Puzzle Solving Exercise Thread

[deagol]

I know it seems to get more confusing the more you work on it. But if you know which parts look like genuine b64 and which parts were put in there that don't belong in a b64 code, it should be a matter of one or two more simple decoding steps.

The piecemeal approach got you this far, but there's something about b64 encoding and decoding mechanics that can create glitches when decoding pieces of code that were originally encoded as a whole. An example:

'the code' b64 encodes as "dGhlIGNvZGU="
break it as "dGhlI" and "GNvZGU="
"dGhlI" decodes as 'the' (so far so good)
"GNvZGU=" decodes as 'ÛÙ' (something got lost when breaking up the original)

... I put ZDNsMzM3I and did Base 64 to text and got d3l337 ...

But encoding d3l337 into b64 gets you ZDNsMzM3. See?

[WonkaNerdsRule]

You know what's amusing about this is that I didn't break it up until the very end with d3l337 and the other, LOL. I stuck to a very step-by-step approach until then.

OK, so if I've done everything right thus far, I have deleet steganos. And now to figure out what do next. (Have already tried caesar cipher.) I know that Steganos is a security/encryption program (and thus that message could be read as "delete steganos"), but I'm guessing there's more to it than that.

[deagol]

You know what's amusing about this is that I didn't break it up until the very end with d3l337 and the other, LOL. I stuck to a very step-by-step approach until then.

OK, so if I've done everything right thus far, I have deleet steganos. And now to figure out what do next. (Have already tried caesar cipher.) I know that Steganos is a security/encryption program (and thus that message could be read as "delete steganos"), but I'm guessing there's more to it than that.

No no, that's it, good job! Since you already de-leeted from d3l337 57364n05, steganos is the end result. The only further step might be to mention that steganos means "cover," the greek root for "steganography" and the (sort of) theme of the puzzle.

I only found out after the fact that it was a security software brand so it would be difficult to find by googling steganos and having to wade through all the commercial pages. But a decent online dictionary would have the etymology for steganography.

[WonkaNerdsRule]

Great! That was a fun puzzle, thanks.

Now to give a few more hints to whoever is still working on my puzzle, LOL:


1. There is a Vigenere cipher involved in this puzzle.

2. There are no anagrams that need to be figured out to solve the puzzle.

3. The A in Shannon A. Feldstein stands for Al.

4. This paragraph from the lame-o story I created contains a hint:

" After giving him the once over to make sure he was telling the truth, I snapped back to my physical body. WHAM! Somewhat jolted, I looked up into the dark abyss that is my room, thought for a moment, and then realized that I knew how to find the answer to the question I had posed to him. I turned on the light and did as I was told. To make a long story short, I am now enlightened. Are you?"

[deagol]

...
2. There are no anagrams that need to be figured out to solve the puzzle.
...

Well there is an anagram, but it's true that it's not needed to solve the puzzle.

[WonkaNerdsRule]

...
2. There are no anagrams that need to be figured out to solve the puzzle.
...

Well there is an anagram, but it's true that it's not needed to solve the puzzle.

Yes.

Oh, and I edited my post to mention Vigenere cipher because I said there were no traditional caesar ciphers, but that might lead some down the wrong path because as we all know Caesar shifts are an important part of Vigenère ciphers. Leading people down the wrong path is not what I need to be doing this late in the game.

[deagol]

" After giving him the once over to make sure he was telling the truth, I snapped back to my physical body. WHAM! Somewhat jolted, I looked up into the dark abyss that is my room, thought for a moment, and then realized that I knew how to find the answer to the question I had posed to him. I turned on the light and did as I was told. To make a long story short, I am now enlightened. Are you?"

So as you came back to your room in the dark, you realized you knew how to get the vigenere key, so you turned on the light and saw it somewhere in your room... ? Maybe on a poster or something? Not sure how am I to figure out what was revealed when you turn the light on in your room.

The key isn't any of these:
Shannon, Feldstein, Jonas, jonastko, WHAM, light, enlightened, room, dark

[WonkaNerdsRule]

" After giving him the once over to make sure he was telling the truth, I snapped back to my physical body. WHAM! Somewhat jolted, I looked up into the dark abyss that is my room, thought for a moment, and then realized that I knew how to find the answer to the question I had posed to him. I turned on the light and did as I was told. To make a long story short, I am now enlightened. Are you?"

So as you came back to your room in the dark, you realized you knew how to get the vigenere key, so you turned on the light and saw it somewhere in your room... ? Maybe on a poster or something? Not sure how am I to figure out what was revealed when you turn the light on in your room.

The key isn't any of these:
Shannon, Feldstein, Jonas, jonastko, WHAM, light, enlightened, room, dark

Two things:

1. The hint I was referring to is in the first sentence.

2. The key which you seek has something to do with the first thing Jonas said. You already cracked the code for that one. You just have to figure out the key. (A bit of entertainment trivia.)

[blahblablee]

WAIT! could the key be shadow?

and i'm not even gonna try the rest of the puzzle cause i don't know anything about ciphers...

[deagol]

WAIT! could the key be shadow?

and i'm not even gonna try the rest of the puzzle cause i don't know anything about ciphers...

I tried that, and like a thousand other related words, to no avail. The only thing that jumped at me while researching The Shadow was the empty office with "B. Jonas" on the door (supposedly located in a building somewhere on 23rd. Street in Manhattan) which was the main dropbox for reports from The Shadow's agents. The agent that picked up and distributed the messages was Burbank. That isn't the key, and neither is any of the many agent names and identities I came accross.

The clue in the first sentence also escapes me. I've tried to to reinterpret "giving him the once over," or "snapped back to my physical body," but nothing comes to me. It just made me think of a snapping turtle's shell. I'm so in the dark with this puzzle.

[WonkaNerdsRule]

WAIT! could the key be shadow?

and i'm not even gonna try the rest of the puzzle cause i don't know anything about ciphers...

That key definitely has to do with The Shadow, particularly its very early years on the radio.

[WonkaNerdsRule]

There's one significant part of the puzzle that you guys haven't even started to work on yet. The hint in the first sentence relates to that.

[deagol]

Ok now that we're done with Op's dirty work, I took a look at these one last time and came to accept that both you guys have me stumped.

So, I've decided to post a simple one, hoping to get more people involved. If you don't get this in 5 minutes, you're overthinking it. No trial and error, no google or wiki research, no ciphers, tools, or codes needed either.

____________________________________________________
Drop or gamejack?

I found this tarot card with some cryptic letters. Do you think it's a gamejack?



Edit, to add pic.

[blahblablee]

LOL AT THAT

I won't say the answer yet so other ppl get a chance

[iamcool]

lol i think she is kind of clever