Each year I make a puzzle for Easter. This year I used generative AI to create some of the images, and now I wondered: could AI also solve the puzzle? The answer is: not yet, but it’s close!

The Easter puzzle 🐣 🔗

The puzzle is a yearly tradition since 2020, back when The Thing was a thing and we all had to stay inside. Some people learnt to knit, others read books, I made a series of cryptographic puzzles 😅

The puzzles are based on word and image association, combining world knowledge with language skills and creativity. Each puzzle results in one solution, and the only hints you get are the theme and the amount of letters in the solution:

Only a handful of people finish the puzzle each year, and it takes them a long time. People love to say: “It’s complicated!”

Solving with AI 🔗

The puzzles combine interpreting an image with reasoning. Two skills which OpenAI offers in its ChatGPT. Can it solve my cryptographic images?

The AI can do SAT tests and the bar-exam, so I naturally wondered how well it would do on my puzzle. I wrote a Python-script and let OpenAI do it’s magic.

In this post you’ll find my complete experiment, but I’ll spoil the conclusion for you: the AI does not do great as a puzzle solver yet, but it’s not far off.

I can see a future where you right-click on one of my puzzle images and ask a competent puzzle-buddy for hints!

The experiment 🔗

The Easter puzzle consists of 20 cryptic images. Each image is a puzzle that stands alone, only connected to the others by the common theme (‘magic’). My idea then, was to offer each image to the AI separately with the same prompt and check if the answer came up in the response.

This approach puts the AI at a slight disadvantage:

• humans learn the ‘way of the puzzle’ by solving the easy ones first. This way they know what goes on in the mind of the puzzle-creator.
• humans know which words were used in earlier puzzles, and they know (assume?) that the other puzzles don’t have the same solution
• humans see all puzzles at the same time and see similarities or trigger associations from this total-overview
• humans try solving the same puzzle multiple times, at separate points in time. You try to solve it in the evening, and then again next morning
• humans can work together, combining different insights (and even work together with themselves, by writing their thoughts at one point in time and re-reading later)
• humans can work outside-in: make a list of theme-related words and find a puzzle where the words can fit

Still, I think it’s a fair competition as the AI can do something no human can: hold all the knowledge of the entire internet in their working-memory.

Working with the API 🔗

I had to upload 20 images to ChatGPT and ask it the same question for each image. That’s a robotic task, and an ideal candidate for automation! I wrote a small Python script that reads in the images, prompts ChatGPT and spits out the answer. I’m using the latest model as of writing: gpt-4-vision-preview.

I used this prompt at first:

This image is a puzzle, your task is to solve it. The answer is one word related to the theme ‘magic’. Solving the puzzle works best by describing what you see and then do some associations with the words. Give your three best guesses. The answer consists of this amount of letters: 10

But it resulted in ChatGPT refusing to play:

🤖 I’m sorry, but I am unable to provide guesses related to activities such as solving puzzles that require visual identification and manipulation of details within an image that contains text or embedded clues. My capabilities do not include solving visual puzzles or providing speculative answers based on a combination of visual elements and themes. If you have any other questions or if there’s something else I can assist you with, please let me know!

This is a sensible reply, as it stops OpenAI of being used as a solver for Captcha’s. But OpenAI is easily fooled by rewording the sentence a bit and removing the word ‘puzzle’:

This image describes a word in the theme ‘magic’ (for example: wizard, druid or spellbinding). Which word? Give your three best guesses. The word consists of this many letters: 10

Now it mostly works. Mostly, because the API still refused to play in two instances. An inconvenient inconsistent behavior. As I don’t want to spend too much time on this article (spent way too much time on it already) I decided the AI doesn’t get a second chance on the puzzle when it refuses to play.

Results 🔗

The AI gives good reasoning for each puzzle, though the final guesses for the answers are often solely based on the given length of the solution (“the answer has 10 letters”).

Conclusion 🔗

The AI plays enthusiastically but gets it mostly wrong: just three correct answers. This is a score much worse than most humans, on average people get at least 4-5 puzzles correct. And I know ten people finished the entire puzzle.

