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Unique Ode

There's a multilingual poem hidden in the Summer Game 2019 Shop Descriptions. And there are game codes hidden in that poem!

To solve this PREPOSTEROUSLY HARD badge, you'll need to know about a few things:

One thing to bear in mind; Unicode hexadecimal codepoints are often written like this: U+1F44D . The U+ signals that it's a unicode value. For the purpose of solving these puzzles, ignore the U+ completely and only work with the hexadecimal number.

Use of the hints are encouraged, perhaps even essential. Please note that the first four hints below reveal progressively more about the method used to solve the first four codes; the first four hints are not specific to each code. Look at all the hints and comments below if you're stuck! Also, you don't need to complete the first four codes in order, so feel free to skip around... and watch out for that mug!

This badge has been awarded to 161 players

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Comments

My gosh. Really making us work for it. Is the first part of the code, pertaining to the first item in the 2,000 point category, the orb, 002D? Because if not, I am not going to attempt the rest of this badge. Let me know if I'm on the right track, please.

Search the italics word, not the item itself. You have to use all of the hints together. It took me about 10 minutes to get the first 16 digit code but now I know what to do so the rest should be easier.

Okay. I think I'm on the right track, but I mess up or am missing something once I get to the subtraction step.

Rocket number converted to hexadecimal number - check (349)
Node number for "itisdividedasfollows" converted to hexadecimal number - check (1A7EB)

When I subtract the node number from the emoticon number, I get a negative 5 digit number, -1A4A2. What am I supposed to do with that? The final result should be 4 digits, not 5. I'm obviously doing something wrong or missing something.

I think you're starting with the wrong hexadecimal number. I can't see how you got 349 for Rocket. Try finding Rocket in the helpful emoji list, which is also the official list of Unicode Emoji. Does that help?
Update: Oh, I see. Don't convert the "number" of the emoji to hex, start with the hexadecimal part of the unicode codepoint for that emoji. Unicode Emoji are already hexadecimal numbers.

In reply to by Xris

There is no way to figure out what these random numbers mean in braille. I thought it was a number its not!

Try googling braille 2356 if you're stuck. 2356 is part of a system that notates which dots are raised. This particular braille character means different things in different languages, so 2356 is the most precise way to describe which braille mark you need to be looking at.

For the fifth code, I have the idioms and phrases but I'm having trouble finding the right item in the shop. Is it the [remove] for the first one and the [removed] for the second one. I have no idea about the third and fourth.

You've got the first one right. It's fairly obvious if you're looking for the right phrase. Be sure you're using Google Translate to get a solid translation of what you should be looking for.

I got [removed] without converting to hex for the fifth code. When I convert it [removed] is wrong.

When it says on the second clue that the phrase coordinates with the community collection, how do we find that item in the collection?

Did you look at all four of the first four hints? If you're stuck, the first four hints *together* will tell you how to solve the first four clues. They're not specific to each code; this way players can slowly reveal hints to the method you'll use to solve the first four codes. Try searching community collections for the bold phrase in quotes.

I'm really stuck on clue number 5. I don't understand what I have to translate to get the proper lines needed for the shop item search.

Did you look at the hint? Your answers for clues 1-4 are also strings of unicode characters if you break them up into sets of 4 digits. Those 4-character words or phrases are what you'll need to translate to know which shop items you're looking for.

Make sure you're using Google Translate and no spaces; the allusions to the phrase in the shop items will be pretty obvious once you know what you're looking for. You'll have to look, though; search won't help much. Also, there is one in each tier of prizes, so if you've found one, you don't have to look at any of the prizes of that point value. Hope that helps!

Each set of 4 digits in the 16-digit game code is a character in another language. Take the 4 characters from each game code and put that 4-character word or phrase into google translate to see what it means. You'll need to copy and paste the characters, you can't type them on an english keyboard. Does that help?

For the bonus code, I searched for the bolded phrase in Community Collection and got 26 copies of the same ad. Am I on the right track? Do I need to arrange the results in a certain way?

On the Bonus code: I have the staring me in the face. I have the relevant ads. Am I looking for a 24 digit code or 3? I've tried both but no luck.

If you play with the staring you in the face a bit, you might find a very interesting coincidence... At that point, try something that seems too obvious to be right—at least, it did to me.

Also. To the creator of this badge. _How_ did you _find_ the abovementioned coincidence? Was it something you noticed after finishing the badge? Or did you choose the staring us in the face bit afterward in order to make it work? Even if so, that's pretty incredible.

Most badge design is working backwards. I will say that this little adventure benefited greatly from unicode and our database having a lot of overlap on the number line. THAT'S NOT A CLUE I'M JUST ANSWERING THE QUESTION. =)

If a stranger saw the SIX full pages of the notebook that I used when I was working on this badge, they would guess I escaped from a mental hospital.

And I don't get the bonus code, but I'm going to bed now. Maybe tomorrow ...er, today. Goodness that was hard. I don't know if I want to be mad at you or go to an escape room with you, badge creator.

I found the article, but not sure what "node number" refers to?

Also, could there be badges next year for correcting the OCR on these articles?

Thanks much!

