S5??#[0]abc

[Bregi]

Online, might be the hardest from me so far (or at least it should be )
sabretooth and Alice know how it works and they could give a little help.

Bregi

[dalfor]

It took a lot of sideways thinking to complete this one! Probably one of the most rewarding challenges to complete ever.

[sabretooth]

Very glad you liked it Dalfor

Proves that although sometimes he acts a bit dumb at times, Bregi is in fact a genius


sabre

[mego]

Hmm, not sure why so few people have solved this challenge. I guess people are either not trying or affraid of asking for hints.. Well, either way this is a very good challenge and deserves more attention. So let me give you some analysis tips for this one.

Lets start by discussing the category of this challenge: ??. That doesn't say very much, but we actually know a little more now. We can see this challenge is a crypto (it says so in the challenge description!), but what is the other category this would fit in? That's part two.

Getting back to the first part. You are presented with 3 word/number pairs. That's not a lot, I agree, but you can actually find some interesting properties of these numbers. For example, a short word means a short number and a long word means a long number. Coincidence? I think not.

So while you are looking for common properties, also try to use/decrypt the title hint. This is by far your best lead to understand the system used for encrypting the words. The hint is a little obscure, mostly because Bregi understands/made the algorithm in a weird way, but nonetheless it should provide you with at least one thing that you will know is important immediately.

Ok, that's about it for now. Leave a post when you are working on this challenge but aren't making any progress. This will give me (and others) a better notion of the difficulty of this challenge and we may provide a few more tips.

Once again, this is a great challenge by Bregi.

Good Luck!
Mark

[pixelie]

I think I have the number of letters to find.

But I have more than 500.000 possibilities...

By comparing with some word lists, I could lower to around 7000

If I understood properly the title hint, it lowers to around 500

My question is :
is there only ONE answer possible with this algorithm ?
(meaning I still miss something...)

[Alice]

I think I have the number of letters to find.

But I have more than 500.000 possibilities...

By comparing with some word lists, I could lower to around 7000

If I understood properly the title hint, it lowers to around 500

My question is :
is there only ONE answer possible with this algorithm ?
(meaning I still miss something...)

Assuming you have figured out how the numbers for the given words are calculated, it should be pretty clear how many letters the missing word has. Once you have that, apply the formula to every word of that length in, say, the unix system dictionary, and you'll end up with probably 2 or 3 words that match the number. At that point, it should be pretty obvious which one of them is the right one. Feel free to pm me if you have any more specific or spoily questions.

Keep in mind, too, that this is only one half of the answer.

[pixelie]

Keep in mind, too, that this is only one half of the answer.

Meanwhile I had figured out that and realized I was missing one step.
So I had found 9 possible words.
And as you say the good one is pretty obvious

Thank you Alice for having helped me to understand where I was.
Now the second part...

[hideaway]

I can't help myself, but this came to me as rather easy challenge. I found harder ones for me at the site.

But one thing I still don't understand. Can someone explain the title hint? I just made some logical steps to get possible candidates after finding the way of computing the numbers. And really I got then just a few of words. But still don't understand the title hint...

[dalfor]

Think of the title and think of what you got for your initial calculations.

I am not sure if I can give you more without giving too much away. PM me if I was not too clear.

[smutley]

I have solved the first part, I think! (The word I have fits the algorithm and the tone of the challenge).

But I am stuck on the second part. I have found what's important now, but I have no idea what to do with it.

Any hints will be appreciated
smutley

[sabretooth]

I have found what's important now, but I have no idea what to do with it.

If you are after a method then this part links with the 1st part.

Follow the same kind of pattern and you should find it easily enough.

You know where I am if you need anything else.

sabre

[monnino]

May I ask a question to someone? o.o''

[Bregi]

of course

[amone]

I have the 1st part.
Is the 2nd similar and instead of decimal I have to use hex??
Thanks
Edit:
Are all the 4 values important or just the 4th one 1366205360065821277200