I feel so lost I’m desperately looking around this image after going through the VUR (ugly robot) and have no idea where to look. I’ve zoomed in on so many pixels I’m going crazy any help?
Same here! I solved this part on my phone but when I got home to look at it again, my computer refused to render half the symbols in every browser, despite updates and all. Had I not come across this on my phone first, I may have been stuck in a ditch.
That's a lovely photo, however, not everyone has finished the challenge and it would steal fun from others to post your give-aways. After all, it's only been 48 hours.
For step 4, the very ugly robot can only help users with a desktop computer. But there is another rather incoherent site that also works on mobile browsers. And cyberchef will also be able to help you if you know what to do (or are willing to experiment)
Seems to be a technical problem. Maybe want to ping me on telegram for assistance?
It's possible you are using the wrong image. The image in step 4 looks similar to the one in step 1, but it has the text "Well done" at the top. Check that. Some tricksters (Hello next challenge archetype) registered tiny.cc urls similar to the correct solution for step 3 to lead you to different images.
But I think that this photo does not contain more hints and spoilers than are already in this forum :) Rather, it is an illustration of my long torment due to the incorrect sorting of metals.
You need to delve deeper into the image, but if the ugly robot can't help you, the incoherency of James may produce a coherent result from the proper depth.
Just make sure you're looking at the right picture first; if you're looking at the wrong one, it doesn't matter how deep you go.
If you need further assistance, feel free to contact me on Telegram (@AnEngineerInIchor).
Thanks for the cryptobin. I was very curious how to do it "manually" so was glad to use that method as well as the automated online method. I've done something similar for a Puzzle Geocache in the past.
Please see the answer to your question as posted by NineBerry on page 4 of this thread @Zorgul (because for some reason I am not able to quote in the correct order.)
In regards to part2 (2_31d6cfe0d16ae931b73c59d7e0c089c0.pdf)
I've stared at this clue for a couple of days now. Supposedly this is the easiest part of puzzle. I guess I'm having a hard time dumbing it down.
If it's a numerical pattern of some type that's one thing. However, since the puzzle is named Alchemist i'm inclined to think in terms of chemistry. We have a pattern that has information stored in a translation of itself. If the symbols are indeed alchemical then the iterations of compound names and abbreviations combined with hints of an engineering unit involved are....very large.
And BTW....Unicode sucks....unicode rendering across platforms, even more. Hit me up on Discord if you'd like a turn at slapping my forehead.
Someone pretty much pointed out the solution to part 2 on an earlier page - it will be a hand to the forehead when you figure it out... I was like - doh! when I figured it out!
I've been stuck on step 3 for a couple of days now, I think I must be missing something obvious.
I've got the metals sorted correctly as far as I can tell from the background clue, and I have a list of 53 digits from 1 to 7, that starts with 1456. And I can even find a way to turn those numbers into symbols (manually or with dcode.fr), so that the first 8 digits turn into "Ch".
But, I cannot continue the decoding to get 13 meaningful characters/digits. I've tried splitting the digits in different groups in many different ways, but it never makes sense. I've tried to stop the groups as soon as the symbol is "readable", or to wait until I get a repeated digit, but I always reach a point in the series where it's impossible to continue, or I'm at the end and I have too few symbols.
I've tried laying out the digits in a grid like the metals on the picture, but using the vertical groups does not seem to work (and 2 lines are split in the middle of a metal, so how would that make sense anyway?)
I've even tried ignoring the rule of "non-repeating digits" and allow overlapping digits to build the same character, but once again I can only get much less than 13 chars.
Is there really some obvious way of proceeding with that part of the decoding? 🤨🙃
OMG! Thank you, it's so obvious now! Plotting a graph was a very good hint 😀😍 And then of course the ancient alchemist reference I could never guess with just the 2 initials I had... On to step 4 now 😃 Thanks again!
Comments
This challenge turned out to be rather complicated, but interesting. Several times the obvious solution crawled away from me.
Thanks everyone for the hints!
I feel so lost I’m desperately looking around this image after going through the VUR (ugly robot) and have no idea where to look. I’ve zoomed in on so many pixels I’m going crazy any help?
Same here! I solved this part on my phone but when I got home to look at it again, my computer refused to render half the symbols in every browser, despite updates and all. Had I not come across this on my phone first, I may have been stuck in a ditch.
Scroll to the very bottom of the page.
That's a lovely photo, however, not everyone has finished the challenge and it would steal fun from others to post your give-aways. After all, it's only been 48 hours.