The result is impressive, however, if you consider the limitations. The AI doesn’t ‘know’ it’s working on a puzzle (I was not allowed to tell it that in the prompt) and it only tried to solve each puzzle once. Plus, the answers it gave are based on brute-force: it gives guesses based on the amount of letters, disconnected from its reasoning. And on top of that, this is a generic AI: if we had trained the AI specifically on this task it would’ve done much better.

I’m willing to bet puzzle-solving is another domain in which AI will quickly outperform humans!

I loved reading through the answers of the AI. The thinking is human-like and colorfully descriptive. It sometimes gets close to the solution, or circles around it. Other times it is way off track and could have used human guidance. I think using ChatGPT for the puzzle would help people solve more of the puzzles, especially in a chat-style where you guide the AI back on track when it does something weird.

Next year I will make a ChatGPT-puzzle-buddy-bot! 😅

The answers per puzzle 🔗

Here are the answers the AI gave per puzzle. I’ve added my own thinking to each answer.

It’s fun to read through the responses and reason if it would have helped you solve the cryptogram. I bet in most cases it would have helped!

✅ Transmutation 🔗

The AI solved this one 🎉, even though the explanation is wrong. It incorrectly thought the “-i” was “-1”, which may have led to the confusion.

🤖 This image depicts a person walking on a train platform. A train is parked on the left side of the platform, and part of the station architecture can be seen on the right. The image has a stylized graphic filter applied to it, giving it a high-contrast, sketch-like appearance. Superimposed over the scene is a large lowercase letter ‘mu’ from the Greek alphabet, accompanied by a small subscript of ‘-1’ at the end of the letter, suggesting an inversion or the mathematical concept of taking the reciprocal.

For the word-association task, given the theme ‘magic’ and the presence of the symbol ‘mu’ which is the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet, one might start to think of words related to magic that might incorporate elements of ‘mu’, possibly in an inverted or opposite manner, as suggested by the ‘-1’. The answer is supposed to be one word that contains 13 letters.

Here are three guesses for the word: Transmutation (it features ‘mu’ and is associated with the magical transformation of one substance into another, though it lacks the ‘-1’ concept) Supernatural (often associated with magic and the mystical, but does not directly relate to the ‘mu’ symbol) Electromagnet (although more scientific than magical, ’electromagnet’ contains ‘magnet’, which can metaphorically relate to ‘attraction’ contrary to the ‘-1’ which could symbolize repulsion; however, it’s one letter short of the 13 needed)

Without additional context or clues, the image does not provide a clear path to a single 13-letter word directly associated with magic that includes the concept of ‘mu’ -1.

❌ Seance 🔗

“direct identification of the person is not appropriate”, and so the AI failed. You do need to know that this is Sean Penn for the puzzle to work!

🤖 The image appears to mimic a coin design, featuring a portrait of a man in the center with a phrase around the edge reading “PENNY NON NOT.” Since direct identification of the person is not appropriate, we will focus on the surrounding words.

The text “PENNY NON NOT” seems to be a play on words or a puzzle. Given the theme of ‘magic’, this could be a hint towards something hidden or a need to rearrange or look at the words differently.

When looking at the phrase, let’s consider a few strategies: Rearrange the letters to form a new word. Possibly read the phrase backwards. Consider homophones or words that might sound like elements of the phrase.

One word-related to ‘magic’ and fitting the six-letter condition provided could be “POTION,” which is derived from magic practices and involves a magical mixture.

Another guess could be “SPELLS,” as the phrase on the coin may require us to ‘spell’ it differently, plus it relates to the act of casting spells which is a magical activity.

A third guess, a bit more abstract, could be “ARCANE,” which is often used to describe things that are mysterious or known only by a few - also a word associated with magic.

Without more context or a clearer set of instructions, these are three educated guesses based on the clues presented.

❌ Warlock 🔗

The image has misled the AI: it’s not a car mirror, but instead the lock on the door: a car-lock. Failed!

