Deleted

[CryptoVzla]

Deleted

[1714101597]

1714101597

[1714101597]

1714101597

[CryptoVzla]

Bump

[coindancer]

still there for the taking? what does the chemical formula stand for?

[xhomerx10]

still there for the taking? what does the chemical formula stand for?

Yep you can check at https://blockchain.info/address/1qkCBiEjY4GAUFBcrsDXqyM6EPbZKTqCW

IDK. That Chem form is wrong, i tried with the elements with no result..

 LOL the Chem formula is not wrong!  Perhaps you are unaware of the skeletal form of the benzene molecule C₆H₆. The chemical formula in the third image is actually the chemical composition benzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid and 1,4-diaminobenzene with the water (H₂O) removed from between them.  The structure shown represents the basis for the aromatic polyamide better known as Kevlar.


 Feel free to cut me in for 1/58^th of your winnings

[Script3d]

still there for the taking? what does the chemical formula stand for?

Yep you can check at https://blockchain.info/address/1qkCBiEjY4GAUFBcrsDXqyM6EPbZKTqCW

IDK. That Chem form is wrong, i tried with the elements with no result..

 LOL the Chem formula is not wrong!  Perhaps you are unaware of the skeletal form of the benzene molecule C₆H₆. The chemical formula in the third image is actually the chemical composition benzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid and 1,4-diaminobenzene with the water (H₂O) removed from between them.  The structure shown represents the basis for the aromatic polyamide better known as Kevlar.


 Feel free to cut me in for 1/58^th of your winnings

i didnt understand anything that you said but
good luck with your winnings if you win

this puzzle is hard but it will be worth if you
decode it

[NorrisK]

I guess we should break down the video in all its seperate components.

The video is too fast at the moment and pauzing and playing through the video is very annoying.

Maybe we can screen cap every image and post the solution we have for each one? Would make the thread quite big though, so maybe only the images in the starting post and then refer to numbers from then on.

[dalek]

I guess we should break down the video in all its seperate components.

The video is too fast at the moment and pauzing and playing through the video is very annoying.

Maybe we can screen cap every image and post the solution we have for each one? Would make the thread quite big though, so maybe only the images in the starting post and then refer to numbers from then on.

The url at the end points to a page on the author's site which has an animated gif of the clues instead of a video. Use imagemagick's convert command to split the gif into separate images:
  

Code:

convert GUESS_MY_BITCOIN.gif clue.png

[mileymatmun]

Why do you think that J stand for glasses ?

[dalek]

Why do you think that J stand for glasses ?

The dates are the more important clue there. It's Steve Jobs.

[Adriandmen]

Why do you think that J stand for glasses ?

The dates are the more important clue there. It's Steve Jobs.

So why not 5S instead of 5J? Seems more logical to me .

[~Bitcoin~]

Played video at 0.25 speed and still images are playing fast and there are lots of images making this puzzle hard. I think this puzzle could be worth 50 btc rather than 0.50btc. However quite interesting to spend some time in it spended half an hour and still can't get any clue.

[xhomerx10]

Why do you think that J stand for glasses ?

The dates are the more important clue there. It's Steve Jobs.

So why not 5S instead of 5J? Seems more logical to me .

 5S would not yield a valid private key.  Base 58 encoded private keys will be 51 characters beginning with 5H, 5J or 5K so an S wouldn't be a valid second character.

[krumblez]

I split the animated gif down and let Jan (the author / designer) know. Source page is http://www.jangodfrey.com/illustration/guess-my-bitcoin/guess-my-bitcoin.php

Hope this helps with deciphering

http://imgur.com/a/eTsYN



Good luck everyone!

[BiTiB.eu]

I love this kind of challenge! 

[Tyrantt]

hm, this looks like fun and I LOVE puzzles. Is the price claimed did anyone complete it?

[BiTiB.eu]

But how i shoud try for see if i'm correct on new blokchain  

[Adriandmen]

hm, this looks like fun and I LOVE puzzles. Is the price claimed did anyone complete it?

It actually hasn't been completed yet: https://blockchain.info/address/1qkCBiEjY4GAUFBcrsDXqyM6EPbZKTqCW

[septian44]

encoded private key must start with either '5H', '5J', or '5K' and these all ?...

[takingthis4]

Why do you think that J stand for glasses ?

The dates are the more important clue there. It's Steve Jobs.

So why not 5S instead of 5J? Seems more logical to me .

yeah, it is really hard to work it out, even though it is interesting it would be better if each picture would stand for only one character

edit: how to know whether it is upper case or lower case letter?

[Adriandmen]

Why do you think that J stand for glasses ?

The dates are the more important clue there. It's Steve Jobs.

So why not 5S instead of 5J? Seems more logical to me .

yeah, it is really hard to work it out, even though it is interesting it would be better if each picture would stand for only one character

edit: how to know whether it is upper case or lower case letter?

Actually, if you count them, you will see that there are exactly 51 puzzles that needs to be solved. There are also 51 characters in a private key, so it's safe to assume that each image stands for 1 character.

I haven't figured out the upper/lowercase problem yet.

[Antimon1]

Does anyone know how these letter circles work?

[xhomerx10]

Does anyone know how these letter circles work?

 Find a letter that completes the word.

[BilalHIMITE]

This is all what I have figured out yet :

• 5
• Steve Jobs
• Kevlar
• Pi / 3.14
• Parachute
• F16
• Johannes Gutenberg
• Yo-Yo?
• mc² = E
• Iron?
• Puzzle?
• WHEN I WAS INVENTED #  (Translated from morse)
• Scissors?
• X-ray
• August Schleicher
• Eiffel Tower
• Alfred Nobel / Dynamite
• Ice skating shoe?
• XX chromosome
• XY chromosome
• Galileo Galilei / Thermoscope
• Phonograph
• Zipper
• Wi-Fi
• Windows (10?)
• DNA
• Ballon
• Gameboy
• Mouse

[xhomerx10]

Here is mine:

• 5
• Steve Jobs
• Kevlar
• Pi / 3.14
• Atari
• parachute
• jet
• wingtip
• Gutenberg
• Yo-Yo
• mc² = E
• iron
• jigsaw puzzle piece
• 1836
• scissors
• X-ray
• Yale
• radar or sonar
• concertina
• Eiffel Tower
• Nobel
• skate or ice skate
• XX chromosome
• XY chromosome
• igloo
• filmstrip
• Galileo
• it's the Xerox logo... prefixed by e o? (Thanks to Adriandmen)
• question mark
• NAKAMOTO (Thanks to dalek for pointing out the caps issue)
• e-cigarette or vaping device
• SATOSHI(Thanks to dalek for pointing out the caps issue)
• gramophone or phonograph and possibly Victrola
• zipper
• X It's the alphabet! (Thanks Antimon1!)
• pill or tablet
• 1996
• b this is how "b" is represented in Braille
• Wi-Fi
• Windows
• 24 (converted to hex)
• DNA
• ballon
• Einstein
• X
• Etch-a-Sketch
• Gameboy
• 36 (converted to hex)
• Tesla
• mouse

[raphma]

who ensures that when deciphered will be really the private key of this address?

