Answer: Pixel Puzzle #387

The hidden picture is a pixel creature!

Here’s what the colours make.

The picture as Python

Here is the same picture stored as numbers in a Python list. The program reads each number and prints a symbol for it, so you can see the picture appear in the Python shell.

picture = [
    "0000000000000000",
    "0000000000000000",
    "0011110000111100",
    "0002210000122000",
    "0011110000111100",
    "0111113003111110",
    "0111104004011110",
    "0011121001211100",
    "0012211001122100",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0011121001211100",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0011110000111100",
    "0000000000000000",
    "0000000000000000",
]
symbols = " #@*o"

for row in picture:
    line = ""
    for number in row:
        line = line + symbols[int(number)]
    print(line)

When you run it, it prints:


  ####    ####
   @@#    #@@
  ####    ####
 #####*  *#####
 #### o  o ####
  ###@#  #@###
  #@@##  ##@@#
  #####  #####
  ###@#  #@###
  #####  #####
  #####  #####
  ####    ####

Squashing the picture smaller

Computers often save space with a trick called run-length encoding. Instead of storing every pixel, they count how many of the same colour are in a row. Here’s this picture written that way:

Show the run-length code

Row 1: 16 × white
Row 2: 16 × white
Row 3: 2 × white, 4 × yellow, 4 × white, 4 × yellow, 2 × white
Row 4: 3 × white, 2 × orange, 1 × yellow, 4 × white, 1 × yellow, 2 × orange, 3 × white
Row 5: 2 × white, 4 × yellow, 4 × white, 4 × yellow, 2 × white
Row 6: 1 × white, 5 × yellow, 1 × white, 2 × white, 1 × white, 5 × yellow, 1 × white
Row 7: 1 × white, 4 × yellow, 1 × white, 1 × navy, 2 × white, 1 × navy, 1 × white, 4 × yellow, 1 × white
Row 8: 2 × white, 3 × yellow, 1 × orange, 1 × yellow, 2 × white, 1 × yellow, 1 × orange, 3 × yellow, 2 × white
Row 9: 2 × white, 1 × yellow, 2 × orange, 2 × yellow, 2 × white, 2 × yellow, 2 × orange, 1 × yellow, 2 × white
Row 10: 2 × white, 5 × yellow, 2 × white, 5 × yellow, 2 × white
Row 11: 2 × white, 3 × yellow, 1 × orange, 1 × yellow, 2 × white, 1 × yellow, 1 × orange, 3 × yellow, 2 × white
Row 12: 2 × white, 5 × yellow, 2 × white, 5 × yellow, 2 × white
Row 13: 2 × white, 5 × yellow, 2 × white, 5 × yellow, 2 × white
Row 14: 2 × white, 4 × yellow, 4 × white, 4 × yellow, 2 × white
Row 15: 16 × white
Row 16: 16 × white

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