No matter what else happens there WILL be a new Batman movie. We can’t go forward without one as a society, at least that’s what Hollywood bigwigs seem to think.
The next reboot of the caped crusader saga—The Batman—is scheduled for release in 2021.
Look, I have a child-like nostalgia for Batman stories, too, but read the room: is this the time to celebrate a billionaire who beats up people on the street for minor crimes? I’m glad he’s there to take on the Penguin or whatever, I just don’t need to see some young rich white man violate people’s constitutional rights and then go home to sleep in his mansion. Whatever! It’ll be something I rent on HBO Max in a few months when theaters don’t reopen.
Plenty of people are very excited about Batman’s new exploits and to be fair, Robert Pattinson is a much better-looking Batman than I expected. I’m digging the eyeliner and puffy hair, a wonderful Twilight throwback.
In the trailer, we catch a glimpse of a card sent from the film’s villain, the Riddler. You can see it has a question, “What does a liar do when he’s dead?”
Then on the next page there’s a series of symbols that represent letters of the alphabet spelling the answer out. This card will probably play out in a scene during which the Batman analyzes its possible meaning before finally cracking the code. I hope for the sake of the producers it’s not a long scene, because this game designer and puzzle maker Mile Selinker solved it in like two seconds:
In the new #TheBatmanTrailer, the Riddler leaves a card with the question “What does a liar do when he’s dead?” I could just solve it like a riddle (and did), but it’s a good opportunity to show how to solve a puzzle by brute force, so you’re sure of the answer. Here goes. (1/12) pic.twitter.com/sHveBmU2Pt
— Mike Selinker (@mikeselinker) August 23, 2020
Selinker broke down his reasoning on Twitter, saying you could just solve the riddle by guessing, but figuring out the secret code is also possible via the process of elimination:
3 is a double letter at the end of a 5-letter word. Most common letters don’t do that. It’s likely one of these: E, L, or S. It’s not crazy to imagine it as D, F, N, or T. MAFIA’S STIFF? Nah. Unless Gorilla Grodd’s in this movie, I think we can dispense with these options. (3/12)
— Mike Selinker (@mikeselinker) August 23, 2020
AGREE gets nothing too. However, TO SEE is possible. The thematic BAT SAT TO SEE (or, per Selina, CAT SAT TO SEE) might work. But this doesn’t really answer the Riddler’s question. It’s not -EE. (5/12)
— Mike Selinker (@mikeselinker) August 23, 2020
The only consonant I like there is N. Let’s try ?NS?N? ???SS. I love INSANE there, but INSANE EX ASS might be funny, but isn’t it. I don’t see anything with IN SONG either. UNSENT TRESS? UNSEND DRESS? Nope. It’s not an N, so it’s probably not a consonant. (7/12)
— Mike Selinker (@mikeselinker) August 23, 2020
That leaves LL (wait, is this a Superman movie?). Since the letter before that has to be a vowel, now I think we’re down to three possibilities for the second line: DRILL, SxxLL, and a two-word phrase like A WILL. (9/12)
— Mike Selinker (@mikeselinker) August 23, 2020
All the SxELL options fell apart. BILE IS SWELL? Gibberish. JULIUS S(h/k/p/t/w)ILL didn’t make much sense (Julius Schwartz, maybe)? I then alit on TALIA’S SKILL as a totally plausible option. But I don’t see an apostrophe character. It’s not ’S. (11/12)
— Mike Selinker (@mikeselinker) August 23, 2020
Finally, I considered xELIES SxILL. BELIES SKILL is okay, but it seems more likely that we break it in the first line as HE LIES. And the best word to follow that is STILL. So we can conclude this is the very punny HE LIES STILL. And that’s how you solve a cryptogram! (12/12)
— Mike Selinker (@mikeselinker) August 23, 2020
A lot of people felt stupid after Selinker explained and they still didn’t understand, but he assured everyone that we are all stupid in our different ways.
Addendum 2: I see folk saying I must be smarter than them for this. Don’t think that! You’re plenty smart.
Also, yesterday I broke a shower curtain rod and stood there staring at it until my wife came home to put it back together. So let’s not give me any genius grants just yet.
— Mike Selinker (@mikeselinker) August 23, 2020
Thanks, man. Can’t wait to see what type of smart or stupid the Batman is.
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