Wednesday, July 29, 2015

"10 Types of People Point" Solution









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And now, we give the solution to my favorite point of the contest. :)

The way the initial tweets were released (long strings of numbers, followed by "that's too mean", and then immediately followed by block versions of the strings), we felt pretty strongly that the CM released the point exactly as he intended. By showing the first step in the process, he confirmed that the lines in each block were important.

We did the math, and recognized that each line in each block contained exactly 8 card numbers. We knew the next step would be to identify the individual card numbers in each line, but that was impossible to do uniquely without more information (e.g. "2832246" could be "283 22 46", or "28 322 46", or "28 32 246" ... you get the picture).

The CM did indeed take pity on us on the following Tuesday:




Now we had the information we needed, to identify the exact card numbers in each line.


201
55
225
61
293
87
183
39
186
127
178
151
51
255
13
247
253
187
250
93
50
57
309
345
223
59
26
272
44
226
77
84
247
34
140
343
260
56
339
281
305
193
349
207
325
346
148
9
72
340
20
321
231
194
20
8
244
7
311
278
202
137
256
149
42
134
108
149
126
54
94
16
37
136
237
138
301
10
169
279
77
101
58
105
281
139
42
170
331
245
31
146
182
344
149
126
111
106
38
218
229
285
260
157
261
142
144
78
220
298
261
1
1
306
258
14
129
338
116
120
25
135
299
312
113
171
319
40
316
184
132
83
173
268
117
280
94
66
109
185
65
200
286
57
234
69
192
96
295
208
301
13
116
328
189
313
320
334
72
249
148
198
233
236
304
235
195
179
169
212
300
240
292
221
220
298
28
32
246
170
91
80
31
129
209
29
103
345
263
242
14
110




For a while, the fact that there are duplicates (and trips) in the grid bothered us.  However, moving forward, we did a quick lookup from the 2014 Ginter base checklist to find the subjects of all those card numbers, and got:


Paul O’NeillAndrew LamboPedro MartinezBo JacksonManny RamirezAlex GordonJim PalmerChris Sale
Billy HamiltonGreg MadduxDomonic BrownJames PaxtonOswaldo ArciaAndre RienzoGary SheffieldBilly Williams
Rickey HendersonDavid PriceSteve CishekWillie MaysOrlando HernandezCarlos BeltranHunter PenceYasiel Puig
Tony GwynnHal NewhouserFergie JenkinsTim RainesTy CobbBob GibsonStan MusialFrancisco Liriano
Billy WilliamsFelix HernandezMatt MoorePhil NiekroJay BruceJason HeywardJeff SamardzijaYoenis Cespedes
Jayson WerthTom GlavineJohn SmoltzJustin UptonDarryl StrawberryIvan NovaBryce HarperKoji Uehara
Ralph KinerDennis EckersleyBabe RuthAdam JonesCarlos GomezAvisail GarciaBabe RuthBob Feller
Jake MarisnickHector SantiagoAnibal SanchezCC SabathiaJim RiceReggie JacksonJuan MarichalJose Canseco
Junior LakeJordan ZimmermannNolan RyanJose CansecoWillie StargellYordano VenturaLou BrockBartolo Colon
Wil MyersCarlos GonzalezJames ShieldsMariano RiveraMatt KempAndrew McCutchenDale MurphySteve Carlton
Stan MusialMike TroutTyler SkaggsCole HamelsYoenis CespedesJacoby EllsburyJunior LakeMatt Holliday
Curtis GrandersonMatt HarveyMichael ChoiceMax ScherzerStarling MarteJason GrilliJose CansecoWillie Stargell
Frank RobinsonPatrick CorbinDon SuttonCasey KellyJulio TeheranCarl CrawfordJay BruceHisashi Iwakuma
Duke SniderHiroki KurodaBrett OberholtzerZack GreinkeJosh HamiltonDeion SandersDuke SniderRoger Maris
Roger MarisHyun-Jin RyuRicky NolascoMichael CuddyerHank AaronAndy PettitteBrett GardnerTom Seaver
Joe DiMaggioGrant BalfourEnny RomeroMike MussinaShin-Soo ChooDusty BakerSonny GraySteve Delabar
Ken Griffey Jr.Gerrit ColeTed WilliamsGiancarlo StantonJose FernandezJarrod ParkerYu DarvishWhitey Ford
Lou BrockRoger ClemensJhoulys ChacinJose BautistaFred McGriffZack WheelerKris MedlenCarlos Beltran
Roberto ClementeJohnny CuetoDaniel NavaMadison BumgarnerRyan BraunAl KalineMatt KempGary Sheffield
Brett GardnerC.J. WilsonClayton KershawJuan GonzalezChristian YelichErik JohnsonRalph KinerAroldis Chapman
Bryce HarperJeff LockeDan StrailyJ.D. MartinezMatt CainMasahiro TanakaChris CarpenterChris Archer
Dale MurphyDoug FisterR.A. DickeyTony CingraniAndre DawsonAdam EatonJosh HamiltonDeion Sanders
Mark TrumboTim LincecumDwight GoodenMatt HollidayClay BuchholzJustin VerlanderMichael ChoiceHank Aaron
Vladimir GuerreroShelby MillerJon LesterYasiel PuigAlfonso SorianoWarren SpahnMichael CuddyerJeremy Hellickson




