New Bitcoin Puzzle

[ning_chang]

You discover a Magic Portal. Be advised: Only the worthy may proceed. And so begins a Quest for bitcoin treasure.  


High Resolution Image: http://whit3r4bbi7.com/

Announced last night on twitter: https://twitter.com/coin_artist/status/736387780243165184

how can i play this? do you have any kind of clue. He works hard to puzzle. So do you have any idea?

[codetheweb]

I've been consumed with this puzzle over the last few days, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts:

At first, I believed the same as 4pollo:

A final thought on "the journey inward": the map seems to consist of a number of layers on top of each other: QR on top of AZTEC on top of DARK GREEN PIPES on top of LIGHT GREEN PIPES on top of a RED GRID. So maybe Level 1 of Days Destroyed would only need the QR, level 2 only the AZTEC, and so on.

.

But now I think that the QR codes serve as a temporary distraction.  The map could be split into different levels; but I don't think the QR codes are the first.  Instead, each code describes a place in the text adventure; and will only be useful in later stages of the puzzle.  But before I came to that conclusion, I did make some observations about them:

• The yellow circles on the borders of the codes seem oddly significant.  I played with the idea of drawing a route between each QR code, using the codes with 6 dots as a guide on which direction the route should be going, but didn't get anywhere with that.
• Secondly, (again trying the advice of 4pollo), I tried getting an anagram out of the first letter of each QR code (including and using articles, like 'the' and 'these').  The resulting string was 'YYTAISATYTHYYYW'.  Taking out the Ys, an anagram solver came up with the phrase "that was it".  Coincidence?  Maybe?  Seems promising but also could be a rabbit trail.

Getting off the subject of QR codes, the supposed Aztec code is very interesting.  I think it's probably supposed to be the first level in the puzzle, as it does seem the most obvious.  The fact that when divided and flipped over the code is almost exactly the same seems to say that the code was not generated.  (Although here's a thought - I don't know enough about the format of the code to know if it's valid or not - the string encoded could be a quasi-palindrome, like the inscription on the doorstep of Porta Alchemica: 'SI SEDES NON IS').

Here's a representation of the code in binary (brown tile = 1, other = 0):

Code:

1110000111010000101
1010101110010111110
0001001100111101100
0011000011111000100
0001110100011001010
1010111111111101110
0110110000000111000
1000010111110110000
0101110100010100000
1011010101010101101
0000010100010111010
0000110111110100001
0001110000000110110
0111011111111110101
0101001101010111000
0010001111100001100
0011011110011001000
0111110101111010101
1010000101110000111

I tried putting a few lines through a binary-to-text converter and a Morse Code translator, but got nowhere.

Any more ideas for the Aztec code?

[socks435]

The puzzle is very hard to understand if where you can start.. can you explain the new puzzle how this will be solve?

[mephala]

I wish anyone knew. We even still have to get to a public key. Feels bad man

[drwtsn32]

I've been consumed with this puzzle over the last few days, so I thought I would share some of my thoughts:

At first, I believed the same as 4pollo:

A final thought on "the journey inward": the map seems to consist of a number of layers on top of each other: QR on top of AZTEC on top of DARK GREEN PIPES on top of LIGHT GREEN PIPES on top of a RED GRID. So maybe Level 1 of Days Destroyed would only need the QR, level 2 only the AZTEC, and so on.

.

But now I think that the QR codes serve as a temporary distraction.  The map could be split into different levels; but I don't think the QR codes are the first.  Instead, each code describes a place in the text adventure; and will only be useful in later stages of the puzzle.  But before I came to that conclusion, I did make some observations about them:

• The yellow circles on the borders of the codes seem oddly significant.  I played with the idea of drawing a route between each QR code, using the codes with 6 dots as a guide on which direction the route should be going, but didn't get anywhere with that.
• Secondly, (again trying the advice of 4pollo), I tried getting an anagram out of the first letter of each QR code (including and using articles, like 'the' and 'these').  The resulting string was 'YYTAISATYTHYYYW'.  Taking out the Ys, an anagram solver came up with the phrase "that was it".  Coincidence?  Maybe?  Seems promising but also could be a rabbit trail.

