[spoiler]: use highlighter pen to reveal

November 12, 2011 8:22 PM

how do you emulate a [spoiler] tag on paper?

say you were making a page of a puzzle and you wanted to also include the answer key, but you didn't want it to look obvious. how would you conceal the answer?

there's the classic "write with lime juice", but how longdoes that last? how about those magic marker pens?
there's also the more physical "make an envelope/flap".
anything else?

posted by divabat to media & arts (12 answers total)

Very small print and upside down at the bottom of the page; making the font difficult to read otherwise; encode it with a (simple) cipher like ROT13.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:24 PM on November 12, 2011

Make a little scratch-off spot with the answer hidden within.
posted by illenion at 8:25 PM on November 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Or, write the answer lightly in blue with red designs over it, then provide a piece of red cellophane through which to view the answer.
posted by illenion at 8:29 PM on November 12, 2011 [6 favorites]

The text could be "mirrored" such that you would have to hold a mirror next to it in order to easily read it.
posted by jcreigh at 8:29 PM on November 12, 2011

Maybe make the answer a rebus?
posted by illenion at 8:36 PM on November 12, 2011

Write the answer on the back?
posted by lollusc at 8:51 PM on November 12, 2011

Small, upside down, and at the bottom of the page (as Tomorrowful described) was pretty much the standard back in the days of yore when things like magazines and newspapers existed.
posted by Flunkie at 8:56 PM on November 12, 2011

in a book of puzzles, the answers wouldn't be on the same puzzle page - sometimes and index in the back, sometimes a "see page 43 for answer" sort of situation where it's upside down and in small print below a different puzzle.
posted by nadawi at 10:57 PM on November 12, 2011

Put it on the back? Magically, no one would see it until they flipped the paper over.
posted by Brian Puccio at 4:48 AM on November 13, 2011

Seconding the red cellophane idea, that's how did did Sierra adventure game hint books back in the day.
posted by yellowbinder at 7:01 AM on November 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

could you make the red cellophane idea work with purple?
posted by divabat at 11:56 PM on November 13, 2011

Purple cellophane with blue and red ink? It might work, but not as well as red cellophane, since purple is a secondary color combining blue and red. Purple cellophane would likely let both the red and blue ink show through, making your hidden message unclear.

Maybe try purple cellophane and purple designs over a green hidden message.
posted by illenion at 12:59 AM on November 16, 2011