Answer: Pixel Puzzle #333

The hidden picture is a pixel creature!

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",
    "0001211111121000",
    "0000111001110000",
    "0011111111111100",
    "0010013003100100",
    "0000114004110000",
    "0000000000000000",
    "0011111001111100",
    "0011121001211100",
    "0111011001101110",
    "0111100000011110",
    "0111101001011110",
    "0112102002012110",
    "0020000000000200",
    "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: 3 × white, 1 × red, 1 × pink, 6 × red, 1 × pink, 1 × red, 3 × white
• Row 4: 4 × white, 3 × red, 2 × white, 3 × red, 4 × white
• Row 5: 2 × white, 12 × red, 2 × white
• Row 6: 2 × white, 1 × red, 2 × white, 1 × red, 1 × white, 2 × white, 1 × white, 1 × red, 2 × white, 1 × red, 2 × white
• Row 7: 4 × white, 2 × red, 1 × navy, 2 × white, 1 × navy, 2 × red, 4 × white
• Row 8: 16 × white
• Row 9: 2 × white, 5 × red, 2 × white, 5 × red, 2 × white
• Row 10: 2 × white, 3 × red, 1 × pink, 1 × red, 2 × white, 1 × red, 1 × pink, 3 × red, 2 × white
• Row 11: 1 × white, 3 × red, 1 × white, 2 × red, 2 × white, 2 × red, 1 × white, 3 × red, 1 × white
• Row 12: 1 × white, 4 × red, 6 × white, 4 × red, 1 × white
• Row 13: 1 × white, 4 × red, 1 × white, 1 × red, 2 × white, 1 × red, 1 × white, 4 × red, 1 × white
• Row 14: 1 × white, 2 × red, 1 × pink, 1 × red, 1 × white, 1 × pink, 2 × white, 1 × pink, 1 × white, 1 × red, 1 × pink, 2 × red, 1 × white
• Row 15: 2 × white, 1 × pink, 10 × white, 1 × pink, 2 × white
• Row 16: 16 × white