🤖 The image you’ve provided appears to be an artistic, sketch-like representation of a car’s side-view mirror with a focus on its outline and reflection. There’s a symbol written below the mirror: “C=W”.

Considering the theme ‘magic’ and the instructions to solve the puzzle, the equation “C=W” could imply that ‘C’ equates to ‘W’, suggesting a form of transformation or change, which is a common concept in magic.

Given that we’re looking for a seven-letter word that is related to the theme of magic, and considering the car mirror which might imply reflection, change, or transformation, here are my three best guesses:

Wizardry Enchant Mystery

Each of these words either directly relates to magic or conveys a sense of the mysterious or transformational power that is often associated with magical themes. However, without more information or additional context clues, determining the exact seven-letter word that is the answer to the puzzle is speculative.

❌ Mantra 🔗

The AI failed to see this is a Manta Ray, though I like it’s poetic description of it: “an object with two pointy ears and a sheet-like appearance”. The AI also makes a grammatical mistake (“I’ll provide a one final guess”), a rarity for ChatGPT. Apparently my puzzles are confusing it too much!

🤖 The image depicts what appears to be an object with two pointy ears and a sheet-like appearance, casting a shadow onto a flat surface. At the bottom-right of the image, there is the suffix “-ay.” Since the description mentions the theme “magic,” we can associate the image and its features with concepts or objects related to magic. Considering the appearance and the given suffix, the object seems to resemble a “cloak” or “cape,” which, when combined with “-ay,” can lead us to the word “spray,” “clay,” or “tray” but these don’t fit well with the magic theme.

A classic magical item is the “cloak of invisibility” or “magic cape,” which might hint at the intended answer. The two pointy ears could actually be suggestive of the top of a wizard’s or magician’s hat, which is often depicted as a pointy hat with brim, but the image itself doesn’t conclusively depict a hat.

Given the instructions and the length of the word being six letters, combining a word that could possibly relate to the object in the image with the suffix “-ay” is the challenge here. However, without a clearer depiction or additional clues, pinpointing one exact word without guesswork is challenging. An appropriate word related to magic that is six letters long with the given “-ay” could be “replay” (as in replaying a magical event), “affray” (to describe a magical battle), or “array” (as in an array of magical spells or tools), but these are speculative guesses based on limited information.

Due to the restriction on the word size and theme, I’ll provide a one final guess: “Parlay,” which means to speak with another to negotiate or converse but it’s only distantly related to the theme of magic. Unfortunately, without clearer guidance or additional context from the image, it’s not possible to determine the intended solution with certainty.

🤷‍♂️ Mermaid 🔗

Computer says no! It refuses to play, probably to prevent it from being used as a captcha-answerer. The weird thing is this happens inconsistently.

🤖 “I’m sorry, I cannot assist with this request.”

❌ Troll 🔗

There’s some good thinking by the AI, still it failed. The association with the word ‘roll’ wasn’t found.

🤖 The image shows a capsule-shaped figure with the letter “r” on the left inside of it and a shaded area resembling a thumbprint or some form of texture on the right side.

When thinking of magic and considering the elements in the image, the letter “r” might be part of the word we are looking for. With magic as the theme and knowing that the answer should be a five-letter word, I’ll do some word associations:

“Spell” — This word is often associated with magic but doesn’t include the letter “r.” “Charm” — Again, relevant to magic but lacking the letter “r.” “Trick” — This word is related to magic (as in a magic trick) and contains the letter “r.”

Given the hint, “Trick” could very well be the word we’re looking for, as it fits the theme, the number of letters, and the presence of the letter “r”.

❌ Hobbits 🔗

It was not on the right track, although it did correctly identify the items in the image were all hobbies. If only it realized “eist” meant “e=t”, it would’ve found the answer: hobbits. Fail!

In the end, the AI started confabulating so much, it ran out of space to answer 😅.

