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 Forum index » Diversions » TimeWasters
[PUZZLE TRAIL] In from the Cold
Moderators: Giskard, ndemeter, ScarpeGrosse
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HyperBorea
Boot


Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 63
Location: Undisclosed
HyprBorea wrote:
Okay, I'm being a dunce here. I recognized the coordinates as coordinates, but apparently don't get the format. For instance, the coordinates I entered into Google Earth from the picture of
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Gorky Park
put me in the ocean off the coast of Norway. So I'm clearly not reading them right. A little help?

This message was sent by me at work, where I had a hard time remembering my forum password (got lazy with my home Firefox autofill). Anyway, this follow up is here as an anchor for a PM if that's more appropriate.
_________________
HyperBorea
I thought you had the map.

PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2007 3:33 pm
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simokon
Boot


Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 45
Location: San Jose, CA
HyprBorea wrote:
Okay, I'm being a dunce here. I recognized the coordinates as coordinates, but apparently don't get the format. For instance, the coordinates I entered into Google Earth from the picture of
Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Gorky Park
put me in the ocean off the coast of Norway. So I'm clearly not reading them right. A little help?


I had trouble with the translation, too. Some online translators gave me results that weren't valid coordinates, and some that were obviously wrong. (IIRC, the Gorky Park coord was one of the peskier ones). The UTM format was clearly not meant for hacks like ourselves. Very Happy

If needed, later I can dig up my data and post the coordinate equivalents that you can plug right into google.

PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:10 pm
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simokon
Boot


Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 45
Location: San Jose, CA
Uberg33k wrote:
After trying a bunch of methods and analysis, I reread the FBI file on the hollow nickel. It does seem that at least the message in the hollow bolt is a OTP, if not all of the scrambled text ciphers. Problem is that I can't figure out what the hell the pad could be. If you go in order of the FBI story, the bolt will contain the next clue and we'll need to solve that before trying to tackle the nickel. Any ideas of what he could be using as a pad?


Last night I tried writing a program to combine each of the letter ciphers (with shifts, in case the starting position of the pad varies) to see if I could figure out which one is the pad, but I ran out of time before I got anywhere. I can work on it some more tonight.

FWIW, the article on the CIA website has a lot more detail on the cipher locations - maybe that can help you on that front. I can't figure out how to make a direct link, but you can find it by going to www.foia.cia.gov (Freedom of Information Act reading room) and find the doc called "Colonel Able's Assistant" (put "fort tryon park" in the search box to find it. Searching by title doesn't seem to work).

It's kind of long, and reads like a bad pulp novel (those CIA guys are so funny), but it contains a lot more detail than the FBI doc. Maybe that will help?

PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:19 pm
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Uberg33k
Entrenched


Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 905
Location: Atlanta

 		I finished reading the CIA document last night. It seems weird to me that was an official document labeled secret at one time. It *was* like a bad novel. It didn't really lead me to any new ideas on the cipher, but it certainly was interesting. I tried using parts of the CIA document as a pad, but that was a no go. I did have to wonder if we're missing something with Gorky Park. Its the only page that doesn't really have a cipher. True, the song and the park may be a hint to the pad needed for the ciphers or whatnot. What if its a dead drop and there is some other clue or page hidden off that one? Regardless if that's right or not, there has to be a logical way to figure out the pad or to decipher the nickel.

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 9:54 am
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HyperBorea
Boot


Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 63
Location: Undisclosed
simokon wrote:
I had trouble with the translation, too. Some online translators gave me results that weren't valid coordinates, and some that were obviously wrong. (IIRC, the Gorky Park coord was one of the peskier ones). The UTM format was clearly not meant for hacks like ourselves. Very Happy


UTM format. Okay, now I've learned about something new. Thanks! I googled UTM to learn about it. Seems pretty straightforward. I found an online UTM<->LatLong converter. Since you thought you recalled the Gorky Park coordinates were a bit pesky, I used them to test the converter. I plugged the resulting LatLong coordinates into Google Earth, and it took me right there. So I think it's probably a reliable tool:

http://home.hiwaay.net/~taylorc/toolbox/geography/geoutm.html

Thanks for the help.
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HyperBorea
I thought you had the map.

