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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » GAME: Virtucube
[Puzzle] 1. Red Face - Moon
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skilletaudio
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515

So, I guess the question worth asking is, what is changing daily: The message, the method of encryption, or both?

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:27 am
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skilletaudio
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515

Discovery:

Every line, except for the outermost characters, was flipped across the horizontal center from Nov. 1 to Nov. 2:

Example:
Nov 1-Row4: RBSOTMNM
Nov 1-Row5: ARASTHAT

Nov 2-Row4: ERASTHAE
Nov 2-Row5: ABSOTMNT

Same goes for rows 3&6, and 2&7. The outer ring behaves much differently.

*EDIT*

As for anything between Oct. 31 and Nov. 1,, note this:
Again discounting the outer ring, the inner 28 letters are rotated 90 degrees clockwise. From Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:13 am
Last edited by skilletaudio on Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:55 am; edited 1 time in total
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skilletaudio
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515

Even more interesting:

This puzzle spirals outwards.

Look in the center 4, and spiral outward beginning with the sequence O,S,T,T,T,K
You will find that the sequence is unbroken until the spiral extends into the outer ring, at which point it is wildly different.

The unbroken String is as follows:

O S T T T K P S A E N K P H M S D E O R S E B R D N O A D W R E A N O X
36 letters

Following the spiral, this is what you get in each outer ring:

Oct. 31 : X O T A N E L E R O H S O O S L O A H E T A F R H S H O
Nov. 01: R F E O E O U X D R A J L A C A R E I L N I V T M E N I
Nov. 02: I S T M C K Y L O A E E X Y U U S S E D T E T E T B S W
Nov 03: W Y A N C X O L S E H C S I F H G O C I O T I H U K D P
28 letters

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:37 am
Last edited by skilletaudio on Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:48 pm; edited 1 time in total
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perrault
Boot

Joined: 26 Sep 2004
Posts: 45

Interesting. Good to see that the whole center 4 thing has kind of evolved to go somewhere. Felt like one of my futile attempts from the green block. Now just to figure out if any of that is actually important.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:49 am
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA

oh, it is the moon, comparing to this image http://www.madpc.net/Pics/moon/moon.html

and the file where the letters are coming from is here
http://www.virtuquest.com/vblock/readside1.php
if that makes it easier for you to check for updates.

Right now (november 3rd at 12:22am PST) i see:
Code:
Y U U S S E D T
X N O A D W R E
E D E N K P E T
E R A S T H A E
A B S O T M N T
O E P K T S O B
L S R O E D X S
Y K C M T S I W


PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:31 am
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skilletaudio
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515

Okay, this is my final analysys of this until the next update:

The outer ring is either a hard nut to crack, or totally meaningless.

The inner 6x6 grid of letters, ,while simultaneously displaying the Spiral pattern I mentioned earlier, ,also appear to be matrix operations of each other.

I am toooooo far out of practicee ot be able to state mathematically how to transform one to the other, so if I post it visually, perhaps someone else will be able to codify what I am seeing:
The Nov. 1 puzzle may be transformed into the Nov. 2 puzzle by mirroring it across a horizontal line, shown in green below. Other colors are there to help you verify the mirrored properties:



The October 31 puzzle may be transformed into the Nov 2nd puzzle by mirror its contents across the diagonal line shown in green. Helper lines are in other colors:

Strange indeed, I assumed the progression from day to day would be linear, but wait for this:

The october 31st puzzle is transformed into the Nov 1st puzzle by first performing the horizontal line mirror, shows in the first figure in green. Then, a second mirror is applied over a diagonal line, and you've got yourself the Nov. 1 puzzle:





Its been a long time since I was studying computer science, this is the best I can do for now. I'm sure someone here can express these changes algorithmically.

Im starting to think this is more of a math puzzle than a cryptogram or word puzzle.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:44 am
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skilletaudio
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515

Connecting dots here:

The inner 6x6 grid displays matrix like properties.

The inner 6x6 grid always contains the same collection of letters.

There are 36 letters in this collection, 15 of them unique.

15 unique numbers could be expressed using Hexadecimal notation, 1-F, or 0-E

Goodnight.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:51 am
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OmegaX
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Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 360
Location: Dartmouth, NS, Canada

[probably OT] Did anyone notice that in the first line under the grey outline of that first diagram, the text reads "no adware", short the second A and the E?

