Fishy business

Biscuit Master General
Agent Herring's picture
Posts: 84
Joined: 1988-10-31

Chat about the mission 'Fishy business' here.

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Agent
AndyAndyO's picture
Posts: 111
Joined: 2008-09-24

Thanks Practicalman for filling in some gaps!

To get some more people on board to track down those missing numbers, I'll explain the basics of how it works:

Spoiler: Highlight to view

The diagram shows the middle of the sleepercell grid - ignoring the outer edge of the 11 x 11 square. When you map the Fishy Business puzzle onto the cells, then the clues from those cells point to the digits we are looking for.

We still don't know why there are 10 numbered squares - especially since some of those squares point to sponsored links, or even a blank square! It could be a simple countdown from 10 down to one.

Here is a brief explanation of how we arrived at our numbers so far:

[MAJOR SPOILER - solutions to Cell CLUES given]

Spoiler: Highlight to view

Zig-Zag = Mission Impossible episode "The Double Circle" = 2

Microfilm = ?

Leading Role = 7  (practicalman may explain)

Tour of London = DangerMan episode "Colony 3" = 3

Russian Roulade = 4

Driven = Department S episode "Six Days" = 6

Civvies = You only live twice = 2

Mind the gap = Octo[coffee] = 8

Face Value & Listen and Learn.... ANY IDEAS OUT THERE?!

Picture messaging = Man from UNCLE episode "The Summit-Five Affair" = 5

Stuff and Nonsense = Avengers episode "Six Hands Across a table" = 6

From Russian TV = Spooks episode "The Seventh Division" = 7

Laws, Laws, Laws = Mission Impossible episode "TOD-5" = 5

Colourful = The Prisoner episode "Once Upon a Time" = 1

Prediction = Man from UNCLE "The Double Affair" = 2

Agency Fact File = 1

MAM have already started testing values of 1 for the first digit so that we have ruled out the following:

Spoiler: Highlight to view

2?734628??5675121

Failed attempts: 21734628115675121

21734628125675121

21734628135675121

21734628145675121

21734628155675121

21734628165675121

21734628175675121

21734628185675121

21734628195675121

21734628215675121

So if another team can try starting from the opposite end? Or better still, now you know how it works, can anyone track down any of the three we're missing?

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Agent
AndyAndyO's picture
Posts: 111
Joined: 2008-09-24

LOL: I love the name of the Bond Film OCTO-coffee!!

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Agent
Batgirl's picture
Posts: 163
Joined: 2008-09-23

AndyAndyO wrote:
LOL: I love the name of the Bond Film OCTO-coffee!!

Yep, I'm waiting for the sequel, Octo-Tea and Biscuits to come out  Smiling

To reiterate what Andy has said, he has put a massive amount of work into getting this many numbers and it would be a shame for it all to go to waste.  Please can people work on the three we're missing and in the meantime use their 5 tries a day to try and brute force it?

Please??

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Agent
AndyAndyO's picture
Posts: 111
Joined: 2008-09-24

To make things easier to record and check:

Spoiler: Highlight to view
At the moment we have: 2a734628bc5675121  where  a  b  and  c  are the missing values.

Failed attempts at missing numbers – abc -

111  112  113  114  115  116  117  118  119  120  121  122  123  124  125

045  046  047  049  095

[How much simpler it will be if someone comes up with one more digit!!] Eye-wink

 

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Agent
AndyAndyO's picture
Posts: 111
Joined: 2008-09-24

I just had a message from Juliette at Law 37....

Oh, by the way of the remaining numbers the easiest one to get is in my opinion the bottle of wine (you can ignore the name of the wine too - it just happened to be the bottle we had with dinner that evening!)

So I suggest we home in on this digit!

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Agent
agent kenya's picture
Posts: 41
Joined: 2008-09-24

All I keep coming up with is the film Sideways, though no obvious number. Oh, other than there are 7 wineries in the film - bit lame.

As a now experienced (if utterly hopeless) guesser, I'm happy to take part in any brute force if required. I can tell you that the following abc combos don't work.

Spoiler: Highlight to view
007 - had to try

994

944

954 

Bit random, I can be more systematic if so instructed.


Agent
practicalman's picture
Posts: 23
Joined: 2008-10-02

Abbo4 has now also obtained some hints from Juliette, see below...

Spoiler: Highlight to view
MICROFILM (1961 wine) - The Les Jamelles isn't significant, the fact that the vintage is crossed out and replaced with 1961 is. Classic spy series though.

FACE VALUE (San Francisco map/four degrees): This is from a spy comedy series that might not have instantly come to mind when you think of spy TV series.

LISTEN & LEARN (Concorde/Mona Lisa/First on the left...): This one is hard. The video is on YouTube so you won't be able to google it and like Face Value isn't a series you might immediately think of.


Agent
angelsk's picture
Posts: 63
Joined: 2008-09-24

Its not 126-131 (abc)

We now have 10 attempts, but I fluffed a few coz I thought I hadnt' submitted my answer Eye-wink


Agent
Molnar's picture
Posts: 46
Joined: 2008-09-29

no go on 200-209


Agent
AndyAndyO's picture
Posts: 111
Joined: 2008-09-24

It's not 132 - 136.

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Agent
Batgirl's picture
Posts: 163
Joined: 2008-09-23

It's not 137-146

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Agent
AndyAndyO's picture
Posts: 111
Joined: 2008-09-24

They're on our side and want us to crack the code! I'd only just realised the attempts had gone up to ten a day! If we get one more digit clue, it will soon fall.

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Agent
practicalman's picture
Posts: 23
Joined: 2008-10-02

No luck with 206, 216, 226... 296 (acting on - wrong - hunches)

Only numeric spy episode I can find connected with wine is the Avengers' "A surfeit of H20" - this has the required number but has no obvious connection with 1961, being made in 1965. 

