List of Puzzle Elements: Difference between revisions

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* ''italics'' for new additions
* ''italics'' for new additions
* <s>strikethough</s> for deletions
* <s>strikethough</s> for deletions
* <span style="background-color:PaleGreen">Supported</span>, <span style="background-color:Bisque">Neutral</span>, and <span style="background-color:LightPink">Opposed</span> suggestions</span> - Used as discussion prompts such as name suggestions or Talk section discussions).
* <span style="background-color:PaleGreen">Supported</span>, <span style="background-color:Bisque">Neutral</span>, and <span style="background-color:LightPink">Opposed</span> suggestions</span> - Used as discussion prompts for things like name suggestions or Talk section discussions).




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= Content Elements =
= Content Elements =
'''Content Elements''' refers to elements, techniques that are encountered during the solving of a puzzle.
'''Content Elements''' refers to elements, techniques that are encountered during the solving of a puzzle. Due to their size, these have been separated into three Subgroups:


=== Puzzle Type ===
* Puzzle Type - This is the main categorisation of a puzzle and the most likely categorisation that helps solvers find other similar puzzles
'''Puzzle Type''' is the main categorisation of a puzzle and the categorisation that is most likely to help solvers find other similar puzzles
⚫
** TBC

* Intermediate steps - Common solve path elements and stages that are utilised during the solve
* '''<code>[[Word Puzzles]]</code>'''
** TBC
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
⚫
* Extraction - Techniques that are common to hunt puzzles which allow the "extraction" of a final answers from a puzzles that are not necessarily designed to result in a word or phrase
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** TBC
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
* '''<code>[[Logic Puzzles]]</code>'''
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
* '''<code>[[Spatial & Visualization Puzzles]]</code>'''
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
* '''<code>[[Other Puzzles]]</code>'''
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** <code>[[ ]]</code>
** <code>[[ ]]</code>

=== Solve Path Elements ===
'''Solve Path Elements''' attempt to categorise the process and intermediate stages through which the puzzle's solve path proceeds through

⚫
TBC

=== Extraction Elements ===
⚫
'''Extraction Elements''' refers to the techniques that are common to hunt puzzles which allow the "extraction" of a final answer from a puzzles that are not necessarily designed to result in a word or phrase

* <code>[[Decryption Extraction]]</code>
** <code><span style="background-color:Bisque">[[Alphabet Mapping]]</span></code> - ''Unsure of the difference to "Alphanumeric" below''
** <code>[[Alphanumeric]]</code> - A1Z26 or similar mappings, including other lists with at most 26 elements with canonical ordering
** <code>[[Binary]]</code> - 5-bit alphanumerical code, or 7 to 8-bit ASCII code
** <code>[[Braille]]</code> - see [[W:Braille]]
** <code>[[Dancing Man]]</code> - see [[W:The Adventure of the Dancing Men]] or [https://www.dcode.fr/dancing-men-cipher here]
** <code>[[Morse Code]]</code> - see [[W:Morse code]]
** <code>[[Pigpen]]</code> - see [[W:Pigpen cipher]]
** <code>[[Semaphore]]</code> - see [[W:Flag semaphore]]
** <code>[[Sign Language]]</code> - see [[W:Sign language]]
* <code>[[Visual Extraction]]</code>
** <code>[[Bitmap]]</code> - Pixel art letterform or pictorial representations
** <code><span style="background-color:Bisque">[[Coloring / Shading Spaces]]</span></code> - May have a fair degree of overlap with <code>[[Bitmap]]</code>
** <code>[[Connect-The-Dots]]</code> - see [[W:Connect the dots]]
** <code>[[Obscuring]]</code> - Silhouettes, shadows, perspective shifts
** <code>[[Overlaying]]</code> - Transparencies, OR & XOR additions
* <code>[[Letter / String Extraction]]</code>
** <code>[[Special Letters]]</code> - Use of double letters, or strings of matching length with exactly 1 letter in common, or letters appearing in special substring patterns
** <code>[[Marked Elements]]</code> - Coloured or enumerated letters, Marked or overstuffed grid spaces, Marked entries, etc
** <code>[[Numerical Indexing]]</code> - Nth letters are extracted from component answers, where the value of N is either supplied, or somehow derived
** <code>[[Positional]]</code> - Appearance of answer within an ordered arrangement of answers. May include <code>[[Initials]]</code>, <code>[[Last Letters]]</code>, <code>[[Central Letters]]</code>, <code>[[Diagonalization]]</code>
* <code>[[Reordering Extraction]]</code> - Some element is embedded into the puzzle elements that allows for a reordering spec prior to extraction (i.e. Alphabetical particularly with 26 unique letters, chronological, consecutively numerical, physical locations, etc)
* <code>[[Unclued Extraction]]</code> - Answer is related to an item that is identifiable missing from the puzzle's otherwise completed set
* <code>[[Instructional Extraction]]</code> - Instructions are provided (either explicitly, or via an intermediate answer phrase) that directs the extraction of the final answer. This includes <code>[[Reward Extraction]]</code> where the answer is provided as a "reward" upon the completion of a task.