Either can't a)get image tags to work, or b)find a place to upload my image, so I'll just say look at skilletaudio's first diagram, everything in the top fully-visible row of text.
_________________
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I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.


PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:01 pm
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skilletaudio
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515

Okay, I've been looking for patterns in the outer ring.
If we notate the puzzle by Row,Column:

2,1 : X - Identical in Oct31, Nov1, Nov2, Nov 3 puzzles
5,1 : A - Identical in Oct31, Nov1, Nov2, Nov 3 puzzles

1,6 : F - Identical in Oct31, Nov1 Puzzles

5,8 : T - Identical in Nov1 and Nov2 puzzles
7,1 : L - Identical in Nov1 and Nov2 puzzles


1,8 : T - Identical in Oct31 and Nov2 puzzles
2,8 : E - Identical in Oct31 and Nov2 Puzzles
7,8 : S - Identical in Oct31 and Nov2 puzzles
8,6 : S - Identical in Oct31 and Nov2 puzzles


1,1 : O - Identical in Oct31 and Nov3 Puzzles
1,3 : S - Identical in Oct31 and Nov3 Puzzles
3,8 : H - Identical in Oct31 and Nov3 Puzzles
5,8 : O - Identical in Oct31 and Nov3 Puzzles
8,5 : H - Identical in Oct31 and Nov3 Puzzles
8,8 : O - Identical in Oct31 and Nov3 Puzzles


7,8 : I - Identical in Nov1 and Nov3 Puzzles
8,6 : I - Identical in Nov1 and Nov3 Puzzles

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:55 pm
Last edited by skilletaudio on Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:18 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Rantic
Greenhorn

Joined: 10 Mar 2004
Posts: 3

Today's change. Looks like the inner sequence rotated on the horizontal this time.



Code:

O L S E H C S I
X S E B R D N F
C R P S A E O H
N O K O S N A G
A E T T T K D O
Y D S M H P W C
W X O N A E R I
P D K U H I T O


PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:15 pm
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skilletaudio
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Aug 2004
Posts: 515

Indeed!
Spiral code remains intact, I have noted the outer sequence in my previous post on the subject.

Transformations are becoming more apparant now: Horizontal mirror on Oct 31st gives us todays puzzle. Diagonal mirror on Nov 1 ALSO gives us todays puzzle, and the two combined get us today's puzzle from Nov. 2.



I am updating my previous posts with observations on today's grid.
NOTE: I'll have to play with it a little bit, but I'm starting to think the points on the outer ring that are identical across some of teh grids, and some even across all of them, are some kind of keying mechanism, either for indicating an order, or a way of putting them together graphically. But this is just conjecture.

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:07 pm
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perrault
Boot

Joined: 26 Sep 2004
Posts: 45

edited for organizational purposes

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 1:32 am
Last edited by perrault on Fri Nov 05, 2004 1:44 am; edited 1 time in total
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Centipede
Unfettered


Joined: 17 Sep 2004
Posts: 439
Location: Bronx, NY

I think solving this will give us the key for the solitaire cipher on face #2.

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 7:13 pm
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perrault
Boot

Joined: 26 Sep 2004
Posts: 45

Further speculation, as well....

IF the moon has any importance whatsoever, I believe it would be hinting at the idea that this puzzle moves in cycles. Since it appears to be changing every day, it may very well go full cycle.

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 7:43 pm
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xmythx
Veteran

Joined: 04 Nov 2004
Posts: 102

November 4th, 7:29Pm MST:
Quote:
U D E T F T C T
X X O N A E R I
O D S M H P W E
U E T T T K D A
A O K O S N A M
E R P S A E O L
E S E B R D N S
L E C L E S A N


The center 6x6 flipped on the horizontal againand the spiral remains...I'm wondering if we can begin making projections...?

This looks like a symmetric matrix to me.

From what I can tell:

Day 1-2: Rotation 90 Degrees Counter-Clockwise
Day 2-3: Horizontal Flip
Day 3-4: Rotation 90 Degrees Clockwise
Day 4-5: Horizontal Flip

If the change from Day 5-6 is 90 Degress Counter-Clockwise, we can definitely extrapolate. However, I'm thinking it might be something like 180 Degrees. Perhaps we have to evaluate the cycle of the moon and how it changes throughout the month?

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 11:27 pm
Last edited by xmythx on Fri Nov 05, 2004 1:19 am; edited 2 times in total
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