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Community Puzzle: The Case of the Missing Couple


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Puzzle 8 of 9

Rubiks-Crash.png

 

Great job crew. I don't know how you figured that out so fast but it was impressive.

 

The answer to the chess puzzle was:

Spoiler

Bf6# (Bishop to F6 to checkmate the black king, like this:

 

Puzzle-7-1-SOLUTION.png

 

The answer to the Rubik's cube was:

Spoiler

L, U, R

 

Puzzle-7-2-SOLUTION.png

 

 

 

The password was therefore:

Spoiler

BLUR

 

Now… the case:

 

NONE of the media release responses resulted in tangible lines of inquiry. I have reached out to interstate and international agencies to assist with reports of "Jane" or "Kevin" or their 4x4 at distant locations but nothing results in further lines or inquiry or of genuine suspicion that the callers had seen our actual targets.

 

We still haven’t been able to access Kevin's laptop, his phone or Jane’s phone. 

 

I don’t have anything I can use on Michael and I've fallen out of having any suspicion in him being involved in any way. 

 

I don’t have enough evidence to dig any deeper on Robert (but I still don't trust him).

 

One fingerprint came back on the packaging of the multitool: Kevin.

 

Isabella finally answered my calls but she can't recall where Kevin and Jane had been when they'd told each other that they were in love. It turns out that she and I had separately visited that venue that held the Foo Fighters concert but... it just looks like any other arena from what we can tell.

 

Everything else has just been resulting in dead-ends for this case. I am desperately hoping that these puzzles come back with something tangible. Realistically, I don’t think we'll get any more information about Jane and Kevin using traditional investigative methods. 

 

I’m counting on you.

 

Here’s the 8th puzzle. The program has only ever indicated that there will be 9 puzzles. We are so close!

 

Good luck!

- Vice

 

 

8/9

 

Puzzle-8.png

 

1.       The players followed the guides on PSNProfiles.com and therefore only required the time stated in those guides to obtain their platinums.
 

2.       The owner of Overwatch was gifted her copy for free.
 

3.       Adam’s game took less time to platinum than Olivia’s game, but more time to platinum than at least one other friend.         
 

4.       Ulysses was so excited to play his game that he paid full price for it on launch day. That game was not Assassin’s Creed II. Eddie is too cheap to do that; he won’t pay more than $25 for any one game.
 

5.       Ingrid isn’t interested in fighting games so she hasn’t played Mortal Kombat X. She spent less money on her game than Adam but more than at least two other friends.
 

6.       The game that took 50 hours to platinum cost more than $5 (but the new owner definitely paid less than the full price that it had cost upon release).
 

7.       Yooka-Laylee cost less than Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

 

8.       The $20 game took 25 hours to platinum.

 

The password is:

The first letter of Adam's game, then the first letter of Eddie's game, then the first letter of Ingrid's game, then the first letter of Olivia's game, then the first letter of Ulysses' game.

 

 

@DrBloodmoney

@MAUSZX

@DonFrancesco

@Im2Fast_4U

@DoctorDrPepper

@YaManSmevz

@rjkclarke

@MattbluePT

@HusKy

@GuitaristZag

@Malachen

@AugustUnder

@APeskyAxolotl

@Taruta13
 

 

 

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I'm guessing the word is MORAY, as its the only password I can gather using the first letters, but will solve to confirm in a few minutes. Ok, ignore me. Mayor is a thing too. This is why I'm bad at wordle, lol.

 

Given that the actual password is instead MAYOR, I think there may be some connection to Final Fantasy VII Remake. There was previously a maze of Cloud and Sephiroth, and "Mayor" is the code word that Cloud uses while looking for an informant or something (it's been 2 years since I played) at Shinra Headquarters. 

Edited by GuitaristZag
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I'm curious if the passwords themselves all tie into games that need to be used for the final solution. I'm on mobile so I can't click back and check all the passwords, but off the top of my head I believe we have had



YRUME, which I can't think of. 

Witness, obvious

Blur, Sonic maybe? (Blue blur)

Stars (Resident Evil 3 Remake, which is admittedly on my mind as I just got the plat today. Screw you stage 3 nemesis)

Mayor, the aforementioned final fantasy 7 remake theory.

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Puzzle 9 of 9

Rubiks-Crash.png

 

I'm so proud of you for getting so far. The 8th password was indeed...