Hi there, we do plan a return of the OCR correction Points-o-matic mode, hopefully in time for the off-season. A few other projects in line ahead of that. Look at the URL of the article to find its node number! Thanks for asking!

Regarding the 6th code - I am ignoring the final set of 4 correct? or am I disregarding any one of the five sets?

Am I supposed to figure out what phrase the unicode make? Google translate can't seem to translate it into anything. I assume the one set you ignore is the only one that translates into english and not chinese.

Did you look at the hint for the Penultimate Code? You're not looking for a translation of the 4 Chinese characters, it doesn't mean anything. But it can be pronounced and it's the romanization of the 4 characters (not the exact phrase) you should be searching for. Hope that helps!

In reply to by aunty

I'm very sorry that's not helpful to you, Aunty. Why don't you continue asking your questions in the email thread we've also had going, rather than cluttering up this thread.

Is there a way you could provide an example we could start with? I'm sure this won't be as daunting if we all understand the procedure.

Holy smokes. I actually pumped my fists when I got them all. Went to bed last night cursing the bonus code and then after a cup of coffee, the “staring you in the face” finally clicked. Just curious if there is a significance of the number of points for the bonus code?

The italic word in the coffee description is lobster right? I can't find an emoji for it, which is weird I thought there was an emoji for just about everything.

I can't get the converter to switch my codes into hex. I don't get it it was working fine a few days ago and now I can't convert the emoji codes.

I must be the most frustrated player here. I've found most of the foreign language codes, but they don't seem to translate to anything useful. There has got to be some better and easier instructions for this badge.

Sorry you're so frustrated; we did warn this badge was preposterously hard! There's nothing more to it than the hints on the badge and the tips in this thread, but the references in the shop items to the translated phrases are pretty direct. If you're translating the phrase using google translate, you're probably going to see some of those exact words in a shop description. Keep looking, and thanks for playing!

Maybe someone out there can give me some better clues. For the fifth code, I translated all the charcaters for the 2000 pt level and came up with a phrase that I believe connects to the pin set. What am I supposed to do now?

The pin set isn't the item you're looking for for the 2000 point prize phrase. Did you look at the hint for the 5th code? It says when you've found all 4 shop items referred to by the translated phrases, put the node numbers together into one long number, then convert that number to hexadecimal. Hope that helps!

I have found the shop items, but which order do they go in? Do I put them in order of point value (2000 pt item, then 5000 pt item , etc)? I'm a little confused because I assumed that the item connected to the Chinese phrase was a 2000 pt item (its not)

I can't hear any phrase in the pronunciation of the characters for clue 6. What supposed phrase am I missing???

OK, aunty, I'll be more specific. If you enter the 4 chinese characters from code 5 into google translate, right below where you enter your characters to translate it will display the romanization of those characters. Those are english syllables that show the characters are pronounced. If you type those 4 syllables into a community collections search (don't copy and paste because you need to remove the tone marks (also called accents or diacritics) and don't put the whole thing in quotes) and search for those sounds , you'll find the set of results that takes you forward. Hope that helps!

Can anyone help me?

When I search for the node for"pomo-logica" no results are found. Without quotes, 5 pages are found.

I just spent a good half hour recalculating everything only to realize I mistook an 8 for a B in one of the emoji unicodes UGH.

I am working on the first half of code 5. I have read all comments and hint. Starting with the first 16-digit hexadecimal code, I took the first 4 digits and put in google translate. I was able to receive 2 words. I then took the second set of 4 digits and received 1 word in English. However, when I ran the third and fourth set thru (separate), I received no translation. The same four digits appeared on right side. The left side says "detect language" and right side says English. I searched the descriptions for all looking for those three words "4 shout scratched", but couldn't find anything. Please help. Trying to finish badge by Summer Game close.

The 16-digit codes are phrases, you won't get right translation one character at a time. Try entering all 4 characters of each line into google translate together.

I think I have it. I didn't realize that I had to use unicode search first, then copy symbol into google translate. I came up with [removed]. The prize is from the early 1990s and is in the 15200 range? Feel free to edit comment if I've given too much. Am I on the right track?

You have the right phrase, but the wrong item! You should only be looking at 2019 items, and there is one in each tier of prizes. So once you find the right item, you can ignore the other 2019 items at that price point. The references are pretty direct and obvious. Keep looking!

I am fairly certain that I have 3 of the 4 items correct. The third item translated to the word [removed], but the word [removed] in description for [removed] was not capitalized like others. Am I off on this one? Also, do I convert nodes to hexadecimals individually? The calculator won't allow 24 digits to be inputted. Thanks so much.

Got the 5th code. I was using the wrong hexadecimal calculator. One only provides finite space for digits. I used the other link provided.

Thank you so much for your guidance. I completed badge and bonus code. I solved based on "staring you in the face" comment. However, was there something different about the newspaper article which contained the corresponding node? All articles appeared to be same.

I’m having trouble on the fifth clue (finding the corresponding shop items) and wonder if I’m on the wrong track. Does the first phrase translate into something like an amphibian in a precarious position? (That’s not the exact phrase I got, but I don’t want to get myself redacted in case I am right!)

Badge Series
Event 2019

Game
SummerGame2019

Difficulty
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ambitious 4 of out 4 difficulty

Badge Points
500

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