Asking yourself the right questions is nearly always the key to finding the solution.  Brian and I noted that these were all baseball subjects.  So, over 150 unique card numbers from the 2014 set, and not a single non-baseball subject?  The odds of that being coincidence were infinitesimal, but we still didn't really have a definite path forward.  How could we bin things, or create some delineation?  American League vs National League?  Maybe, but that's somewhat ill-defined and tricky.  That's when I noticed something interesting about the first column of the table:  They are all hitters.  Hitters vs pitchers?  Maybe ...


Paul O’NeillAndrew LamboPedro MartinezBo JacksonManny RamirezAlex GordonJim PalmerChris Sale
Billy HamiltonGreg MadduxDomonic BrownJames PaxtonOswaldo ArciaAndre RienzoGary SheffieldBilly Williams
Rickey HendersonDavid PriceSteve CishekWillie MaysOrlando HernandezCarlos BeltranHunter PenceYasiel Puig
Tony GwynnHal NewhouserFergie JenkinsTim RainesTy CobbBob GibsonStan MusialFrancisco Liriano
Billy WilliamsFelix HernandezMatt MoorePhil NiekroJay BruceJason HeywardJeff SamardzijaYoenis Cespedes
Jayson WerthTom GlavineJohn SmoltzJustin UptonDarryl StrawberryIvan NovaBryce HarperKoji Uehara
Ralph KinerDennis EckersleyBabe RuthAdam JonesCarlos GomezAvisail GarciaBabe RuthBob Feller
Jake MarisnickHector SantiagoAnibal SanchezCC SabathiaJim RiceReggie JacksonJuan MarichalJose Canseco
Junior LakeJordan ZimmermannNolan RyanJose CansecoWillie StargellYordano VenturaLou BrockBartolo Colon
Wil MyersCarlos GonzalezJames ShieldsMariano RiveraMatt KempAndrew McCutchenDale MurphySteve Carlton
Stan MusialMike TroutTyler SkaggsCole HamelsYoenis CespedesJacoby EllsburyJunior LakeMatt Holliday
Curtis GrandersonMatt HarveyMichael ChoiceMax ScherzerStarling MarteJason GrilliJose CansecoWillie Stargell
Frank RobinsonPatrick CorbinDon SuttonCasey KellyJulio TeheranCarl CrawfordJay BruceHisashi Iwakuma
Duke SniderHiroki KurodaBrett OberholtzerZack GreinkeJosh HamiltonDeion SandersDuke SniderRoger Maris
Roger MarisHyun-Jin RyuRicky NolascoMichael CuddyerHank AaronAndy PettitteBrett GardnerTom Seaver
Joe DiMaggioGrant BalfourEnny RomeroMike MussinaShin-Soo ChooDusty BakerSonny GraySteve Delabar
Ken Griffey Jr.Gerrit ColeTed WilliamsGiancarlo StantonJose FernandezJarrod ParkerYu DarvishWhitey Ford
Lou BrockRoger ClemensJhoulys ChacinJose BautistaFred McGriffZack WheelerKris MedlenCarlos Beltran
Roberto ClementeJohnny CuetoDaniel NavaMadison BumgarnerRyan BraunAl KalineMatt KempGary Sheffield
Brett GardnerC.J. WilsonClayton KershawJuan GonzalezChristian YelichErik JohnsonRalph KinerAroldis Chapman
Bryce HarperJeff LockeDan StrailyJ.D. MartinezMatt CainMasahiro TanakaChris CarpenterChris Archer
Dale MurphyDoug FisterR.A. DickeyTony CingraniAndre DawsonAdam EatonJosh HamiltonDeion Sanders
Mark TrumboTim LincecumDwight GoodenMatt HollidayClay BuchholzJustin VerlanderMichael ChoiceHank Aaron
Vladimir GuerreroShelby MillerJon LesterYasiel PuigAlfonso SorianoWarren SpahnMichael CuddyerJeremy Hellickson




Brian and I had a running joke with Jim at this point in the contest.  We were like 20 points into this thing, and on at least a half-dozen separate occasions, Jim had declared "IT'S BINARY!!!".  So of course, when he proclaimed "IT'S BINARY!!!" this time, I basically said "I'm out".  :)   Little did we know, Jim was about to shine like a supernova ... and in less than 30 minutes, the point would be solved.


