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


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

 		Ok, ok, I'll stay general with the hints for now.

1. If you haven't solved the Cyrillic page yet, start there.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Each solve contains a clue for the next one.


2. Who are you supposed to be?

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Refer to the decoded Cyrillic cipher and the "Hollow Nickel" story. You get it, right?


When in doubt, think like that person would.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Who/what/where/when are you? What do you know?


3. When in even more doubt, think like grngecko would!

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
"If I can add a twist to make something simple more complicated, I will!"


PostPosted: Wed May 23, 2007 2:38 pm
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HyperBorea
Boot


Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 63
Location: Undisclosed

 		Good job, simokon!

I'm still stuck on the Cryllic cipher. (I enjoy these things, but I'm not necessarily that good at them.) Is it a simple substitution? Do the word breaks in the given text correspond to actual words?

I do notice writing the sentences out on their own lines makes it look like a limerick. Probably not, though.
_________________
HyperBorea
I thought you had the map.

PostPosted: Sat May 26, 2007 2:13 pm
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simokon
Boot


Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 45
Location: San Jose, CA
HyperBorea wrote:
Good job, simokon!

I'm still stuck on the Cryllic cipher. (I enjoy these things, but I'm not necessarily that good at them.) Is it a simple substitution? Do the word breaks in the given text correspond to actual words?


I didn't get it until...

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
I noticed that the last word had a pretty distinctive letter pattern. Once I got that one, the rest filled itself in.


PostPosted: Sat May 26, 2007 3:17 pm
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HyperBorea
Boot


Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 63
Location: Undisclosed
simokon wrote:


Spoiler (Rollover to View):
I noticed ... Once I got that one, the rest filled itself in.


Ah, yep. That did it. Thanks! On to number 2...
_________________
HyperBorea
I thought you had the map.

PostPosted: Sun May 27, 2007 10:22 am
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HyperBorea
Boot


Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 63
Location: Undisclosed

 		Well, I've tried the other ciphers as one-time pads for the "bolt cipher." No go. I think someone mentioned that already. I've been trying some of the plain texts that have been referenced here, too, (the CIA and FBI stories about Abel) with no luck.

Do the ciphers need to be solved in order?
_________________
HyperBorea
I thought you had the map.

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 10:08 am
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Uberg33k
Entrenched


Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 905
Location: Atlanta
HyperBorea wrote:
Well, I've tried the other ciphers as one-time pads for the "bolt cipher." No go. I think someone mentioned that already. I've been trying some of the plain texts that have been referenced here, too, (the CIA and FBI stories about Abel) with no luck.

Do the ciphers need to be solved in order?
He said that each one unlocks another, so I'm thinking yes. I'm even sure I know which one goes next and what cipher it is, I'm just missing the key to unlock it. Its a bit maddening since I understand the cyrillic clue, but I haven't really had a lot of time to work on it lately and I probably will be somewhat limited from now until next week. I'll keep poking at it in the mean time though.

PostPosted: Mon May 28, 2007 1:22 pm
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simokon
Boot


Joined: 06 Aug 2004
Posts: 45
Location: San Jose, CA
Uberg33k wrote:
He said that each one unlocks another, so I'm thinking yes.


For the record (if by "he" you're referring to me), simokon is a she.

I did mean it when I said each solve helps with the next. Don't give up yet.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
So exactly how are you trying to test a one-time pad? Taking the first group of five letters from one page and combining them with the first five letters from another page? And you get nothing?

Now reread that. Think like grngecko - what really simple things could you do to make sure that approach would fail? He chose two of them.

If you'd like an extra nudge...

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Go back and read my earlier post about how I planned to solve it.


PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2007 3:13 pm
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HyperBorea
Boot


Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 63
Location: Undisclosed

 		simokon:

Ah, right. This looks like it calls for some potential hefty text crunching. So I'm going to take this opportunity to learn Python and go at it.

