[WiZ] Setteragic's Tragic Magic

[WiZ]

A woman who does not smoke buys five packets of cigarettes over the course of an evening. She then goes home with them, alone. The cigarettes are never relevantly smoked or put to any use. Why did she buy them?

[hominid]

Is the woman H? A? F? Relevant?

Is she intentionally buying the cigarettes? Has she ever smoked before? Is she planning on smoking? Is she planning on giving them to someone? Is she using the cigarettes for something? Is she using the box for something? Are they different brands? Did she buy them at different stores? Health effects of smoking relevant? Is it relevant that there are five of them?

[WiZ]

Is the woman H? A? F? yes to all - curious as to your next move if she were a male Relevant? Gender is irrelevant. Adulthood and humanity are only insofar as it would preclude certain scenarios when it comes to buying cigarettes; we can assume things might unfold problematically if you tried to sell cigarettes to a 9-year-old or a capybara.

Is she intentionally buying the cigarettes? yes Has she ever smoked before? no Is she planning on smoking? no Is she planning on giving them to someone? not relevantly Is she using the cigarettes for something? no Is she using the box for something? no Are they different brands? irrelevant Did she buy them at different stores? yes Health effects of smoking relevant? no Is it relevant that there are five of them? no

[hominid]

Has she ever bought cigarettes before?

Is her goal to find out what it's like to buy cigarettes from each of those stores? Is she gathering information? Is she collecting the receipts? Would the puzzle still work if she threw them away immediately? Is she trying to make people believe that she is a smoker?

"Over the course of an evening"=6 PM to midnight, roughly? Exact timeframe relevant? Is it important that it's evening and not any other time of day? Did she do anything relevant before she bought the cigarettes?

[WiZ]

Has she ever bought cigarettes before? no

Is her goal to find out what it's like to buy cigarettes from each of those stores? no Is she gathering information? no Is she collecting the receipts? no Would the puzzle still work if she threw them away immediately? yes Is she trying to make people believe that she is a smoker? no

"Over the course of an evening"=6 PM to midnight, roughly? roughly Exact timeframe relevant? no Is it important that it's evening and not any other time of day? not especially Did she do anything relevant before she bought the cigarettes? no

[hominid]

Is her occupation relevant? Anything specific about the stores relevant? Do they sell other products? Does she buy anything else? Are all the stores in the same city/town? Does she walk from store to store? Does she drive? Mode of transportation relevant?

Time period relevant? Location relevant?

[WiZ]

Is her occupation relevant? no Anything specific about the stores relevant? no Do they sell other products? yes Does she buy anything else? not relevantly Are all the stores in the same city/town? assume yes Does she walk from store to store? Does she drive? either would work equally well Mode of transportation relevant? no

Time period relevant? noish Location relevant? no

[hominid]

Does she do anything else relevant in the stores? Talk to anyone (outside of the transaction)? Look at other products? Did she decide to buy cigarettes before entering? Were the first four purchases unsuccessful attempts at something?

[WiZ]

Does she do anything else relevant in the stores? no, outside of the transaction Talk to anyone (outside of the transaction)? no Look at other products? no Did she decide to buy cigarettes before entering? yes Were the first four purchases unsuccessful attempts at something? yes!

[hominid]

Was she trying to obtain a certain type of cigarette? Can we assume that all five boxes (and their contents) are identical? Is the fifth purchase "successful" for whatever her goal is? If so, does she realize this before she walks in? Immediately after walking in? While purchasing the cigarette? While exiting the store? After exiting the store?

