Slashes, Dashes, and Boxes: Oh My!

Question

These riddles are really hard until you figure out how to look at them at the right angle. Sometimes it's hard to connect the dots at first.

This riddle might contain a hint to my other riddle. Or who knows, maybe I found this on a scrap of paper on the ground. Or Giuseppe Schmoe might have given it to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hint:

Although the forms of the symbols are set,
they aren't all needed to the message, beget.

Hint 2:

This answer's a hint to the riddle before,
But that won't help you to its message, restore.

Hint 3 (replaced):

Connect the centers of the boxes and the lines in a very specific way.

Hint 4:

My intent was for this puzzle to be easier :/
know'n the message's height (3) will make solving much speedier.

Hint 5:

The first letter has a high chance of being u.

I was thinking about using the boxes as 'light sources' and the lines as 'mirrors' to create the outlines of letters. But connecting every line makes one big messy image, so there must be a rule limiting some lines. — PL457, Apr 04 '18 at 12:16
@PL457 Figuring out the rules by which to draw the lines was meant to be the meat of this puzzle. Keep trying stuff like what you are, and it will be very clear when you find the correct method. — Austin Weaver, Apr 04 '18 at 12:18

Dmihawk · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-06T03:22:20.180

7

Revised Answer (after way too many hints from OP)

I did this by:

Connecting each square with any lines in the same row or column which were met at a right angle. This includes the diagonal symbols which also meet at right angle

Which gives:

U S E M O D S - or "Use Mods" (as in modulus), the clue for the other puzzle

edited Apr 06 '18 at 03:22

answered Apr 06 '18 at 01:27

Dmihawk

4,496
1
16
37

You are very close to the answer. Try to tweak the rules until you get a clear message. – Austin Weaver Apr 06 '18 at 01:31
@AustinWeaver Any subtle hints to nudge me in the right direction? – Dmihawk Apr 06 '18 at 01:36
1

Diagonal and grid-aligned lines are pretty similar really, aren't they? – Austin Weaver Apr 06 '18 at 01:37
Also the message might be a tiny bit noisy, but it should be clear what the message is, and it should relate to the the other riddle. – Austin Weaver Apr 06 '18 at 01:49
I'm guessing it's something along the lines of "Use CRT", but I'm not sure how to produce that – Dmihawk Apr 06 '18 at 01:52
Think more about the method than the message. – Austin Weaver Apr 06 '18 at 01:52
Getting any closer? – Dmihawk Apr 06 '18 at 02:18
closer, but still not right on the right side. Make sure to follow your rules closely for drawing the lines. – Austin Weaver Apr 06 '18 at 02:19
Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Dmihawk Apr 06 '18 at 02:44

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 04 '18 at 05:26

Although this is not the full answer, i think if we connect specific boxes and lines we get a character of English alphabet.

I am able to read from some set of columns.

From column 3,4,5 we can clearly make out an A by joining the boxes and lines according to the direction which they are in.
From column 19,20,21 we also can make out a character Y similarly.
Now it gets more difficult to read , from column 11,10,9 we can make an S following the lines.
11,12,13 would give us a Z or S.
From column 1 we can get a I or T.
From column 6,7 we can make out a U. I could be O if first row of 6th column is +.
From column 16,17,18 we can get J but also from column 16,17 we can get K.

Maybe a word is hidden within these characters or maybe I am missing a character or maybe I am wrong in thinking of characters being hidden in these symbols.

I'll be honest, I still can't see Column 3,4,5. Maybe a sketch of how you have joined them? — Fifth_H0r5eman, Apr 04 '18 at 08:39
@pavan You're on the right track, but you're 0 for 7 on the actual characters. — Austin Weaver, Apr 04 '18 at 12:00
So there are 7 characters hidden all-together, with 3 columns containing 1 character. — Nappa, Apr 04 '18 at 16:38

Slashes, Dashes, and Boxes: Oh My!

2 Answers2