I won't post the chat history for this one, under the 2014 Ginter Code Trade Secrets and Proprietary Information (and Otherwise Embarrassing Evidence) Act of 2014, but at one point Jim said "It's binary, 100% ... or I'm 100% wrong, I have no perspective"; I said "This seems to be going nowhere ...", and Brian said "Is it in German?"  LOL.  Full credit for the remainder of this solution goes to Jim.  He obliterated it.


Pitchers and hitters.  Pitchers are 1's, and hitters are 0's.


0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1


Each line of the grid then becomes an 8-bit binary number.


0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
00100011
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
01010100
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
01101000
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
01110010
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
01000001
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
01110010
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
00110001
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
00110000
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
01010100
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
01111001
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
01110000
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
01110011
0
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
01001111
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
01100110
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
01010000
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
01101111
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
01110000
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
01101100
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101


Then, each binary number is converted to its decimal value.


0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
00100011
35
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
01010100
84
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
01101000
104
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
01110010
114
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
01000001
65
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
01110010
114
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
00110001
49
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
00110000
48
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
01010100
84
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
01111001
121
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
01110000
112
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
01110011
115
0
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
01001111
79
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
01100110
102
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
01010000
80
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
01101111
111
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
01110000
112
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
01101100
108
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101


And THEN, in a stunning twist ... each decimal value is converted to its ASCII equivalent.


0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
00100011
35
#
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
01010100
84
T
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
01101000
104
h
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
e
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
01110010
114
r
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
e
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
01000001
65
A
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
0
01110010
114
r
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
e
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
00110001
49
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
00110000
48
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
01010100
84
T
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
01111001
121
y
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
01110000
112
p
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
e
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
01110011
115
s
0
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
01001111
79
O
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
01100110
102
f
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
01010000
80
P
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
e
0
1
1
0
1
1
1
1
01101111
111
o
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
01110000
112
p
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
01101100
108
l
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
1
01100101
101
e


There are 10 types of people.  (Those who understand binary, and those who don't.)  A binary joke.  :)


Posted by at

10 comments:

  1. SharpeJuly 29, 2015 at 11:09 AM

    I don't think I ever converted to decimal per se, just did the lookup from binary to ascii.

    Nice write-up Grant, this part made me laugh:

    2014 Ginter Code Trade Secrets and Proprietary Information (and Otherwise Embarrassing Evidence) Act of 2014

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GrantJuly 29, 2015 at 11:12 AM

      "I don't think I ever converted to decimal per se, just did the lookup from binary to ascii."

      What, you think you're better than me?

      Delete
  2. AdamJuly 29, 2015 at 12:23 PM

    Well, for the record, all of us over at Team Bosun communicate exclusively in binary.

    01000100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01101101 01100101 01110011 01110011 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100010 01101111 01100001 01110100 01110011 01110111 01100001 01101001 01101110

    ReplyDelete
  3. SharpeJuly 29, 2015 at 2:20 PM

    Boatswain is my favorite voice to text autocorrect

    ReplyDelete
  4. Flocculent AbeJuly 30, 2015 at 6:04 PM

    You missed one little detail: They're not just all hitters, they're all 0utfielders.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. WheelsJuly 31, 2015 at 10:07 AM

      ha. clever. and pitchers are of course 1s for those keeping score... excellent (and very difficult) point. you cats earned your win -- well solved.

      Delete
    2. GrantJuly 31, 2015 at 11:16 AM

      I did figure out the "1's" shortly after we solved .... luckily it wasn't critical.

      CM, the "0utfielders" thing might be a little too 'cute' (a la "to use" = W), if you're wanting feedback. :)

      Delete
  5. UnknownAugust 2, 2015 at 8:25 AM

    When reading some of these solutions I think to myself, man I really should try breaking the code. When reading this solution
    I think, uh nevermind.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Pico the Monkey PuppetFebruary 2, 2016 at 12:19 PM

    Nerd Level x Infinity

    ReplyDelete

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