Once a week, we will post a puzzle of some sort for members to solve. The first person to post the correct answer will win their House 10-20 points, depending on the difficulty of the puzzle that week. Keep in mind that there may come a puzzle that we will require members to send in via PM instead of posting here. If that is the case, please follow the directions. Failure to follow directions and/or rules will result in disqualification and possible House point reductions.

RULES:

1. Follow all rules of VTM. As Duelling Club members, you have shown that you know the rules and abide by them so I won't relist them. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM an IS member, and we will gladly help you out.

2. Follow the directions of the puzzle. This includes on how you submit it. If the puzzle of the week doesn't say, then please go ahead and post it here.

3. Do not post in this thread unless you are answering a puzzle. Answering a puzzle should be the only post you make in this thread. Please do not post asking us when the next puzzle will be posted. It will be deleted, a warning PM will be sent, and possible points may be deducted. Do not post asking us if you got the correct answer. We will announce the winner in this thread.

4. And above all else, have fun!

If you have any questions about The Golden Snitch, rules, or anything else, please send an IS member a PM. We will help you any way we can and point you in the right direction.

Good luck to all Duelling Club members! We know you will make your House proud.

And now, without further delay, I give you the first puzzle contest. This one will be worth 15 points. You must decipher the symbols to get the letters so you can solve a quote from the HP series. Please post your answer for the quote here, along with the book, chapter, and speaker of the quote. First one to get it right wins! Good luck.

Puzzle

I'm pretty sure that this is it. There were some symbols that I wasn't completely sure what they were, but I think my translation turned out.

It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up.

J.K. Rowling wrote it in Goblet of Fire, and the chapter entitled "The Hungarian Horntail", which was chapter 19

-Kel

Congratulations, Kel! You are our first winner of The Golden Snitch. You have earned Ravenclaw 15 points!

Check back here next week for another chance to win.

Hello Duelling Club members! It's time for our second Golden Snitch puzzle. Remember, the first one to get the correct answer wins their House points. And this puzzle will be worth 15 points!

For this puzzle, I ask that you send your answer to me via PM because it is a Su Doku puzzle. You can either send it to me as a link with the filled in answers in the boxes or as follows:

123456789
987654321
123456789 etc.

Either way is acceptable. Once I have a winner, I'll post it here in the thread. So, Good Luck!

Here is the puzzle!

Congratulations to Vicki (happy-potter)! You were the first one to send me the correct answer to this week's puzzle. So you have earned Gryffindor 15 points!

Check back next week for another chance to win.

Welcome everyone to our 3rd Golden Snitch. This one is going to be a logic problem. You may go ahead and post your results here in the thread. Just make sure to answer in complete sentences so that we can stick to the "no one-liner" rule. Thanks. This will be worth 15 points.

Wanda Peters took her little brother Nigel trick-or-treating down Mist Tree Lane. As they went from house to house, they were delighted to discover that, at five houses in a row, the occupants had joined in the spirit of the occasion and dressed in costumes. Each person wore a different costume and gave out a different Halloween treat. Wanda and Nigel started at number 603 and worked their way in order to number 611. From the information provided, can you determine the first and last names (one first name is Candy) of the person who lives at each house (603, 605, 607, 609, and 611), the costumes each wore, and the treat (one was gumdrops) each gave out?

1. Wanda and Nigel visited the one surnamed Cowherd before they visited the person who wore the pirate costume but after they went to the house where they received the chocolate bars.

2. The person who wore the vampire costume has a higher house number than the one who gave out the bubblegum.

3. Wanda and Nigel visited the person who wore the ghost costume before they went to Trixie's house but after they went to the house where they received the popcorn balls.

4. The one surnamed Franklin (who is not Kermit) has a lower house number than the person who wore the wizard costume but a higher number than Bert.

5. The one who wore the pirate costume is neither the one surnamed Blackwell (who did not give out popcorn balls) nor the one surnamed Kramer.

6. Ernie has a higher house number than the one who gave out candy apples.

7. Bert (who is not the one surnamed McGrue) is neither the one who wore the ghost costume nor the one who wore the clown costume.

Good luck!

Merlin's pants ! This was hard ! O.o. So here is what I got, but who knows if it is correct.

In house 603, Kermit Kramer was a clown who gave out popcorn.
In house 605, Ernie Blackwell was a ghost who gave out chocolate bars.
In house 607, Bert Cowherd was a vampire who gave out candy apples.
In house 609, Trixie Franklin was a pirate who gave out bubblegum.
In house 611, Candy McGrue was a wizard who gave out gumdrops.

~ihkny

I'm sorry, but that is not the correct answer. Hmmm. . . Maybe I should up the points to 20? I guess we'll see how long it takes to get the correct answer. Anyway, try again! I'm sure you'll get it next time.