[Kprawn]

The third last one looks like some kind of symbol for a electronic component like a LED {light emitting diodes} ... anyone have any knowledge on electronic components? I just love these kinds of

puzzles and it takes me back a few years when we spend hours on this forum trying to figure out puzzles like this. Unfortunately there can only be one winner, and they seldom share their prize with the

other people who helped. 

[Antimon1]

I think that since "LED" is too short the four letters represent the contacts of an rgb led.
Those would be red-ground-green-blue (according to some images I googled).
So it could be g(reen).

[xhomerx10]

I think that since "LED" is too short the four letters represent the contacts of an rgb led.
Those would be red-ground-green-blue (according to some images I googled).
So it could be g(reen).

 Possibly but the depiction is of a two-lead LED.

[Antimon1]

I think that since "LED" is too short the four letters represent the contacts of an rgb led.
Those would be red-ground-green-blue (according to some images I googled).
So it could be g(reen).

 Possibly but the depiction is of a two-lead LED.

Yes thats right but I have no other idea atm..

[xhomerx10]

I think that since "LED" is too short the four letters represent the contacts of an rgb led.
Those would be red-ground-green-blue (according to some images I googled).
So it could be g(reen).

 Possibly but the depiction is of a two-lead LED.

Yes thats right but I have no other idea atm..

Don't give up!  What about the phrase with the two 10 letter words and the 6 letter word?  It might be something Bitcoin related.  Maybe a name or a process...

[Antimon1]

Oh thats basically the alphabet lol!

The marked letter is an x

[xhomerx10]

Oh thats basically the alphabet lol!

The marked letter is an x

 Nice!  I don't think I would have made that connection.

[coindancer]

Not bad but i'm not sure on

accordion
and
dryer balls

hmm???

[SourThunder]

BUMP

[xhomerx10]

Not bad but i'm not sure on

accordion
and
dryer balls

hmm???

 The date for the invention of the accordion matches and for the life of me I can't tell what that image is supposed to be otherwise.  It looks like a simple diagram of an accordion.
As for the dryer balls, I'm pretty sure of that one.  The e o would stand for essential oil - this alongside the image of a ball of yarn. 
Do you have a different idea?

[Adriandmen]

Not bad but i'm not sure on

accordion
and
dryer balls

hmm???

 The date for the invention of the accordion matches and for the life of me I can't tell what that image is supposed to be otherwise.  It looks like a simple diagram of an accordion.
As for the dryer balls, I'm pretty sure of that one.  The e o would stand for essential oil - this alongside the image of a ball of yarn. 
Do you have a different idea?

It's the Xerox logo.

[xhomerx10]

Not bad but i'm not sure on

accordion
and
dryer balls

hmm???

 The date for the invention of the accordion matches and for the life of me I can't tell what that image is supposed to be otherwise.  It looks like a simple diagram of an accordion.
As for the dryer balls, I'm pretty sure of that one.  The e o would stand for essential oil - this alongside the image of a ball of yarn. 
Do you have a different idea?

It's the Xerox logo.

 Lol! Why is it when I hear a better answer I feel so silly?
I guess I have to do some searching.

[dalek]

I think that since "LED" is too short the four letters represent the contacts of an rgb led.
Those would be red-ground-green-blue (according to some images I googled).
So it could be g(reen).

It's more likely the date the LED was invented.

[Adriandmen]

What is that rhombus with a Z in it? It looks like a logo, but I don't know which one.

Does anyone know this :p?

[xhomerx10]

I think that since "LED" is too short the four letters represent the contacts of an rgb led.
Those would be red-ground-green-blue (according to some images I googled).
So it could be g(reen).

It's more likely the date the LED was invented.

 There are a few different dates for this as it was invented in increments.  Maybe the date for this particular model?

[xhomerx10]

What is that rhombus with a Z in it? It looks like a logo, but I don't know which one.

Does anyone know this :p?

 Possibly Zantac

[Adriandmen]

What is that rhombus with a Z in it? It looks like a logo, but I don't know which one.

Does anyone know this :p?

 Possibly Zantac

Hmm, it doesn't seem to have the exact same shape as the one on the picture though.

[dalek]

Here is mine:

• Nakamoto
• Satoshi

Those should be capped as all the other letters in those clues are capped.

[xhomerx10]

Here is mine:

• Nakamoto
• Satoshi

Those should be capped as all the other letters in those clues are capped.

 Awesome point!  Merci

[dalek]

• b this is how "b" is represented in Braille

It also represents "2" in Braille.

[useless4]

Here is mine:

• 5
• Steve Jobs
• Kevlar
• Pi / 3.14
• Atari
• parachute
• jet
• wingtip
• Gutenberg
• Yo-Yo
• mc² = E
• iron --- cant it be flatiron?
• jigsaw puzzle piece --- it can also be just Puzzle
• 1836
• scissors
• X-ray
• Yale
• radar or sonar
• accordion --- did not understand how the picture is connected with accordion
• Eiffel Tower
• Nobel
• skate or ice skate
• XX chromosome
• XY chromosome
• igloo
• filmstrip --- it also might be Cinema filmstrip
• Galileo
• it's the Xerox logo... prefixed by e o? Thanks to Adriandmen
• question mark
• Nakamoto
• e-cigarette or vaping device
• Satoshi
• gramophone or phonograph and possibly Victrola
• zipper
• X It's the alphabet! (Thanks Antimon1!)
• pill or tablet --- did not understand this one either
• 1996
• b this is how "b" is represented in Braille
• Wi-Fi
• Windows
• 24 (converted to hex)
• DNA
• ballon
• Einstein
• X
• Etch-a-Sketch
• Gameboy
• 36 (converted to hex)
• cant it be diOd? also it might be diod or led invention year
• Tesla
• mouse

a few added ideas of mine, tell me if im incorrect

edit: also here is the key with these letters as no one still posted it
5JKPApjwGYWij3sXYraENsXYifG.qkehgzXp9bWW2NbEXEG3.Tm

[xhomerx10]

What is that rhombus with a Z in it? It looks like a logo, but I don't know which one.

Does anyone know this :p?

I've been through this site and I'm just not seeing anything.  This is why I went with the generic word pill or tablet...

[dalek]

• Eiffel Tower

That could also be Paris.

