Thursday, September 10, 2009

Off-Day Puzzle #16: UBragg's Puzzle

Here's today's puzzle, direct from Puzzlemaster UBragg:

Greetings SoSG Puzzlers!

Yesterday, SoSG arranged a 6-inning exhibition game between some of your favorite Dodgers from seasons past.

Here were the starting lineups for yesterday's game:

Team 1 Team 2
LaRoche, 3B Meusel, CF
Lopes, 2B Garciaparra, SS
Snider, RF Murray, 1B
Baker, LF Cora, 2B
DeJesus, SS Chen, RF
Brock, 1B Bocachica, LF
Boone, CF Dempsey, C
Hundley, C Robles, 3B
Koufax, P Alvarez, P

Unfortunately, the official scorekeeper wasn't around, but we did manage to take notes of the events as they happened.

Top of 1st
LaRoche popped to first.
Lopes singled.
Snider grounded into fielder's choice, pitcher to second, Lopes out at second.
Baker lined to shortstop.

Bottom of 1st
Meusel doubled.
Garciaparra walked.
Murray was hit by pitch, Meusel to third, Garciaparra to second.
Cora struck out.
Chen popped to catcher.
Bocachica flied to center.

Top of 2nd
DeJesus popped to catcher.
Brock lined to pitcher.
Boone lined to first.

Bottom of 2nd
Dempsey singled.
Robles popped to first.
Alvarez popped to shortstop.
Meusel walked, Dempsey to second.
Garciaparra grounded out, second to first.

Top of 3rd
Hundley popped to second.
Koufax singled.
LaRoche popped to catcher.
Lopes singled, Koufax to third.
Snider grounded out, third to first.

Bottom of 3rd
Murray walked.
Cora lined to first.
Chen walked, Murray to second.
Bocachica singled, Murray to third, Chen to second.
Dempsey popped to right.
Robles lined to second.

Top of 4th
Baker singled.
DeJesus singled, Baker to second.
Brock singled, Baker to third, DeJesus to second.
Boone grounded into fielder's choice, shortstop to catcher, Baker out at home, DeJesus to third, Brock to second.
Hundley grounded into fielder's choice, pitcher to second, Boone out at second, DeJesus scored, Brock to third.
Koufax singled, Brock scored, Hundley to third.
Koufax picked off, pitcher to first.

Bottom of 4th
Alvarez singled.
Meusel walked, Alvarez to second.
Garciaparra walked, Alvarez to third, Meusel to second.
Murray walked, Alvarez scored, Meusel to third, Garciaparra to second.
Cora grounded into fielder's choice, third to catcher, Meusel out at home, Garciaparra to third, Murray to second.
Chen grounded into fielder's choice, third to catcher, Garciaparra out at home, Murray to third, Cora to second.
Bocachica struck out.

Top of 5th
LaRoche singled.
Lopes singled, LaRoche to second.
Snider singled, LaRoche scored, Lopes to third.
Baker grounded into fielder's choice, pitcher to second, Snider out at second, Lopes scored.
DeJesus singled, Baker to second.
Brock struck out.
Boone singled, Baker to third, DeJesus to second.
Hundley struck out.

Bottom of 5th
Dempsey walked.
Robles struck out.
Alvarez walked, Dempsey to second.
Meusel grounded out, third to first, Dempsey to third, Alvarez to second.
Garciaparra walked.
Murray singled, Dempsey and Alvarez scored, Garciaparra to third.
Murray stole second, Garciaparra stole home.
Murray stole third.
Murray scored on wild pitch.
Cora lined to shortstop.

Top of 6th
Koufax homered.
LaRoche grounded to first, unassisted.
Lopes walked.
Snider walked, Lopes to second.
Baker was hit by pitch, Lopes to third, Snider to second.
DeJesus grounded into fielder's choice, pitcher to catcher, Lopes out at home, Snider to third, Baker to second.
Brock struck out.

Bottom of 6th
Chen walked.
Bocachica was hit by pitch, Chen to second.
Dempsey flied to center.
Robles lined to short.
Alvarez grounded out, second to first.

At this point, Bud Selig, who was in attendance, declared the game a tie, promising that it would never happen again and somehow that the game would be made more meaningful next year. After getting some help from the starting lineups, you must then keep official score of the game to determine which Dodger was being honored at the event.