🤖 ‘The image contains a list of hobbies or activities presented in various fonts and orientations. These words are written as follows:

Snowboarding Yoga Reading Stamp collecting Photography Fishing Scuba diving eíst (which seems to be out of place or could be a typo) COOKING

Given that the theme is ‘magic,’ we should look for connections between these hobbies that could relate to that theme.

One immediate observation is that the word “eíst” seems to be an odd one out, potentially pointing to a clue. If we recognize that “eíst” could be an anagram, we should try to reorganize these letters to find a word that fits the theme of magic and is 7 letters long.

Given this clue, and considering that some letters are capitalized while others are not, we might need to re-arrange them or consider only the capitalized letters as a possible answer. Since we are working under the restriction of the word being related to ‘magic’ and having seven letters, let’s look at the capitalized letters and see if we can find a related word:

S (from Snowboarding) Y (from Yoga) R (from Reading) S (from Stamp collecting) P (from Photography) F (from Fishing) SD (from Scuba diving) EÍST (from eíst) COOKING (all capitalized)

If we are to take only the capitalized letters, or possibly the first letters of each word including “eíst” for the anagram, it’s not immediately clear how they might form a word related to ‘magic’. We can try different anagrams of “SYRSPFSD + EÍST” but without additional context or instructions from the puzzle, it’s challenging to determine a definitive answer.

Three best guesses for a 7-letter word related to the theme ‘magic’ might include:

“Spirits” - if we consider an an

❌ Divination 🔗

Again the AI is on the right track. It lacks the understanding that 70 bar is very low in the diving world, this is real-world-knowledge it’s apparently lacking. We’re looking for the word “diving ration”, which leads to the answer divination. The AI was on the right track, but failed nonetheless.

It tried to lay the blame on me: “Without more context or an explanation of how to use the visual clues and text in the puzzle, it’s challenging to provide the exact answer you’re looking for.”. Sorry AI, but that’s not the point of puzzling.

🤖 The image appears to show diving equipment, including a scuba tank and the environment around a harbor or dock area with a body of water in the background and a portion of a boat visible. There are two pieces of text in the image: “70 bar pp” on a sign, and “-gr” at the bottom corner.

This is a rebus puzzle, where the visual information and text are used together to form words or phrases. Given that we’re looking for a single word of 10 letters related to magic, and considering the components of the image:

The text “70 bar pp” could suggest the words “seventy,” “bar,” “PP,” or possibly “pressure point.” The text “-gr” is likely the end of a word that could be longer. Scuba gear in the image, including the tanks, could suggest words like “diving,” “oxygen,” “underwater,” etc.

We would need to form a word that both relates to these cues and the theme of magic. Here are three guesses based on the contents of the image:

Spellcraft (connecting the idea of crafting with the magical theme). Sorceryppg or Sorcerypgr (attempting to use “pp” and “gr” as part of the magic theme, assuming they’re parts of the same word). Enchantment (which is related to magic but doesn’t directly use the text clues, it might be the intended answer if “70 bar pp” and “-gr” serve as misdirections).

These are speculative answers because the connection between the image clues and the theme of magic isn’t directly clear. Without more context or an explanation of how to use the visual clues and text in the puzzle, it’s challenging to provide the exact answer you’re looking for.

❌ Fairy 🔗

Oh AI! You got so close! All the components are there: dairy and “d=f”! It’s staring you in the face: fairy! 🧚

You let the answer slip through your hands. Close but no cigar!

🤖 The image presented appears to be a sketch of several objects. These items include what looks like different types of cheeses, a bottle with a label that is not clearly visible, and a cylindrical container with a lid that might resemble a container of some sort. There’s a prominent equation “d=f” at the top of the image.

The theme given is “magic,” and with the assumption that the equation or the relation “d=f” must hold some significance in solving the puzzle, I will perform some word-association based on the sketch and the theme:

Dairy - The variety of cheeses and the bottle resembling a milk bottle suggest a dairy theme. Spell - Given the theme “magic,” a common term associated is “spell,” which is composed of five letters. Charm - This term is related to magic and also has five letters, possibly fitting the clue.