[xhomerx10]

• b this is how "b" is represented in Braille

It also represents "2" in Braille.

 Well I see your point but the numbers are supposed to be preceded by the number sign which is a backwards L.

[xhomerx10]

• Eiffel Tower

That could also be Paris.

 True but I'm going with Occam's razor otherwise we're going to have so many combinations to try...

[xhomerx10]

Okay I'm officially changing accordion to concertina based on this

[BilalHIMITE]

What is that rhombus with a Z in it? It looks like a logo, but I don't know which one.

Does anyone know this :p?

I've been through this site and I'm just not seeing anything.  This is why I went with the generic word pill or tablet...

I've looking for that and I found this twitter account : https://twitter.com/kensington1829
Check the profile picture. Is it just a coincidence ? or not?

[buyinbtc]

What is that rhombus with a Z in it? It looks like a logo, but I don't know which one.

Does anyone know this :p?

I've been through this site and I'm just not seeing anything.  This is why I went with the generic word pill or tablet...

I've looking for that and I found this twitter account : https://twitter.com/kensington1829
Check the profile picture. Is it just a coincidence ? or not?

how should it be connected? you mean z is like 2 in that picture so the letter should be K? either way only 300 followers gets me into thinking it is a digging a bit too deep

[xhomerx10]

What is that rhombus with a Z in it? It looks like a logo, but I don't know which one.

Does anyone know this :p?

I've been through this site and I'm just not seeing anything.  This is why I went with the generic word pill or tablet...

I've looking for that and I found this twitter account : https://twitter.com/kensington1829
Check the profile picture. Is it just a coincidence ? or not?

 Whoa.  I think that's a bit of a stretch... maybe if we could make a connection to Jan Godfrey?

[xhomerx10]

I managed to remember enough of my Perl programming to generate the possible WIF private keys based on the answers and their combinations.  I made some executive decisions to try to pare down the number of results which number to 5568 private keys.  Basically I used all 58 possibilities for the unknown LED puzzle, 5 pairs and 1 with three possibilities.  Idiotically, I closed my text editor without having saved my work so I can't even tell you what criteria used (I should be able to remember most - I know I selected i for the ice skate for example).  For now though, I have to figure out how to decode base58 to hex so I can validate the checksums to see which private keys (if any) are valid. If one is valid, it's probably our answer... if not, I will have to prepare a larger set of possibilities to churn through.
 

[Gilf]

still there for the taking? what does the chemical formula stand for?

Yep you can check at https://blockchain.info/address/1qkCBiEjY4GAUFBcrsDXqyM6EPbZKTqCW

IDK. That Chem form is wrong, i tried with the elements with no result..

 LOL the Chem formula is not wrong!  Perhaps you are unaware of the skeletal form of the benzene molecule C₆H₆. The chemical formula in the third image is actually the chemical composition benzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid and 1,4-diaminobenzene with the water (H₂O) removed from between them.  The structure shown represents the basis for the aromatic polyamide better known as Kevlar.


 Feel free to cut me in for 1/58^th of your winnings

i didnt understand anything that you said but
good luck with your winnings if you win

this puzzle is hard but it will be worth if you
decode it

I do understand that we are talking about the chemical composition of Kevlar and fragrant of the molecules, but what have the winnings and, in general, where the mystery or the answer to it here, do not understand.

[Antimon1]

I found out that the rhombus with the Z inside is very likely the logo of "Pfizer".
If you search for Pfizer in google images you'll find pills in the exact shape of the rhombus from the puzzle.

Edit: the Z represents the Z from Pfizer since its the exact same font

[johnnyyash]

this seems so logic..but happy winning.

[dalek]

I found out that the rhombus with the Z inside is very likely the logo of "Pfizer".
If you search for Pfizer in google images you'll find pills in the exact shape of the rhombus from the puzzle.

Edit: the Z represents the Z from Pfizer since its the exact same font

It's not their logo, but I think you're on the right track. More image searching shows it's the shape and color of their popular blue pill Viagra.

[xhomerx10]

I got my programs finished and ran the private keys but no checksum matches.  I guess I was only expecting a match if we found the answer but wouldn't that have been disappointing to find we built a valid base58 private key that wasn't the answer?!  I'm going take a break from it for a while and come back fresh.   

[Adriandmen]

I got my programs finished and ran the private keys but no checksum matches.  I guess I was only expecting a match if we found the answer but wouldn't that have been disappointing to find we built a valid base58 private key that wasn't the answer?!  I'm going take a break from it for a while and come back fresh.   

Yeah, same thing happened to me. Ran it for 6 hours but no match. I think it's most likely to be a problem with the case-sensitivity.

Just wondering, how many keys did you check per second?

[CryptoVzla]

Here is mine:

• 5
• Steve Jobs
• Kevlar
• Pi / 3.14
• Atari
• parachute
• jet
• wingtip
• Gutenberg
• Yo-Yo
• mc² = E
• iron --- tried with Clothes iron
• jigsaw puzzle piece --- it can also be just Puzzle
• 1836
• scissors
• X-ray
• Yale
• radar or sonar
• aspirine --- the compound Salicine was found on 1829
• Eiffel Tower or Paris
• Nobel
• skate or ice skate
• XX chromosome
• XY chromosome
• igloo
• filmstrip ---
• Galileo
• Xerox
• question mark
• Nakamoto
• e-cigarette or vaping device
• Satoshi
• gramophone or phonograph and possibly Victrola
• zipper
• X
• Viagra
• 1996
• b this is how "b" is represented in Braille
• wireless
• Windows
• Kripton (Element 36 of the period table)
• DNA
• ballon
• Einstein
• X
• Etch-a-Sketch or Telesketch
• Gameboy
• Xenon (element 54 of the period table)
• buLb
• Tesla
• mouse

This is what i got so far with my research and some of yours. No results yet

[krumblez]

The designer and compo instigator sent me this updated tiled image to further help with decoding:



 

[xhomerx10]

... list redacted for brevity

This is what i got so far with my research and some of yours. No results yet

@CryptoVzla - Thanks for the update and for sharing your ideas! Excellent idea using elements from the periodic table.
@krumblez - Thanks for sharing the updated image. It's much easier to use
@dalek - I will include a "2" as a possibility for the "braille" image.


 I hope to get some time to work on it today. 

[krumblez]

... list redacted for brevity

This is what i got so far with my research and some of yours. No results yet

@CryptoVzla - Thanks for the update and for sharing your ideas! Excellent idea using elements from the periodic table.
@krumblez - Thanks for sharing the updated image. It's much easier to use
@dalek - I will include a "2" as a possibility for the "braille" image.


 I hope to get some time to work on it today. 

