Bitcoin Forum

The contest is over - pawnshop770 is the winner!

Dear Forum members,
This contest is a tribute to the upcoming 2016 bitcoin reward halving. In my opinion is the block halving one of the corner stones in the bitcoin design - as it implements the finite supply of bitcoins. The winner of the contest will get a collectible coin.

Prize:
2012 Casascius blank (DIY style - no digital value)
+ 0.021 BTC (10 satoshi for each block mined since last halving)

https://i.imgur.com/rlKZNit.jpg?1 https://i.imgur.com/fzxqkFK.jpg?1

Generate your own private key and seal it behind the included sticker, load the coin with BTC and you will have a special self-assembled halving coin.

How to solve the puzzle:
The goal is to find a specific phrase; the first person to post the correct phrase in this thread wins.

I will publish a series of hints at random times until someone solves the puzzle; it is indeed possible to solve the puzzle using the first hint alone. The duration of the contest is from now and until halving day, the last and final hint that more or of less gives the solution directly will be published on halving day.

The solution:
The sha256 sum of the winning phrase is:

Rules:

• Entry is free - anybody can participate.
• Spamming random guesses in the thread is not allowed (check the sha256sum of your guess instead).
• Signature spam will be reported.
• Free discussion on how to solve the puzzle is allowed, if you are a serious contender.
• The winning phrase must be posted in a new unedited post to be valid.
• The coin will be shipped free of charge to winner with a regular untracked letter, I assume no liability if the letter is lost, however tracked shipping will be available at cost on the winners expense.
• The BTC part of the prize will be paid directly to any address the winner specify and the tx id will be published in the thread.

In case problems arise with the rule set, then will I do my best to choose a fair solution, keep in mind that I am using my own time and means to do this contest and my intention is only to do something fun for our community.
  
Good luck, have fun!

