Question about "Easy Prey" award

[Leira]

I have been on and off PE for the last few years.
I used to have the Easy Prey badge awarded to my account, however, at some point I seem to have lost it.

At first I thought it was because easier problems were introduced (which would be required by definition), however, as of today, I have solved most 5% problems and still no luck.

On the other hand, I checked the progress of a friend that *does have* the award, and I have solved every problem they have solved.

Am I missing something, or is it a bug?

Thanks for the help.

[euler]

First of all, your username here (juanchodepisa) does not match any known username at the main site. It is important that we keep them in sync. Let me know if you wish to change your username here.

To earn the Easy Prey you simply need to solve every problem on the first page if you sort the problems in order of difficulty. You will notice that you haven't solved one of the problems on that page.

I'm also confused that your friend has solved the exact same problems as you but has earned the badge. Can you let me know the username so I can work out what has happened?

[Leira]

My usernames are ancient, from before achievements and awards, when levels were platonic solids (never got to sphere back then, which was my highest goal). I don't remember whether matching usernames was enforced at the time, but I also don't remember why they are different. I probably changed the username on the main site to match the one I use on gaming sites.

In any case, my main username is Leira. It's in my badge, which I show on my signature. I'd rather keep that one if it needs to be changed.

Going by the first page list, I'm missing Problem 836 (View Problem). I feared it would be that one. I'm guessing I'll have to ask a mathematician friend to decrypt some of the terms in the problem statement.

However, there seems to be a rather huge discrepancy with the award. If P836 is required, it has been solved by only 5 054 people, whereas there are 64 811 people who've got the Easy Prey award, a whole order of magnitude bigger.

By the way, a clarification, the friend I'm referring to is [--redacted--]. I said:

I have solved every problem they have solved

which implies they have solved a subset of my problems, not the exact same ones. It's a nitpick, I know, but I don't want to be held suspect of cheating, just in case.

[euler]

The awards are updated when someone solves a problem. So if they earned the award and haven't solved a problem since, the system will think they still have the award. Because I've just looked at your friend's account it might have just "unearned" the award as they are now on 48/50. By the way, feel free to edit your last post and remove your friend's username.

My advice is not to be put off by problem 836! It's definitely ranked in the right place.

Regarding your username. The issue we have is that accounts here are not entirely synced with main site, which means if you change your username on the main site, the username here will not change at the same time. If you would like me to, I can change your username here to match the main website.

That mention of the platonic solids brought back some incredible memories. I'd completely forgotten. You've certainly been around for quite some time!

[Leira]

My advice is not to be put off by problem 836! It's definitely ranked in the right place.

Oh man, you got me. You got me GOOD! From this I shall never recover. It took me weeks to solve, one of the hardest problems I've ever seen. A true excercise in reading until the end of the dang question!

I can change your username here to match the main website.

Yes, please, let's change it to Leira. How do I do the authentication? Is it the same password, do I get an email?

That mention of the platonic solids brought back some incredible memories. I'd completely forgotten. You've certainly been around for quite some time!

It's been almost 20 years my friend. The exact date has been lost to time. I remember that, as a former math olympiad student with a proclivity for coding, finding this website was like finding a hidden treasure chest.

I still miss the classic polyhedral medals. I was quite younger and less experienced back in the day; some of the problems that I would deem impossible have become much less scary and even doable since. Can I get at least an honoris causa icosahedron?

[euler]

As you will have discovered, I've changed your username here. You may have tried your new username when your old username didn't work, but I've also sent you a message at .net to let you know.

I'm spinning quite a few plates at the moment, but we might need to reintroduce some of those Platonic awards.

[Leira]

Thanks. I was able to access my account with the new username.

[euler]

That's good to hear. By the way, you can dismiss that message on the main website by clicking the "Dismiss Message" link.