You are very welcome 

[xhomerx10]

Damn!  I decided it would be prudent to test my program with known values before I discarded the previous results and it turns out that my program isn't properly hashing the private key.
I was converting from WIF into hex, chopping off the checksum and hashing the result twice.  Turns out that's not the right way to do it.  Apparently I need to convert to binary before doing the hashing.

Edit: okay, fixed it with pack

Code:

sha256_hex(pack("H*",$other))

back in business

[marketgold]

Anyone complete the puzzle? Damm , it is very hard to complete it.

[Adriandmen]

Anyone complete the puzzle? Damm , it is very hard to complete it.

No, I really think we need hints to complete it. Or brute force it.

Either way, solving the puzzle is near impossible since you don't know which character you did wrong.

[Antimon1]

Yes and as someone earlier posted here we can't even be sure that the private key belongs to the given address, can we?
The problem with whether a letter is capitalized or not makes things just worse..

However good luck all!!

[krumblez]

Yes and as someone earlier posted here we can't even be sure that the private key belongs to the given address, can we?
The problem with whether a letter is capitalized or not makes things just worse..

However good luck all!!

The address posted does belong the private key that needs decoding, this is the whole point

[BilalHIMITE]

Yes and as someone earlier posted here we can't even be sure that the private key belongs to the given address, can we?
The problem with whether a letter is capitalized or not makes things just worse..

However good luck all!!

It's not a problem, you can just use Python or something else to generate a list of private keys with different letter capitalization.

[Antimon1]

Yes and as someone earlier posted here we can't even be sure that the private key belongs to the given address, can we?
The problem with whether a letter is capitalized or not makes things just worse..

However good luck all!!

The address posted does belong the private key that needs decoding, this is the whole point

Ideally it does (if what the creator said is true) but theoretically it could be that the address belongs to another address, couldn't it? Since there's no guarantee that these keys belong together afaik..

That was my point - please correct me if I'm wrong 

[dalek]

Yes and as someone earlier posted here we can't even be sure that the private key belongs to the given address, can we?
The problem with whether a letter is capitalized or not makes things just worse..

However good luck all!!

The address posted does belong the private key that needs decoding, this is the whole point

Ideally it does (if what the creator said is true) but theoretically it could be that the address belongs to another address, couldn't it? Since there's no guarantee that these keys belong together afaik..

That was my point - please correct me if I'm wrong 

You are correct. The puzzle owner should sign a message to prove ownership of that address.

[marketgold]

Damm! The puzzle it hard to complete,the reward should be 1BTC 

[Nobitcoin]

Just found this great puzzle BTW I need a paracetemol now.

[7788bitcoin]

Just found this great puzzle BTW I need a paracetemol now.

Did you mean paracetamol is one of the answers? Most people use "acetominophen" in US and Canada...

[Nobitcoin]

Just found this great puzzle BTW I need a paracetemol now.

Did you mean paracetamol is one of the answers? Most people use "acetominophen" in US and Canada...

No I actually meant I've got a headache after attempting this puzzle 

[MyBTT]

How do you know what letter will be in the private key? For example:

Just found this great puzzle BTW I need a paracetemol now.

Did you mean paracetamol is one of the answers? Most people use "acetominophen" in US and Canada...

How was it "a" in "paracetamol"?

[Dark.Angel]

What is that puzzle with a Z in it? It looks like a country logo, but I don't know which one. Does anyone know about it? Please inform to me...hee.. heee..

[tobacco123]

Interesting puzzle. Is the author of the puzzle in this forum and what is his id? Perhaps he could let us know which are the correct ones and we can narrow down our search.

[krumblez]

Interesting puzzle. Is the author of the puzzle in this forum and what is his id? Perhaps he could let us know which are the correct ones and we can narrow down our search.

The author is not a member of the forum but I will however put forward your request

[dalek]

still there for the taking? what does the chemical formula stand for?

Yep you can check at https://blockchain.info/address/1qkCBiEjY4GAUFBcrsDXqyM6EPbZKTqCW

IDK. That Chem form is wrong, i tried with the elements with no result..

 LOL the Chem formula is not wrong!  Perhaps you are unaware of the skeletal form of the benzene molecule C₆H₆. The chemical formula in the third image is actually the chemical composition benzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid and 1,4-diaminobenzene with the water (H₂O) removed from between them.  The structure shown represents the basis for the aromatic polyamide better known as Kevlar.

What's with the double bond between nitrogen and hydrogen? That's supposed to be a single bond.

[pooya87]

~~
What's with the double bond between nitrogen and hydrogen? That's supposed to be a single bond.

a goof?

i have been trying to solve this for half a day yesterday and with no luck so far, now i am trying to test different variations of the private key with upper case and lower case and the missing words i think it will take forever

[Strongkored]

I think it more appropriate to use gramophone than phonograph , because given the maker of this puzzle is the British, as he explained in the description. And according to the article I read, the British more familiar  with gramophone. Hehe

[Adriandmen]

Interesting puzzle. Is the author of the puzzle in this forum and what is his id? Perhaps he could let us know which are the correct ones and we can narrow down our search.

The author is not a member of the forum but I will however put forward your request

Did he respond?

Even after brute forcing it, I didn't solve the puzzle. And that seems a bit against the spirit of puzzle solving .

[bostiog1]

Interesting puzzle. Is the author of the puzzle in this forum and what is his id? Perhaps he could let us know which are the correct ones and we can narrow down our search.

The author is not a member of the forum but I will however put forward your request

Did he respond?

Even after brute forcing it, I didn't solve the puzzle. And that seems a bit against the spirit of puzzle solving .

The puzzle is to hard to resolve it. You need a profesionist team to resolve it

[krumblez]

I think it more appropriate to use gramophone than phonograph , because given the maker of this puzzle is the British, as he explained in the description. And according to the article I read, the British more familiar  with gramophone. Hehe

Gramophone most probable.

[Coding Enthusiast]

ok i wrote a code to check the private key but there are so many answers that i don't know or am not sure about the char to put for the picture some are 2 or 3 possibilities and a couple of them are the whole 58 char

so i am down to 149,846,016 possible private keys assuming the rest of answers are correct and also in correct case (upper or lower)



i will run it for a little while longer and then will give up and try to reduce the possible keys to check.

Update: all checked and nothing found lol

[krumblez]

ok i wrote a code to check the private key but there are so many answers that i don't know or am not sure about the char to put for the picture some are 2 or 3 possibilities and a couple of them are the whole 58 char

so i am down to 149,846,016 possible private keys assuming the rest of answers are correct and also in correct case (upper or lower)



i will run it for a little while longer and then will give up and try to reduce the possible keys to check.