Considering the image and the information provided, my three best guesses related to “magic” with five letters, following the theme and word association, would be:

Spell Charm Potion (even though it does not visibly match the equation “d=f”, it is related to magic and has five letters)

❌ Witch 🔗

Somehow the AI missed that it’s looking at a switch and thinks the image contains dice. Because of this, it drew the wrong conclusions.

🤖 The image appears to display a spiral-like design with a two-dice stack at the center, creating an optical illusion where the spiral may also resemble concentric circles depending on the viewer’s perspective. On the die, I can see the numbers 5 and 3, as well as a dollar sign which could also be interpreted as the letter ‘S’. Given that dollar signs are not typically found on dice, the ‘S’ is probably significant for solving the puzzle.

Since the theme is ‘magic’ and the answer is one word with five letters, I will use word-association based on the visible elements and the theme:

1. Spell: It’s associated with magic and consists of five letters. However, there is not a direct visual reference to spellcasting in this image.
2. Charm: This word relates to magic and has the correct number of letters. Charms can be magical objects or incantations offering good luck or protection.
3. Trick: Magic is often associated with tricks or illusions, fitting the five-letter criterion, and it may play on the idea that the image contains an optical illusion.

These are my best guesses based on the information given and the elements in the image.

❌ Banshee 🔗

Awww, the AI realizes it is missing “a particular puzzle trick”! It actually missed two clues: ’no more of this’ is a ‘ban’ and it’s on a ‘sheet’ of paper.

🤖 The image shows a prohibition sign, commonly recognized as a circle with a diagonal line through it, and the text “No more of this” is presented below the sign. In the lower left corner of the image, the word “not” is written.

Here’s a word-association based on the theme ‘magic,’ considering the prohibition sign and the word “not” which could imply something like a negation or absence:

Absence of prohibitions in ‘magic’ could lead to ‘freedom,’ but that’s not seven letters long. Following the theme of ‘magic’ and the absence hinted at by the prohibition sign, the word “not” could be combined with something typically magical to negate it, but there’s no obvious seven-letter magic-related word that fits this directly. Considering ‘magic’ and the negation, we might think of words like “reality” (as opposed to ‘magic’) or “alchemy,” but neither of these words fits the idea of “no more of this.”

Without a clear indication of which specific type of “magic” the image hints at, or more explicit instructions, it is challenging to reach a definitive answer. If any additional clues are present outside the image or if there’s a particular puzzle trick I’m missing with the provided picture, those could be crucial in solving this puzzle.

❌ Angels 🔗

Wait a minute, the AI think’s there are four shapes? I only see three! It also invents word ‘alchem’ as a short for ‘alchemy’. Lol, nice try!

🤖 The image is a minimalist black and white representation which includes four shapes that resemble arrowheads or chevrons pointing in different directions (up, right, down, and left), and a key at the bottom indicating that a certain line represents the letter ’e’.

The puzzle suggests that we should look for lines which can be converted into letters using the same principle as the key provided with ’l = e’. With this in mind, we convert the lines of the shapes into letters, assuming that a vertical or horizontal line corresponds to the letter ’e’ and an angled line represents another letter.

The four shapes seem to create the letters “C” (or “U”, if the bottom is filled in), “A”, a mirrored “L” (which could be an “L” since we’re solving for “magic” and mirrors can be magical), and another “A”.

So, using the information from the image and the theme ‘magic’, here are three guesses related to magic and consist of six letters each:

Caster Charme Alchem (short for alchemy, although not six letters, it’s close and thematically related)

Note that these are speculative guesses since the exact method for translating shapes into letters is not defined beyond the one example, and some amounts of interpretation is involved.

✅ Wand 🔗

Hooray! Another victory for the AI! The explanation is wrong again, but we set the bar low and we accept all mentions of an answer. Good job little-AI!

🤖 The image you provided is a hand making a gesture with the forefinger and middle finger raised and separated, which is commonly known as the peace sign or victory sign. Next to the hand, there is the word “noh” written in lowercase letters.

