Just got this back from imaintainandalwayscheck@gmail.com:
Not sure what to make of that, probably a hoax.
Upon googling, I see that these are song lyrics to the B-52’s “Wig.” Mods please redact as appropriate (I’ll report the post).
I just got this back from Ants Inyourpants (imaintainandalwayscheck@gmail.com)
Waitin’ for bus #99
Goin’ to the store for hot dogs and wine!
When all of a sudden, I felt real cold
And wound up in the body of a big ol’ UFO
On the bus, to the plane
To the UFO and to outer space baby
On the bus, to the plane, baby yeah
Take me away
Is that you Mo-Dean?
It’s me Mo-Dean
Is that you Mo-Dean?
On a UFO
Is that you Mo-Dean?
It’s me Mo-Dean
The interdimensional outer space being
Movin’ through the spheres, faster than light
On our way to some planets that were outta sight
We said space driver, give it a spin
And take us to some places we ain’t never been
On the bus, to another plane
To the UFO and outer space baby
On the bus, to the plane, baby yeah!
Take me away
Is that you Mo-Dean?
It’s me Mo-Dean!
I say at which depot do we depart from his UFO?
Well it had been 987 years in outer space time when I got back
Couldn’t seem to find any of my friends to tell my interesting stories to
On the bus, to the plane
To the UFO and outer space baby
On the bus, to the plane
Baby yeah!
Take me away
Is that you Mo-Dean?
It’s me Mo-Dean
Astral projector from the outer space scene
Astral projector
Another B-52’s song, not sure if it’s a hoax or a clue
I don’t have a Twitter account, but it may be worth dropping a note to see if the person will verify this clue or if it’s someone having a laugh.
I repeat, I checked that address shortly after pulykamell posted his decryption of the clues, and it was available. iow, not a registered email address. It is concievable that I misspelled the address when checking, but I don’t think that I did.
I think it’s a prankster trying to have some fun with us.
ETA: This really shows that the ‘find my email’ aspect is a weakness in the riddler’s master plan - it’s way too easy for outsiders to interfere. Otherwise, I have to say that this is one well thought out puzzle!
tweet sent.
We also had the same issue with the geocached PDFs that started this whole thing. Two Dopers were able to find two of the PDF files in hidden CDs, and then the other two were missing. I’m not sure I like this whole “figure out what email address I’m at” aspect to the puzzle (if the puzzle is as literal as it seems) for the reason you addressed.
ImagineAnts twitter update 2 mins ago…new code
¶869 RS7Z RIXJ 2EU7 NRT8 89NN PBJX GG3J 3FMK 7B2C KYB2 2CCF KYG4 YGH3 B32Y B20C 1932 YB27 F3HI FB32 ZY44 032H CH63 DCF1 6YG7 272G C763
Somebody must be fooling around. I just got directly emailed from Ants Inyourpants, and I haven’t sent any emails to anyone.
ipreferanagramstotheb52sxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
this is getting interesting …
What exactly was in the tweet you sent?
That makes itsanenigma@gmail.com look pretty good.
@ImagineAnts B-52’s songs? You, or some interloper?
Hmm, again from “Ants Inyourpants”:
Alternatively, derived from the name on ImagineAnts’ twitter account, the gmail address g.m.a.stein is not available.
I’ve been busy in the garage but I just checked my email and got the same message as troub. The subject line was " Your next clue" and the time was 3:01 PM.
Ignore it. Someone’s having a laugh. Like I said, I got a message (the second one too) and the only way for somebody to email me is through this message board. So, unless Imagine Ants is personally going through the SDMB to send messages to people working on the puzzle, it’s somebody having a bit of fun.
So where does that put us now?
I’m on my commute home, and don’t have internet access as I write this, but here are my thoughts:
- The answer to the puzzle is incorporated into the text of the riddle.
- Using a font other than Times New Roman or improper punctuation might obscure the message for some reason. Why?
- He or she prefers anagrams, so the e-mail address is probably one, too. Every clue so far has been an anagram of “it’s an enigma”—except for ImagineAnew which was a red herring and 3outof4 which is an anagram of “route thou offer.”
New message up on ImagineAnts twitter.
Decodes (If I did it correctly) to:
SDMB AND CE H2 N5 HM PVM ARE NOT THE FIRST LETTERS I WOULD CHOOSE
Shout out to SDMB and comment on the fake emails?