Update: all checked and nothing found lol

WOW nice one!

I am waiting for the owner of address to sign message as was asked previously in this thread. Will update in time

Do remember to go and visit the wallet owners site and check out the fab designs @ http://www.jangodfrey.com/

[xhomerx10]

ok i wrote a code to check the private key but there are so many answers that i don't know or am not sure about the char to put for the picture some are 2 or 3 possibilities and a couple of them are the whole 58 char

so i am down to 149,846,016 possible private keys assuming the rest of answers are correct and also in correct case (upper or lower)



i will run it for a little while longer and then will give up and try to reduce the possible keys to check.

Update: all checked and nothing found lol

 I'm not surprised.  The last set I checked was almost 300 million addresses and I found nothing.  Even with the clues this is proving to be quite difficult!

[Adriandmen]

ok i wrote a code to check the private key but there are so many answers that i don't know or am not sure about the char to put for the picture some are 2 or 3 possibilities and a couple of them are the whole 58 char

so i am down to 149,846,016 possible private keys assuming the rest of answers are correct and also in correct case (upper or lower)



i will run it for a little while longer and then will give up and try to reduce the possible keys to check.

Update: all checked and nothing found lol

WOW nice one!

I am waiting for the owner of address to sign message as was asked previously in this thread. Will update in time

Do remember to go and visit the wallet owners site and check out the fab designs @ http://www.jangodfrey.com/

Yeah, I really like his style of the designs. It's modern, simple and clean.

[fireball4]

ok i wrote a code to check the private key but there are so many answers that i don't know or am not sure about the char to put for the picture some are 2 or 3 possibilities and a couple of them are the whole 58 char

so i am down to 149,846,016 possible private keys assuming the rest of answers are correct and also in correct case (upper or lower)



i will run it for a little while longer and then will give up and try to reduce the possible keys to check.

Update: all checked and nothing found lol

how long did it actually take you to get through all those possibilities? besides that i think there are a lot of mistakes so it wont be possible to find it out

[xhomerx10]

ok i wrote a code to check the private key but there are so many answers that i don't know or am not sure about the char to put for the picture some are 2 or 3 possibilities and a couple of them are the whole 58 char

so i am down to 149,846,016 possible private keys assuming the rest of answers are correct and also in correct case (upper or lower)



i will run it for a little while longer and then will give up and try to reduce the possible keys to check.

Update: all checked and nothing found lol

how long did it actually take you to get through all those possibilities? besides that i think there are a lot of mistakes so it wont be possible to find it out

 It is evident there are mistakes since he found nothing.  The whole point of this thread was to share your ideas and solutions.  So where do you think the mistakes lie?

[Nacho]

Hello.
I think a weak point is correct case, maibe it should be determined in one way. For example, in the image with the led, which could be buLb, the 'L' MUST be uppercase, so it could be posible that all images with the same 2 colours represents an uppercase char, like Windows for example and the inverted ones a lowercase char, like igloo. It is posible for me, another case-clue can be the two chromosome images, colours from XX corresponding to uppercase and Xx to lower.
I also wrote a simple program to fuzze and validate the private key with no results for now.

For the Jet image I'm also using F14 an now I think y should have added M for Mig

Edit:
Here is a table showing how many combinations are posible for each extra character you add. Bruteforcing case will take a long time, there are around 3e+29 combinations just considering case.

0   1
1   53
2   1431
3   26235
4   367290
5   4187106
6   40475358
7   341149446
8   2558620845
9   17341763505
10   1,07519E+11
11   6,1579E+11
12   3,28421E+12

[Adriandmen]

I'm still baffled by the number of hashes you can compute.

I just optimized my script from computing 5 keys / second to 25 keys / second.

What is the rate of your scripts?

[CryptoVzla]

For the Jet image I'm also using F14 an now I think y should have added M for Mig

I'm trying also with R from Royal Air Force, just in case haha

Edit: any other ideas from the "wingtip" clue? Probably it is another thing

[kaomaxx]

this is one tough puzzle  

[Nacho]

I'm still baffled by the number of hashes you can compute.

I just optimized my script from computing 5 keys / second to 25 keys / second.

What is the rate of your scripts?

No! I can't! I just did the table to correlate extra characters with possible number of combinations, so I know the size of the problem.

[Nacho]

The LED was invented in 1962 

[Coding Enthusiast]

##
For the Jet image I'm also using F14 an now I think y should have added M for Mig
##

if the plane picture is representing a Mig, or F14,... then it makes the whole puzzle a bad design (shit puzzle) because the puzzle should have only one solution and it should have enough clues so that you can find that only one solution.
here there is only a picture of a place that looks like Fighter places which are called Jets and all those other answers are types of Jets and unless there is clue pointing to the picture being F## or Mig there is no reason for choosing a non-obvious answer.

same goes for the rest.

##
 It is evident there are mistakes since he found nothing.  The whole point of this thread was to share your ideas and solutions.  So where do you think the mistakes lie?

i will share my variations in a while. but i am sure the problem is with upper/lower case.

##
how long did it actually take you to get through all those possibilities? besides that i think there are a lot of mistakes so it wont be possible to find it out

about an hour, my CPU is super old haha. honestly i am surprised that it only took an hour to go through 149 Million
mouse over the time i posted the previous comment it shows the edit time

[xhomerx10]

##
For the Jet image I'm also using F14 an now I think y should have added M for Mig
##

if the plane picture is representing a Mig, or F14,... then it makes the whole puzzle a bad design (shit puzzle) because the puzzle should have only one solution and it should have enough clues so that you can find that only one solution.
here there is only a picture of a place that looks like Fighter places which are called Jets and all those other answers are types of Jets and unless there is clue pointing to the picture being F## or Mig there is no reason for choosing a non-obvious answer.

same goes for the rest.

##
 It is evident there are mistakes since he found nothing.  The whole point of this thread was to share your ideas and solutions.  So where do you think the mistakes lie?

i will share my variations in a while. but i am sure the problem is with upper/lower case.

##
how long did it actually take you to get through all those possibilities? besides that i think there are a lot of mistakes so it wont be possible to find it out

about an hour, my CPU is super old haha. honestly i am surprised that it only took an hour to go through 149 Million
mouse over the time i posted the previous comment it shows the edit time

 Firstly, it's not a shit puzzle; it's challenging.  I don't share your concern with respect to capital/miniscule letters.  If the clue represents a proper noun, then the letter must be capitalized.  The word jet should not be capitalized whereas Steve Jobs requires capital letters. Perhaps there might be some ambiguity with Kevlar but the occaisional pair to test isn't going to make it impossible.  We need to solve the clues for the letters they represent; not knowing those results in 58 possibilities for the character and that is the largest determination of difficulty in solving the puzzle.
 One thing that I find frustrating is that even though I have tried half a billion possibilities which failed to result in a valid key, I am unable to rule out any possibilities.