I am determined ! *roar!* I'm not giving this up until I have it right, I'm like a dog with a bone here. It's going to keep bothering me until I get it. I was pretty bummed when I was wrong the first time, and then I realized all the little details I messed up and had in the wrong spot. So, here's the newest attempt ! I'll work on it for two more hours if it's wrong again ! *swipes war-paint under eyes*

In house 603, Kermit Kramer wore a clown outfit while handing out bubblegum.
In house 605, Bert Blackwell wore a vampire outfit while handing out candy apples.
In house 607, Candy Franklin wore a ghost outfit while handing out chocolate bars.
In house 609, Ernie Cowherd wore a wizard outfit while handing out popcorn balls.
In house 611, Trixie McGrue wore a pirate outfit while handing out gumdrops.

~ihkny

Ha ha! I'm the same way. Things like this bug the daylights out of me until I get them right.

But unfortantely, it's still not the correct answer. However, on the bright side, you're really close! I'm sure you'll get it right with one more go around.

Good luck to you and anyone else out there trying to solve this!

Rofl, darn ! You say I'm very close, and when I was doing it last night I couldn't decide between who got the last name Kramer and who got Blackwell, so here's a very simple switch up and if it is wrong yet again - I'll work on it later, because I have math homework that needs doing first !

In house 603, Kermit Blackwell wore a clown outfit while handing out bubblegum.
In house 605, Bert Kramer wore a vampire outfit while handing out candy apples.
In house 607, Candy Franklin wore a ghost outfit while handing out chocolate bars.
In house 609, Ernie Cowherd wore a wizard outfit while handing out popcorn balls.
In house 611, Trixie McGrue wore a pirate outfit while handing out gumdrops.

~ihkny

You're closer, but not quite there.

Okay, I think I will bump this puzzle up to 20 points. That's the maximum amount of points that we can award for any one puzzle.

Oh, and have fun with the math homework!

This is my unecessary yet soon to be failure attempt to this ; first timer! watch out

In house 603, Kermit Blackwell wore a clown outfit ; handing out bubblegum.
In house 605, Bert Franklin wore a vampire outfit ; handing out candy apples.
In house 607, Candy Kramer wore a ghost outfit ; handing out chocolate bars.
In house 609, Ernie Cowherd wore a wizard outfit ; handing out popcorn balls.
In house 611, Trixie McGrue wore a pirate outfit ; handing out gumdrops

I'm terrible at these . If wrong never again >.<

I really do hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that answer is not correct. I hope you will try again, though. You never know, you might get it right next time. Only one way to find out!

*does a flying leap into the room* Alright ! I think I got it for serious this time Insomnia ! I didn't have fun doing my math homework though - it took awhile because I'm so sleepy and kept making sign mistakes ! Haha ! Anyhow ! *crosses finger* Here it is !

In house 603, Kermit Blackwell handed out bubblegum sporting a clown costume.
In house 605, Bert Kramer handed out popcorn balls sporting a vampire costume.
In house 607, Candy Franklin handed out chocolate bars sporting a ghost costume.
In house 609, Trixie Cowherd handed out candy apples sporting a wizard costume.
In house 611, Ernie McGrue handed out gumdrops sporting a pirate costume.

~ihkny

DING DING DING DING!!! We have a winner! YAY, ihkny! You solved the Golden Snitch's Logic Problem correctly this time around. Whew. (I was getting worried there for a moment. ) So you have earned your House 20 points! Congratulations and well done.

Oh, sorry you didn't have fun with your math problems. (Math was always my best and favorite subject when I was in school. ) But at least it's done!

Check back here next week for the next Golden Snitch. And I promise it won't be as hard next time. Ahem.

Time for another Golden Snitch! This one should be fairly easy (I hope )and will be worth 10 points to the first correct answer. (You may post the answer in this thread as long as you can keep to the forum rules. Thanks)

Pair off the groups of letters to form ten 6-letter names of major world cities.

BAN DON LIS ODE
BER DUR LON PRA
BON GUE MAD RID
COW LES MOS SSA
DAN LIN NAP ZIG

Good luck!

Okay, so I just came across VTM and saw there was another Snitch. I'm not good with puzzles like these, but I gave it a try.

Okay, here goes...

MADRID
LONDON
LISBON
BERLIN
MOSCOW
PRAGUE
DANZIG (the Free City of)
BANDUR
NAPLES
ODESSA

I'm not really sure of the last three, but at least I gave it a try

So close! I'm sure if you gave it one more look-over, you'd figure out the mistake. So, try again!

And don't worry. I'm not all that good at puzzles, either. I really enjoy them, but they don't like me most of the time. Ha ha.

Ok, I think this is it.

MADRID
LONDON
LISBON
BERLIN
MOSCOW
PRAGUE
DANZIG
DURBAN
NAPLES
ODESSA

I'm pretty sure I've heard of most of these places.