Kind regards,
TookDk

1. Hint:

22

11

01

01

01

12

24

19

07

01

14

20

16

16

04

21

05

19

13

24

09

24

04

17

22

21

25

14

03

12

20

10

09

01

14

12

08

17

01

09

05

23

01

23

18

04

02

17

19

24

11

06

17

06

23

22

19

13

12

02

18

12

03

11

24

16

08

16

07

03

22

05

19

07

15

03

17

09

16

12

03

21

18

03

25

02

21

19

25

03

16

08

01

03

10

08

22

19

23

19

15

12

20

13

07

24

02

14

12

24

19

23

25

20

14

02

17

09

03

05

05

15

12

13

24

06

15

25

10

17

15

19

15

05

01

17

21

22

03

14

18

13

13

15

11

20

15

11

23

21

04

01

19

05

12

23

11

11

17

07

08

12

15

17

03

25

25

01

09

03

15

06

18

10

03

10

13

05

22

12

19

14

12

22

05

21

04

03

25

19

01

24

09

22

24

01

17

13

25

24

12

05

05

16

01

04

10

25

09

02

02

25

05

07

12

01

20

09

24

09

06

19

23

12

19

25

19

03

06

15

24

17

04

04

20

19

02

07

12

14

22

25

18

17

15

04

21

21

04

19

22

04

10

24

11

23

17

17

21

07

10

14

23

23

17

19

01

25

25

22

20

25

03

03

22

23

17

08

14

14

05

11

09

17

13

11

24

08

14

21

19

10

22

10

07

20

05

17

20

12

11

07

07

15

13

09

01

02

14

04

03

23

13

17

17

20

09

15

07

19

16

21

06

10

14

25

22

06

11

19

07

09

05

13

06

13

05

04

04

22

03

07

16

04

17

16

06

14

22

09

16

24

25

23

06

07

15

13

09

05

08

09

07

22

10

06

09

10

01

07

07

11

07

13

23

25

10

13

21

23

21

05

16

10

01

19

15

08

16

23

03

22

17

15

01

20

15

16

18

16

01

22

22

16

14

24

13

12

14

08

09

07

07

02

20

02

12

15

13

03

19

16

19

21

25

21

25

15

01

10

13

18

09

04

03

17

09

08

22

08

18

05

17

03

19

12

25

07

07

21

01

13

16

18

13

07

02

19

10

23

11

17

22

22

03

19

11

14

09

20

05

05

13

06

17

05

25

09

07

17

07

07

04

14

22

15

25

04

20

17

07

06

23

11

24

25

13

19

21

25

07

05

04

25

19

19

13

21

02

16

21

09

07

23

05

12

05

01

23

02

03

04

10

16

19

07

08

10

02

01

11

21

05

14

19

01

16

11

13

10

16

07

08

11

06

01

20

14

19

09

01

05

04

05

07

04

22

02

05

03

04

10

01

11

25

13

25

11

07

25

05

25

16

25

25

25

20

05

22

07

25

06

21

14

06

25

15

15

14

16

19

20

21

05

22

03

01

21

05

22

18

01

21

08

03

01

10

22

08

13

17

05

21

09

09

19

05

10

11

12

15

10

15

21

25

10

19

22

04

07

22

17

14

06

14

07

01

06

21

06

10

15

04

23

13

13

18

09

25

05

2. Hint:
"It takes two to tango" - numbers are in pairs.

https://i.imgur.com/zDpPzlt.jpg

3. Hint:
"Impossible only means that you haven't found the solution yet" - numbers go from 1 to 25.

https://i.imgur.com/ucT4i5S.png

4. Hint:
"Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our mind" - the order of pairs is randomized and has no significance for the solution.

https://i.imgur.com/SSFX0WD.jpg

5. Hint:
"Cogito ergo sum" - A particular idea from the gentleman below can help you solve the puzzle.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Frans_Hals_-_Portret_van_Ren%C3%A9_Descartes.jpg

6. Hint:
"The pen is mightier than the sword" - Pen and paper can be a powerfull tool.

https://i.imgur.com/ik35t1C.jpg?1

Now this... is a really cool idea, thanks!  8)

Edit - I think I got your hint 1 already, but I could just be nuts... We'll see where this goes.  :D

Edit 2 - People can verify the hash of their phrase(s) here - http://hash.online-convert.com/sha256-generator

Love this idea... Already lost 30 minutes of my life!  ;D

A   A   L   X   S   G   A   N   T   P   P   D   U   E   S   M   X   I   X   D   Q   V   U
L   T   J   I   A   N   L   H   Q   A   I   E   W   A   W   R   D   B   Q   S   X   K   F
V   S   M   L   B   R   L   C   K   X   P   H   P   G   C   V   E   S   G   O   C   Q   I
U   R   C   Y   B   U   S   Y   C   P   H   A   C   J   H   V   S   W   S   O   L   T   M
N   L   X   S   W   Y   T   N   B   Q   I   C   E   E   O   L   M   X   F   O   Y   J   Q
E   A   Q   U   V   C   N   R   M   M   O   K   T   O   K   W   U   D   A   S   E   L   W
G   H   L   O   Q   C   Y   Y   A   I   C   O   F   R   J   C   J   M   E   V   L   S   N
U   D   C   Y   S   A   X   I   V   X   A   Q   M   Y   X   L   E   E   P   A   D   J   Y
Y   E   G   L   A   T   I   X   I   F   S   W   L   S   Y   S   C   F   O   X   Q   D   D
G   L   N   V   Y   R   Q   O   D   U   U   D   S   V   D   J   X   K   W   Q   Q   U   G
W   Q   S   A   Y   Y   V   T   Y   C   C   V   W   Q   H   N   N   E   K   I   Q   M   K
U   S   J   V   J   G   T   E   Q   T   L   K   G   G   O   M   I   A   B   N   D   C   W
T   I   O   G   S   P   U   F   J   N   Y   V   F   K   S   G   I   E   M   F   M   E   D
G   P   D   Q   P   F   N   V   I   P   X   Y   W   F   G   O   M   I   E   H   I   G   V
J   A   G   G   K   G   M   W   Y   J   M   U   W   U   E   P   J   A   S   O   H   P   W
O   A   T   O   P   R   P   A   V   V   P   N   X   M   L   N   H   I   G   G   B   T   B
C   S   P   S   U   Y   U   Y   O   A   J   M   R   I   D   C   Q   I   H   V   H   R   E
L   Y   G   G   U   A   M   P   R   M   G   B   S   J   W   K   Q   V   V   C   S   K   N
E   M   F   Q   E   Y   I   G   Q   G   G   D   N   V   O   Y   D   T   Q   G   F   W   K
S   U   Y   G   E   D   Y   S   S   M   U   B   P   U   I   G   W   E   L   E   A   W   B
P   S   G   H   J   B   A   K   U   E   N   S   A   P   K   M   J   P   G   H   K   F   A
I   A   E   D   E   G   D   V   B   E   C   D   J   A   K   Y   M   Y   K   G   Y   E   Y
Y   T   E   V   G   Y   F   U   N   F   Y   O   O   N   P   S   T   U   E   V   C   A   U
A   U   H   C   A   J   V   H   M   Q   E   U   I   I   S   E   J   K   L   O   J   O   U
V   D   G   V   Q   N   F   N   G   A   F   U   F   J   O   D   W   M   M   R   I   Y   E
 to convert numbers into letter via excel: =MID("ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ",CELL_COORDINATE,1)
maybe now we can solve an equation where we know input plus x = the sum?
wish I had more time today to spend on this.
what's interesting is that there are no values above 25.  so the numbers are the result of a mod/base formula or a simple English alphabet translation and the phrase does not have a letter "z" in it etc...