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 11:32 am
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Uberg33k
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Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 905
Location: Atlanta

 		That raises another question for simokon. How did you determine exactly what it is that these coordinates point to?

Here's another thought ... has anyone played connect the dots with the coordinates yet?

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 11:42 am
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HyperBorea
Boot


Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 63
Location: Undisclosed
Uberg33k wrote:
That raises another question for simokon. How did you determine exactly what it is that these coordinates point to?


What do you mean? They point to wherever they are...? I guess I don't understand your question. (But then, I'm not simokon, am I? Smile )

In the case of the Gorky Park coordinates, the coordinates land in the middle of the water shown in the photo. This pic shows the coordinates' location, along with my mark for about where I believe the photo was taken from:



As an aside:
How frickin' cool is this? We can play spy games using what amounts to the same basic technology as spies? Complicated codes, satellite images...It's crazy. I love it. Now if only there was way to make a living doing this. Short of becoming an actual spy, which I'm a little long in the tooth for.
_________________
HyperBorea
I thought you had the map.

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:01 pm
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HyperBorea
Boot


Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 63
Location: Undisclosed
simokon wrote:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):

Russian: is the Russian alphabet, but is not actually Russian. Coordinate points to Rybachiy submarine base in Russia, specifically to the dock for sub "Delta III".


How did you get this?
_________________
HyperBorea
I thought you had the map.

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:13 pm
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Uberg33k
Entrenched


Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 905
Location: Atlanta
HyperBorea wrote:
simokon wrote:
Spoiler (Rollover to View):

Russian: is the Russian alphabet, but is not actually Russian. Coordinate points to Rybachiy submarine base in Russia, specifically to the dock for sub "Delta III".


How did you get this?
That's what I'm talking about. Delta III isn't a sub name, its a class of vessel. Some of these coordinates are more obvious than others. I'm just wondering how he figured out what was what.

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:19 pm
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Uberg33k
Entrenched


Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 905
Location: Atlanta
HyperBorea wrote:

What do you mean? They point to wherever they are...? I guess I don't understand your question. (But then, I'm not simokon, am I? Smile )

In the case of the Gorky Park coordinates, the coordinates land in the middle of the water shown in the photo.
Right, what's the name of the body of water. grngecko just doesn't pull random coordinates. If Torment is any indication, he wants specificially what's at those coordinates, no just the general area surrounding them.

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:22 pm
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Uberg33k
Entrenched


Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 905
Location: Atlanta

 		Well, it looks like I answered my own question

http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/20241/

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 12:37 pm
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simokon
Boot


Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 45
Location: San Jose, CA

 		As for how I knew where coordinates pointed to, I used Google Earth, which has a lot more information about landmarks than Google Maps.

I also forgot to correct the info about the submarine. Delta III is a class, not a name. Thanks for the catch Ub3r.

Also remember that coordinates can be off by many meters (remember the Gold Bug level in Torment?), doubly so when they've been translated. (i.e. the Gorky coord being in a pond.)

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 2:29 pm
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simokon
Boot


Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 45
Location: San Jose, CA

 		 oh no...
I have good news and bad news.

Bad: I SOLVED IT! WOO HOO! Whole durn thing.

Good: Now I'm in a position to start issuing useful hints. Takers? Very Happy

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 10:57 pm
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greengecko
Greenhorn


Joined: 31 Jan 2007
Posts: 6

 		Re: oh no...
simokon wrote:
I have good news and bad news.

Bad: I SOLVED IT! WOO HOO! Whole durn thing.

Good: Now I'm in a position to start issuing useful hints. Takers? Very Happy


"in from the cold" has been solved and confirmed. Congratulations "simokon"!! Worshippy

http://grngecko.com/iftcsol.html

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2007 11:56 pm
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Uberg33k
Entrenched


Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 905
Location: Atlanta

 		Re: oh no...
simokon wrote:
Now I'm in a position to start issuing useful hints. Takers? Very Happy
Duh.

Edit : and congrats by the way. If you think you'll be checking in on this thread for a while, then make the hint(s) subtle. I haven't worked on this puzzle much yet (at least compared to Torment) and haven't exhausted all ideas yet. If you think you're going to take a break for a while and disappear, then post a series of separated hints so it isn't all given away at once.

PostPosted: Wed May 23, 2007 9:13 am
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