Revision as of 16:50, 5 March 2022

A Puzzle Element is an essential building block or characteristic of a puzzle. This list is intended to be an early first draft of an ongoing community project to catalogue and organise puzzle elements into a hierarchical and useful taxonomy, and should eventually catalog every page that is a member of Category:Puzzle Element.

Contributors are strongly encouraged to make edits to this page and to start discussion topics in the accompanying Talk page. The following is a list of suggested editing conventions:

  • <code>[[Name]]</code> for each proposed Puzzle Elements (these can link to blank pages while this taxonomy is evolving)
  • italics for new additions
  • strikethough for deletions
  • Supported, Neutral, and Opposed suggestions - Used as discussion prompts for things like name suggestions or Talk section discussions).


Presentation Elements

Presentation Elements refers to the surface form of a puzzle (how it is presented to the solver). These elements should all be characteristics that a lay-person or non-puzzler can identify and describe, without hunt experience or puzzling knowledge. Because they are surface level characteristics, structure elements should never require any spoiler warnings.

  • Accessibility - Accessibility Friendly & Content Warning tags
  • Media type - Elements that deviate from a "pen-and-paper" media, or printable / static web page:
    • Audio - Audio file or collection of such files
    • Video - Video clip or collection of such clips
    • Physical - Physical object that requires manipulation or examination
    • Interaction - Interaction event that requires physical and live presence. Could be subdivided further into Event, Runaround, Scavenger Hunt, etc
    • Interactive - Game applet, interactive fiction, mods or levels for external video games, ClueKeeper app, augmented reality, etc. Could be subdivided further particularly for Interactive Fiction
    • Code - Executable code that requires compilation or interpretation [Better name?]
    • File Archives - Downloadable archives (.ZIP, etc) [Better name?]
    • Others - Spreadsheet?
  • Presentation - Top level, and most immediately apparent appearance of the puzzle
    • Image Heavy
    • Text Heavy - Choose Your Own Adventure, Walkthrough, Checklist, Script, Diary
    • Minimalist - Puzzles where extremely little information is apparent
    • Clue Centric - Image clues, Numbered clues, Unnumbered clues
    • Grid Centric - May include Circular Grid, Spiral Grid, Hexagonal Grid
  • Instructions - Nature of instruction provided with the puzzle
    • Explicit Instructions - Instructions are provided explicitly as part of the puzzle
    • Example Instructions - Examples are provided as part of the puzzle, but deduction of rules is intended to be a part of the puzzle
    • Flavortext - Flavortext is provided, which may provide some cryptic allusions to the nature of the puzzle
    • Asked And Answered - Special category of puzzle where a narrative element is posed within the puzzle and answer provides a resolution to that question
  • Completion - Submission mechanism that deviates from a regular answer checker
    • Sub-answer Checking - Mechanism for submitting answers to sub-puzzle for intermediate confirmation
    • Task Completion - Completion of puzzle is contingent on finalising a particular task

Content Elements

Content Elements refers to elements, techniques that are encountered during the solving of a puzzle. Due to their size, these have been separated into three Subgroups:

Puzzle Type

Puzzle Type is the main categorisation of a puzzle and the categorisation that is most likely to help solvers find other similar puzzles

Solve Path Elements

Solve Path Elements attempt to categorise the process and intermediate stages through which the puzzle's solve path proceeds through

TBC

Extraction Elements

Extraction Elements refers to the techniques that are common to hunt puzzles which allow the "extraction" of a final answer from a puzzles that are not necessarily designed to result in a word or phrase


Flavour Elements

Flavour Elements elements refer to either the topic (the subject matter of a puzzle) or the theme (the presentation of a puzzle) but either way provides identification of elements that may attract solvers with special interests, knowledge, or areas of expertise.

This listing is a deliberately selective list, extracted from the much more exhaustive listing in the original Google Doc link here. The intention is for a more "bottom-up" approach that can be expanded up to the desired level of detail.

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