– That’s it! – Leo pointed at the sign on the skyscraper’s facade, where it read “Ytic-igol” in giant letters. Leo would have headed inside, but Mathina quickly grabbed his hand.
– Isn’t it strange that it says Ytic-igol?
– No, it’s not strange at all, let’s go! – Leo jumped up but was immediately stopped by an invisible wall in front of the door.
Q: What do you think, what does Ytic-igol mean?
Mathina thought for a while, and while deep in thought, she turned around and then back to the facade. She slapped her forehead in surprise.
– Logi-city, just the other way round! This means, we should do everything backwards! – this said, she grabbed Leo by his shoulder and turned him around. Leaping backwards, they made their way to the door. At the doorway, they greeted the giant owl standing there, and wanted to proceed through the door.
– Stop, stop immediately! – The owl flapped its wings. They turned around.
– We have an important mission to complete here, Mr Owl – Mathina said confidently. – We need to deliver this birthday gift to the Head of Logical Matters of Logi-city.
– Yes, I was notified. But you are no exception to the rule. Observe the marble floor here in the doorway – the owl pointed at the colored tiles. – As a matter of fact, there is a purpose behind the pattern. You are not allowed to stomp simply across it, unless you reveal the logic behind. This is how we ensure that only worthy people pass through to the boss.
Leo was annoyed by the owl, so Mathina pressed his hand to keep him silent.
The owl listed the rules: they can only step from red to red, blue to blue, green to green, yellow to yellow; or from circle to circle, square to square, triangle to triangle. Mathina observed the figure, scratched her head, without noticing that she let go of Leo’s hand.
– That’s so simple! – cried the reckless friend and jumped. The owl was in despair as Leo kept jumping from one field to another. He moved from the red circle to the red square, then to the red circle, from there to the red square, but stopped on the red triangle, almost swinging to the wrong field.
– Stop! You stop immediately! – Leo was so terrified that he stood still on the red triangle. – I wasn’t done yet – said the owl. – If you miss just one step, the tile will turn over and you find yourself in the sewer system of the house. And there is no way back! But this time – he added -, I’ll make a very special exception. Now you can return to the starting point, and try again, but that’s absolutely, my last favor.
Leo stared at Mathina with a disgusted frown, really frightened by the owl’s promise. Mathina stepped to him and pushed him back to the starting point.
– You stay here now and don’t do anything! – Mathina turned to the tiles and wondered what to do.
Question: What advice would you give them? Where would you go? Try all the possible ways!
App 1. Rule: you can only step from red to red, blue to blue, green to green, yellow to yellow; or from circle to circle, square to square, triangle to triangle. http://www.rimosco.it/ew/LC_S2_Yticigol/index.htm
Question: How far did you get? Let’s see, how Mathina is doing!
Mathina carried through solution possibilities in her head but always encountered an obstacle. She scratched her head, looked around, and again noticed the script on the facade: Ytic-igol.
– Oh, got it! – she shouted. She remembered that the script had to be read backwards. So what if she tried to think backwards here as well? What if she tried to get through from the doorway to where she stood?
Question: Can you get from the doorway to Mathina, does this work?
App 2. http://www.rimosco.it/ew/LC_S2_Yticigol/index.htm
Mathina traced the now absolutely self-evident route backwards. She strove to memorize the fields.
– Red circle, red triangle, blue triangle…, – Mathina murmured. She knocked on Leo’s shoulder, who had dozed off while waiting.
– Come on, Leo, follow me, I found the way!
The owl watched them with satisfaction and jumped up happily as they reached the door.
– Congratulations, young lady, congratulations! – He shouted after them. Mathina nodded politely because she hated being called a young lady, she was the smart and strong Mathina…
They loaded off Leo’s backpack and set out to leave. They skillfully walked backwards on the colored tiles and said goodbye to the owl.