Solution: Eye Test
Answer: MIRAGE
Written by The Enigmatologists
The varying blurriness of the eleven numbers should hint that this has something to do with getting your eyes tested. If the blurry numbers don't give that away, hopefully the title of the puzzle does.
Searching the internet for eye tests, you are likely to come across a variety of eye test charts (some possibly familiar from your most recent appointment with an optometrist.) One particular chart known as a Snellen chart (see below) should hopefully stand out. It is a very commonly used eye chart but it also contains a green and red bar with different lengths just like on the puzzle.
This chart also has eleven rows which matches nicely with the number of blurry numbers on the puzzle. The numbers given on the puzzle are 4, 1, 1, 2, 1, 7, 8, 7, 4, 2, 5. Ranking them in terms of blurriness from least blurry to most blurry we find.
| Number | Blurriness |
|---|---|
| 4 | 4 |
| 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 1 | 3 |
| 7 | 10 |
| 8 | 8 |
| 7 | 11 |
| 4 | 7 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 5 | 6 |
Next, we use the blurriness rank to select a row on the Snellen chart (e.g., first row for least blurry) and use the associated given number to index that row. For example, In row 5, we take the second letter which is an E. Doing this for each column gives us another column for our table.
| Number | Blurriness | Letter |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | D |
| 1 | 1 | E |
| 1 | 9 | L |
| 2 | 5 | E |
| 1 | 3 | T |
| 7 | 10 | E |
| 8 | 8 | C |
| 7 | 11 | F |
| 4 | 7 | O |
| 2 | 2 | P |
| 5 | 6 | Z |
This yields the instruction to "DELETE" the letters C, F, O, P, and Z which when applied to all occurrences of those letters in the message MICRO ZAP FOG OOZE leaves the answer MIRAGE.