Great work took! I'll definitely keep trying to solve this  ;D

Edit: so it doesn't seem like a shift cipher of any kind. I'll look over it again when the next hint is out :)

I'll try and script something tonight if I have time to make it easier to try different ciphers on the numeral to letter conversion. 

Watching  ::)

I am very happy to see that there is interest for this puzzle and you think it is a fun idea.
I decided to raise the stakes to keep the motivation high, the prize will now also include 10 satoshi for each block mined since last halving, that will be paid out directly to the winner:

Yeah, we might need another hint.   I'm like 99% sure it's a cipher but I can't tell which kind. 

2. Hint:
"It takes two to tango" - numbers are in pairs.

https://i.imgur.com/zDpPzlt.jpg

So maybe it's not a shift cipher at all?

Pairs of letters would possibly indicate a playfair type cipher of four square cipher.   So now we just need to figure out the key. 

3. Hint:
"Impossible only means that you haven't found the solution yet" - numbers go from 1 to 25.

https://i.imgur.com/ucT4i5S.png

humm.. OK : let's give it a try:

as we have only 25 chars, that's so mean we are in presence of 3 potentials cyphers ( 1 of these 3 ):

playfair, foursquare or bifid.....   8)

i will now keep to explore .. ;)

hum..

Where and when did man first notice smog? Seneca complained heartily about air pollution in Rome in the year sixty one.

I am happy too see that people are having fun trying to solve the puzzle  :)

Keep in mind that all the information needed to generate the solution is present in 1.Hint. The challenge is how to approach the data. The following hints are meant as guides how to approach the problem.

This is a really nice and fun puzzle! I'll try to figure it out. :P

4. Hint:
"Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our mind" - the order of pairs is randomized and has no significance for the solution.

https://i.imgur.com/SSFX0WD.jpg

5. Hint:
"Cogito ergo sum" - A particular idea from the gentleman below can help you solve the puzzle.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Frans_Hals_-_Portret_van_Ren%C3%A9_Descartes.jpg

Hell this is hard. Took me like 3 hours already, since yesterday  
cant stop thinking about this :) its not about the reward any more.
Anyway I came up with this: Cartesian three-dimensional coordinate system.
But its not matching hash...  

Why three dimensional? :)

Thank you for the feedback poptok1 :)

As mentioned in OP the contest will be over at halving day, we are only 1450 blocks away.
The last hint will more or less give the solution directly, so I really hope someone solves it before :)

The last hint that was just provided points to a Cartesian coordinate system, but 2 dimensional due to a prior hint pointing to pairs of X and Y coordinates.  It's probably a sum? The only monkey wrench is numbers are only up to 25.

YIKES! Is the phrase letters only? Any punctuation or space?  ;)

 Descartes : "i think so i am.."

XY : 24 - 25

but rubiks cube have :  01 . 01 on a face ( what suggest binary .. )

pweww... that's will drive me crazy..

I was thinking, maybe it has to do with the cartesian product? It makes pairs from sets and the way the pairs are arranged in any set doesn't matter.

6. Hint:
"The pen is mightier than the sword" - Pen and paper can be a powerfull tool.

https://i.imgur.com/ik35t1C.jpg?1

Solved it!



