Quote from Stephen Lockyer on Thursday 1st August, 2019, 09:10

That's a very curious marking at the base of the column...

Quote from Becky_P on Friday 2nd August, 2019, 11:39

d'oh.  Didn't see that...

edit - brings up a blank page....

Quote from Stephen Lockyer on Sunday 4th August, 2019, 08:56

A barcode is a numerical sequence in a lined pattern. But what is the number, and does it match the word clue?

Quote from Becky_P on Tuesday 6th August, 2019, 06:52

Response below spoiler.

[spoiler]the number I get in numerals and Hex is

0675892

 

30 36 37 35 38 39 32 0a

 

[/spoiler]

 

[spoiler]The numbers link to the word ARTICHOKES, so 6 is H (the sixth letter) and so on.[/spoiler]

Quote from kisanna12 on Tuesday 1st October, 2019, 12:50

I'm still totally lost with this... [spoiler]don't know how to get the number from the barcode... and don't see how to relate your number to the word "artichokes" as e.g. it has a 0 in it[/spoiler]

Quote from morbus on Tuesday 1st October, 2019, 13:01

Your first part:

[spoiler]To get the number from the barcode, you'd pretty much need a barcode reader/scanner.[/spoiler]

Your second part:

[spoiler] The barcode's value of 0675892 refers to the letter positions of ARTICHOKES, with 0 representing the 10th letter S, 6 for H, 7 for O, 5 for C, and so forth.[/spoiler]

Quote from kisanna12 on Tuesday 1st October, 2019, 13:23

thanks!

[spoiler]0 being 10 makes sense  - facepalm :D[/spoiler]
about the [spoiler]barcode reader? is there an app for that or something?[/spoiler]

Quote from morbus on Tuesday 1st October, 2019, 13:38

For barcode reading, I didn't really want to install an app. So I just a) took a picture of the barcode, b) cropped it down, c) uploaded it to an online scanner like https://online-barcode-reader.inliteresearch.com. 

Quote from Bremster on Sunday 21st June, 2020, 04:18

I approve of this puzzle.

To solve it, you need to violate the terms stated in the start of the book, which states "No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright holders."

Because the contents of the object are not usable without violating these stipulated terms, it invalidates the terms. Several software companies have been bitten by clauses like this, and it holds for print media as well. The QR codes were dodgy, however this requires you to invalidate the terms to actually solve the puzzle by electronically recording and transmitting part of the publication to a bar code reader tool.

I haven't even tried to solve the puzzle yet, but this was a real laugh.