Congratulations, HPnerd_0512! That is the correct answer to this week's Golden Snitch. You have earned Gryffindor 10 points!

Check back again next week for another chance to play and win.

Here I am ... waiting to get a chance to hit the game this morning ... and I'm too early for you. Make it a hard puzzle, Laura! That will give me a chance to work it tonight!

To preclude this from being too short of a post, I am going to reiterate how lousy I am at working 99% of all puzzles. Yet, I want to try my hand at one of yours.

Well, I don't know if this going to be hard, Dorthy. I just thought it looked like fun. This week's puzzle/game is a Crostic Puzzle. I had to put it in two scans/links so that it was readable.

Use the "CLUES" on the left column to fill in the "WORDS" column. Then transfer each letter to the correspondingly numbered square in the diagram. A black square indicates the end of a word. The completed diagram will contain a quotation, and the first letter of each word in the "WORDS" column, reading down, will spell the author's name and the source of the quotation.

When you have solved the puzzle, post the quote, author, and source in this thread. First person to get all parts correct wins earning their House 15 points. Good luck!

Part 1
Part 2

This was actually kind of hard. When filling it in I didn't realize that the words would cut off and start onto a new line, so I kept thinking "That Y in box 13 can't stand alone !!! What is going on ?!?", but I think I got it.

"A friend loves you for your intelligence, a mistress for your charm, but your family's love is unreasoning; you were born into it and are of its flesh and blood. Nevertheless, it can irritate you more than any group of people in the world."

~Andre Maurois
~The Art of Living

~ihkny

Well, ihkny, it looks like you did a fantastic job with it because you are correct! That is indeed the solution to this week's Golden Snitch. You have won your House 15 points. Congratulations!

Check back here again next week for another puzzle.

Hello Duelling Club members! It's time for another Golden Snitch puzzle. This one will be worth 10 points. Please post your answer in this thread. First one with the correct answer wins. Good luck!

The message is in a number code based on the familiar cell-phone keypad. Each number represents one of the letters shown with it on the keypad. You must decide which one. A number is not necessarily the same letter each time.

Here you go!

*slinks in slowly* I think I have figured it out ! Hopefully. I'm aweful tired, so I can't be too sure on much. So here is what I got:

"Since gravity flattens the discs in the spine as you walk about, you are likely to be slightly taller in the morning than in the evening."

~ihkny

Wow. That was quick. Guess this week's puzzle was TOO easy. Congratulations, ihkny. That is indeed the number coded message for this week's Golden Snitch. You have won your House 10 points!

Stay tuned next week for another opportunity.

It's that time again for another Golden Snitch challenge. This week is a Mega Su Doku, and it is worth 15 points. Please PM me your answer either by filling in the Su Doku boxes or by doing:

123456789
987654321
123456789

Good luck to everyone!

Here is the puzzle.

Congratulations, ihkny! You are the winner of the latest Golden Snitch. Wow! That makes 3 weeks in a row. You really know your puzzles! You've won your House another 15 points.

Since this puzzle is a carry-over from last week, I may go ahead and do another one for this week in a day or two. So, keep an eye out just in case!

Whew~

'Cause I looked at it today and it gave me a migraine.

Am I allowed to post here if it isn't a post with a puzzle answer?...

It was a really really really hard puzzle ! I just solved it today after working on it all week. I even pulled weekend all nighters trying to get it; that's like... 9pm-6am. I get hyper-focused on things like that and I was going to just leave it alone, but I couldn't ! Argh, it was crazy.

Thanks !

~ihkny

I actually thought about giving a copy of the Sudoku puzzle to my husband, since he does them every single day...but I knew in my heart that Laura would know I cheated. HA!
I'm the worst at puzzles.

Kudos to you for solving the puzzle and having the tenacity to stick with it to the conclusion!

Congrats ihkny, I just looked at the puzzle and I am sooo not a Sudko fan. I don't even know if I spelled that right. LOL! I hope I'll be able to at least try with the next puzzle. LOL!

Hello Duelling Club members! It's time for another Golden Snitch. I decided to make it an easy one this go around so it'll be worth 10 points. You may leave your answer in this thread as long as you follow forum rules. Good luck!

Follow the directions carefully to discover a phrase at the end. (The end phrase is the answer to this puzzle.)

1. Start with DECEMBER SHOPPING FRENZY.
2. Delete the letter that comes earliest in the alphabet.
3. Switch the H with the third consonant from the left.
4. Delete each N.
5. Insert L in the eighth position from the right.
6. Double the last letter.
7. Switch the central letter with the first vowel from the left.
8. Change the sixth letter from the right to A and double the H.
9. Delete the first two vowels from the left.
10. Delete the consonant that comes earliest in the alphabet.
11. Move one Y to the left end and delete the S.
12. Double the L.
13. Switch the two consonants that comes earliest in the alphabet with each other.
14. Change the ninth letter from the left to A and delete each R.
15. Move one L to the eighth position from the left.
16. Move the third letter from the left to the left end.
17. Switch the I with the last letter.
18. Move the E to the right end.
19. Move one H to the immediate left of the first A.
20. Delete the G, M, and I.
21. Move the sixth through eighth letters as a group to the left end.