Getting off the subject of QR codes, the supposed Aztec code is very interesting.  I think it's probably supposed to be the first level in the puzzle, as it does seem the most obvious.  The fact that when divided and flipped over the code is almost exactly the same seems to say that the code was not generated.  (Although here's a thought - I don't know enough about the format of the code to know if it's valid or not - the string encoded could be a quasi-palindrome, like the inscription on the doorstep of Porta Alchemica: 'SI SEDES NON IS').

Here's a representation of the code in binary (brown tile = 1, other = 0):

Code:

1110000111010000101
1010101110010111110
0001001100111101100
0011000011111000100
0001110100011001010
1010111111111101110
0110110000000111000
1000010111110110000
0101110100010100000
1011010101010101101
0000010100010111010
0000110111110100001
0001110000000110110
0111011111111110101
0101001101010111000
0010001111100001100
0011011110011001000
0111110101111010101
1010000101110000111

I tried putting a few lines through a binary-to-text converter and a Morse Code translator, but got nowhere.

Any more ideas for the Aztec code?

I bet you just created an account for this. 
Your logic is interesting. It's the first time I've heard of Aztec code though.

[upsidedown75]

Okay, whoever made this is a genius as it has already been roughly a month since the quest to solve this puzzle has started and no one has yet solved it, or at least none have revealed themselves that they have solved it.

I already gave up on solving this puzzle after a week of it's release. I never really made any considerable progress with this puzzle.

[VERUMinNUMERIS]

I like puzzles and pizza.  And both have double ZZs. 

[Coinnoiseur]

Instead, each code describes a place in the text adventure; and will only be useful in later stages of the puzzle. 

That has been my assumption as well. Problem is that I see 4 different QR's which could describe the initial room:

You are in a cell.
You can go through a cell door.
You are in an iron chamber, the walls are lined with iron pipes.
There are chains suspended from the pipes and rusted gears are scattered about the floor.
The sound of dripping water echoes in the chamber.
 An iron plated floor.
 on which there is a skeleton and some rusted gears.
  A dusty skeleton, covered in rags.
  It's wearing a jacket.

QR6: Skeletons hang from chains and manacles against the walls. The floor is covered with iron gears, rusted scrap metal, and empty glass vials. You discover a leather jacket.

QR9: You are in a rusted iron chamber. Water is trickling from large iron pipes above you. On the wall someone has scrawled “When in your house black crows give birth to white doves, then you will be called wise

QR11: http://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/5craldfdmkkzngf1davsna/days-destroyed


It is QR11 that got us in the cell.
There is a skeleton (though it is on the floor, not hanging), the floor has rusted gears and there is a (discovered) jacket. But not the vials from QR6.
The Iron Chamber of QR9 is a strong match, though the pipes on the ceiling vs walls are a mismatch. Dripping water matches, no mentions of gears or skeletons.

If it wasn't for the jacket I would not have any doubts about QR9. Also, since the crows/doves thing could be the much needed hint. And that hint contains "then you will be called wise", which goes well with the "Only the worthy may proceed" from the original tweet.


On the Aztec code... it will not work the way it is:

- The orientation marks are wrong (because of the mirroring)
- The code words in the upper half contain rubbish (haven't actually checked rotating 90 degrees first)

Assuming the Aztec is not a Red Herring... If we want to make it work, we must modify it, or: turn some black squares into white ones and vice versa. Could that be what the Black Cows giving birth to White Doves hint is about?

I've tried a few Game of Life iterations, tried moving the squares based upon the dot and/or the triangle but nothing I have tried produces a valid Aztec Code.

- I wasn't that hopeful about Game of Life anyway: reversing it on this scale is 'impossible' and the symmetry would remain, which goes for any method that would manipulate the QR based upon the blocks alone.
- The dots and triangles are not symmetric, so if they encode the manipulations to do, the result would not be symmetric.
- The result does not need to be an Aztec code, could also be QR (minimum 21x21) or Data Matrix (minimum 10x10)
- For Aztec, the manipulations must both add new and remove existing blocks, that's the only way to get proper orientation markers.


