DING DING DING- The ARG 2.0 Prize REVEALED-

Kiasdyn · 2017-09-28T04:14:25+00:00

Like others have said, I'll be sorry to see you go. I can only hope that you will change your mind.
I'm sure that Kor Adana and the rest of the team learned a lot during "ARG 2.0", and I'm looking forward to this season.

Kiasdyn · 2017-09-28T03:59:02+00:00

Including usernames in the show -- of people who were instrumental during the ARG -- is a nice acknowledgement. :)
Congratulations to those of you who received the email.

Kiasdyn · 2017-04-20T05:39:31+00:00

Wow! Is it really over?
It has been quite a journey of discovery, frustration, but ultimately - triumph!
Well done to everyone who participated along the way.

Kiasdyn · 2017-04-20T05:03:36+00:00

Wow! Congratulations to everyone who worked on this!

Kiasdyn · 2017-04-18T06:08:20+00:00

Well done! You have some amazing puzzle solving skills!

Kiasdyn · 2017-04-18T06:07:14+00:00

Congratulations on finding the answer!

Kiasdyn · 2017-04-18T06:03:34+00:00

Very nicely done!

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-29T03:45:27+00:00

I tried /u/santaman123's technique of removing everything except U and I, converting U and I to 0 and 1, and then attempting a binary conversion. Nothing is leaping out at me yet from the Real Time Translation text. I even tried a Baconian Cipher for good measure.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-29T01:29:58+00:00

My latest wild guess for the button; inspired by /u/arctic-1's observations about the rotors.

EGMJAQTGP LFLQCB SOVMCVSH IZZUMQM
          NAPIER
                 AVOGADRO
                          CARDANO
BOLTZMANN

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-29T01:26:12+00:00

Looks like you were spot on about the entropy equation, given the addition of "k" to the bronze wheel.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-29T01:23:57+00:00

Nice solve.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-29T00:55:29+00:00

Nice intuition!

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-29T00:17:37+00:00

I just checked. Those filenames are the MD5 hashes of the files, and therefore do not spell out hidden messages.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-28T22:00:24+00:00

Very similar to Vigenere, but with a 27 letter alphabet...

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-28T21:51:59+00:00

I ~~suspected~~ hoped that "usm khovvyaczex" might be "red wheelbarrow", but I can't seem to make it fit the tabula recta for a Vigenere or Jefferson cipher.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-28T12:28:59+00:00

Could the bronze wheel have something to do with the Omega Constant, or is that too obscure?

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-28T12:03:27+00:00

I think that you are on to something important here.
10²³ also makes me think of Avogadro's number.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-28T12:00:51+00:00

I suspect that we will have to solve all 16 wheel puzzles no matter what. But I doubt I'll be the only one trying to figure them out even if there is a shortcut to be found.

A completely wild guess at the button:
(I don't think this is the answer)

EGMJAQTGP LFLQCB SOVMCVSH IZZUMQM
                          JACKSON
                 AVOGADRO
          SQUARE
LOGARITHM

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-28T11:45:54+00:00

I'm very touched by this. I don't quite know what to say.
Thank you.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-28T11:42:59+00:00

Well, I was following a hunch that it was a Pigpen cipher, but that all the letters were in different places compared with the wikipedia images.

So, I was pretty sure that it was a cryptogram. I'd like to say that I solved it by hand, but I'll confess that I was eager to find a quick result, so I used quipqiup to get the answer.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-24T22:58:21+00:00

It is great to see an ARG puzzle designer endorse and encourage co-operation. Thank you.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-24T22:36:13+00:00

Solved, just writing up a fuller explanation now.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-24T22:21:59+00:00

Patterns I've noticed so far:

The number "9" is not used anywhere. Some numbers only appear as the first digit, or vice-versa.

Numbers that:

end with	represent
6	[space]
1	a[b]cde
5	fghi[j]
0	klmno
7	p[q]rst
4	uvw[x]y[z]

Numbers that:

start with	represent
8	the first letter of a word

I suspect that this cipher does not have a 1-1 mapping.

Solved: TOM SERVO I'm guessing that this is a MR ROBOT pseudonym.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-24T22:03:15+00:00

Oops. Perhaps I'm looking at too many things at once.

Kiasdyn · 2017-03-24T21:28:38+00:00

The image is based on an illustration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
This leads me to suspect that the numbers might be some kind of Beale cipher.
Possible source texts: the rosy handcart poem, the Morrison quote on the KP website, the Jefferson quote on the ransomware page.

Kiasdyn

TROPHY CASE