On the Subject of Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock

Anecdotal evidence suggests that in the game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, players familiar with each other will tie 75 to 80% of the time due to the limited number of outcomes. Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock was created by Internet pioneer Sam Kass as an improvement on the classic game. All hail Sam Kass. Hail.

To disarm this module, determine the correct signs to press.

First, determine the decoy. If the five signs are arranged in a regular pentagon, there is no decoy. Otherwise, the decoy is the one that is in the middle of the arrangement or in the middle in a line of three (horizontal, diagonal or vertical).

Next, go through the rows of the following table and determine the highest-scoring sign in each row. Stop at the first row in which there’s no tie and the highest-scoring sign is not the decoy. Then press the signs on the module that beat this sign. If no row applies, press all signs except the decoy.

Which sign beats which? It’s very simple. Scissors cuts paper. Paper covers rock. Rock crushes lizard. Lizard poisons Spock. Spock smashes scissors. Scissors decapitates lizard. Lizard eats paper. Paper disproves Spock. Spock vaporizes rock. And, as it always has, rock crushes scissors.

# of occurrences of: Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock
serial number letter
R, O P, A S, I L, Z C, K
port
RJ-45 Parallel Serial DVI-D Stereo
RCA
lit indicator
FRK, FRQ BOB, IND CAR, SIG CLR, NSA SND, MSA
unlit indicator
FRK, FRQ BOB, IND CAR, SIG CLR, NSA SND, MSA
serial number digit 0, 5 3, 6 1, 9 2, 8 4, 7