And the name of the baby is…
This is sort of a departure from my normal double-crostic. I thought I would go for something a little more… mathematical. Actually, this puzzle has existed in my head for several years, and it’s a sort of imitation of a puzzle from GAMES Magazine I did as a kid with my family a long time ago.
As with all the puzzles I create, they are designed to be open-book, open-internet, open-collaboration, etc. I may even be willing to offer hints in the comments. The only thing I would ask is that you refrain from posting spoilers in the comments or anywhere else online.
I realize that many of our readers are not up to this, and that’s fine. But for the few die-hard puzzlers out there who enjoy a bit of number crunching… game on!
02/26/2012 10am EST UPDATE: please redownload… a couple formulas changed! Sorry!
02/26/2012 2:48pm EST UPDATE: oops… mixed up my X and Y correction terms. Re-download…
02/26/2012 4:30pm EST UPDATE: resolved some ambiguity about F definition.
02/26/2012 8:30pm EST:
No update to the puzzle. Since a few of you may be close to the end of the puzzle, let me clarify a few things. Your starting location is the location the picture is taken from, not the object in the picture. When you find the picture in Google Maps, you can click on “comments” to get the precise location. And precision matters. If you have a few answers wrong, you could easily end up in a different continent, but if you have a few fractions of a second wrong on the GPS coordinates, you’re still not going to land on the solution. When you land on the solution, I expect you’ll know it. 
And you can probably do the distance to GPS translation on a number of websites, but I found this one to be especially helpful. That’s all the hints for now. More may follow. No known puzzle solvers, yet.
02/26/2012 10:40pm EST: hopefully final update. Added & clarified constraints in the Monopoly simulation.
02/27/2012 6:50pm EST: There should be no need for future versions of the puzzle; at least one person has solved it in its present form. Some questions were easier than I intended, while others might have been more tedious than I intended. Let me offer the following hints/thoughts concerning the “game” of Monopoly. If you think about it, it isn’t that different from the Game of Life in question F. Under the constraints of the question, both players will roll the same thing every turn, be forced to buy certain properties without auctions, and forbidden to trade. Unlike the Game of Life, which is perfectly deterministic, the Monopoly game has a range of possible outcomes based on a small set of things that you as the puzzler have to decide. You’re looking for outcome which maximizes the value of H. And it wouldn’t hurt to make sure you know all the rules of Monopoly.
2/27/2012 9:20pm EST: Ugh. What are best friends for? Killing my monopoly score, that’s what. Here’s one more revision:
First! I can’t wait to meet Old Burghclere Gjertsen. Also, say hi to his brother Amado Varfanseartlibamacies Gjertsen for me.
You are a sick, sick man.
Thanks for sticking a fork in my weekend.
What Laura said.
{evil laugh}
whoa!!
I can’t brain
Yikes! I’ll just wait for the name posting….
Ugh! I was looking forward to a leisurely fun puzzle, but you zapped me with THIS monster!
I might be waiting with the rest of the crowd…
Found several of the answers (so we think, anyway). Having to take a sabbatical before figuring out the rest. But it’s been a lot of fun, like a scavenger hunt. You really outdid yourself on this one.
Brain hurts from just READING it, much less trying to solve it.
Your evil laugh at Jen/Laura fits your evil genious!
Thank you for helping me learn the virtue of patience as I wait for the name reveal when the baby comes.
Bad monkey! Bad monkey!
I’ll patiently wait impatiently for the reveal. Until then, all the best, Gjertsens!
Um, I think we are going to wait for the big reveal later. But, we are so thankful for God’s blessing on you!
After hours of thinking, I must admit I’ll wait until some generous post unveils new Gjertsen addition’s name…
I think my brain actually hurts from thinking…
Love
Sabrina
I’ll have to wait until you post the name – no way I’ll be able to solve this. I hope you also post the answers to your puzzle as well. I’d like to see what I don’t know!
All right, I surrender. What’s the name?
So, are there going to be no more posts until the baby comes? Some encouraging words would be welcome.
Oh, we hope there will be other posts. Not sure if we’ll be revealing the name anytime soon other than the manner in which we’ve already revealed it. I have a political post in mind, which might be next. Everyone’s doing fine in the House of Gjertsen