[Coding Enthusiast]

##Firstly, it's not a shit puzzle; it's challenging.##

there is a big difference between these two.
here is where i am at, lets work out the possibilities.

3) either P or 3
7) have no clue: 58 char
12) highly doubt it is anything other than puzzle
15) radiology or x-ray: R/X
16) i think it is August Schleicher so A but not sure
17) radar or sonar: R / S
18) have no clue: 58 char
30) E, V or C
35) it must be Z but to be sure: 58 char
36&54) can anybody explain how you convert 36 to 24 and 54 to 36 as you said before "converted from hex" i don't know hot this is done.
42) this is definitely not a balloon because of the arrow hear. now get this, i think this is a flash game that i can not remember the name but it is like this: in a 2d page you are a guy standing with your back to camera and shooting an arrow like the picture to the top and there is a big ball (circle) bouncing around when the arrow hits the ball it splits the ball to two different balls and so on until you destroy all the small balls. i hope someone can remember the name.
it is a name like ball buster, bubble breaker (all starting with b) : B
48) i go with LAMP: M (nothing else fits)
upper and lower case:
working on it.

[xhomerx10]

Awesome!  Thanks for sharing.
I can't complain about many of your solutions but I strongly disagree with
 #16.  This must be Linus Yale Jr as he Yale created one of the first lock sets that used a pin and tumbler design.
Really like your idea for
 #48 lamp.  I hadn't thought of that.  As far as
 #35, I think Pfizer and Viagra are possibilities but not Z (Z seems too obvious).

As for hex conversion,

here a number is represented in base 10

10ⁿ10^n-110^n-2...10^n-(n-1)10⁰

10⁰=1 (ones)
10¹=10 (tens)
10²=100 (hundreds)
10³=1000 (thousands)
10⁴=10000 (ten thousands)

and a number represented in base 16 looks similar

16ⁿ16^n-116^n-2...16^n-(n-1)16⁰

 To convert to hex, divide by 16ⁿ where n is a value that will give you a number not greater than the number being converted but will not result in a number greater than 16 when divided.  Do the same with the remainder until you have a number less than 16 which will represent the final digit.

numbers greater than 9 are represented as the letters A through F.

ie convert 20,000 decimal to hex

first division?
16⁰=1 (too small)
16¹=16 (too small)
16²=256 (too small)
16³=4096 (maybe) <--- use this one
16⁴=65535 (too large)

20,000/16³=4 remainder 3616
3616/16²=14 remainder 32
32/16¹=2 remainder 0
0/16⁰=0

so,
the 4^th digit from the right is 4
the 3^rd digit from the right is E (E represents 14)
the 2^nd digit from the right is 2
the 1^st digit from the right is 0

20,000 dec = 4E20 hex

Hope that explains it.

[Coding Enthusiast]

thanks for the explanation.
so here is my updated code with 1,937,664 keys and nothing is right:
https://gist.github.com/Coding-Enthusiast/feeb2200b6201c94fec1bd5b704a2b67
(i will update this in the future if i find a different answer)

maybe others see what i don't see!

[bitsoldiers]

wow i love the btc puzzle....its quite challenging, cracking the brain

[xhomerx10]

thanks for the explanation.
so here is my updated code with 1,937,664 keys and nothing is right:
https://gist.github.com/Coding-Enthusiast/feeb2200b6201c94fec1bd5b704a2b67
(i will update this in the future if i find a different answer)

maybe others see what i don't see!

 That's nicely laid out.  I just finished night shift so I'm a little tired but I can contribute a few revisions.  First of all, you should only put capitals on proper nouns.

Code:

  

 4 +theKey[3] = new PKeyChar(new char[] { '3', 'p' });  #the symbol is of the miniscule Greek letter pi not Pi
 5 +theKey[4] = new PKeyChar('A');  # Atari is the name of a company and must have a capital
 6 +theKey[5] = new PKeyChar('p');  #parachute is not a proper noun
 7 +theKey[6] = new PKeyChar('j');  # jet is not a proper noun 
 8 +theKey[7] = new PKeyChar('w'); # almost certainly this is a wing from the previous image
 
 10 +theKey[9] = new PKeyChar(new char[] { 'Y', 'y' });# The term yo-yo was deemed generic in the U.S. in 1965 maybe try both capital and miniscule for this
 
 12 +theKey[11] = new PKeyChar('i');  # an iron is not a proper noun
  
 16 +theKey[15] = new PKeyChar(new char[] { 'X', 'R', 'k', 'p', 'r', 'x' }); #try the minuscule for X and R as well as k for knee, and p for patella

 18 +theKey[17] = new PKeyChar(new char[] { 'R', 'S', 'r', 's' }); #sonar and radar can also be used without capitals  

 21 +theKey[20] = new PKeyChar('N'); # Nobel was a persons name (proper noun)

 22 +theKey[21] = new PKeyChar(new char[] { 'i', 'h', 's' });  #no capitals and added h for hockey skate
 23 +theKey[22] = new PKeyChar('X'); # probably capital
 24 +theKey[23] = new PKeyChar('Y'); # which means this is also capital
 25 +theKey[24] = new PKeyChar('i');  # igloo is not a proper noun
 26 +theKey[25] = new PKeyChar('f');  # film is not a proper noun
 27 +theKey[26] = new PKeyChar('G'); # Galileo is a proper noun 

 29 +theKey[28] = new PKeyChar(The58Char.ToCharArray()); # I think this might be a wildcard so let's try all
  
 39 +theKey[38] = new PKeyChar(new char[] { 'W', 'w'});  #try both
 40 +theKey[39] = new PKeyChar('W', '8');  #this style was introduced with windows 8 
   
 43 +theKey[42] = new PKeyChar('b'); #balloon is not a proper noun (perhaps try all too)
 
  
 46 +theKey[45] = new PKeyChar('E');  #Etch-a-Sketch needs a capital

 48 +theKey[47] = new PKeyChar('X');  # based on the clue layout, I'm now convinced this represents the element Xenon
 49 +theKey[48] = new PKeyChar('m'); #if it truly stands for lamp, use small letter (do you have capacity to make this a wildcard?) 
 50 +theKey[49] = new PKeyChar('T');  # Tesla is the name of a company (and a family) it needs a capital
 51 +theKey[50] = new PKeyChar('m'); # mouse is a generic term so use the small letter

 Wish I could do more but I'm getting ready to go on a trip and I wont be able to take my computer with me ;(
Good luck!
 