I got kind of confused with this one, and then I wasn't quite sure what you were looking for exactly. I ended up with something that looked like "Oh happy, flappy days"

What are we supposed to end up with at the end? I'm not looking for the answer, I would just like a little clarification. Is it just supposed to be using some of the letters, or all of them or what?

I need a nap.

I'm with BRoyals on that one, lol ! The directions aren't really easy or all that clear to follow.. Or maybe I'm just really slow and need someone to explain it (I find myself needing directions clarified often because I don't understand them...) What I came up with was actually: "Happyh ollyd aze", which I'm translating to "Happy Holidays".

Good luck Kel: "Oh Happy, Flappy Days" made me laugh, I'm kind of hoping that's what it is ! It would be pretty random, huh ? Lol !

~ihkny

Ooh, Yay! A puzzle that I can actually figure out without giving myself a migraine!

I got a nearly identical answer to ihkny, I just spaced it differently so it came out as 'HAPPY HOLLY DAZE.'

I too think 'Oh happy flappy days,' would be an excellent answer. heehee

Congratulations, zwillo! You solved the puzzle with the exact phrase/answer. You've won Gryffindor House 10 points!

Ihkny, you were indeed close, but it wasn't EXACTLY correct. Sorry!


Ha ha! I love that answer. Heck, I wish it had been the correct phrase.

Hello, again, Duelling Club members. It's time for another Golden Snitch! This one is a Logic Problem so it'll be worth 20 points. The last one we did proved to be kind of difficult, so. . . Good luck! (Oh, and as long as we stick with posting rules, you may post your answer in this thread.)

Logic Puzzle

Whew. This was a tough one. Here goes:

Ralph turned 14 years old, invited 4 guests to his party at the aquarium, and received the skates.

Mick turned 7 years old, invited 8 guests to his party on a boat, and received a gift voucher for CDs.

Ella turned 12 years old, invited 3 people to her dance party, and received a computer game.

Lee turned 13 years old, invited 12 guests to his movie party, and received the encyclopaedias.

Krista turned 9 years old, invited 9 guests to her beach party, a received a 10-speed bike.

(I'm in Gryffindor, by the way).

Congratulations, HPnerd_0512! That is indeed the correct answer. You've won Gryffindor 20 points!

Check back next week for another chance to win the Golden Snitch.

It's time for another Golden Snitch! This is another one that'll be worth 20 points. (I promise, next week, it'll be an EASY one. ) You may leave the solution/answer here in this thread.

So, without further delay, here is this week's puzzle-Crostic. (Directions are in the link.) Good luck!

Part 1
Part 2

"Why is it that so many people are afraid to admit they are happy? If everything is going as well as could possibly be expected and you ask them how they are, they say "Can't complain""

W. Lyon Phelps: Essays on Things

I liked this one

Congratulations, uzzzkata! That is the correct answer. You've won Ravenclaw 20 points! (And I'm glad you like it. )

As always, check back again next week for another chance to win!

Welcome to a new week and a new Golden Snitch. This week's puzzle is worth 10 points. As long as you stick with the rules, you may post the solution in this thread. Good luck!

Clicky here.

I tried out of curiosity to solve it...

So, here it goes.

The green scarf is on yellow paper and red bow.

The red scarf is on green paper and blue bow.

The yellow scarf is on blue paper and green bow.

The blue scarf is on red paper and yellow bow.

If this is wrong, I'll promise I won't bother this thread again.

EDIT:
Good news and bad news, Alkisti. The good news is that you have answered the Golden Snitch correctly. The bad news is that I can't award you any points because you are a staffer. Sorry! Guess that makes this week's puzzle null and void.

But never fear! There will be a bright and shiny new puzzle next week.

Sorry I'm so late in the week getting this up. Thanksgiving is a lot of work. But, better late than never!

This week's Golden Snitch will be worth 15 points. You can post the answer here in this thread. Good luck!

Click here.

Geez, the first time I've got time enough to solve a puzzle! Anyway, I can't decipher one of the words! May I post the solution?

The countries are:

Oman
Egypt
Cyprus
Denmark
Pakistan
Argentina
Bangladesh
Lithuania
Cameroon
Finland
France
Spain
Peru

The quotation:
"Please, take care of (PPSASHECI) earth."

The occupation of the source of the quotation is, I believe, despite it's very odd, "Mercury Astronaut".

Is it valid anyway? I thought and thought, and I'm still thinking but I have no idea of what word could be that!