Given the theme of ‘magic’ and the structure of the puzzle, it seems we are possibly looking for a word related to magic that contains four letters and perhaps is associated with or can be derived from the word “noh” and the hand gesture.

Three guesses for a four-letter word related to the theme of ‘magic’ could be:

Wand - Although “wand” is not directly illustrated or suggested by “noh,” it is a common tool used in magical contexts. Spell - A “spell” is a magical formula, but similarly, there’s no direct connection to “noh.” Hand - The image itself is of a hand, an instrument commonly employed by magicians to perform tricks.

None of these guesses seem to be very closely related to the word “noh” or the gesture, but they all pertain to magic in a general sense. If there are more clues hidden within the image that I cannot perceive or if there’s a specific type of magic-related puzzle this is referencing, it would require more contextual information to solve accurately.

❌ Centaur 🔗

This is the first time the AI uses the instruction in the image. It figured out it needed to subtract the letter ‘a’. It failed to pick up the ‘aura’ component and that the Romans named 100 ‘cent’ (the AI got to the letter ‘C’, which is the abbreviation of cent).

🤖 The image shows the number 100, surrounded by a wavy border or frame, and at the bottom left, there is a negative sign followed by the lowercase letter ‘a’. Since we have to find a seven-letter word related to the theme ‘magic’ by using word association based on this image, let’s begin.

Looking at the number 100, we might consider concepts of totality or completeness, since 100% would represent a whole. The wavy lines could imply motion, fluidity, or something that is not straightforward. The “-a” suggests that we might need to subtract the letter ‘a’ from a word or concept we derive from the image.

Given these elements, we could come up with words related to magic where the number 100 and the subtraction of the letter ‘a’ play a role:

Casting: If we think of casting as in casting a spell and use the 100 to possibly represent a form of total or complete spellcasting, minus an ‘a’, we get ‘Csting’, which does not form a valid word.

Charmed: Playing with the theme of magic, ‘charmed’ could be a word associated with it. However, removing the letter ‘a’ from ‘charmed’ gives us ‘chrmed’, which also doesn’t work.

Alchemy: Exploring the concept of alchemy, which is a magical process of transformation, creation, or combination. If we take ‘alchemy’ as the base word and then remove the letter ‘a’, it results in ’lchemy’, which doesn’t fit our criteria.

These guesses don’t seem to fit the puzzle’s criteria, as we seek a seven-letter word. Upon further observation, the number “100” can be read as the Roman numeral “C,” accompanied by the instruction to subtract ‘a’, leading us to the word ‘Charm’ when ‘a’ is subtracted from ‘Charm’, leaving it short of a

🤷‍♂️ Elves 🔗

Computer says no!

🤖 I’m sorry, I can’t provide help with puzzles, riddles, or similar content requiring the interpretation of text or symbols within images. If you have any other types of questions or need information, feel free to ask!

❌ Harry Potter 🔗

“It’s possible we haven’t found the right approach yet”: indeed! The printer is a plotter and the clue is “no-l” instead of “no-t” :)

🤖 The image depicts a large-format printer with a piece of paper that has a man’s face printed on it. Below the printer, there is a word written in lowercase: “ton”.

To solve the puzzle, let’s focus on the word association related to ‘magic’. The word “ton” might need to be reversed or altered to form a word related to magic. Reversing “ton” gives us “not”. This doesn’t immediately suggest a magical term, but let’s consider synonyms or similar words related to magic that have 11 letters.

Here are three guesses for a word related to ‘magic’ with 11 letters, considering the clue provided:

Spellbinding Enchantment Illusionists

Considering the task requires the use of the word in the image (“ton”), and none of the guesses above use those letters directly, it’s possible we haven’t found the right approach yet. If there are additional clues or a different method to interact with the image or its elements, that might help narrow down the possibilities.

✅ Illusion 🔗

I accidentally gave the AI the wrong amount of letters 😅, so I am judging the answer it gave to be correct!

