Can someone explain this picture to me?

uberneko

I saw this on the internet and it is driving me utterly insane.

I have two questions:

1. What is the answer?
2. What makes that the answer?

If someone could explain this to me in layman's terms that would be awesome.

Fletcher

According to what I can discern, the answer is G. Hopefully I can explain this in a way that doesn't make me sound insane

It appears to be based more on (admittedly crazy-sounding) rules, rather than a pattern

- Each grid has three groups of three symbols (3 clubs, 3 diamonds, 3 hearts)
- Every grid has a certain unique layout for each group of three matching symbols
- None of the symbols are allowed to align vertically or horizontally (i.e. no 3-in-a-rows); diagonal lines are acceptable
- The layout of any matching group of symbols is not allowed to be repeated by ANY other group of matching symbols in ANY grid (be they diamonds, clubs or hearts)

That last one may take a bit of explaining; here are a couple of examples from within the CONFIRMED grids given

- In the top left grid, the clubs are in the top left box, the top center box, and the center right box. In NO OTHER GRID does any group of 3 symbols repeat this layout, i.e. if you look through the other confirmed boxes, this layout of top left, top center and center right is not repeated by ANY group of three matching symbols

- The same can be said of all of layouts of matching symbols; in the central confirmed grid, the layout of the hearts is top left, center left and bottom center. This layout of matching symbols is not repeated by hearts, clubs or diamonds in any other grid

Of all of the choices provided, the only grid that DOESN'T:

a) have a "line" of matching symbols, or

b) repeat a matching-symbol layout found in any of the original grids

is grid G

i hope that makes sense :?

uberneko

Fletcher wrote: »

- None of the symbols are allowed to align vertically, horizontally, or diagonally (i.e. no 3-in-a-rows)

But square 2 in column 3 has 3 hearts in a row diagonally. Does this not affect your answer?

Fletcher

uberneko wrote: »

Fletcher wrote: »

- None of the symbols are allowed to align vertically, horizontally, or diagonally (i.e. no 3-in-a-rows)

But square 2 in column 3 has 3 hearts in a row diagonally. Does this not affect your answer?

whoops, you're right

however if you remove the no diagonals rule and only disallow vertical and horizontal lines, it seems to work

because the diagonal clubs in D would repeat the diagonal heart layout in the bottom-centre original grid

Slo

I think you've got the right idea, but a rule is missing. Theres more than one answer from the rules you've stated unless i'm missing something.

Fletcher

also i am probably wrong, that was just the only ruleset i could think of that seemed to work

Fletcher

Slo wrote: »

I think you've got the right idea, but a rule is missing. Theres more than one answer from the rules you've stated unless i'm missing something.

i don't think there are other options remaining, hopefully this points out the matchups



colours indicate repeated symbol layouts, red lines indicate horizontal matchups that "disqualify" grids

NightDragon

I've gone over this a whole bunch, and Fletcher's answer makes the most sense, I think...though I used other methods

I have no idea if this is relevant or not (if there is any pattern here to decipher) but block #3, when turned counter clockwise, is #4...and #6, when turned counter clockwise, is #7. Just notable because they're on the ends, and may hint at some kind of pattern.

badger2d

The 9x9 grids with shifting patterns make me think of the sides of a Rubik's Cube. I wonder if there's some more elegant set of rules behind it based on a sequence of Rubik's Cube-like rotations of rows and columns.

But I'm not very good at the Rubik's Cube so even if my random idea here has any merit at all I am not likely to figure it out. Which is not stopping me from wrecking my brain and my morning trying, thanks OP.

Jebus314

I don't know where you found this, but it's also on the xkcd forum. The OP there gives the answer behind a spoiler. Although apparently no one can figure out why it's the answer.

MagicToaster

Spoiler:

I think the answer is A.

I tried looking for a pattern, but I couldn't find it.

However in the answers, I notice another pattern not present in any of the top grid's exaples, which is a combination of symbols in an L arrangement or two consecutive blocks with the same symbols just above two other consecutive blocks with the same symbols.. The only one lacking this pattern is example A... and of course F... but that one I discarded from the beginning.

Edit: No, never mind... I'm seeing new patterns... crap..

NightDragon

Jebus314 wrote: »

I don't know where you found this, but it's also on the xkcd forum. The OP there gives the answer behind a spoiler. Although apparently no one can figure out why it's the answer.

Hmm....well, wshanley, speedyld8 and GeorgeH of that thread seem to have found reasons as to why the answer behind the spoiler is the answer...but they all arrived at that answer using different methods. I didn't bother to figure out if any of their answers correlate with one another (and, are, therefore, essentially the same method), but there you go.

Aumni

I say A.

I just looked at all the small grids together as one large grid and determined that the large grid does not have 3 shapes in in a row horizontally or vertically.

This left me with A and G. So I had to figure out why is wasn't one or the other. I fooled with a few ideas about repeating patterns within each small grid, but those weren't happening.

But ultimately determined that the larger grid, if wrapped on itself would not produce any 3 horizontal or vertical matches and was happy with A.

Edit: And I realized that I'm wrong because of the middle row. Damnit!