Which spy series count as classics? Man from Uncle, Mission Impossible, the Avengers (sort of), the Prisoner (sort of) - everything else is either not a classic or not really a spy series? 

Also, as has been suggested before on the forums (fora?), perhaps the wine is irrelevant altogether and only the date matters.


snurge
Agent
snurge's picture
Posts: 38
Joined: 2008-09-24

Its not 311, 322, 333, 344, 355, 366, 377, 388, 399

(apologies for the obscure-ish choices entered!)


Agent
Molnar's picture
Posts: 46
Joined: 2008-09-29

If it helps, here are the "numeric" episodes from UNCLE and MI

Mission: Impossible (Number possibilities: 2)

  • The Double Circle (used in another puzzle)
  • Double Dead
  • Two Thousand
  • TOD-5 (used in another puzzle)

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Number possibilities: 4, 5, 6, 7)

  • The Quadripartite Affair
  • The Double Affair (used in another puzzle)
  • The Four-Steps Affair
  • The Five Daughters Affair
  • The Summit-Five Affair (used in another puzzle)
  • The Deep Six Affair
  • The Seven Wonders of the World Affair

And a list of numbers tried so far, for convenience:

007, 045-047, 049, 095, 111-146, 200-209, 216, 226, 236, 246, 256, 266, 276, 286, 296, 311, 322, 333, 344, 355, 366, 377, 388, 399, 944, 954, 994


Agent
Moscow's picture
Posts: 26
Joined: 2008-09-29

Here are some more duds

161, 162, 341, 342, 343, 345, 346, 641, 645, 744, 754, 794


Agent
Amadeus's picture
Posts: 58
Joined: 2008-09-24

 I'm bemused that, unbeknownst to me, the post I posted earlier appears not to have materialised, but it's not 400-409 either.

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Agent
Molnar's picture
Posts: 46
Joined: 2008-09-29

not 210-220


Agent
AndyAndyO's picture
Posts: 111
Joined: 2008-09-24

not 147 - 155

Amadeus - you may have done what I've done several times - click on 'Preview comment' but then forget to click on 'Post comment' afterwards!

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Agent
doublecross's picture
Posts: 27
Joined: 2008-09-24

I've done some more, making the full list now:

007, 045-049, 054, 056, 064, 066, 074, 076, 086, 095, 096, 111-155, 161, 162, 200-220, 226, 236, 246, 256, 266, 276, 286, 296, 311, 322, 333, 341-346, 355, 366, 377, 388, 399, 400-409, 641, 645, 744, 754, 794, 944, 954, 994 

Incidentally, the wine one is not 'A surfeit of H2O' as I have now watched it!  Rather dodgy-looking site at www.veoh.com


snurge
Agent
snurge's picture
Posts: 38
Joined: 2008-09-24

Nor is it 300-306


Agent
Molnar's picture
Posts: 46
Joined: 2008-09-29

From a survey of TV episodes, I've found the following numbers available (not used) for the 'A' slot:

  • Mission: Impossible - 2
  • The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - 4, 5, 6, 7
  • Danger Man/Secret Agent - 1, 2
  • Department S - 1, 2
  • The Avengers - 1, 2, 5
  • The Prisoner - none
  • The Saint (?)- 2

Obviously, the best solution would be to find the episode, but as it remains elusive, we may be able to pare down the possiblities a bit by holding off on 3, 8 & 9 for slot A for now.  Unless there is some other "classic" spy series that I've missed.  Thoughts?

 


Agent
agent kenya's picture
Posts: 41
Joined: 2008-09-24

It's not

312, 313, 334, 335, 336, 337, 611, 612, 613, 614, 615


Agent
AndyAndyO's picture
Posts: 111
Joined: 2008-09-24

There is a Danger Man episode called "NO marks for servility" - about a butler - (loose wine-link) and could be a zero. And another episode called "Have a glass of wine"!

The I-Spy series has numbers 1, 3, 4 and 7 in its titles.

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Agent
Rogi's picture
Posts: 89
Joined: 2008-09-23

Im getting spam-blocked trying to send this.

I tried to send a longer message about this, but I think we could focus on the air-dates for the series:

Most of those listed earlier started their run after 1961

1966    * Mission: Impossible - 2

1964    * The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - 4, 5, 6, 7

1960    * Danger Man/Secret Agent - 1, 2

1969    * Department S - 1, 2

1961    * The Avengers - 1, 2, 5

1967    * The Prisoner - none

1962    * The Saint (?)- 2

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Espionage_television_series

 

There was one called, "One of Our Aircraft" for "Spy-Catcher" in 1961

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Agent
Batgirl's picture
Posts: 163
Joined: 2008-09-23

Sorry I haven't had much time for research but has anyone looked into the Get Smart series as well?

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Agent
Datango's picture
Posts: 14
Joined: 2008-09-26

NOT 789, 798, 879, 897, 978, 987, 666, 999, 842, 376


Agent
Amadeus's picture
Posts: 58
Joined: 2008-09-24

 Add 410-418 to the wrong attempts.

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Agent
Molnar's picture
Posts: 46
Joined: 2008-09-29

List is now:

007,045-047,049,054,056,064,066,074,076,086,095,111-155,161-162,

200-231,236,246,256,266,276,286,296,300-306,311-313,322,333-337,

341-346,355,366,376-377,388,399-418,611-615,641,645,666,744,754,

789,794,798,842,879,897,944,954,978,987,994,999

 


Agent
AndyAndyO's picture
Posts: 111
Joined: 2008-09-24

You can rule out 156 to 166.

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Marsh-Ayre Mob (MAM) rule... OK! Always take your wrappers off before nibbling!