"420000 pages of history!"

Congratulations - Well done!  :D

Feel free to post how you found the solution!

420000 pages of history!

LOL Congrats! you beat me to it... I took too long to post :)

Wow I've been watching this... Well done to Took for the idea and to the winner!

Yep its was a QR code once it was plotted

Sorry CITM, looks like pawnshop770 beat you with 4 minutes.
I would like to give you a 2nd place prize, even though it was not defined in the rules, I will send you a PM.

WTF 4 minutes? He just reposted :(
Besides it was impossible to solve this with pen and paper.
If plane was big (A5) and dots where small (ball pen) no way anything
could read that QR. I know because I tried.

Any more info on how it was plotted?
Or url where to learn more about these things?

There is also an unsolved puzzle from Coinartist here: New Bitcoin Puzzle (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1488665.0https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1488665.0).

You are correct, the dots in hint 6 would not be large enough to actually scan the solution.
However, the idea is that once you start plotting the points, then would you quickly realized that it was a QR, and then would you shift to another medium.
If you made squares on the paper instead, then would it scan, but that would have been slightly easier if I have used squares instead.

This was a really cool puzzle! Thanks for making it Took!  :) Maybe I'll get the next one  ;D

Thank you very much :)
Feel free to post feedback, if the puzzle was too hard/easy/unfiar/fair etc.

It's a very challenging and creative puzzle. Nice job!

Explanation to the hints:
1. All the information needed to synthesize the phrase are in the data matrix. Obviously at this point you do not know how to approach the problem. The data pairs could have been presented in any form, the squared arrangement could be the first hint that you need to generate a QR code.  There are 26 column and 25 rows, this asymmetry is the first hint that the data should be read as pairs.

2. This hint reveal that the data are read in pairs, the picture of the couple reveal a coordinate set 22 and 11 (on their shoes), at this point do you not know what is x and what is y, the first pair is (22,11) suggesting x=22 and y=11, the fact that the males have a Y chromosome and females only have X chromosome could help confirming this.

3. The range of the data is revealed, at this point can you more or less rule out hexadecimal and you know that 01 = 1. The pictures is the first solid hint that the pairs are X and Y coordinates,  the X and Y has the exact same colour as the male and female from above, from here is it reasonable to assume that x=22 and y=11.

4. This hint reveals that the pairs are coordinate sets and rule out most decipher scenarios, since the randomization will limit the information to be present in the pairs and not the matrix as a whole. The pictures gives a valuable hint  as it is a prototype of the solution, the side of the rubrics cube  has 3x3 squares (or pixels) the coordinate set of the first pixel is shown as (01;01).

5. The purpose of this hint is to lead the thoughts patterns to a graphical solution in a 2 dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. At this point should there be enough information to start plotting the data points and realize that the solution is a QR code. However this is tricky since you have to plot a large amount of the data points blindly of what the result might be.

6. This hint is designed to convince the contester to plot the data, blindly of what the result might be. The idea is create a sensation of realization in the process of the plotting, since you obviously do not need all the points to realize that the result is a QR. Once you have realized that it is a QR then would it be easy to make the QR code with Excel, Matlab etc.

How to generate the data matrix.
I had to find a phrase that would not be too long to fit a 25x25 QR code, else would it take too long to work with.
Once I found a phrase then did I map the point in a coordinate system (from 1 to 25) in two columns using excel, I would dublicate some of the points to end up with 26x25 numbers in total (so it would look like a matrix) and randomize all pairs. The two columns was exported to an txt file and read into Matlab:


The matlab code generates a plot so I could test QR code and it prints out the data in a format understood my the SMF based forum.

Puzzle was very hard. And that's OK. Nice challenge, had fun with this, THX
But Your hints where misleading. Last one and hint nr4. It said that order
of pairs was without significance for solution. Now I do understand what you meant,
when solution is known. But earlier...ignored those coordinates.
Any way, Im sure that wasn't on purpose. Congratulations for the winner.

Thank you for participating and taking time to write some feedback.
It was not my intention to mislead, my idea was to start with very vague hints, and then later make them more clear and precise.
I did also realize that the use of famous "quotes" was properly not the best idea, I should have just have stated the facts and/or the pictures.

