Let's Fire Up Those Neurons!

Dr S:

It all makes sense now how those first 8 images connect and make one sentence. I completely missed the adjective clue in Clue #9 and ended up in Duck language grammar and filial imprinting. Dr S, I have come to the conclusion that I need to break the preconceived notion in my head that your puzzles are harder, in order to think right. I can't speak for others. Even though it is not your intention, I get little intimidated by your puzzles and work too hard to solve them. In the process, I miss simple things and fail to think logically.

 

FYI: the tradition of the forum discourages 'reverse image search' using clue images, but searching Leonardo Decaprio /Films under Google images is permissible!

 

Yes, indeed - I do add some misdirection, but I try not to actively mislead. In my mind, too hard = boring. For instance, the 'adjective' clue is tricky because the meaning of the words in that panel will direct your attention elsewhere. That part is deliberate. Being able to recognize the pattern in the words calls for a measure of systematized imagination (if such a thing is possible!). Generally there's a mix of easy and hard clues, multi-image clues to allow intersection, plus the option of talking about clues on the thread. The goal is good conversation and entertainment, not obfuscation!

 

@sokanasanah

How does this tie to first one. My own was order order - pic of betty in house of commons.when ? led me to Scott report ... ..I used Scott report and adjectives in various combinations ....reporting adjectives led me to the word cloud.
So i thought u were talking about Scott Report...Scott who is now the new EPA head..appointed by Trump..hence my orange man.

 

Viswa..the only misleading thing that @sokanasanah does is saying that his puzzles are easy. They never are. A lot of thought and care is put into crafting them. And we ( Royal we.... I speak for myself) work our rear ends off to solve them. Dont let those talks of "its so easy ...xyz can solve it in nano seconds."..intimidate you.
PS: Most profs do it by the way ...so they dont have to curve the grades at the end of the quarter.....Huh DrS. ?

 

Actually just the rubber+ducks from row1 and garbage+pacific had led me to the answer, since there were more pic clues left for me to figure out I had dismissed that answer possibility.

By the way, with random combo of cow+piracy I had stumbled on the docu movie, Cowpiracy. Nice watch. : ))

 

JAG, There is no question in my mind that they are carefully crafted. It is difficult to understand how Dr.S' mind works. However, to a certain extent, the thought that his puzzles are harder intimidates me as well, not allowing me to think freely. When in most puzzles, simple images lead to a complex answer whereas in Dr.S' puzzle a set of complex images lead to a simple answer. By simply reversing the tradition, he makes us work hard. He builds logic on each image to derive an answer. In his puzzles, the challenge is finding that logic of each image more than finding the answer.

Viswa

 

Most of the time I plan the puzzles so that only a subset of the clues are required, with some heavy-return clues and some weak ones. If all clues are required, then I would point it out - if not initially, at least after a little wait. I am actually trying to not make the puzzles / clues too easy - this is an over-educated audience after all! It's hard to gauge how it comes across until I get some feedback.

Simple words are hard to find clues for - "Yellow" for example. "Great" is hard because I have already used it once, with better clues (I think?). And so on and so on ...

Also, the puzzles seem 'difficult' because I try to choose as answers things that are interesting (mostly!), that I imagine you may not have heard of. So simple recognition is unlikely to help. I think this is the main reason for perceived difficulty, but by design.

So, if you find an interesting possibility with fewer clues, you should just go for it ! Strong clues to solve and weaker ones to rationalize.

 

As mentioned here:

Little-Yellow-Rubber-Duckies -> is an example of adjective order: size - color - material - noun.

 

Ah missed that earlier post in pink.

And like a passing cloud..each image stirs up different thoughts sets us off on unique paths.... .. I am actually surprised I still got to where I did.
For eg the yellow band meant caution to me because thats what is printed on most of such bands... I couldnt fit so kept that clue on hold
Same with Ashoka pillar(where? Saranath)..that and the garbage led me to think its environment related(there was the recent garbage dump burning at sarnath and Modis speech about cleaning up )..that and I took the pirate image to mean ..the myth that pirates have a parrot wooden leg and a patch ..so led me to moby dick -modern american mythical battle between man and whale...then the rubber and duck led me to Moby duck ..Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28, 800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea & of the Beachcombers, Oceanograp hers, Environmentalists & Fools Including the Author Who Went in Search of Them: Donovan Hohn: 9780143120506: Amazon.com: Books
Only at that point used yellow from yellow bands....
Oh the workings of our mind !