(Note: There are many possible ways to keep score. For best results, use exactly the notation shown on only this page: http://www.baseballscorecard.com/examples.htm. Do not include any scoring notation methods that do not appear on that page, and be sure to include the notation methods that do appear on that page. The only exception is that the strikeout examples on that page do not show the associated out number for some reason -- for the purposes of this puzzle, they should.)

Puzzle Rules: The answer to the puzzle is the name of a current Dodger. Comment freely in the thread, but if you have the solution, please don't give it away to everyone in the comments section. Instead, do the following:

  • Email us with the first and last name of the answer, as well as your reasoning. And please include your screen name somewhere in the email; and
  • Post a comment simply saying you have emailed your solution attempt. I may not be able to reply to your original email promptly, so please be patient and check back on the comment thread for the latest news; I may confirm correct answers there.
  • Keep your eye on both the comments section for possible hints from UBragg as well as the post for possible hints from me.

You have until midnight PT tonight to submit your answer. Good luck!

Hint #1 (8:54am): There are four distinct steps to solving it. The first step involves the players' names. And if you get the first step correctly, you will know you did.

Not familiar with SoSG's off-day puzzle competition? We're always looking for more participants!

57 comments:

Fred's Brim said...

Initiated!

RB if you cover me, I promise not to kill you

Kyle Baker said...

kill Kill KILL!!!

ubragg said...

hey folks, hope you enjoy the puzzle today!

Eric Karros said...

Should we expect puzzle answers to be posted in today's Kill Thread?

Eric Karros said...

How are potential solvers coming along?

Is a hint needed?

Steve Sax said...

ubragg, this is a really impressive puzzle. well done.

ubragg said...

thanks sax!

Eric Karros said...

I think it may have scared people. I'll post a hint soon...

BWrightson said...

Yikes - might have to print this one out and complete it after work. I do love scoring though...

Eric Karros said...

Hint posted

QuadSevens said...

Got the scorecard done. Trying to figure out the hint now.

Steve K said...

I sent in an answer...

Eric Karros said...

You're on your way J Steve, but not there yet. You got step 1 and now must figure out step 2.

ubragg said...

just checking in to get a feel for where people are... anyone besides J Steve figure out the first step? anyone besides quad finish scoring? anyone making progress beyond that? anyone made a voodoo doll of me and started sticking it with pins? (technically that last one is not part of the puzzle...)

Neeebs (The Original) said...

This is way too involved for me.

Steve K said...

I got the scoring, but I'm not using it right... I ended up with a player that would most likely not be honored.

Keven C said...

Ubragg, I think I'm on to the fourth step. Got the scoring. Got what we're supposed to get out of the scoring, via the hint. Got what becomes of that. But that fourth step is the hardest one. Can't tell what's what in that last step.

ubragg said...

Neeebs, sorry :(

J Steve (or anybody else for that matter), if you send in the details of your work, I'm happy to provide data confirmation to see if anything is not quite right. (EK will do it, or forward it along to me to do it.) You do have to get the scoring exactly right, using the notation from the page I linked to, for it to make any sense.

Keven C, sounds like you are on the home stretch, great work!! It sounds like you have gotten the message from step 3. How long have you been stuck there?

Steve K said...

Sent in another answer...

MR.F said...

I'm tired...

ubragg said...

I'm going to post a new hint in the comments at 11:30.

ubragg said...

HINT: Here is a bit more about the four steps.

Step 1: Extract a message from the players names, as indicated in the first hint. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Dodgers_all-time_roster is a useful resource for this.

Step 2: Keep score. Be sure to use the notation from the site provided in the puzzle.

Step 3: Use the results from Step 1 and Step 2 together. Not every plate appearance will contribute to this step.

Step 4: Like in Step 3, not every plate appearance will contribute, but every official at bat will.

Reminder: I know the scoring part can be tedious, and I'm happy to confirm you've done it correctly if you want to send that in when you have it.

Keven C said...

Answered. Unreal.

Eric Karros said...

Keven C for the win! Congrats dude, way to deconstruct UBragg's mind.