 

Spoiler

MAYOR

 

Puzzle-8-SOLUTION.png

 

The 9th puzzle is a cryptogram that requires a cypher. I've actually solved this one myself because I figured out the cypher!! If you want a hint for the cypher, have another look at what I posted back in Puzzle 6. 

 

I printed out the finished puzzle and then the program restarted back at puzzle 1!

 

Fortunately, I had transcribed the puzzle first.

 

I have organised a land search team. They are briefed at my office – I just need to tell them where to start searching. Can you think of anything that I can use at all to narrow down a possible location?

 

Right. No more investigation updates, deputies; solving this puzzle is the top priority. So, without further ado, here it is.

 

Good luck!

- Vice

 

 

9/9

FINAL BOSS

 

Jane. Print this out. We're going away for a week. Bring this with you for the drive.

 

The cypher is your favourite video game character.

 

FINAL-PUZZLE.png

 

 

Are Jane and Kevin alive? 

Are they together? 

What is the purpose of these puzzles? 

Where should I start a land search to find Jane and Kevin? 

 

 

@DrBloodmoney

@MAUSZX

@DonFrancesco

@Im2Fast_4U

@DoctorDrPepper

@YaManSmevz

@rjkclarke

@MattbluePT

@HusKy

@GuitaristZag

@Malachen

@AugustUnder

@APeskyAxolotl

@Taruta13

 

 

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1 hour ago, DrBloodmoney said:

WARNING:

 

THIS IS MY FINAL WORKING ( along with some pondering) - DON'T CHECK IF STILL WORKING ON IT!

 

  Reveal hidden contents

FINAL-PUZZLE.jpg

 

 

Solved - and the previous 8 answers slotted into the cypher to make the sentence - including the devious little anagram from the two outstanding clues, and the fact that "The Witness" is split into two entries of "The" and "Witness"

 

 

Are Jane and Kevin alive? 

Probably - there's nothing in these puzzles to suggest not.

 

Are they together? 

I assume so, if she said yes

 

What is the purpose of these puzzles? 

A proposal-nerdgasm!

 

Where should I start a land search to find Jane and Kevin?

In a bed probably!

 

- where they first met - possibly near wherever the Foo Fighters gig was at that time?

 

 

 

 

 

Still not sure the significance of "No Sparx"... but I'm pretty sure of all of the above being right!

 

 

The cypher is Gerald which leads us to what

@DrBloodmoneyhas posted here.

 

I stated before how I thought they may have just eloped and I think this is what has happened here. The purpose of the puzzles is a proposal. They are alive and together and they will be wherever she first told him she loved him. Can't remember if we managed to get this info though

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Okay so

 

Spoiler

Decoding this cypher wasn't too difficult. My problem was filling the spots empty, but easily understood it was a weeding proposal.

 

SO, I got the following (have to admit due to a little help of the content on the @DrBloodmoney spoiler to find the logic to fill the spots)

 

1259 days ago you came into my life. It has been a blur ever since. I couldn't think of anywhere more romantic than the place where you told me that you loved me for the first time.

I wish for our hearts to run free like wild horses.

With the stars as our witness, will you marry me? (Although this last bit is a strange combination of mayor+yrume).

 

So, all i can conclude is they probably are alive, celebrating irresponsibly enough to not give any news to their loved ones. It most definitily is going on a crazy celebration ?

 

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8 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

WARNING:

 

THIS IS MY FINAL WORKING ( along with some pondering) - DON'T CHECK IF STILL WORKING ON IT!

 

  Reveal hidden contents

FINAL-PUZZLE.jpg

 

 

Solved - and the previous 8 answers slotted into the cypher to make the sentence - including the devious little anagram from the two outstanding clues, and the fact that "The Witness" is split into two entries of "The" and "Witness"

 

 

Are Jane and Kevin alive? 

Probably - there's nothing in these puzzles to suggest not.

 

Are they together? 

I assume so, if she said yes

 

What is the purpose of these puzzles? 

A proposal-nerdgasm!

 

Where should I start a land search to find Jane and Kevin?

In a bed probably!

 

- where they first met - possibly near wherever the Foo Fighters gig was at that time?

 

 

 

 

 

Still not sure the significance of "No Sparx"... but I'm pretty sure of all of the above being right!

 

 

I tip my hat to you, even if this isn't the solution- and I'd be surprised if it isn't- fantastic work! And to you as well @Platinum_Vice. This was so creative and awesome!