(Seriously. Some of my geeky aspects I've suppressed for a while, and one of them is programming. The only programming of done recently is TI-basic stuff on the calculator for the science and math classes I used to teach. Oh, and a fair-offer-or-not calculator to use while watching the dumbest game show ever, Deal or No Deal. I haven't done anything on a computer since college when I programmed a pretty nifty CO2 snow deposition model in --get this-- Amiga BASIC. I've been itching to learn a real, modern programming language, and Python seems like a fairly straightforward one to pick up and this seems like a good task for it.

And then by this time time next year my newfound and total mastery of Python, Perl, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Java, Javascript, C, C#, C##, D-flat, and PHP will enable to set up my web development business.

Or not.

Talk about a digression.)

Anyway, you might not hear from me for a bit.
_________________
HyperBorea
I thought you had the map.

PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 11:02 am
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Uberg33k
Entrenched


Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 905
Location: Atlanta
simokon wrote:
Uberg33k wrote:
He said that each one unlocks another, so I'm thinking yes.


For the record (if by "he" you're referring to me), simokon is a she.
Sorry about that. At least I can say in my defence that in proper English, he is assumed as a pronoun when gender is indeterminate. Now that you're determined, I shall use she.

PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2007 1:38 pm
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Chuck
Greenhorn

Joined: 08 May 2007
Posts: 6

 		Bleating Helplessly
Based on info that I can find using "my friend", the second page cipher is a "one time pad". It seems safe to assume since the first five letters are used as a marker, indicating where to begin in the "pad" and the letters in the fifth block of five letters on the sixth page are "ACZVX". Therefore, it appears that the sixth page is the "pad". My problem is that I have found so many different algorithms for application of the "one time pad" and none of them lead to any plain text.

PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:38 pm
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Piratejuice
Guest


 		Is anyone here? Please I need help with the cyrillic cipher..I'm hopefully lost..

PostPosted: Tue May 11, 2010 11:01 am
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arthurdent11389
Decorated

Joined: 01 Oct 2010
Posts: 184

 		status: trying to come in from the cold
I've completed the "cyrillic cipher" and the "bolt cipher" and the "pencil cipher", but now need to work my way through the "nickel cipher".

But variations in
(1) date format (mdyyyy or dmyyyy?),
(2) english translations of song's first line,
(3) transposition column width determinations (quadibloc version or orignal - david kahn explanation- version), and
(4) exact layout of straddling checkerboard/keyword

any hints greatly appreciated !

Piratejuice, the decoded plaintext is in English, so you need to convert from cyrillic first.

PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 6:36 pm
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DrNewcenstein
Boot

Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 32

 		Thought about trying this one since Torment's blocks are mocking me. Picked the nickel first, and here I am. Laughing

Looks like I'll poke through that Tunnels one instead.

PostPosted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 6:02 pm
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emato
Unfettered


Joined: 06 Aug 2007
Posts: 333
Location: Florida

 		I've solved the Russian note - and all the UTM coordinates. I'm currently stuck on the first (2ond shadow figure) mixed text message from the hollow bolt (metal thing).

Using the 6th shadow figure (the paper pad thing) as what I'd need for a OTP I've tried every direction offset using the 6th pic as pad and the 2ond pic as msg.

Obviously I must be doing something wrong. I get gibberish - even with many offsets.

I've even tried the decrypted 1st msg as pad with bolts msg as txt and still no go.

Any nudges would be appreciated.

emato
_________________
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in" - Leonard Cohen

PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 7:11 pm
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emato
Unfettered


Joined: 06 Aug 2007
Posts: 333
Location: Florida

 		I'm still plugging away at this.

Worked my way though the hollow bolt cipher and about 1/2 way though the pencil one. One thing this puzzle has really inspired me to learn Python for crypto!

It's fun though. Hopefully my next post will be that 'I've come in from the cold'.

ETA:

Finished all but the nickel (VIC). So far get gibberish. Tried a couple different setups -- will try a new date as well.
_________________
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in" - Leonard Cohen

PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:58 pm
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