Wednesday, July 5, 2017

lateral thinking - The Cryptic Lab *1*


Once you've finished this puzzle, you can go to The Cryptic Lab +2+


This is a remake of the old puzzle, which was too broad (and I made such a terrible puzzle, lol). This is a harder yet simpler remake of it, with a new problem, but the same scenario (5 rooms, 5 parts.) I'll make a second part of this when it is answered, the rules are at the bottom of the puzzle. Good luck!




You're dreaming. Something about butterflies and dragons. But something isn't right. You feel as if you aren't in your soft, warm bed anymore. . . Quite the opposite, really. You feel like you're on a cold hard floor. . . You open your eyes, and you are in darkness. Just as you thought... You're lying on a floor, in all its coldness and hardness. But it isn't your floor, it's concrete. You stand up, looking for a light switch. You see a small LED light a few feet away, marking a light switch. You walk towards it slowly, in your bare feet. As you flick the switch, the room you're in is illuminated. This definitely wasn't your room, not even your house. You're in some sort of room with a concrete floor, cement walls and ceiling. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man talks to you.



Welcome, test subject 137. I am not in the room with you, I am speaking to you through the speaker in the corner of the room. I have chosen you to be my next test subject. As you can see, you are in a room. But not just any room, the testing room many have been in before you. We will be testing you to see whether you have the ability to escape our test lab. . . Or die. There are several items throughout the room that you may use to help you get to the next room. There are 5 test rooms in all. The door in the fifth room leads to your freedom. However, each room will get progressively more difficult than the last. The rules are simple: Don't break the doors, the walls, or the ceiling. Good luck, and don't die. Also, don't forget the fact that this room is actually a furnace waiting to be ignited. Breaking any of the rules (listed at the bottom of the puzzle) will get you burned alive.



You look at the door the man mentioned. It's made of extremely strong titanium, with a titanium padlock. Upon closer inspection, the padlock has a big keyhole; seems like it could be easily picked with something thin. But wait. . . What can you use to pick the lock?


There's a table attacked to the ground in the corner of the room. . . There's a note on there:



Feeling hungry? Help yourself.




There were kebabs inside a thick glass dome, glued to the table. Smells like it's newly cooked. Now you're hungry. You try to break the glass with your hands, but. . . It's too thick. Great, now you have a bruise.


Looking at the floor, you notice that part of the concrete is cracked. Maybe you could break it (not with your hands lol).


There's a hammer in the other corner of the room. A note on it says,



If you break the glass with this, you're going to die.



You sit down to think about what to do to pick the lock. Also you're still hungry.


OBJECTIVES: {PICK THE LOCK} (GET FOOD)



Rules: No breaking the door, walls, roof, table, and padlock. No breaking the glass with the hammer. The mysterious man made these rules (for an unknown reason), and if you break them, he'll most likely activate the ignition chamber. Yes, you are currently inside a furnace that has just been deactivated, and he'll turn it on if you break any of the rules he made.



Once you've finished this puzzle, you can go to The Cryptic Lab +2+



Answer



How about this?



Use the hammer to smash up the concrete floor a bit. (The floor is conspicuously not listed among the things you aren't allowed to break with the hammer.) Then use the resulting bits of concrete to break the glass. (The rule about breaking the glass conspicuously applies only when you break it with the hammer.) Then you can eat the kebabs and, if they are still on their skewers, use one of the skewers to pick the lock. (You might need to bend the end a bit, but that should be possible using the edge of the table and maybe the hammer.)



The second step might possibly be facilitated by



scoring the surface of the glass (also with smashed-up bits of concrete) before using the largest lumps you've been able to break off the floor to hit it with.




[EDITED to remove a "solution" that was inconsistent with the stated rules -- I'd failed to read them correctly -- and to clarify the other one which remains here.]


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