The Return of Opus X

[treebeau]

I think this is the hardest Opus X so far. Just can't seem to figure anything out.

Must confess that the top picture really threw me. At first I thought it was some kind of squirrel lying on it's back and out of focus. They all of a sudden I saw that it was a wolf howling. Go figure. Funny how pictures can trick the mind.

Regards,
Tim B.

[BigJon@Work]

Bump to get the pic on the second page.

[treebeau]

AHA!!

I am absolutely SURE I have the composer (when you see it, you know it). Now for the piece of music.

Regards,
Tim B.

[Hexameron]

I'm still lost on the tic-tacs

[hal 9000]

Partial congrats to treebeau, who has successfully identified the composer of Opus X. Hmm, treebeau? Is that French? If so, how does that literally translate? Beautiful Tree? I wonder...

[hal 9000]

I'm still lost on the tic-tacs

I'm just happy you were able to discern that that is what they are.

[Catmando]

Never mind the tic tac toes, I'm still scratching my head on how Vin Diesel fits into all this!

[hal 9000]

Well, so far I have only received guesses from two so far. Not sure if the PM system is causing the problem, but just in case... remember you can submit your guesses to me via email:

carlson_cm@hotmail.com

[hal 9000]

Nice try to navneeth with a second guess. Unfortunately it was incorrect. You have the right method in trying to interpret the puzzle, but the clues go a little deeper than you have looked so far. Keep at it.

Nice try also to Hexameron, who also seems to have the right approach but has not picked up on the clues fully yet. Yet, he is closer than he knows, but he surely does not yet know why (based on his guesses).

Here is a little hint:

Identifying the composer in this puzzle is the easiest step. The clues are pretty much straightforward for that.

Identifying the composition is a lot trickier. The clues for this are not direct and require a bit of research and some associative thinking.

Pay attention to my replies and to replies of those you successfully solve the puzzle (none so far, but treebeau does have half of it). They usually contain clues as well to help you figure the puzzle out.

Keep at it! And fare thee well!

[navneeth]

Even though my answer wasn't the right one, it was an amazing coincidence.

[hal 9000]

Even though my answer wasn't the right one, it was an amazing coincidence.

If you are referring to your answer for the composer, that was no coincidence. It was a planned trap to disguise the true composer. However, there is a coincidence in that there is a third composer some have guessed that makes sense with that same clue. That wasn't planned but makes this puzzle even more devious. But the real test is in discovering the composition, not the composer. Knowing the composer will definitely help narrow it down, but there is still a good measure of difficulty in figuring out the exact composition. Pay attention to my posts for they have contained clues to help you through that difficulty. But first I recommend you discover the name of the composer before you attempt the composition.

Nice try goes out to Selma who fell into the same trap mentioned above. Still an admirable guess.

Round of applause to Marye for becoming the 2nd person to name the composer (actually, there was a third but they entered a contradictory composers name as well and therefore did not receive the recognition of correctly identifying the composer yet).

One thing I am surprised by is the tempest this exquisite puzzle seems to be causing in everybody's minds. Though some claim to be pathetically clueless, all have expressed a passion for this latest installment. 170823.

Don't give up. As the wolf will always howl at the moon, you should always get past oral clues. 1415.

[hal 9000]

All Hail navneeth, the first to completely solve this month's Opus X!!!

navneeth has correctly named the composer and compostion! Hurrah!

[navneeth]

Woohoo!

With clues spilt all over the post like that, it was high time someone posted the correct answer.

[barfle]

I'm still trying to figure out what X-rated opus Howlin' Wolf wrote about Deisel powered laptops.

[hal 9000]

No response to this Opus X is quite some time. Only one person has completely solved it, and 2 others have the composer figured out. Is it time for me to reveal the answer?

[bignaf]

I've been absent for too long, Il eft without any hope to answer this, but on my return, I think I got it.

[hal 9000]

I've been absent for too long, Il eft without any hope to answer this, but on my return, I think I got it.

Yes indeed! All hail bignaf! The next to correctly identify Opus X!

Who will be next?

carlson_cm@hotmail.com

[hal 9000]

Well, there has been very little response to this in over 2 weeks, so I guess the time has come to reveal the answer. Here we go:


First, lets get the composers name. The clues for this came from the 3 pictures on the screens of each electronic equipment.

1. On the laptop: A wolf baying.
2. On the PSP: The game Tic Tac Toe with Tic Tac removed.
3. On the TV: Vin Diesel.

All of this gives:



BAY-TOE-VIN or Beethoven

Now for the composition. For this, let me first go over some of the clues I submitted throughout this thread:

1st Clue: Literal Translation: Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

2nd Clue: Partial congrats to treebeau, who has successfully identified the composer of Opus X. Hmm, treebeau? Is that French? If so, how does that literally translate? Beautiful Tree? I wonder...

Twice I hinted at the need to literally translate something. I was in fact referring to the title of the piece... it needs to be literally translated to English for this puzzle to make sense.

Okay, now given those clues lets consider the puzzle again:

We know the pictures inside the screens all gave the composer, so everything outside the screens should give the composition. So what do we have? A lot REALLY CHEAP electronic equipment! I don't know about you, but those seem to be really Good Buys to me.

Now here is where the literal translation comes in. There are a number of ways of approaching this, going through Beethoven's pieces and interpreting their titles to find something to make sense for instance. But let's look at some of my other clues to help us here:

3rd Clue: Keep at it! And fare thee well!

Farewell is pretty similar to Goodbye (Good buy).

4th Clue: One thing I am surprised by is the tempest this eXquisite puzzle seems to be causing in everybody's minds. Though some claim to be pathetically clueless, all have eXpressed a passion for this latest installment. 17 08 23.

Don't giVe up. As the wolf wIll always howl at the moon, you should always get past oral clues. 14 15.

In this 4th and final clue I pretty much spilled all the beans. I reference subtitles for many of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas and the numbers at the end of each paragraph correspond to the number of each Piano Sonata referenced (The Tempest = 17, Pathétique = 08, Apassionata = 23, etc..) I also highlighted four letters in both paragraphs (originally underlined, capitalized in bold here). These letters were XXVI which is the Roman numeral equivalent to 26. Piano Sonata No. 26 is known as Les Adieux

Les Adieux , which means "The Farewell" literally translates to English as "The Goodbyes".

So now it should be clear, Opus X is:

Piano Sonata No. 26 in Eb "Les Adieux" by Ludwig van Beethoven

[Serenity]

Good grief Hal! Even the explanation is difficult to follow.

[bignaf]

you're good, man! too god! :p
[edit: meant to say too good..., now I know why I was struck by lightning last night][/b]