[dalek]

Code:

43 +theKey[42] = new PKeyChar('b'); #balloon is not a proper noun (perhaps try all too)

A balloon could also mean 'air' or 'helium'.

[johnnyyash]

Challenging task..but good luck to the winner..wish a happy winning..

[Pursuer]

Code:

43 +theKey[42] = new PKeyChar('b'); #balloon is not a proper noun (perhaps try all too)

A balloon could also mean 'air' or 'helium'.

I think you shouldn't overthink the answers too much. that picture can be a sperm entering the egg

there was a suggestion about those two number only pictures (36 and 54) and someone said these are from Periodic table which I think is like overthinking but since I don't see the suggestions here I though I mention them: Kr and Xe

I think OP or whoever the creator is should give more hints because it seems unsolvable so far.

[useless4]

wow i love the btc puzzle....its quite challenging, cracking the brain

quite challenging? i watch people trying to crack it and i try to solve it myself but it is nearly impossible to do that, also there is a lower/upper case problem

[DOGE12321]

I can solve the problem of the video being too fast. This website has all of the images in the Youtube video in an ordered format. http://www.jangodfrey.com/illustration/guess-my-bitcoin/guess-my-bitcoin.php.

So far what I think the code is this: (Don't completely rely on me, I am not sure of it)

5JKP_PA____E____R___

[Prettygirl01315]

It took me an hour by just starring at the images hahaha and the suggestion of our co-members here XD ill just stay tune and see if theres someone can solve this puzzle ! Goodluck everyon !

[krumblez]

OK GUISE 

Update from Jan.

Wallet message has been signed:

Bitcointalk

G3ZTaz0Vehwhur68icyeN34wpDfFKcqIucY4zrvG2/T7QJFsdD6IS4QQTCPoJnHZ0u/F9vZIr1E76bO37wgJVSI=

--

There is a little error in a formula as per https://twitter.com/automatonical/status/764657081676812288

"@guessmybitcoin the chemical formula clue is wrong if it's meant to represent Kevlar. It should be N-H, not N=H."

The tiles have been updated accordingly

[Decoded]

OK GUISE 

Update from Jan.

Wallet message has been signed:

Bitcointalk

G3ZTaz0Vehwhur68icyeN34wpDfFKcqIucY4zrvG2/T7QJFsdD6IS4QQTCPoJnHZ0u/F9vZIr1E76bO37wgJVSI=

--

There is a little error in a formula as per https://twitter.com/automatonical/status/764657081676812288

"@guessmybitcoin the chemical formula clue is wrong if it's meant to represent Kevlar. It should be N-H, not N=H."

The tiles have been updated accordingly

At least we now know that it's 100% Kevlar.

I can solve the problem of the video being too fast. This website has all of the images in the Youtube video in an ordered format. http://www.jangodfrey.com/illustration/guess-my-bitcoin/guess-my-bitcoin.php.

So far what I think the code is this: (Don't completely rely on me, I am not sure of it)

5JKP_PA____E____R___

Are you serious? Why do you always post shit? The private key isn't 10 letters. Please, post somewhere else if you don't understand.

[HaXX0R1337]

Hey guys! I just found this puzzle on Twitter but i can't decipher it.

The puzzle is not mine but i want to see if we can share the clues!

In advance i ley you know that the private key starts with 5J..

Dont forget to post the priv key if you claim the prize!
 
Im open to exchange clues x clues so PM me!

Here Is the video: youtube

uhmm, i have to say if its true, then getting 0.5 bitcoin from solving puzzle would be really cool.
Too bad im not a type of puzzle man

[dalek]

uhmm, i have to say if its true, then getting 0.5 bitcoin from solving puzzle would be really cool.
Too bad im not a type of puzzle man

not a very 1337 haxxor then, are you? 
seriously, there's too many wankers posting drivel just to pimp their signature affiliate links.

[Strongkored]

uhmm, i have to say if its true, then getting 0.5 bitcoin from solving puzzle would be really cool.
Too bad im not a type of puzzle man

Yeah its very cool man, but as I know this puzzle is very difficult because there are pictures that have two meanings and the hardest thing is the use of capital letters. Moreover, we also do not know if this address is also owned by the owner of the puzzle or not, and it must be proven hehe. Thanks anyway

[r421x0]

Here's a hint for you guys. I won't bother with this as I'm using an iPad and I'm lazy but...

MMIX (pronounced em-mix) is a 64-bit RISC architecture designed by ... set architecture. For the year, see 2009.
Bits‎: ‎64-bit‎
General purpose‎: ‎256‎
Endianness‎: ‎Big‎
Designer‎: ‎Donald Knuth‎

[krumblez]

uhmm, i have to say if its true, then getting 0.5 bitcoin from solving puzzle would be really cool.
Too bad im not a type of puzzle man

Yeah its very cool man, but as I know this puzzle is very difficult because there are pictures that have two meanings and the hardest thing is the use of capital letters. Moreover, we also do not know if this address is also owned by the owner of the puzzle or not, and it must be proven hehe. Thanks anyway

Did you not even read my updated post??

I went to the trouble of getting wallet signed by Jan as was requested in this thread before:

^^^

"OK GUISE  Grin

Update from Jan.

Wallet message has been signed:

Bitcointalk

G3ZTaz0Vehwhur68icyeN34wpDfFKcqIucY4zrvG2/T7QJFsdD6IS4QQTCPoJnHZ0u/F9vZIr1E76bO37wgJVSI="

[BitcoinHodler]

There is a little error in a formula as per https://twitter.com/automatonical/status/764657081676812288

"@guessmybitcoin the chemical formula clue is wrong if it's meant to represent Kevlar. It should be N-H, not N=H."

thank you for the update.
and this proved my suspicious, i am sure this puzzle can have many other errors and not so good clues because we all have been stuck at so many things with so many possible clues.
i hope the creator gives more clues or it will take a year and this has not yet been solved.

[coindancer]

what about the names? everybody seems to agree the it is the last name. why not the first letter of the first name?

[Adriandmen]

what about the names? everybody seems to agree the it is the last name. why not the first letter of the first name?

For the Steve Jobs case, it was the last name, since the letter S can't be after the 5 in a private key. So we assumed that we need the last name of the other names.

[coindancer]

what about the names? everybody seems to agree the it is the last name. why not the first letter of the first name?

For the Steve Jobs case, it was the last name, since the letter S can't be after the 5 in a private key. So we assumed that we need the last name of the other names.

sorry if this is a bit OT, but with S and 5 (also I and l i guess and maybe some other combinations) it is only possible to have one of those?
so if i have a 5 no S is possible afterwards and if i have an S no 5 is possible? do i get it right? maybe this can also help us to narrow it down.