You're the first to solve:

1. Keven C

ubragg said...

so, this is the state of the world to my knowledge:

Quad, finished step 2
J Steve, stuck on step 3
Keven C, stuck on step 4
Neeebs, scared away
fanerman, tired
BWrightson, at work
Fred's Brim, toast of the Assassin's Circle (congrats!)

anyone want to update their progress?

100 big points still up for grabs!

ubragg said...

Doh, should have refreshed before I sent it. Nice work Keven C!!!

QuadSevens said...

Working on step 4 now. So close I can taste it!

Steve K said...

I am definitely stuck...

QuadSevens said...

Answer sent! Loving it!

ubragg said...

Way to go Quad!!!

QuadSevens said...

This was one hell of a puzzle. Nice job Ubragg!

ubragg said...

Thanks Quad! :)

Eric Karros said...

Quad is in!

1. Keven C
2. QuadSevens

ubragg said...

HINT #3: The message you get in Step 3 and the message you get in Step 4 are both the same number of letters long. (This should help those trying to determine exactly how to interpret the message from Step 3, since there are potentially a few ways to interpret it.)

drewdez said...

Answer in!

That was huge, UBragg! Absolutely brilliant.

Steve K said...

Ubragg, that was an unbelievable puzzle. I don't know how you came up with it, but it must've taken a lot of time and though. Well done!

MR.F said...

I'm considering not even attempting this puzzle. It looks fun but looks so difficult and time consuming, and I am so tired and so busy at work. I just want to go home and listen to the Beatles.

ubragg said...

Drewdez, out of nowhere! Nice work!

Thanks Drewdez and J Steve, I appreciate the kind words. And of course, great job working it out to both of you.

fanerman, no worries if you just want to read the solution tomorrow, I admit that it does take a while to work through, but I think you would find it satisfying if you took the time. I'll be around until midnight if you want to try later and are still looking for new hints. I'm expecting a late entry from BWrightson after he finishes work.

Eric Karros said...

Yup, drewdez is in:

1. Keven C
2. Quad
3. drewdez

Eric Karros said...

And J Steve slides into home:

1. Keven C
2. Quad
3. drewdez
4. J Steve

rbnlaw said...

Holy crap! I'm on this.

Have to work on it at my daughter's volleyball game. Now that's dedication.

To the puzzle, of course.

rbnlaw said...

Step 4 has be discombobulated. Sending in partial guess.

Josh S. said...

Dang. No time for this one, and it looks like fun. So, I'll have to settle for comment points.

Blast!

Kyle Baker said...

I'm going to avoid the solution so I can work on this over my holiday break in December. I'm shutting down now and talking to no one about it so the solution isn't spoiled. *plugs ears*

ubragg said...

Anyone still working on the puzzle?

karina said...

I am, Ubragg. Don't know how long,though.Anyway, i suck at these puzzles...

ubragg said...

Cool, let me know if you get stuck on something. I'm not against posting another hint!

karina said...

I'm not opposed to another hint, Most of the time, i need all the possible help.

ubragg said...

Where are you stuck? For starters, are you on a first name basis with the players in the starting lineups?

karina said...

I completed a score sheet and i'm staring at it. I think i'm familiar with the first names...while i'm at it, is it Wilson Alvarez?. Because it is, you managed to include my all time favorite pitchers.

ubragg said...

It is in fact Wilson Alvarez! Be sure to check out the other hints in the thread. If you don't know what to do with the scorecard once you've filled it out, you haven't solved step 1 yet...

karina said...

The names are confusing me

ubragg said...

If you are still looking at this Karina, start with only the first names.

karina said...

I just emailed an answer i'm not sure about...but i've been staring at the scorecard and the names...

Josh S. said...

I took a last minute stab at this a few hours ago. I managed to solve past 1 and the message was quite clear. Trying to score the game, however, was too much for my sleep-deprived, baby-addled mind.

I look forward to seeing how it all works out, though. Well done, Ubragg!

Josh S. said...

Part 1, I mean, not past 1.

Eric Karros said...

Good morning folks...sorry karina your answer isn't quite it. Looks like we have an all-time low of # of solvers:

1. Keven C
2. Quad
3. drewdez
4. J Steve

Great puzzle UBragg. Solution to post soon.