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[nodnetni]

finally found the ad and the correct link.

So now i am at least past that.

Has anyone gotten past the 1st sequence?

Also i would sure hope they would just be done with it if someone has won this already.

[Prömetheus]

[nodnetni]

Still using unlimited guesses?

How about spades for the sequence?

[Prömetheus]

no good

[gdesignr]

Interesting contest
I was out of town when the final puzzles went up, and figured it would be over within hours. When I returned I was surprised to find everyone stuck on the first one so I decided to jump in. Over the last couple of days I've deciphered the ruins, found the site, and I too got stuck on the first puzzle. I'm stumped. While there is money on the line I've decided I need to share what I have if I hope to get any further. Here's what I've looked at so far that seems reasonable:

The chatter from Nate and Vicky on facebook yesterday points towards the sequence of flashed images in the intro video. I was already on this track since they said start from the beginning and it is the clearest unused clue.

Going through the video I found the same frames that MrToasty did back on page 1 of this thread. There may be others, which could be the problem, but I haven't found them.

The 6 frames each show the letters A-M and a 2 digit number.
The letters A-M seem to imply the alphabet, or the Atabash or ROT13 ciphers.
The numbers are more confusing, as they are greater than 13 and 26 so they do not work well with the alphabet or those ciphers.

The question is "Enter authorization sequence #1"

I've tried the numbers in order
855207220807
I've tried the numbers in a csv sequence
85, 52, 07, 22, 08, 07
I've tried the first set
85
None of those have worked. Pro, if you are doing unlimited you might also want to try the sequence like this:
85-52-07-22-08-07

I've tried converting these straight to alpha letters:
gzgvhg
I've tried those letters with the atabash cipher:
tatest

no luck

Next up, they seem to indicate that letters are involved with the A-M. If we can somehow convert the numbers to letters, and they follow a basic cipher like one of the above, and they solve to a word (lots of assumptions), then we can assume 07 = 07 and 08 = 07+1.
That narrows down the words it could be to something like ?,?,x,?,(x+1),x or maybe ?,?,x,?,(x-1),x

There aren't too many words that follow that pattern. I found a crossword solver that let me test the possibilities. Promising words I tried that failed:
London
output
Other possible words that I have not tried (Pro?):
canyon
visits
laptop
masters
losers
posers
artist
detest
attest
latest

Other than that, I only have a few observations that might help someone else:
Why are the single digit numbers preceded with zero? are they dates? are they grid coordinates on some grid based cipher?
Each individual number appears more than once. Here they are broken apart and put in order: 000222557788 (Pro?)
Maybe there is a sequence or pattern that should be continued. What would the next 2 digit number be?

I'm concerned that they are already posting clues for sequence two. I wonder if that means someone has solved sequence one. It also talks about playing cards and where we've seen them before. I double checked and don't see them anywhere. Fun fun.

I like this contest because it is hard, but the time limit and guess limit are too limiting for such a difficult challenge. By posting this all here my hope is that we can all share more, at least through puzzle 3. Anyone agree? if so, lets see what you've tried and maybe we can move forward.

[nodnetni]

gdesignr is probably right they are on to the second set of clues, and if i had to wager a guess the answer if 52.

Any interest in putting together a Google doc of guesses, info, and such? PM me if you want in.

[Prömetheus]

[gdesignr]

[nodnetni]

[Prömetheus]

85-52-07-22-08-07 = no good

not on second sequence

[nodnetni]

The Barmamgeddon Cover has been removed? Is it over?

[Prömetheus]

[Prömetheus]

whats the deal with the cup and stars..driving me crazyyy

[MrToasty]

Seriously, why haven't they given us another bowl yet?

[gdesignr]