Can you solve this riddle?

[bicilotti]

http://pucomic.com/?p=206

that hint added nothing to what we already knew! One more!

[DoorKnobHandle]

There is actually one very important piece of information that was entirely new in the hint I gave today, if you look close enough!
Plus, it really does point you in the right direction very much!

But okay, one last tip for today: take another look at what people have guessed so far (regarding this code); even though the correct answer wasn't given yet, exactly one person was, while not using the right 'method', still giving an answer that was in exactly the right ballpark!

[Baron]

Alright, we've got nine characters.  Three of these characters must merge with neighbouring characters to produce 6 "solution characters".  There has to be a cue for when mergers take place: a pattern if you will [/Dr. Evil voice].  An obvious cue would be a character itself, but there are not exactly three of any type of character.  This much we know for sure.
    Now to speculate: the only characters in sufficient numbers to indicate the magic 3 mergers are A and C.  Perhaps the rule is when you see "A", it merges with the very next character to create a new one.  So we have AA B C AC AC C.  It is possible that A always merges with the preceding character, but in such a circumstance the first "A" is rather anomalous.  A third possibility is that the cue to merge is the character "C", and that it always merges with the following character, thus: A A B CA CA CC.  Thus rule might be reversed as well (C merges with the preceding character), but that makes the final "C" awkward.  So chances are there are two possiblities:

AA B C AC AC C     or        A A B CA CA CC

The first one has a more satisfying distribution of accreted characters, so let's go out on a limb and examine it more closely (the second one starts with an awkward double letter anyway).  The end of the word draws the eye, since it has a distinct pattern.  It could be anything, but common word endings in this pattern are ELLE, ESSE and ETTE, or (inverting consonants & vowels) NOON, REER, SEES and DEED.  Suddenly plausible (although not yet mentioned in a ballpark manner....) are words like CAREER or INDEED (especially appealing since only vowels require double characters....).

Reconciling all of the above with your thinly veiled hint that Alan v. Drake was pretty close with either a geometric answer (square or matrix) or puzzling one (sudoku) is harder....

[DoorKnobHandle]

You're not on the right track, I'm afraid, Baron. Oh and, not sure if I understand you right, but I didn't say Alan v. Drake was close, I said someone was close! (the smart puzzle solver now knows it wasn't him, haha)

Okay, it's been a long enough time I guess, so here's the next hint! This one is REALLY telling, I think, and this time I really expect the code to be solved very soon! Let's see...

HINT: The way the code letters break up into the solution characters is: AABC, AC and ACC. Again, have you ever seen letter couplings similar to these before? In... history?

[Stupot]

Roman numerals.

aabc ac acc
xxvi xi xii

So it's a date: 26/11/12 - Novermber 26, 2012 - The date you set the puzzle

[DoorKnobHandle]

We have a winner! Good job! Looks like I really suck at giving good hints, though, either they're too simple or too hard!

[Stupot]

Hehe, I still had to use my noggin to convert the letters to Roman numerals. Good puzzle :-)

[bicilotti]

Nicely done Stupot+!

Still, what's the correct way decode this?

aabacaac

[Stupot]

Nicely done Stupot+!

Still, what's the correct way decode this?

aabacaac

xxvxixxi (if you're still going with a=x b=v c=i) - trouble is, unless you know how it's broken down it could be xxv xix xi (25,19,11) or x xv xi xxi (10,15,11,21) and maybe some other ways.

[bicilotti]

Woops, pardon me, I meant to write.

aabccaacc, which could read

XXVI  IX XII -> 26/09/12
XXVII  X XII -> 27/10/12

hence, the rage

[Renodox]

Wonderful puzzle!  I have to say, I was stumped by it.

Okay, I've got a hard one that has three questions in one but if you manage to solve one, you could possibly solve the others.  There are clues in the answers.

When on trial, a certain American president was asked how he pleaded.
This president, rose and placed a single coin in front of the judge.
Taking up the coin the judge accepted the plea.

Who was the president?  What was the coin?  What was the plea?



And if you need them, here are two subtle hints which my keep you on track but don't reveal much of anything.

Spoiler

The coin could never make a good bribe.

[close]

Spoiler

The plea was an actual one, not a joke.

[close]

[bicilotti]

Brainstorming on #ags, people came up with the "lincoln cent" or "clinton cent" idea.
Right track?

[Renodox]

You're on the right track but you haven't fully answered it yet.

[bicilotti]

You're on the right track but you haven't fully answered it yet.

Well then, #ags go out on a limb: Clinton, Lincoln cent, innocent.

[Renodox]

Close.  But not quite.  You also have to explain the reasoning.

[bicilotti]

Close.  But not quite.  You also have to explain the reasoning.

Dunno. Some kind of anagram? Ponies? Ponytails?

[CaptainD]

I'm drawn to an answer

Spoiler

Kennedy Space Center (Centre!)

[close]

but I can only clearly identify 2/3 of the answer.  I did consider part of the answer being an anagram of the plea?

I also had two other thoughts... the president could maybe be

Spoiler

Max as in Season 1 of Sam & Max he ended up being president

[close]

and the plea being

Spoiler

I did not have sex with that woman!

[close]

, but I'd struggle to make either of those fit an answer.

I'm aslo (as I think others are) making the assumption that it's an American coin?

[Renodox]

Yes, it's an American coin and it's a real American President.  However, the events of the trial are not real.  Like I said, the key to answering the whole question is to answer one and work off of that one.

[Eric]

The answer is President Brian Eno, and he put a penny before the judge, thus stating that he was "Eno-cent."

[Snarky]

Lincoln with a penny, declaring that he's "in-a-cent"