[RECAP][PUZZLE] 12/1 Tachyon Craigslist puzzle

covedweller · Post by **covedweller** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:29 pm

Also, everyone started to assume the decoding instructions were clues to other things, a dead drop maybe, etc.

Now we know that they were just instructions to get us to the right answer.

The hacker approach was missing letters in the answer, and also had everyone really confused as to what the other stuff meant.

We really shouldn't do that again in the future if we want to make sense of things!

covedweller · Post by **covedweller** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:38 pm

also, i realize Deagol got it the basics of the IOE key (though from what I am reading not sure it was tried to cipher).

but I wanted to make absolutely sure we knew what each element of this meant so we didn't have to keep seeing any part we skipped as another possible trail.

I feel like we've had a lot of loose ends lately because we keep jumping ahead thinking everything leads to a drop or another puzzle.

For the new players especially, we should really try and start being thorough on both the answers and documenting a process that can be understood to get there.

The easiest way to do that is to try and make sense of the instructions we are given before trying shortcuts that only equal leftovers and loose ends to confuse people!

Jengels2002 · Post by **Jengels2002** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:42 pm

I hate to be a pain in the ass here...

I just logged on and read through the majority of the posts.

What do we need to work on now? Just wanting to help.

MaxZyrix · Post by **MaxZyrix** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:46 pm

Jengels2002 wrote:I hate to be a pain in the ass here...

I just logged on and read through the majority of the posts.

What do we need to work on now? Just wanting to help.

There's a new set of instructions. You wanna help me go over them?

Jengels2002 · Post by **Jengels2002** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:49 pm

Lets do it

covedweller · Post by **covedweller** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:50 pm

solved it with fullly correct result and explanation for each part in my original thread on the puzzle.

here is the correctly outputted letter (removed the codes between paragraphs though and added an extra line):

After running that, the partial message from earlier comes out complete (only backwards).

Reversing it, the complete message is:

Did I ever tell you that as a child I always wanted to go to Disneyland? I would pester my parents, but they kept saying we couldn't travel that far "because of my sister's obligations." I hated her for that. I hated her so much.

I bet you know what that's like--in fact, I know you do. It keeps you awake at night, that anger that you can't let go of...all because someone drilled into your head a sense of inferiority.

It isn't that the other person is better than you. It's that the situation helps you convince yourself that they might be, and you’re deathly afraid that they are.

Knowing what you dealt with awhile back really helped me put things in perspective. It helped me make peace with that part of my past, because I realized that my sister was never the enemy. There are other people to blame for creating that situation, but I also blame myself for not even trying to do anything about it except act like a spoiled brat.

But your situation is different in many ways…it’s almost the opposite actually. Although from what you’ve told me, maturity was neither of your strong suits (so at least we have that in common). Still, I know that how it all played out left a really bad taste in your mouth that you’ll probably carry around for the rest of your adulthood (the same way I held onto mine to the point where it almost ruined what little childhood I could cling to).

And yes, you can at least feel better about blaming yourself for the mess you got yourself into because a lot of it was actually your fault. (I may suck at sympathy, but writing it out really does wonders for my own issues LOL).

However, there might be an opportunity for you to resolve some of these feelings that you are still carrying around, or at the very least maybe settle the score. I’ll tell you more about it in a few days, once I do a little more research, because I want to be absolutely sure--plus there's another pressing task at hand that needs to be dealt with, once and for all.

I don’t want to ruin the surprise, and you shouldn’t get your hopes up yet, but I will tell you this much: We’re not going on vacation and no one is going to Disneyland, but if what I suspect turns out to be true, well...it damn well proves that it’s a small world after all.

MaxZyrix · Post by **MaxZyrix** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 10:52 pm

Jengels2002 wrote:Lets do it

OK, first off download this: http://fs01.snapdrive.net/file.php?user ... ile=4U.jpg as a .rar file.

Jengels2002 · Post by **Jengels2002** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:05 pm

What is it anyway?

windsong · Post by **windsong** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:05 pm

covedweller wrote:I think Alysaface is into something in the other thread. So all credit to her!

if T is 7 in l33t, we need something that equals 7.

Who is Tachyon's message to?

10033

(according to that wiki article on The Culper Ring, with Agent 355 it's three-five-five, not three hundred fifty five).

So 1 + 0 + 0 + 3 + 3 = 7

10033 in l33t = IOOEE decoded.

Can anyone try IOOEE as a key?

is this how the key to the cipher was found? Or was this discovered after?

deagol · Post by **deagol** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:06 pm

covedweller wrote:I think Alysaface is into something in the other thread. So all credit to her!

if T is 7 in l33t, we need something that equals 7.

Who is Tachyon's message to?

