ACME社の文書

ここで紹介する英文は、MITミステリーハントの資料である"Have you tried. . ."の全文である。日本語はそれぞれの項目に対する注記であることに注意されたし。

For starters

Have you tried. . .

• . . .reading the title and the blurb?
• . . .typing it into a search engine?
• . . .pursuing even a train of thought that doesn’t seem to give a cogent answer at first?
• . . .looking at the list of helpful websites?
• . . .looking at the binder of useful stuff?

Letters and words

Have you tried. . .

• . . .alphabetizing?
• . . .using the leftover letters to spell something?
  • おそらく、パングラムへの言及。
• . . .rearranging the letters (aka “anagramming” or “transposing”)?
  • akaの先はアナグラムと置換を指している。
• . . .looking for unusual letter frequencies?
• . . .determining if it is a Rot 13/Caesar shift in general?
  • ROT13はアルファベットでのみ意味が通じます。
• . . .shifting from letters to numbers?
• . . .treating letters as protein sequences?
  • おそらく、DNA配列への言及。
• . . .treating letters as call letters?
• . . .turning it into a cryptic crossword clue?
• . . .seeing if these words relate to song lyrics?
• . . .seeing if there are any acronyms of phrases?
  • acronymsは頭文字、という意味がある。
• . . .diagonalizing (taking the first letter of the first answer, the second letter of the second. . .)?
  • MITミステリーハントでは、逆さのナナメ読みがメタになったことがある。
• . . .looking at a computer keyboard?
• . . .a pun?

Numbers

Have you tried. . .

• . . .graphing it functionally?
• . . .graphing it parametrically?
• . . .checking to see if your numbers are in the right base (including hex)?
  • 括弧内のhexは16進数のこと。
• . . .shifting from numbers to letters?
• . . .using it as a phone number?
• . . .using it as an IP address?
  • MITにも、他のサイトを使う謎が存在する。
• . . .matching numbers to MIT buildings?
• . . .matching numbers to MIT courses?
  • MITの教室や建物はナンバリングされている。
• . . .treating numbers as dates?
• . . .treating numbers as atomic weights, numbers, etc.?
• . . .treating numbers as latitude/longitude or GPS coordinates?
• . . .treating numbers as radio stations?
• . . .treating numbers as ASCII numbers?
• . . .treating numbers as PLU numbers?
• . . .treating numbers as ISBN numbers?
• . . .seeing if there are any strange sequences?
• . . .seeing if prime numbers are involved?
• . . .seeing if fundamental constants are involved?
• . . .asking what other numbers are close to the one you have?

Thirteen ways of looking at a puzzle

Have you tried. . .

• . . .looking at it in a mirror?
  • 鏡に映す
• . . .squinting at it from far away?
  • 遠くから見る
• . . .tilting it?
  • 傾ける
• . . .looking at it upside down?
  • 逆さまにする
• . . .looking through it?
  • 他の何かを通して
• . . .rewriting it neatly?
  • 木津千里
• . . .rewriting it on graph paper?
  • グラフペーパーに
• . . .saying it out loud to someone else?
  • 空耳
• . . .putting yourself in the constructor’s shoes?
• . . .making it 3D?
  • 立体にする
• . . .cutting it up?
  • 切る
• . . .folding it?
  • 折る
• . . .connecting the dots?
  • 点を繋ぐ

What is it?

Have you tried. . .

• . . .looking at a song/poem/book/movie/TV show?
• . . .Braille?
• . . .Morse code?
• . . .overlaying it on a map of MIT?
  • MIT指定なのはMITミステリーハントなので。
• . . .getting on the T?
• . . .checking it for pop culture references with Tanis, Jenn, Denis or James?
  • この名前はよく使われているらしい。
• . . .using the Library of Congress or Dewey decimal system?
  • 書籍か何かのアーカイブ？
• . . .asking whether it has anything to do personally with the constructing team?
• . . .Palm graffiti?
• . . .running it by someone who goes to MIT?

Zen

Have you tried. . .

• . . .trusting your instincts?
• . . .trusting someone else’s instincts?
• . . .asking “what’s weird about this?”
• . . .taking a step back?
• . . .asking for fresh brains?
  • ・・・頭、冷やそうか
• . . .checking your work?
• . . .asking someone else to check your work?
• . . .explaining your work to someone else?
• . . .doing what you’ve already done again to the output?
• . . .consulting the list of expertise?
• . . .leaving the room?
• . . .asking people if it looks like anything they recognize?
• . . .thinking about what’s missing?
• . . .asking yourself whether you’ve used all the information?
• . . .keeping even a strange-looking result?
• . . .brute force?
  • ブルートフォース
• . . .not thinking about it?
• . . .splitting up tasks to solve in a group?
• . . .talking to a hunt veteran?
• . . .talking to a hunt newbie?
• . . .asking “what’s the pattern”?
• . . .rereading the instructions?