Could you please redact your image? @Astr0n0mus
Drag n Drop your image on the VUR directly, not on the area around it. And ignore the key symbol above the VUR.
For step 4, the very ugly robot can only help users with a desktop computer. But there is another rather incoherent site that also works on mobile browsers. And cyberchef will also be able to help you if you know what to do (or are willing to experiment)
And if the VUR doesn't help (he was particularly unhelpful for me), a guy named James should be able to.
Very incoherent guy
you are freaking amazing. thank you!
Neither are helpful honest just a bunch of black and white dots I can’t **** any password at the bottom of the image I feel so oblivious.
Seems to be a technical problem. Maybe want to ping me on telegram for assistance?
It's possible you are using the wrong image. The image in step 4 looks similar to the one in step 1, but it has the text "Well done" at the top. Check that. Some tricksters (Hello next challenge archetype) registered tiny.cc urls similar to the correct solution for step 3 to lead you to different images.
OK!
But I think that this photo does not contain more hints and spoilers than are already in this forum :) Rather, it is an illustration of my long torment due to the incorrect sorting of metals.
I solved it and still get nothing from his picture
You need to delve deeper into the image, but if the ugly robot can't help you, the incoherency of James may produce a coherent result from the proper depth.
Just make sure you're looking at the right picture first; if you're looking at the wrong one, it doesn't matter how deep you go.
If you need further assistance, feel free to contact me on Telegram (@AnEngineerInIchor).
For the fourth step, use the actual image file you get from the tiny.cc url. Using a screenshot of the image won't take you very far.
Also you need to scoll to the bottom of the page below the image., not just to the bottom of the image.
Thanks for the cryptobin. I was very curious how to do it "manually" so was glad to use that method as well as the automated online method. I've done something similar for a Puzzle Geocache in the past.
What kind of output length are we looking for here?
Totally understand that pain! and thank you kindly :) beautiful redact btw.
Please see the answer to your question as posted by NineBerry on page 4 of this thread @Zorgul (because for some reason I am not able to quote in the correct order.)
In regards to part2 (2_31d6cfe0d16ae931b73c59d7e0c089c0.pdf)
I've stared at this clue for a couple of days now. Supposedly this is the easiest part of puzzle. I guess I'm having a hard time dumbing it down.
If it's a numerical pattern of some type that's one thing. However, since the puzzle is named Alchemist i'm inclined to think in terms of chemistry. We have a pattern that has information stored in a translation of itself. If the symbols are indeed alchemical then the iterations of compound names and abbreviations combined with hints of an engineering unit involved are....very large.
And BTW....Unicode sucks....unicode rendering across platforms, even more. Hit me up on Discord if you'd like a turn at slapping my forehead.
@Zorgul Please remove the name of the file from your post. It allows people to skip part 1.
@Zorgul I#d like to help but the user on telegram named "zorgul" isn't you 😁
Someone pretty much pointed out the solution to part 2 on an earlier page - it will be a hand to the forehead when you figure it out... I was like - doh! when I figured it out!
I've been stuck on step 3 for a couple of days now, I think I must be missing something obvious.
I've got the metals sorted correctly as far as I can tell from the background clue, and I have a list of 53 digits from 1 to 7, that starts with 1456. And I can even find a way to turn those numbers into symbols (manually or with dcode.fr), so that the first 8 digits turn into "Ch".
But, I cannot continue the decoding to get 13 meaningful characters/digits. I've tried splitting the digits in different groups in many different ways, but it never makes sense. I've tried to stop the groups as soon as the symbol is "readable", or to wait until I get a repeated digit, but I always reach a point in the series where it's impossible to continue, or I'm at the end and I have too few symbols.
I've tried laying out the digits in a grid like the metals on the picture, but using the vertical groups does not seem to work (and 2 lines are split in the middle of a metal, so how would that make sense anyway?)
I've even tried ignoring the rule of "non-repeating digits" and allow overlapping digits to build the same character, but once again I can only get much less than 13 chars.
Is there really some obvious way of proceeding with that part of the decoding? 🤨🙃
Have you tried this tip?
Plot a graph from the numbers you have. That might show 13 groups visually.
OMG! Thank you, it's so obvious now! Plotting a graph was a very good hint 😀😍 And then of course the ancient alchemist reference I could never guess with just the 2 initials I had... On to step 4 now 😃 Thanks again!
You are overthinking it. Start simple. How would a child solve step 2? @Zorgul Count instances. Then count positions.
What's the key to see this? I tried the final passcode but it didn't work. Thanks.