Another path... I took another look at the letter frequencies (leaving out the 3 uncertain blocks). Kappa plain text value is 0.0368, which is pretty much the value for a set of random letters. It indicates it is not a simple substitution cipher. For a long enough English text the value should be about 0.065. I then took some English text, applied some ciphers and looked at the KPT values. Playfair, Bifid, Vigenere with a short key all produced about 0.05. Vigenere with a long key (up to a One Time Pad) approaches the value for random letters of <0.04.

- While nothing sensible resulted from Playfair/Bifid itself, they also can take a key (which presumably is being held by the dragon ;P ) I have only tried bifid/playfair on the outer ring starting top-left (cf Aztec), I did try both clockwise and counter-clockwise.
- While a long key combined with Vigenere (or shorter with Vigenere Auto Key) is possible, reverse Vigenere on the outer ring did not produce any sensible key (assuming the 26 blocks of the outer ring encode 'The Journey Inwards....." For this I did try every position on the outer ring as start, both cw and ccw.
- The above also means a readable One Time Pad is not likely, however it could for instance be a One Time Pad based upon the row/column index of the letter in the 'Aztec' code.

D.

[franky1]

Looks like the prize is 1BTC!

As announced on Steemit: https://steemit.com/art/@coinartist/painting-puzzle-with-1-btc-prize

Public Address: 1ByRBQyFfZFLFSbrsw46puS5HYebAsPh7T

maybe the announcement is hinting something

"Sensitive QR reader recommended"

im guessing the OP has read the many pages of attempts and thinks we have missed something. so is hinting there is a QR code we might find hard to scan..

[timeflux]

Ok a few cool things i've found.

1.
If you cleanup the QR codes in photoshop with levels to make the rust very dark and use:
https://online-barcode-reader.inliteresearch.com/default.aspx
it tells you the rotation of each code.

the Water surges out of a large pipe and begins.. one tells me:
 Rotation: left
i don't have time to cleanup all the files if anyone wants to help

2.
when you use the Keypad it says "enter cell jail code"  I find this wording weird, why did not OP just write: enter code?

3.
In reference to Portal Alcehemica, where alot of these phrases are from. Maybe we are missing some hints/references from this ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porta_Alchemica

"The particular drawing on the pediment of the gate, with two overlapping triangles and Latin inscriptions, recapitulates the title page in the posthumous 1677 edition—which differed from the title page of the first edition—of the alchemical book Aureum Saeculum Redivivum (1621) by Adrian von Mynsicht (known also as Madathanus). In 1747 the emblem was used by Wienner von Sonnenfels in his Splendor lucis, oder Glanz des Lichts. Similarly, the lower part of the emblem by von Mynsicht depicting a "centrum in trigono centri", was reproduced in a manuscript called the Geheime Figuren der Rosencreutzer (1785–88). The same drawing appear in a bookmark possessed by Bérenger Saunière, a parish priest at Rennes-le-Château in 1885.

It is suggested as well that the geometrical construction of the gate is similar to that of the 21st emblem of Michael Maier’s Atalanta Fugiens (1617).[citation needed] "

The inscriptions

The monument has numerous symbols and inscriptions used in alchemy. The inscriptions are hard to read from the monument itself.

Around the circle at top: “The center is in the triangle of the center.” Also: “There are three marvels: God and man, mother and virgin, triune and one.”

The Hebrew inscription, Ruach Elohim, means “Spirit of God.” Beneath it: “A dragon guards the entrance of the magic garden of the Hesperides, and, without Hercules, Jason would not have tasted the delights of Colchis.”

There are six sigils on the jambs, each with its phrase.

Saturn/Lead: “When in your house black crows give birth to white doves, then will you be called wise.”

Jupiter/Tin: “The diameter of the sphere, the tau in the circle, and the cross of the globe bring no joy to the blind.”

Mars/Iron: “He who can burn with water and wash with fire makes a heaven of earth and a precious earth of heaven.”

Venus/Bronze: “If you make the earth fly upside down, with its wings you may convert torrential waters to stone.”