10033

(according to that wiki article on The Culper Ring, with Agent 355 it's three-five-five, not three hundred fifty five).

So 1 + 0 + 0 + 3 + 3 = 7

10033 in l33t = IOOEE decoded.

Can anyone try IOOEE as a key?

Yes! Alysa nailed it. The key (for a vigenere cipher on the hex) seems to be IOOEE.

Sorry for taking so long, I had to go have dinner before working on it. I only did part of the first line by hand, in order to confirm the key, where it says "child I always wanted to go to Disneyland? I" (in reverse because it was easier to work in the Hex code):

Code: Select all

9203j646i616q79656i736944206j74206j67206n74206465746s617720737961776g61204920646k696863
I   * d * a * y e * s i D   * t   * g   * t   d e t * a w   s y a w * a   I   d * i h c
I   ? d n a l y e n s i D   o t   o g   o t   d e t n a w   s y a w l a   I   d l i h c
9203F646E616C79656E736944206F74206F67206F74206465746E617720737961776C61204920646C696863
    E   E   O     E         E     E     I           O               E           I      
IOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIOOEEIO

Sorry for the formatting, I don't see how else I can post this showing the proper relationship.

So applying a vigenere decode on what I called the faux-Hex code, you'd get the real Hex, then Hex to ascii, then reverse, and we get:

Did I ever tell you that as a child I always wanted to go to Disneyland? I would pester my parents, but they kept saying we couldn't travel that far "because of my sister's obligations." I hated her for that. I hated her so much.

I bet you know what that's like--in fact, I know you do. It keeps you awake at night, that anger that you can't let go of...all because someone drilled into your head a sense of inferiority.

It isn't that the other person is better than you. It's that the situation helps you convince yourself that they might be, and you’re deathly afraid that they are.

Knowing what you dealt with awhile back really helped me put things in perspective. It helped me make peace with that part of my past, because I realized that my sister was never the enemy. There are other people to blame for creating that situation, but I also blame myself for not even trying to do anything about it except act like a spoiled brat.

But your situation is different in many ways…it’s almost the opposite actually. Although from what you’ve told me, maturity was neither of your strong suits (so at least we have that in common). Still, I know that how it all played out left a really bad taste in your mouth that you’ll probably carry around for the rest of your adulthood (the same way I held onto mine to the point where it almost ruined what little childhood I could cling to).

And yes, you can at least feel better about blaming yourself for the mess you got yourself into because a lot of it was actually your fault. (I may suck at sympathy, but writing it out really does wonders for my own issues LOL).

However, there might be an opportunity for you to resolve some of these feelings that you are still carrying around, or at the very least maybe settle the score. I’ll tell you more about it in a few days, once I do a little more research, because I want to be absolutely sure--plus there's another pressing task at hand that needs to be dealt with, once and for all.

I don’t want to ruin the surprise, and you shouldn’t get your hopes up yet, but I will tell you this much: We’re not going on vacation and no one is going to Disneyland, but if what I suspect turns out to be true, well...it damn well proves that it’s a small world after all.

Some little details got fixed. Also notice the marks that we didn't get before, suitable for an html page.

[Edit: Ahh, I see Cove already beat me to it. Ok for formatting sakes]

Jengels2002 · Post by **Jengels2002** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:11 pm

MaxZyrix wrote:
Jengels2002 wrote:Lets do it
OK, first off download this: http://fs01.snapdrive.net/file.php?user ... ile=4U.jpg as a .rar file.

The Have Fun File?

MaxZyrix · Post by **MaxZyrix** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:22 pm

Jengels2002 wrote:
MaxZyrix wrote:
Jengels2002 wrote:Lets do it
OK, first off download this: http://fs01.snapdrive.net/file.php?user ... ile=4U.jpg as a .rar file.
The Have Fun File?

Oh wait. Cove and deagol got it all figured out.... bummer, I really wanted to help out.

ladron121 · Post by **ladron121** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:31 pm

MaxZyrix wrote:
Jengels2002 wrote:
MaxZyrix wrote:
Jengels2002 wrote:Lets do it
OK, first off download this: http://fs01.snapdrive.net/file.php?user ... ile=4U.jpg as a .rar file.
The Have Fun File?
Oh wait. Cove and deagol got it all figured out.... bummer, I really wanted to help out.

Eh, don't worry about it Max. There will be others

So it appears that the letter was meant for "brother" after all, given the Key and all.

bethy · Post by **bethy** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:46 pm

covedweller wrote:why is John Cusack's father relevant?

He was in Chain Reaction with Keanu Reaves.

trainer101 · Post by **trainer101** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:56 pm

Just a thought - In the just posted video, Daniel mentions hearing from Tachyon. Are we certain this correspondence isn't directed at him?