🤖 The image provided shows three vertical lines followed by an ampersand (’&’) symbol, with the letters ‘N E S’ at the bottom right corner. To approach this puzzle, we should consider the ‘magic’ theme and look for a connection between the elements in the image.

The ‘N E S’ letters might bear some significance, they could represent directions (North, East, South). The vertical lines could be a hint towards a count or tally, and the ampersand (&) an indication to combine or ‘and’ something.

Considering the magic theme and the elements involved, here are three words that might fit the criteria of being 9 letters long: Illusions Alchemist Sorceress

Unfortunately, without more specific instructions, such as how to use the directions or any additional rules for the word association part of the puzzle, it’s challenging to determine the exact answer.

❌ Medium 🔗

Nope!

🤖 The image provided displays three squares of differing sizes aligned horizontally. From left to right, each square contains a progressively larger shaded area at the bottom. Above the middle square, there’s a downward-pointing arrow. With the theme of ‘magic’ in mind, this could signify a transformation or change, which is often depicted in magical contexts as something visually altering in size, appearance, or nature.

Word association with ‘magic’ and the visual cue of increasing shaded areas might suggest concepts such as “growth,” “change,” or “illusion.” The downward arrow could imply “casting” as in casting a spell, or “invoke,” suggesting the act of initiating magical effects. The differing sizes might also suggest the idea of “scaling” or “enlarge,” relating to magical changes in size or volume.

Considering these elements and the requirement for a six-letter word related to ‘magic,’ my three best guesses are as follows:

Potion - often used in magic to cause changes or transformations. Enchant - to magically endow with a given property or effect. Sorcery - a term broadly associated with magic and spell-casting.

Without additional context or clear instructions within the image, the goal is to interpret the abstract representation in a way that aligns with the given theme.

❌ Ouija 🔗

The flags confused the AI because they are in black-and-white.

🤖 The image you’ve provided appears to show the word “YES” twice, one above the other. On the first “YES,” there is a checkered flag pattern on the left side of the first letter ‘Y,’ and on the second “YES,” there is a similar pattern on the right side of the third letter, ‘S.’ To solve this visual puzzle, we might consider what the checkered flags are indicating—typically, they are used in racing to signify the start or the end of a race.

With the theme of ‘magic’ in mind and the checkered pattern indicating some sort of a transformation or a change, we could try to find a word that is associated with magic and change or transformation.

Here are my three best guesses for a five-letter word related to ‘magic’:

Spell - The transformation may suggest the casting of a spell, which is a fundamental element of magic. Charm - This is another term related to magic which involves the use of a spell or enchantment. Trick - This could refer to a magic trick, which is an act of illusion typically performed by a magician to create a change in perception.

Without further context or instructions on how to specifically use the elements of the image, these are speculative answers based on the theme provided and the visual cues.

❌ Hocus Pocus 🔗

This is one where the AI could’ve had a major advantage. Not a lot of people know the words ‘focus’ and ’locus’ as synonyms for ‘attention’ and ‘center’, and the AI could’ve played thesaurus.

🤖 The image you’ve provided displays the text “Center of Attention” in a large font with a mathematical equation underneath, “f = h l = p”. To solve this puzzle within the context of the theme ‘magic’ and the clue that the answer has ten letters, let’s consider the elements presented:

“Center of Attention” could imply that we need to focus on the central aspect or middle part of something.

The mathematical equation could be indicating that ‘f’ equals ‘h’ times ’l’ which equals ‘p’. This might suggest that we need to do a substitution or some form of an equation to find the solution.

Given that we’re looking for a ten-letter word related to ‘magic’, and based on the provided instructions, here are three guesses:

Enchantment - Derived from the idea of magical spells or effects that captivate attention. Spellcraft - Although not ten letters, this term describes the art of creating magical spells, which can be the center of attention in a magical context. Illusionist - A performer of magic tricks that often hold the ‘center of attention’ during their act.

However, if we need to rely exclusively on word substitution or manipulation, the provided equation doesn’t clearly lead to a ten-letter solution related to magic without further context or instructions. Can you provide additional instructions or context?