Catching Up With the Codemaster

Today on the message boards, people are talking about the Ginter Code.  You mean to tell me NOBODY's solved it yet?

It looks like the promo cards play a major factor in the quest to crack the code, specifically, the clock that appears in the mirror which would be behind the "codemaster."  There are apparently ten different times on the clock, meaning at least ten different promo cards (although I think somebody mentioned that an 11th and/or 12th has been found).  The 10 "known" times listed per FCB (keep in mind I'm reading two different forums whose members are trying to figure it out…Blowout is on it as well) are:  1:11, 1:14, 1:19, 2:20, 3:14, 3:15, 4:00, 6:13, 7:27, 9:42.  Not sure how these are help, but people seem to be drawn to the clock. 

Now the Codemaster has been posting a poem on twitter (follow him at @TheGinterCode) to help people along (or maybe throw them off the trail).  Below are all his "tweets" from the master himself, the first from three months ago: 

• As my uncle Reginald V. Thorpwell III said:  Codebreakers are defeated and bitter, who don't follow the Codemaster on Twitter
• I've been composing a poem that may be of interest to some of you.  A few rhymes to work out, then we'll see what you think.
• I am the keeper of the code
• Puzzle seekers, heed my ode
• One entry each, grave is the cost
• One false step and all will be lost
• At the first point of Aries do you stand now
• The sky stretching west to east before you bow
• Your Navigational Star is directly ahead
• And beckons you east, so go where you're led
• Find the keys to the doors
• Turn them all and our domain is yours
• So that's my poem. What do you think? Found those keys yet?
• I hear people are stuck, maybe calling it quits. The path to the keys begins where the codemaster sits.
• I'm really, truly not trying to tease, when I say you've had plenty of time to find the keys.
• If you've put the puzzle together I hope you find it a beaut, because using it to solve the Ginter Code just does not compute
• Best wishes to Jimmy Rollins on the day of his birth, I always like watching him play, for whatever that's worth
• Apologies for any confusion caused by my 11:27 communique, sometimes I confuse the day for the hour and the hour for the day
• Something about the clock hitting 6:17 means I've started to crave some Boston baked beans
• Anyone see that movie about the hiker who fell and got stuck? I stay inside because that kind of thing is just my kcul
• Sorry about the typo in my 1:27 tweet.  That last word being backwards leaves my rhyme incomplete.
• As of yet, our domain remains undisturbed.  What will we do when we're waylaid by codebreakers perturbed?

That last tweet was from 16 days ago (from today, Thursday, October 20, 2011). 

So, what does this all mean?

The first code means that you have to be on Twitter to get the clues. The second indicates that the clues are going to be given in a poem form.  Lines three through twelve is the poem that was originally written to help those trying to solve the code.  But what are those keys???  Are those the guide cards that have the one clover design on them (and the number on the back)?  Lines 14 and 15 were posted as it became apparent that the code wasn't going to be solved quickly. 

It's tweet number 16 that throws everybody off the trail.  "If you've put the puzzle together I hope it's a beaut, because using it to solve the Ginter Code just does not compute."  Well then why the heck would you put these patterns on the cards?  Thanks to eBay, Nick and Mike were able to get all the cards needed to crack 2009's code, and Nick and friends used the same idea to crack 2010.  This year, eBay sellers (many of them anyway) were smart by not putting pictures of the code cards themselves, or at least covering the corners so that budding breakers couldn't use scans (thus not have the cards) to help their quest.  But with everybody focusing on these cards with the black or gold colored corners, are they no longer useful? 

By this point, many probably would have given up.  But those still hunting now found themselves looking at or for the promo cards that announced the contest.  After all, the instructions on last year's promo cards included a big step in getting started. 

Let's now start on tweet numbers 17 through 21.  Number 17 wishes Jimmy Rollins a happy birthday.  Rollins, the Phillies' star shortstop was born on 11/27/1978.  Tweet 18 apologizes for the "11:27 communique…confuse the day for the hour and the hour for the day."  Obviously, that means on the day that the codemaster wished Rollins a big happy birthday that it wasn't really his birthday.  But that also gives people an extra time on the clock.  Number nineteen adds 6:17 to the list of times.  Tweet number twenty has a glaring typo (kcul).  And the codemaster acknowledges it with his next line, indicating a time of 1:27.  But does that mean that the time is backwards (through a mirror, 1:27 would really be 10:33) or is the time itself as it is written backwards (7:21)?

The last tweet indicates that the code still has not been cracked.  And that's where I'll end.  Rest assured I'm not even trying to solve this.  I just thought I'd put all the tweets together in one place and offer some of my opinions as to what it may all mean.  It doesn't mean I'm correct, and I don't think those trying to solve this would want to use this article as a guide.  But it's certainly nice to see that months after A & G came out that people are still trying to figure out the code.  Good luck to you all.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

UPDATE:  Saturday, October 22, 2011.

Someone offered up an interesting tidbit regarding tweet #19.  617 (6:17) is the area code for Boston (crave some Boston baked beans).  Now people are thinking that a phone number may be involved.  What do you think???  jba