Mercury: “When azoth and fire whiten Latona, Diana comes unclothed.”

Antimony: “Our dead son lives, returns from the fire a king, and enjoys occult conjugation.”

On the base, Vitriol: “It is an occult work of true wisdom to open the earth, so that it may generate salvation for the people.”

In another plate, now lost, was the device VILLAE IANUAM TRANANDO RECLUDENS IASON OBTINET LOCUPLES VELLUS MEDEAE 1680 (Passing by opening the door of the villa, Iason obtained the rich fleece of Medea 1680).

And on the doorstep, “SI SEDES NON IS,” an ambiguous quasi-palindrome, meaning both “If you sit, do not go,” and “If you do not sit, go.”

[coin@coin]

Anybody still on this? Seem like it's still unsolved...

[johnnyyash]

Interesting puzzle. I missed the last one. Anyone kind enough to explain the rules/instruction for the puzzle?

same here too..will like to know..I think its a yes puzzle.... Explaination its needed on instructions and guild lines.

[pauloaragaomelo]

Is there any puzzle open right now?

[coin@coin]

Is there any puzzle open right now?

I think this one is still on. Don't think the prize has been claimed yet.

[mirth23]

Level 1 has been SOLVED with the entry of a correct keypad code. Doing so has kicked off a 30 day timer prior to the Level 2 opening. I'll drop a few hints during that time to help folks catch up:

Hint #1: The keypad code is derived entirely from the triangle + dot code. That and the URL for the text adventure are the only pieces of info needed from the painting to complete Level 1.

[franky1]

Level 1 has been SOLVED with the entry of a correct keypad code. Doing so has kicked off a 30 day timer prior to the Level 2 opening. I'll drop a few hints during that time to help folks catch up:

Hint #1: The keypad code is derived entirely from the triangle + dot code. That and the URL for the text adventure are the only pieces of info needed from the painting to complete Level 1.

well we know the url has 347 in it.
we presume the dots represent keys of a 9 digit numeric keypad.
but what about the triangles.

if you want to be helpful explain what the triangles represent.

[codetheweb]

Level 1 has been SOLVED with the entry of a correct keypad code. Doing so has kicked off a 30 day timer prior to the Level 2 opening. I'll drop a few hints during that time to help folks catch up:

Hint #1: The keypad code is derived entirely from the triangle + dot code. That and the URL for the text adventure are the only pieces of info needed from the painting to complete Level 1.

Any hints on roughly how long the final code is?

[mirth23]

Level 1 has been SOLVED with the entry of a correct keypad code. Doing so has kicked off a 30 day timer prior to the Level 2 opening. I'll drop a few hints during that time to help folks catch up:

Hint #1: The keypad code is derived entirely from the triangle + dot code. That and the URL for the text adventure are the only pieces of info needed from the painting to complete Level 1.

Any hints on roughly how long the final code is?

Hint #2: The final code was surprisingly long (> 100 characters) with all caps and no spaces.

[codetheweb]

Level 1 has been SOLVED with the entry of a correct keypad code. Doing so has kicked off a 30 day timer prior to the Level 2 opening. I'll drop a few hints during that time to help folks catch up:

Hint #1: The keypad code is derived entirely from the triangle + dot code. That and the URL for the text adventure are the only pieces of info needed from the painting to complete Level 1.

Any hints on roughly how long the final code is?

Hint #2: The final code was surprisingly long (> 100 characters) with all caps and no spaces.

Well, that throws my brute forcing scheme out the window.

[mirth23]

Level 1 has been SOLVED with the entry of a correct keypad code. Doing so has kicked off a 30 day timer prior to the Level 2 opening. I'll drop a few hints during that time to help folks catch up:

Hint #1: The keypad code is derived entirely from the triangle + dot code. That and the URL for the text adventure are the only pieces of info needed from the painting to complete Level 1.

Any hints on roughly how long the final code is?

Hint #2: The final code was surprisingly long (> 100 characters) with all caps and no spaces.

Well, that throws my brute forcing scheme out the window.

Depends on how you implement your brute force - the text game checks the keypad code using an unprotected POST.