BTC part of the prize has been sent to the winner:
e250d9371d18e58dd8a9dfe9329e872558c69bab3aec6f99525ed4791167ec94

The coin will be shipped tomorrow.

Not true.
I did solve it independently.  Just took too long to post the message, got distracted.  The last clue made this too obvious.
Use this:  http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/SimplePlot/
copy and paste these pairs:
22   11
1   1
1   12
24   19
7   1
14   20
16   16
4   21
5   19
13   24
9   24
4   17
22   21
25   14
3   12
20   10
9   1
14   12
8   17
1   9
5   23
1   23
18   4
2   17
19   24
11   6
17   6
23   22
19   13
12   2
18   12
3   11
24   16
8   16
7   3
22   5
19   7
15   3
17   9
16   12
3   21
18   3
25   2
21   19
25   3
16   8
1   3
10   8
22   19
23   19
15   12
20   13
7   24
2   14
12   24
19   23
25   20
14   2
17   9
3   5
5   15
12   13
24   6
15   25
10   17
15   19
15   5
1   17
21   22
3   14
18   13
13   15
11   20
15   11
23   21
4   1
19   5
12   23
11   11
17   7
8   12
15   17
3   25
25   1
9   3
15   6
18   10
3   10
13   5
22   12
19   14
12   22
5   21
4   3
25   19
1   24
9   22
24   1
17   13
25   24
12   5
5   16
1   4
10   25
9   2
2   25
5   7
12   1
20   9
24   9
6   19
23   12
19   25
19   3
6   15
24   17
4   4
20   19
2   7
12   14
22   25
18   17
15   4
21   21
4   19
22   4
10   24
11   23
17   17
21   7
10   14
23   23
17   19
1   25
25   22
20   25
3   3
22   23
17   8
14   14
5   11
9   17
13   11
24   8
14   21
19   10
22   10
7   20
5   17
20   12
11   7
7   15
13   9
1   2
14   4
3   23
13   17
17   20
9   15
7   19
16   21
6   10
14   25
22   6
11   19
7   9
5   13
6   13
5   4
4   22
3   7
16   4
17   16
6   14
22   9
16   24
25   23
6   7
15   13
9   5
8   9
7   22
10   6
9   10
1   7
7   11
7   13
23   25
10   13
21   23
21   5
16   10
1   19
15   8
16   23
3   22
17   15
1   20
15   16
18   16
1   22
22   16
14   24
13   12
14   8
9   7
7   2
20   2
12   15
13   3
19   16
19   21
25   21
25   15
1   10
13   18
9   4
3   17
9   8
22   8
18   5
17   3
19   12
25   7
7   21
1   13
16   18
13   7
2   19
10   23
11   17
22   22
3   19
11   14
9   20
5   5
13   6
17   5
25   9
7   17
7   7
4   14
22   15
25   4
20   17
7   6
23   11
24   25
13   19
21   25
7   5
4   25
19   19
13   21
2   16
21   9
7   23
5   12
5   1
23   2
3   4
10   16
19   7
8   10
2   1
11   21
5   14
19   1
16   11
13   10
16   7
8   11
6   1
20   14
19   9
1   5
4   5
7   4
22   2
5   3
4   10
1   11
25   13
25   11
7   25
5   25
16   25
25   25
20   5
22   7
25   6
21   14
6   25
15   15
14   16
19   20
21   5
22   3
1   21
5   22
18   1
21   8
3   1
10   22
8   13
17   5
21   9
9   19
5   10
11   12
15   10
15   21
25   10
19   22
4   7
22   17
14   6
14   7
1   6
21   6
10   15
4   23
13   13
18   9
25   5

Select "Scatter" on plot type.  I chose Light Grid Lines but you don't need to.
the resulting image is "too large" to scan, but it's obviously a QR code, so we need to reduce the scale and make it scanable, to do so, click the "-" on the top right of the graph pic.  now, use an app like  QRReader and scan the image, and you get the message.

Wow, been watching this with interest, and I'm no way near smart enough to solve these cryptographic puzzles. Awesome job with creating these TookDk, and congrats to the winner!

Personally, these are way too hard - for me that is. I didn't get anywhere near solving this.

Thanks for the explanation, me too I wasn't anywhere near getting started but it's good learning :)