No. 002 - Lost and Found

[reminded]

[Action?]

[Somewhere, a puzzle sits. Abandoned.

Why? How? Nobody knows. But it looks innocent enough. Little blocks in playful colors, purposefully arranged inside a handcrafted house of wood. The blocks slide easily with a nudge, almost as if they were born to do so. It looks like the big red block would fit perfectly into the space on the right. In fact, it looks like it would be a pretty easy task. Might as well give it a try, right?

But this cheerful little puzzle has a dark secret. To the savvy, it's worth 99 picarats and requires a series of 81 moves at minimum to complete. To the not-as-savvy, that means it's a lot harder than it looks. This is not a puzzle for the weak.]


[Voice, evening]

Good evening, Luceti. I’ll only be a moment. I seem to have lost a puzzle of mine -- a sliding block puzzle, to be precise. Has anyone seen it? I would appreciate any word.

(( OOC: I don’t count on him actually getting the puzzle back, but it can be spotted anywhere and everywhere. And if you'd like to play out puzzle frustrations with someone other than Layton, go right ahead! Puzzle destruction is also a thing that is acceptable. Just sayin'.

P.S.: a video of the puzzle if you want to see it in action. ))

Comments

[hisapprentice]

I suppose some people are just better at doing jigsaw puzzles instead.

[reminded]

Which are perfectly respectable, of course. Speaking of which, I was able to get my hands on rather large jigsaw puzzle some time ago. We should make an activity of it with Maiza and Czeslaw.

[hisapprentice]

We should! I bet they'll both be better at one of those.

[reminded]

Jigsaws are truly the everyman's puzzle. This one in particular depicts a hat shop, so I think it suits us quite nicely.

[hisapprentice]

...We do all wear hats. And they're all different hats, too. [What would happen if they all switched hats one day? Luke pictures Czes in Layton's taaaaall top hat and the professor in Maiza's dapper fedora and-

This is very funny.]

[reminded]

[His top hat would swallow Czes whole.]

But of course. True gentlemen can't be without them, after all. And for that, I must commend your choice in flatmates.

[hisapprentice]

We sort of...chose each other, a little bit. I think in the end Maiza felt sorry for me, thinking I was a kid and all alone. {Which are two true things but Luke refuses to believe them.]

[reminded]

[Which was very kind of Maiza. Layton believes those two true things.]

Is that so? I thought Czeslaw might have been the one to invite you.

[hisapprentice]

[Then he hasn't known Czes for very long at all.]

Hmm-mm. Er, well, not exactly. But it doesn't matter anymore, does it? We're there now.

[reminded]

[Maybe he did it... subtle-like...]

I suppose you're right.

[And because they're supposed to be looking for a puzzle, he looks around for anything that might have changed since the last time he passed through. He veers off to the sidelines to check any suspicious bushes or rocks...]

[hisapprentice]

[Luke is just looking, in general, particularly under things that a tallish man like Layton might have been reluctant to peruse. Benches and shrubs and things.]

Maybe someone liked it so much they decided to keep it.

[reminded]

[He pauses in his rock-turning to think about that.]

I suppose in that case, I couldn't begrudge them. Puzzles aren't meant to be sequestered, after all. What is a puzzle if it isn't being pored over?

[hisapprentice]

[Luke has disappeared under a plant. He emerges rather dirty and scraped but victoriously clutching-!

A marble.]

Waiting for us to find it, I think.

[reminded]

[He smiles.]

I like that answer. Speaking of which, it looks like you've found something of your own.

[hisapprentice]

It's just someone's lost marble. They probably don't even know it's missing.

[reminded]

Hmm. You know, that reminds me of a puzzle.

[hisapprentice]

Everything reminds you of a puzzle, Professor. [Said with all the loving affection of a child for his favorite uncle.] Even lost marbles.

[reminded]

Especially lost marbles. [Never underestimate the quantity of puzzles involving marbles.] Would you like to hear it?

[hisapprentice]

Of course I want to hear it! [Luke pockets the marble, brushing stray leafy bits from his jacket.]

[reminded]

[And so the search is put on hold.]

Splendid. Ahem.

A box contains 13 white marbles and 15 black marbles. Outside of the box, you have 28 black marbles. Without looking, you reach into the box and pull out two marbles. If they're of different colors, you put the white one back in the box. If they're of the same color, then you take them both out and drop a black marble in the box.

You continue under these conditions until only one marble remains in the box. What color is the last marble?

[hisapprentice]

[Wraaaaaah Professor this is hard without his pen and paper! Without realizing it, Luke half-mimes putting marbles into and out of a box. Two of the same color, two of another color...

Black pairs and white pairs both mean black marbles go in...A black and white pair means a white one...

Aha!]

I think I've got it, Professor. It's a white marble left in the box!

[Yep he's pointing.]

[reminded]

[Picarats rain down from the heavens.]

Well done! No matter how many times you repeat this little scenario, the last marble will always be white. You could have solved this by recreating the conditions in real life, but by the sound of it you've deciphered the trick. I expected nothing less.

[hisapprentice]

Even if you recreated the conditions, it would take a lot of tries to prove to yourself that there's only a white marble left.

Besides, I only found one! And we still didn't find your puzzle.

[reminded]

... Right. Then let's keep looking.

[That was a nice little diversion though. He looks up at the trees and rooftops. Maybe he hasn't been able to find his puzzle because it's in an unlikely place.]

[hisapprentice]

If someone adopted your lost puzzle, you'll just have to make another, I guess.