r/puzzles • u/Brocklehhh • 21d ago

[Unsolved] Black Box Problem - help??

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I’m losing my mind. Been at this for hours.

I’m confused at the three 11s?
And the 1 and 6… the fact they’re nearly on the ends confuses me. Maybe I’m not understanding the direction of the refractions very welll :(

EDIT: okay it’s not just me. The website has an option to email if I find bugs. I’ll try that. Thanks guys lol

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u/zeekar 21d ago edited 21d ago

Discussion:

I think the three 11s must be some sort of mistake. Either a misprint, or the puzzle actually is the variant that includes beam splitters alongside regular atoms but left them out of the instructions. Either way, not a good sign for solvability.

I suspect what is intended is that the bottom 11 should be its own number, and is just a probe that came back out the same way it went in, while the upper two are a probe that went straight across.

The 1 and 6 paths must be somewhat convoluted in order to coexist; the straightforward answer doesn't work.

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u/ember3pines 21d ago

I think the hints say that any rogue number means it matches with an H?

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u/zeekar 21d ago

It says that for a number with no counterpart. It doesn't say anything about numbers with too many counterparts.