Edited by GuitaristZag
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8 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

- where they first met - possibly near wherever the Foo Fighters gig was at that time?

 

Do we think that they said that they loved each other that early into their relationship? Did they fall for each other that early?

 

If they were holed up somewhere in a bed, Jane is likely to have told her work... maybe. Robert contacts her every few days but there's been nothing for 23 days. Two Millenials without their phones for 23 days? ... something's not right...

 

- Vice

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22 minutes ago, Platinum_Vice said:

 

 

Do we think that they said that they loved each other that early into their relationship? Did they fall for each other that early?

 

If they were holed up somewhere in a bed, Jane is likely to have told her work... maybe. Robert contacts her every few days but there's been nothing for 23 days. Two Millenials without their phones for 23 days? ... something's not right...

 

- Vice

 

 

Okay - so assuming that the puzzle message was created the same day Jane went missing i.e. the same day Robert first couldn’t get in contact with her (which seems right, since Robert feel pretty controlling, and probably calls her most days)…

 


 

…and assuming Kevin is calculating correctly - that would mean that starting from the first day we heard about the the case (July 1st 2022), subtracting 4 days (the case was 4 days old at that point) another 3 days (how long Robert hadn’t heard from Jane when he reported it) and another 1259 days, that would make the day they met Saturday 12th January 2019.

 

Don’t know where I’m going with this - but food for the group to ponder I guess!

 

Edited by DrBloodmoney
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So, unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time to work on this today, so I only managed the first puzzle by now (couldn't even look at the cipher yet, but I hope to be able to do it tomorrow). Anyway, this is what I have for puzzle #8:

Spoiler

Adam – Mortal Kombat X – 40$ – 50h

Eddie – Assassin's Creed II – 5$ - 20h

Ingrid – Yooka-Laylee – 20$ - 25h

Olivia – Overwatch – Free – 100h

Ulysses – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – Full Price – 10h

 

Which forms the passwort MAYOR

 

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9 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

  Hide contents

Okay - so assuming that the puzzle message was created the same day Jane went missing i.e. the same day Robert first couldn’t get in contact with her (which seems right, since Robert feel pretty controlling, and probably calls her most days)…

 


 

…and assuming Kevin is calculating correctly - that would mean that starting from the first day we heard about the the case (July 1st 2022), subtracting 4 days (the case was 4 days old at that point) another 3 days (how long Robert hadn’t heard from Jane when he reported it) and another 1259 days, that would make the day they met Saturday 12th January 2019.

 

Don’t know where I’m going with this - but food for the group to ponder I guess!

 

 

There was a Foo Fighters concert on January 16th, 2019 in Inglewood, CA at The Kia Forum, which would assume she was reported missing a few days after the puzzle was first made, implying the puzzle was made on June 28th 2022. This would be the period of her coming into his life as their “official together date thing” (it’s a real investigator term). Point being, we’ve got a concert right in the target period we’d be looking for.

Source! [\spoiler]

Edited by Im2Fast_4U
Clarifying poor/extraneous logic
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9 hours ago, Platinum_Vice said:

Do we think that they said that they loved each other that early into their relationship? Did they fall for each other that early?

 

I called Isabella. Jane and Kevin weren't in love at that concert. That was a date in the early days of their relationship. Isabella said that was just when they went "Facebook official."

 

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20 minutes ago, Platinum_Vice said:

 

I called Isabella. Jane and Kevin weren't in love at that concert. That was a date in the early days of their relationship. Isabella said that was just when they went "Facebook official."

 

 

Spoiler

Well, from the facebook posts, we can intuit that she probably said she loved him for the first time at some point in the first year of their relationship, as he is casual enough saying "I Love You" in his "One Year Appreciation Post" - which was prior to Robert receiving his service medal.

 

Of course, it's possible she hadn't said it yet, and he was just over-eager, but unlikely, as doing that publicly before it's been reciprocated privately would most likely mean they wouldn't have been in a relationship subsequently!

 

His reference to "Wild Horses" and "Stars" suggests outdoors - and probably the place where they went skydiving:

 

  • A series of photos of Jane and Kevin patting a horse, camping and skydiving. Accompanying text: “Had the most relaxing time. Falling! - with Kevin Lockwood.” Comments from friends include mild jealousy for them, sharing fears of heights, suggestions that they should have done some fishing, etc. 

This would line up, as it is post-Foo Fighters, but pre "I love You" publicly.

 

Are any of those posts geo-tagged, or can any of the friends of Jane's who commented on the posts confirm where that was?

 

 

EDIT - it's a stretch, but I wonder if the random "No Sparx" is in reference to this - when camping, there would be no electricity, hence no phones... no electricity... no sparks... :dunno:

 

 

 

Edited by DrBloodmoney
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On 7/12/2022 at 0:30 AM, Platinum_Vice said:

Firstly, welcome to the forum. I am glad to be blessed with your first post. I'm glad you've been enjoying the event. Would you like me to add you to the participants list?

I don't think I qualify because I haven't done anything selfless in a while. Gimme a couple of days and I could help my dad out or something. <_<

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I solved the logic puzzle (because I love logic puzzles, didn't realize you had to actually check the trophy guides to get some info) but the last one stumped me. Cryptos are my weakness. :(

 

EDIT Had to rely on a cryptogram solver but I eventually figured it out, but it's a mess of words to me.

 

Spoiler

Case closed. Turns out that it was a big misunderstanding and those two were just going off to a week-long holiday where they could cosplay as Geralt and Ciri from The Wtcher 3 and the place they confessed their love was probably an Anachronistic group festival(those medieval cosplay groups that put up tents in parks for a week and pretend to be in Ye Olde England - I attended one of those clubs when I was younger, but never got into it because the costuming plans were too expensive and I didn't feel like loping around a 110 degree summer outside in an outfit that would kill me with heat stroke.) Then they found out the festival was going on for a month and decided to stay the full time to get into the characters.

 

Seriously, I was not surprised: Any gaming couple who got into that game would probably do the same thing considering the heavily romantic overtones. xD

 

Then again, considering how Jane's father hates Kevin, I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to drop off the face of the Earth and feign their deaths as Robet would have probably gotten furious if he knew what his daughter was doing, but then again, he never played that game. :P

 

Is this going to be a yearly thing? I would love to see it happen one a year with some incentives as well to get more people to use their brains. ;)

Edited by Taruta13
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Sorry I fell off a bit early, but I really wanted to applaud the great work you've done here. Very impressed with how you set all this up man, bravos and high fives for days!

 

Also...

 

Is there another twist?

 

What happened to Kevin? Did he keep his leg? Are you him??

 

You can tell me?

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I have to agree with YaManSmevz, the last few days unfortunately have been absolutely crazy at work for me and I didn't have as much time as I would've liked to participate here at the end, but I thought it was a great idea (with a great execution to boot) and a super fun event and I would love to see something similar return in the future! Thanks for all the hard work and creativity you obviously put into this @Platinum_Vice!

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Well, my answer was a bit crazy but to be honest, hearing that account at the end shows that love can make you do the dumbest things. If Kevin ends up with a prostetic leg and with Robert not verifying his distrust of the guy, it's his own damn fault for not letting SOMEONE know where to go instead of sending all these silly puzzles. :P

 

Still, glad we could help. I'm sure it'll all be right in the end, but I'm sure that Robert will keep a VERY tight leash on his daughter after nearly losing her because of a stupid animal who decided to become roadkill. xD

 

In reality's side, I enjoying working the puzzles. While I do like playing JRPGs and video games, sometimes a nice physical puzzle is a good palette cleanser. Considering how I am procastinating on Nexomon: Extinction, you can tell my priorities are not in the place. (They are in grinding vocations for Dragon Quest VII for the 3DS, which I will never delete because sadly the eShop is closing and the only way you can ever get this wonderful game after that shop closes is to go on Amazon and pay $200 for a physical copy.)

 

EDIT: I am planning on making my own set of indie games for the PSN store, including an RPG that will have most of the aspects from Dragon Quest VII - the restoration of areas by time travel, the vocation system including some monster classes, etc.); I've cut my teeth on the Switch's Gamer Garage title and plan to work on the platinum for Dreams to get some more game-building EXP so I can get started building it on something like RPG Maker XV. If you are interested, put me a PM with any ideas. I really want to see a game like Dragon Warrior/Quest VII on the PS5 in the future and I know that these indie RPGs can work as there are a lot of such games on the PSN store like Pier Solar and Evoland(which I got the platinum for recently).

Edited by Taruta13
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