@jamiestewart4764]

Oh. My. God. This is an amazing puzzle!!!!!! It uses things I learned in engineering and English while also introducing Pokémon and Morse code?!?! .... oh my god. I'm so in love with this puzzle.

[@schmellybwalls]

Why would the answer be ''make up''? Surely there should be something in the book which would hint why?

[@otherNatalie]

This was my first Mystery Hunt. I think I missed when my team got this one.

[@cutgrey]

I see this book very creepy... Lock it up

[@user-lr4nd3hn7n]

This. Is. Awesome.

[@ralleucragde]

That was awesome, I never taught about getting into Puzzles until I found your channel. You think you can review the book Clancy's The Division: New York Collapse, I got as a present since I like the game.

[@jeffcarr392]

That is so cryptic.

[@soldierswriter]

Wow.... what a puzzle. That's crazy.

[@connordec17games]

Ok i wouldnt have figured it out you are a genius

[@morodriguez2913]

any suggestions on a fun puzzle for a beginner?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Puzzled pint is a puzzlehunt event that's been running for a while and is good for beginners. Their entire archive of puzzles is available for free online at: www.puzzledpint.com/ As for mechanical puzzles, my standard recommendation is a puzzle from Hanayama, because they rate their puzzles by difficulty and also are good overall.

[@morodriguez2913]

FLEB thank you!

[@thischannelisdead5303]

loved the pokemon names in there XD

[@DonniesBoStaff]

I used to love the Monster at the End of this Book.

[@doak_]

"The Monster at the End of This Book" OH NO NOT THE MOVIE AHH THAT GAVE ME AN ETERNAL NIGHTMARRE AHHHH

[@BenevoIence]

lol those game references in the succubus part

[@iliketurtles6941]

Why is the answer makeup? *insert conspiracy theory here*

[@FLEBpuzzles]

It has to do with the overall structure of this puzzlehunt. The answers to the individual puzzles were themselves a puzzle!

[@lucif3rmorning460]

FLEB I'm curious how you MIT guys used that one IP Address of that one abandoned hospital in DC where they conducted MkUltra projects from 1953-1964? Where'd you guys get that from?

[@veen4638]

Caralho o Cellbit se inspirou totalmente nesse livro pra fazer o Enigma dele! Muito bom !!!

[@kyledean1966]

Grover is going to build a wall and the reader is going to pay for it.

[@plutoh9958]

Are you F- ing kidding me with this puzzle?! how is any normal person supposed to solve this sh**?!

[@abbyk9133]

Finally. My Pokemon knowledge is actually useful

[@Strife40k]

FLEB, this is the most obscure puzzle I have seen yet on your channel. How long did it take to solve? Could you use the Internet? I can't imagine very many people have such random memorized knowledge about mythical creatures, Pokémon, Braille, Morse code, font names, etc.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

This is from the MIT Mystery Hunt, which has teams of 100+ people and runs for several days straight without breaks. This was one of 120+ puzzles in the competition. There are essentially no restrictions on solving tools, with the exception of hacking the website or colluding with other teams!

[@decay09]

i binge watched idubbbz and this came up after and it took me four minutes in to realize this wasnt an idubbbz video they sound so similar

[@3dpprofessor]

Than you for sharing this book. I'm confused as to why you put each page in their own PDF? PDFs can have multiple pages, it's literally what they're made to do. Why keep them separate?

[@chouji08]

I feel like they could make a Da Vinci Code/National Treasure movie on this book alone. can you imagine Nicholas Cage and Tom Hanks sitting there going "the fate of the world depends the answer to this book"

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Enter Nicholas Cage, Tom Hanks sitting around the book. "ELMO MUST MEAN SOMETHING" Nic Cage shouts, eyes bulging from head. "HOW CAN WE USE ELMO IS HE EVEN A MUPPET" Tom Hanks replies, eyes also bulging from head. I think there's potential!

[@twint9]

So like, are you able to take a copy of the puzzles as a souvenir?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I borrowed the copy that our team had! Later I sent it back to another member, who worked the longest on that particular puzzle. At wrapup, though, they had extra puzzles, so you could get one if you wanted to!

[@key4338]

When he starts naming Pokemon I died

[@dantediss1]

if you want a really good puzzle book to try your hand at check out, the eleventh hour by graeme base. its a childrens book that is definately more for adults. and it has multiple puzzles in it besides the one main one.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I have heard a lot about it, but haven't tried it! I'll have to check it out. My personal favorite puzzle book is "The Maze of Games", which is a lot of fun.

[@dantediss1]

FLEB ill check it out

[@brittlizzzzzz]

This is crazy!

[@mgdarock6419]

Tfw he calls the puppets at the end all Muppets, when neither Elmo nor Oscar are Muppets.

[@Wrinklyanimegod]

I remember being fucking terrified of the monster at the end of the boom when I was young

[@antisocialpigeon8638]

Can someone explain to me how did they get a "succubus" from this morse code table at 3:14 ?

[@balyss4833]

The published date of this video is the same date as the expiration of the Debbie Snack that I just ate.

[@aaronnoses8081]

I have this book,didn’t notice it was a puzzle

[@sophiefrench3621]

YO THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK WAS MY CHILDHOOD

[@FLEBpuzzles]

NICE

[@diungo5875]

This person is a fricken amazing and satisfying

[@tiayaki]

I loved the child's book when I was a kid.this puzzle version is cool

[@kittykittykitty7682]

Looks like the website the puzzle was on isn't available anymore.

[@marblegray]

My this book is complex.. And very smart.

[@firemaker282]

I don't understand how you came to certain conclusions can you explain how you reached the answer of succubus and similarly ken from understanding?

[@benshepard8838]

how does understanding=Ken?

[@FrightmasterGeneral]

www.dictionary.com/browse/ken

[@felinenerdy4936]

Oh my god, The Monster At The End O f This Book was my favourite book as a child xD

[@sentientlactose9799]

something tells me your kid made a book, and you went through and found minor details and proceeded to create an insanely indepth puzzle video.

[@laurenjones8196]

HOLY SHIT I HAVE THE ORIGINAL BOOK I SWEAR TO GOD I HAVE IT SITTING RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF ME *NOSTALGIAAAA*

[@ericopenscards819]

God that is intense. I couldn't even begin to solve it myself, it requires too much outside knowledge. I wouldn't have recognized his arm positions as signalling letters. My first guess was clock hands.

[@pandoranavarro9605]

This guy is a genius!

[@leorael9532]

That. Was. Cool!

[@mrbinkey04]

Where do these Puzzle Hunts take place and how do you get involved? I've done Puzzle Hunts on Sporcle, but I've never heard of them outside of it.

[@niko9023]

mrbinkey04 You have to attend MIT to get them while they come out. But you can do puzzlehunts on Sporcle too! They're easier, and they don't require 150 people to solve them.

[@AlyssaBrown117]

I never would have been able to solve this if I had tried it 😅

[@AJLord]

5:04 POKÉMON! GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL!