[Doriana] Pandora's Box

[Doriana]

Martha's penchant for the unusual saved me hours of work.

Martha = H/A/F
me = Doriana

[Balin]

Was her penchant a habit? An interest? A hobby?
"the unusual": regarding objects? pets? food? interests? hobbies? methods of doing something?
Saved you hours of work: in one day? Over a week? Over a month? A year? A longer period of time?

[Doriana]

Thanks for moving the puzzle to the active sections and for your questions, Balin. As I already have three active puzzles, I will refrain from answering questions until one of the other puzzles is solved.

[Doriana]

Was her penchant a habit? An interest? A hobby? No to all
"the unusual": regarding objects? pets? food? No to these interests? Noish hobbies? No methods of doing something? Noish
Saved you hours of work: in one day? Over a week? Assume this Over a month? A year? A longer period of time?

[GalFisk]

Unusual: weird? Rare? Not widely known? Not widely practiced? Do you know Martha? Work with her? Communicate with her? Read, hear or see what she does? Had she already done work you were about to do?

[Doriana]

Unusual: weird? Rare? This Not widely known? and this Not widely practiced? Do you know Martha? No, tiny -ish Work with her? No Communicate with her? No Read, hear or see what she does? No Had she already done work you were about to do? No

[GalFisk]

Did her penchant make her do something relevant? Go somewhere relevant? Be known for something? Publish something? Did she make it so that you knew about something it would've otherwise taken you hours to find out?

[Earnest]

Assuming work = academic work right? A paper? A submission? An info about layout? Maybe she was part of an experiment you were conducting on human brain and she was a good case study?

Or maybe work in general as houseworks? Physical work (e.g. moving house)? others?

Did she saved you from: searching for something? Did she reveal you that someone was closed? The name of someone? The name of something? Where to find something? Hours of work at the computer? Did she provide you with an info that otherwise you did not have? Did you make a search on the internet and found her website? Did you check a picture on the instagram?

Is her penchant for the unusual specific of a certain field? Animals? Collections of tickets/money/others? Making pictures to ufo (e.g. revealing something up in the air or other details on the picture?)? Making classifications? Collecting data on something? Signatures relevant? Objects related to macabre relevant?

[Doriana]

Assuming work = academic work right? No, FA A paper? A submission? An info about layout? Maybe she was part of an experiment you were conducting on human brain and she was a good case study? No to all

Or maybe work in general as houseworks? Physical work (e.g. moving house)? No to these others? Yes

Did she saved you from: searching for something? Yes Did she reveal you that someone was closed? The name of someone? The name of something? Where to find something? No to these Hours of work at the computer? Yes Did she provide you with an info that otherwise you did not have? No, tiny -ish Did you make a search on the internet and found her website? Did you check a picture on the instagram? No to these

Is her penchant for the unusual specific of a certain field? Yes Animals? Collections of tickets/money/others? Making pictures to ufo (e.g. revealing something up in the air or other details on the picture?)? Making classifications? Collecting data on something? Signatures relevant? Objects related to macabre relevant? But no to all of these

[GalFisk]

Did you miss my questions? Was the work saved related to your job? A hobby? Interest? Chore? Helping someone?

[Doriana]

Did you miss my questions? I did and I apologize Was the work saved related to your job? No A hobby? Noish Interest? Yesish Chore? Helping someone? No to rest

Did her penchant make her do something relevant? Yes Go somewhere relevant? Be known for something? Publish something? No to these Did she make it so that you knew about something it would've otherwise taken you hours to find out? Yesish

[Earnest]

Are lists relevant? Classifications? telephone numbers? schedules? words in dictionaries? spelling? Counting the number of something? Put something in order? (e.g. alphabetical order)

others? Yes --> viruses on PC? cleaning PC? Did Martha provides you with a solution to a problem that you had? A direct solution? An indirect one (e.g. I did not know that AirPods have a magnet that allow them to be put on the screen of a Mac. Nothing useful but I discovered it by chance on YouTube. Is it something along these lines?) Something to be done one the PC?

Would hours of work bee: boring? Repeating the same action n times? (e.g. copy-pasting?, writing?...) Or maybe pressing a button and then wait for a lot of times (i.e. PC running)?
Do people usually spend hours of work to do the same?

Hours of work at the computer? Yes --> searching into the web? Trying to fix something? Coding relevant? Hacking (white hacking)? finding info about the PC? About an old stuff? About something obsolete?

[Doriana]

Are lists relevant? Yesish Classifications? telephone numbers? schedules? words in dictionaries? spelling? Counting the number of something? Put something in order? (e.g. alphabetical order) No to these

others? Yes --> viruses on PC? cleaning PC? No to these Did Martha provides you with a solution to a problem that you had? Noish A direct solution? An indirect one (e.g. I did not know that AirPods have a magnet that allow them to be put on the screen of a Mac. Nothing useful but I discovered it by chance on YouTube. Is it something along these lines?) Something to be done one the PC? No to rest

Would hours of work bee: boring? Possibly Repeating the same action n times? Same or similar action(s), yes (e.g. copy-pasting?, writing?...) Or maybe pressing a button and then wait for a lot of times (i.e. PC running)? No
Do people usually spend hours of work to do the same? They might if they have the same hobby/interest

Hours of work at the computer? Yes --> searching into the web? Yes Trying to fix something? Coding relevant? Hacking (white hacking)? finding info about the PC? No to these About an old stuff? Yes for svv of "old stuff" About something obsolete? No

Good round of questions!

[Earnest]

Are lists relevant? Yesish --> list of websites? List of words? List of numbers? List of images? List of possible results of a search? Are foreign languages relevant? Are the info searched simply retrievable? I mean, is the problem to find the info or maybe to discern/distinguish among tons of info provided? (for instance by typing "Mario Rossi" in Italy, thousands of people is found. But if you look for a specific Mario Rossi, you have maybe to look carefully at each picture/address that appears after the search)

searching into the web? Yes --> on websites? On social media (e.g. number of comments? Number of hours spend on social media? Number of likes? I cannot really imagine you doing this xD...)? Googling words?

Repeating the same action n times? Same or similar action(s), yes --> typing specific words? sorting in descending/ascending order? Deleting letters (e.g. to find the right spelling)? Correcting errors? Scraping from thousands of numbers/words? Double clicking? Update a website? Be online in order to be the first to book something? To answer to something? To intervene when requested? Re-loading the same page many times? Does it involve typing many times on google? If so, the same words? Different words? Slightly different words? Or maybe the same words with small modifications? Is it about collecting data? Data found on wikipedia for instance?
Is the action mainly performed with: the keyboard (e.g. typing)? Trackpad? Mouse? By zooming? Screen shotting? Loading pages? Highlighting text? Saving files? Occupying memory? Dragging files/images? Pressing the same combination of buttons (or button) several times? Talking to the microphone?

history relevant? historical documents relevant? Historical images? Maybe cars palettes? Addresses? Data on people? Data on historical events? Data on animals? Measures? Prices? Sports? Scores? words? Body parts? Origin of names? etymology? Number of something?

To be sure: Martha made the same work that you would have done had she not the unusual hobby right? I mean she did not made a program that automatically perform what you wanted right?

[Doriana]

Are lists relevant? Yesish --> list of websites? List of words? Yesish List of numbers? List of images? List of possible results of a search? Yes Are foreign languages relevant? Are the info searched simply retrievable? They were because of what Martha did, but wouldn't have been otherwise I mean, is the problem to find the info or maybe to discern/distinguish among tons of info provided? Yes (for instance by typing "Mario Rossi" in Italy, thousands of people is found. But if you look for a specific Mario Rossi, you have maybe to look carefully at each picture/address that appears after the search This example is extremely OTRT!)

searching into the web? Yes --> on websites? Yes On social media (e.g. number of comments? Number of hours spend on social media? Number of likes? I cannot really imagine you doing this xD...)? Googling words?

Repeating the same action n times? Same or similar action(s), yes --> typing specific words? Possibly sorting in descending/ascending order? Possibly Deleting letters (e.g. to find the right spelling)? Less likely Correcting errors? Scraping from thousands of numbers/words? Double clicking? Update a website? Be online in order to be the first to book something? To answer to something? To intervene when requested? Re-loading the same page many times? Does it involve typing many times on google? Not necessarily on google, but OTRT If so, the same words? Different words? Slightly different words? Or maybe the same words with small modifications? This, probably Is it about collecting data? Data found on wikipedia for instance?
Is the action mainly performed with: the keyboard (e.g. typing)? This Trackpad? Mouse? This By zooming? Maybe this Screen shotting? Loading pages? and probably this Highlighting text? Saving files? Occupying memory? Dragging files/images? Pressing the same combination of buttons (or button) several times? Talking to the microphone?
Sorry for the vagueness here, but I'm not actually sure what action(s) I would have needed to perform

history relevant? Yes! historical documents relevant? Yes! Historical images? Maybe cars palettes? Addresses? Potentially Data on people? Yes Data on historical events? Yes Data on animals? Measures? Prices? Sports? Scores? words? Body parts? Origin of names? etymology? Number of something?

To be sure: Martha made the same work that you would have done had she not the unusual hobby right? No, FA I mean she did not made a program that automatically perform what you wanted right? But also not this

All unanswered are no/irrel

[GalFisk]

Was a list of historical documents relevant? Topic of the documents relevant? Were you seeking info on someone or domething in history? Which she'd already assembled? Futility Closet relevant?

[Earnest]

So history = recent history? (i.e. past century) Ancient greeks? Romans? 1800s? Middle Age? Others? Specific period relevant? Did you look for: Documents about people? Historical facts? a specific historical event? WWI? WWII? Science experiments? A catastrophe? Words said by someone? Info about a list of people (e.g. people killed in a conflict)? signatures?
Historical documents = interviews? interviews of police? Bureaucratic documents? Bills? Tickets? fragments of books? Writings? recordings? audio files? Excel spreadsheets? Documents typed? Handwritten? Relevant? Maybe they were handwritten and no one could understand them clearly nor a search with PC would have identified the correct words, but Martha basically typed what was handwritten. The unusual hobby is maybe that she is an ASMR artist who enjoys typing with typewriter (or someone who enjoys to bring back to life old documents in their original form).
Are dates relevant? Months? Days? Annotations?

To be sure: did Martha saved you a lot of time by providing you the info you expected/needed? Or maybe indirectly by giving you info about "how to look for them"? (or maybe on the fact that they were no more available)

This example is extremely OTRT! --> so were you looking for a group of people? Belonging to a religion? Death? having escaped? Food relevant? Maps? Coordinates? Weapons? Music? Theaters? cinemas?

List of words? Yesish --> did Martha: list some words? Sort them? Collect them? filter them? order (e.g. according to time/historical facts)? Apply relevant filters to them? interview someone? Make a video? Record someone?
Did Martha like playing Scrabble with historical words? Are archives relevant? Would Martha's work have been effective in a library?

[Doriana]

Was a list of historical documents relevant? Yesish Topic of the documents relevant? Yes, for context Were you seeking info on someone or domething in history? Yes for "someone", no for "something" Which she'd already assembled? No Futility Closet relevant? No

So history = recent history? (i.e. past century This) Ancient greeks? Romans? 1800s? and this Middle Age? Others? Specific period relevant? Did you look for: Documents about people? This Historical facts? a specific historical event? WWI? WWII? Science experiments? A catastrophe? Words said by someone? Info about a list of people (e.g. people killed in a conflict)? signatures? No to these
Historical documents = interviews? No interviews of police? No Bureaucratic documents? Most likely Bills? Tickets? fragments of books? No to these Writings? Yes recordings? audio files? Excel spreadsheets? No to these Documents typed? Handwritten? Both Relevant? Not really Maybe they were handwritten and no one could understand them clearly nor a search with PC would have identified the correct words, but Martha basically typed what was handwritten. No The unusual hobby is maybe that she is an ASMR artist who enjoys typing with typewriter (or someone who enjoys to bring back to life old documents in their original form). No, but good ideas, and keep in mind that Martha did not have an unusual hobby
Are dates relevant? Only insofar as the documents probably have dates on them Months? Days? Annotations?

To be sure: did Martha saved you a lot of time by providing you the info you expected/needed? Yope Or maybe indirectly by giving you info about "how to look for them"? (or maybe on the fact that they were no more available) No to these

This example is extremely OTRT! --> so were you looking for a group of people? Yesish Belonging to a religion? Death? having escaped? Food relevant? Maps? Coordinates? Weapons? Music? Theaters? cinemas? No/irrel to rest

List of words? Yesish --> did Martha: list some words? Sort them? Collect them? filter them? order (e.g. according to time/historical facts)? Apply relevant filters to them? interview someone? Make a video? Record someone? No to all
Did Martha like playing Scrabble with historical words? No Are archives relevant? Only insofar as this is where some of the documents might be Would Martha's work have been effective in a library? FA, Martha did something relevant, but one wouldn't call it "work"

[Earnest]

FA, Martha did something relevant, but one wouldn't call it "work" --> ok so is it something related to history? Like live reproduction of historical events? (so that an idea of how people was dressed/clothed has been given by her)? Or maybe M herself wore a costume?

Relevant which documents specifically?

[Doriana]

FA, Martha did something relevant, but one wouldn't call it "work" --> ok so is it something related to history? No, but beware of FA Like live reproduction of historical events? (so that an idea of how people was dressed/clothed has been given by her)? Or maybe M herself wore a costume? No to all

Relevant which documents specifically? Narrowing down the type of documents could help you determine what I was doing

[Earnest]

Just getting a little bit confused about M: so Martha did not have an unusual hobby, and it cannot also be called a "work" right? So is it more the way she lives (e.g. Amish?)? Or a passion that she had? The education she received? A necessity that she had? An habit of her (e.g. doing out of the box things like forcing herself to write with the left hand though she was right handed; reproducing the habits of ancients?) A curiosity about something unusual? Something connected with the documents you were looking for (e.g. she liked spotting some scenes of movies and spotted one that contains an info about the documents you needed)?
Relevant what was the field for which M had a penchant for? If so: something concerning technology? Movies? Cartoons? Comics? Entertainment? Games? Books? Weird foods? Weird histories? Horror? A collection she made?

Did you see something about Martha? A picture of her? Something belonging to her? Something on the web about her? Something she public on the web?

Narrowing down the type of documents could help you determine what I was doing --> identity cards? something connected to registry office? Something that was gathered in an office/building at the time? Something that every person at the time brought with them? Something that every person needed primarily: in order to be identified? In order to have the permission to do something? Something that only a selected group of people had? Soldiers? People belonging to a minority?

Are we talking about a specific nation? Germany? Japan? USA? Europe? UK? Spain? Italy? France? Others? May I invoke the list?
Napoleon relevant?

[Doriana]

Just getting a little bit confused about M: so Martha did not have an unusual hobby, and it cannot also be called a "work" right? Correct So is it more the way she lives (e.g. Amish? not this)? Yope Or a passion that she had? The education she received? A necessity that she had? An habit of her (e.g. doing out of the box things like forcing herself to write with the left hand though she was right handed; reproducing the habits of ancients?) A curiosity about something unusual? No to all Something connected with the documents you were looking for (e.g. she liked spotting some scenes of movies and spotted one that contains an info about the documents you needed)? Something Martha did had something to do with the documents, but not in the way you described
Relevant what was the field for which M had a penchant for? Yes If so: something concerning technology? Movies? Cartoons? Comics? Entertainment? Games? Books? Weird foods? Weird histories? Horror? A collection she made? But none of these

Did you see something about Martha? A picture of her? Something belonging to her? Something on the web about her? Something she public on the web? No to all

Narrowing down the type of documents could help you determine what I was doing --> identity cards? Possibly something connected to registry office? Possibly Something that was gathered in an office/building at the time? Irrel Something that every person at the time brought with them? No Something that every person needed primarily: in order to be identified? In order to have the permission to do something? It's not something that everybody had/needed Something that only a selected group of people had? Not necessarily "had", but a specific group of people is relevant Soldiers? People belonging to a minority? But no to these

Are we talking about a specific nation? Germany? Japan? USA? Europe? UK? Spain? Italy? France? Others? May I invoke the list? Germany and the USA are relevant
Napoleon relevant? No

HINT: Think back to your Mario Rossi example

[Earnest]

Ok so is it something like Mario Rossi but with a German name? Are migrants relevant? People with a certain name? People with a certain surname? People living in USA? German people living in USA? Vice versa? Is genealogical tree relevant?

[Doriana]

Ok so is it something like Mario Rossi but with a German name? Probably not quite as common, but common names are relevant Are migrants relevant? Yes People with a certain name? Yes People with a certain surname? Yes People living in USA? Yes German people living in USA? Yes Vice versa? No Is genealogical tree relevant? YES

Great round! Short RECAP:

Martha had a penchant for the unusual which led her to do something relevant. This saved me hours of work when I was looking for information on the internet. Family trees / genealogy, migration from Germany to the USA, and (common) names are relevant.

[Balin]

Is either your or Martha's family tree relevant?

[Doriana]

Is either your or Martha's family tree relevant? Yes to both, and FA

[Balin]

Is Martha related to you? Do your family trees overlap? Are they identical?

[Doriana]

Is Martha related to you? YES Do your family trees overlap? So, yes Are they identical? Parts of them are

[Balin]

Were you trying to look up parts of your own family tree? Did Martha look up hers? Did the overlap save you time in research?

[Doriana]

Were you trying to look up parts of your own family tree? Yes Did Martha look up hers? No Did the overlap save you time in research? No

[Enjay]

Did Martha change her name to something unusual? Give someone else an unusual name (eg one of her children)? So that that person is now easier for you to search for than if they had a common name?

[Doriana]

Did Martha change her name to something unusual? Give someone else an unusual name (eg one of her children)? Yes! So that that person is now easier for you to search for than if they had a common name? Yes indeed, time for the

********SPOILER********

I recently did some digging into the branch of my family that emigrated to the USA about 100 years ago. My two great-great-uncles who emigrated had fairly common names, but luckily, their mother had a very unusual first name, making it easier for me to identify the correct people among the search results. So, her mother - my great-great-great-grandmother Martha - and her penchant for unusual names saved me hours of tedious work, such as looking through old documents.

Well done, Earnest and GalFisk for the groundwork, and Balin and Enjay for putting the pieces together!