[WiZ]

Was she trying to obtain a certain type of cigarette? no Can we assume that all five boxes (and their contents) are identical? yes Is the fifth purchase "successful" for whatever her goal is? it's irrelevant - it could reflect either success or giving up without materially changing anything If so, does she realize this before she walks in? no Immediately after walking in? no While purchasing the cigarette? yes, this is the part upon which success hinges While exiting the store? After exiting the store? no to rest

[GalFisk]

Purchase restrictions relevant? Does she show an ID? If so, is the ID relevant? Is her age relevant? Are the store clerks relevant? Other store customers? Gender of the clerks relevant? Does she want to be asked to prove her age? Want not to be asked? Comparisons between her face and an ID photo relevant? Does she want to know something about how strangers see her? Could she have bought some other product with age restrictions?

[Balin]

Is it her birthday? Does she want someone to check her ID, realize it's her birthday, and wish her happy birthday?

[Earnest]

Is she doing her job while buying cigarettes? like for showing that something illegal was going on?Did she want to see the seller's reactions to something?Did she need them as a proof of something?Receipts relevant?Investigations?Fingerprints relevant?Is the seller relevant for her intentions? Did she want to find something inside the box? Relevant what was written on the cigarettes' boxes?Relevant how she payed them?With money?Normal money?Eventual rest relevant?

Relevant Location?Place?For instance arabic places?Muslims relevant?Did she need lighters?Did she need something else than the cigarettes?Vending machines relevant?For instance she had just money in "big pieces" but she need "smaller ones" so she payed the vending machines with the mentioned big pieces hoping that the vending machine does her the wished rest (not sure it is clear)?Did she open the boxes?Keep them closed?Were the cigarettes disassembled? Relevant? Was there plastic covering the boxes?Were the cigarettes sold in boxes?Is the transaction the only relevant thing happening when she is inside each store(assuming she bought the cigarettes in a store)?Is it more relevant what she did inside each store or outside after having bought the cigarettes?Did she go directly back home or did she go somewhere else?Did she wear something relevant such as glasses?Scarf?Is the way she was dressed relevant?

Does the puzzle still work had she bought them in the same place?Had she bought the same brand?Different brands?Was she specifically interested in the cigarettes?In the boxes?

[WiZ]

GalFisk

Purchase restrictions relevant? yes Does she show an ID? yes If so, is the ID relevant? yes Is her age relevant? no (in terms of years, anyway) Are the store clerks relevant? yes, due to their role in the transaction Other store customers? no Gender of the clerks relevant? no Does she want to be asked to prove her age? yes Want not to be asked? no Comparisons between her face and an ID photo relevant? no Does she want to know something about how strangers see her? Could she have bought some other product with age restrictions? yes

Balin

Is it her birthday? yes! Does she want someone to check her ID, realize it's her birthday, and wish her happy birthday? yes!

***** SPOILER *****

Our protagonist finds herself alone on her birthday. In an attempt to get someone to notice and wish her a happy birthday, she goes around local tobacconists in the hope that, when asked for ID, the clerk will notice her date of birth and felicitate her accordingly.

Unfortunately, retail clerks tend to be dead inside, so she takes 5 attempts before someone notices. Or doesn't, and she gives up and goes home. Depends on how nihilistic you're feeling.

Well done, Balin, on a fine swoop, and thank you everyone else for playing.

[hominid]

Nice puzzle! I had a feeling Balin was right as soon as I saw that comment.

[WiZ]

I'm quite impressed at the leap to the process of ID-checking being key; we'd established that the transaction was important, but there are more components to that than the ID check.

[hominid]

Most of those would be there for any product though. There aren't many that require an ID.

[Balin]

I always feel a little bad when I earlispoilor a puzzle I'm enjoying.

Actually I saw something almost identical on Reddit (in a "What's the loneliest thing you've ever done" thread) the day before I posted my guess. So, timing.

[WiZ]

I read your comment with interest, Balin, as that very thread is where I sourced the puzzle from. Reddit is a fruitful resource for this sort of thing, but I may have to delve into earlier threads for my material.

Also, this is the first time I've read ''earlispoilor' as a verb, and I think I like it.

[Balin]

I've only recently become active on Reddit, so I'm sure there's an inordinate amount of threads to delve into for puzzle material.