matthewglidden

Has anyone noticed the similarity between CAH's long lists of values and purchases to PNC's annual Christmas Price Index? There's another version called The True Cost of Christmas, which totals all gifts given, updated each year as Christmas approaches.

Bloomberg: "Twelve Days of Christmas Price Index for 2013."

Could be coincidence, but it's one way to compare things (and numbers) without actual code breaking.

CAH said anyone could solve the puzzle (not just people who bought the 12 gifts), so online files like ClusterFuck, the posters, and their comics are good starting points. I've wondered about the uncredited Santa comic, since it doesn't seem to tie in elsewhere. Even if you're crazy to keep following that particular thread, it's in a way that people haven't exhausted themselves on yet and DOES relate to what everyone can use, not just people with the 12 envelopes.

Possible connection between day 5's golden rings and day 9, as its dancers are Beyoncé from "Single Ladies" and its lyric, "if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it."

Day 5's diorama on HolidayBullshit.com is the one that includes a "blue box," "Captain Crunch," and shows a phone receiver, another type of "ringing." (Its phone receiver is also face-down, as if placed on an acoustic modem.) Captain Crunch himself (John Draper) figures into the puzzle series from Ready Player One, which CAH might've emulated in creating this one.

Three items from Day 5's diorama also appear in day 3:, a blue bow, a menorah (six candles visible), and the disco ball. Day 3 also has a bejeweled cell phone. CAH (via Max) already said the puzzle moves from stage to stage, so finding common elements may ID the progression to follow, for example in phone calls to make.

@cheato I can think of at least one way.

If you group by bits and use the HOT/COOL lights as ON/OFF, 2^5 gives you 32 options. That's enough for A-Z with extras, ASCII codes, DTMF phone codes, etc.

They come out of order, sometimes 2 or 3 in one day. Got 1-6, 8, 11-12 so far. The last one's pretty cool.

100% confirmed, Half-Life 3.

@dayton28 & @thedon: Good note on purple = the sex position, which could be Y or X (if sticking with Roman numerals).

If letters correspond to numerals, you have this:

• Day 1: Red = M (1000)
• Day 4: Purple = X (10)
• Day 5: Blue = C (100)
• Day 7: Green = L (50)
• I & V in days 9-12?

It's curious that the lights don't seem to include orange (just red & yellow), but CAH's DonorsChoose "thank you" letter from Michelle DOES and could be interpreted as a lower-case i.

CAH's what-we-did-with-your-money link isn't "live" and just shows a countdown timer for sometime tomorrow. I think the letter and whatever shows up on that page will be key to solving the puzzle. It just has too many oddities to ignore: similar color palette, reinforcement of green = L and blue = C, "pig," cards FOR humanity, very different versions of the letter i, repeated use of double-o, possible reference to 2012's holiday expansion, etc.

...and M C L are all letters used in Roman numerals, if we need another letter to number cypher to test.

Note that several envelopes allude to geek things, just like the web site combined Captain Crunch, a phone, and blue boxing.

Day 2 doesn't show "turtle doves," those are koopa troopas from Mario World.

Day 5 shows the severed right hand of Mandarin, the Marvel Comics villain.

What does each picture look like, if you DON'T think the 12 days of christmas? CAH already gave that hint, that it's something else entirely.

The Blue = C, Green = L, & Red = M tips above seem too strong to ignore, seeing how they appear on both the site and in the art. In other collectible card puzzles, you end up with an address, email, or phone number to contact with a particular message. That might yield another clue or be a place to send the solution.

@dirkgently: Thanks for reposting the second half. Do you have the forum link that discussed the others (first hour, etc.)?