[Coding Enthusiast]

##
 

let me explain about the Upper/Lower cases of my choice.
i say these colors of each picture should mean something too, and they don't look random to me (otherwise what is the point of similar colors ). so this is my key:
i choose a color and find a box that i am sure about the upper/lower state so i say the rest should be the same too for example since the box #1 is J all the same color should be Upper too.

color index : U=Upper L=Lower : reason index
0 : L : every other color has some reason to be U so i go with L on this color.
1 : U : 1
2 : U : 34
5 : U : 29&41&44
8 : U : 31
i think i will stick to this theory for now, but i may try your suggestions later too.
also the gist was updated. will run the code in the morning

[Strongkored]

Did you not even read my updated post??

I went to the trouble of getting wallet signed by Jan as was requested in this thread before:

^^^

"OK GUISE  Grin

Update from Jan.

Wallet message has been signed:

Bitcointalk

G3ZTaz0Vehwhur68icyeN34wpDfFKcqIucY4zrvG2/T7QJFsdD6IS4QQTCPoJnHZ0u/F9vZIr1E76bO37wgJVSI="

Sorry friends, I missed your posts on that part. Since I yesterday just read in part, there is someone who asks signed message from the address. More thank you for answering my questions. And still looking for ways to solve this puzzle. hehe

[xhomerx10]

##
 

let me explain about the Upper/Lower cases of my choice.
i say these colors of each picture should mean something too, and they don't look random to me (otherwise what is the point of similar colors ). so this is my key:
i choose a color and find a box that i am sure about the upper/lower state so i say the rest should be the same too for example since the box #1 is J all the same color should be Upper too.

color index : U=Upper L=Lower : reason index
0 : L : every other color has some reason to be U so i go with L on this color.
1 : U : 1
2 : U : 34
5 : U : 29&41&44
8 : U : 31
i think i will stick to this theory for now, but i may try your suggestions later too.
also the gist was updated. will run the code in the morning

 Interesting idea.  I hadn't considered the colours to mean anything.

[coindancer]

##
 

let me explain about the Upper/Lower cases of my choice.
i say these colors of each picture should mean something too, and they don't look random to me (otherwise what is the point of similar colors ). so this is my key:
i choose a color and find a box that i am sure about the upper/lower state so i say the rest should be the same too for example since the box #1 is J all the same color should be Upper too.

color index : U=Upper L=Lower : reason index
0 : L : every other color has some reason to be U so i go with L on this color.
1 : U : 1
2 : U : 34
5 : U : 29&41&44
8 : U : 31
i think i will stick to this theory for now, but i may try your suggestions later too.
also the gist was updated. will run the code in the morning

 Interesting idea.  I hadn't considered the colours to mean anything.

there are to many different but kind of the same ones for my liking to deduct a rule. so i am kind of skeptical. also you could make a point of the color the pics and symbols are drawn with.

[coindancer]

what about the names? everybody seems to agree the it is the last name. why not the first letter of the first name?

For the Steve Jobs case, it was the last name, since the letter S can't be after the 5 in a private key. So we assumed that we need the last name of the other names.

sorry if this is a bit OT, but with S and 5 (also I and l i guess and maybe some other combinations) it is only possible to have one of those?
so if i have a 5 no S is possible afterwards and if i have an S no 5 is possible? do i get it right? maybe this can also help us to narrow it down.

and it would be nice to hear something about this. or at least where i can read up on the matter thx

[xhomerx10]

what about the names? everybody seems to agree the it is the last name. why not the first letter of the first name?

For the Steve Jobs case, it was the last name, since the letter S can't be after the 5 in a private key. So we assumed that we need the last name of the other names.

sorry if this is a bit OT, but with S and 5 (also I and l i guess and maybe some other combinations) it is only possible to have one of those?
so if i have a 5 no S is possible afterwards and if i have an S no 5 is possible? do i get it right? maybe this can also help us to narrow it down.

and it would be nice to hear something about this. or at least where i can read up on the matter thx

 Okay I'll tell you what I know.  A private key in WIF (Wallet Import Format) is 51 characters in base58.  For Bitcoin mainnet, the WIF private key will always begin with a 5.  Why?
Because
 1. Take the ECDSA private key which can be any unsigned integer from 0x1 to 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4140
 2. and you place the network identifier (0x80 for bitcoin mainnet) in front. (by the way, 0x simply means hexadecimal format).
 3. You take this result and perform a SHA256 hash on it.
 4. Take the result of that and perform another SHA256 hash on it.
 5. Take the last 4 bytes of the previous result (used as a checksum) and add it to the end of the number in step 2
 6. and finally convert that hexadecimal number to base58 and you have the WIF private key.

Here is the lowest possible address with the network identifier and checksum added:
800000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001A85AA87E
and here is the largest:
80FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFEBAAEDCE6AF48A03BBFD25E8CD0364140F511BD7A

 As you can see, the range of values is limited by the use of the network identifier which is why when converted to base58, the result will begin with 5 and be limited to H, J or K for the second character.

Read about it here and here.

Now I expect some puzzle solution suggestions from you very soon!



 

[Chris!]

what about the names? everybody seems to agree the it is the last name. why not the first letter of the first name?

For the Steve Jobs case, it was the last name, since the letter S can't be after the 5 in a private key. So we assumed that we need the last name of the other names.

sorry if this is a bit OT, but with S and 5 (also I and l i guess and maybe some other combinations) it is only possible to have one of those?
so if i have a 5 no S is possible afterwards and if i have an S no 5 is possible? do i get it right? maybe this can also help us to narrow it down.

and it would be nice to hear something about this. or at least where i can read up on the matter thx

 Okay I'll tell you what I know.  A private key in WIF (Wallet Import Format) is 51 characters in base58.  For Bitcoin mainnet, the WIF private key will always begin with a 5.  Why?
Because
 1. Take the ECDSA private key which can be any unsigned integer from 0x1 to 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4140
 2. and you place the network identifier (0x80 for bitcoin mainnet) in front. (by the way, 0x simply means hexadecimal format).
 3. You take this result and perform a SHA256 hash on it.
 4. Take the result of that and perform another SHA256 hash on it.
 5. Take the last 4 bytes of the previous result (used as a checksum) and add it to the end of the number in step 2
 6. and finally convert that hexadecimal number to base58 and you have the WIF private key.

Here is the lowest possible address with the network identifier and checksum added:
800000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001A85AA87E
and here is the largest:
80FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFEBAAEDCE6AF48A03BBFD25E8CD0364140F511BD7A

 As you can see, the range of values is limited by the use of the network identifier which is why when converted to base58, the result will begin with 5 and be limited to H, J or K for the second character.

Read about it here and here.

Now I expect some puzzle solution suggestions from you very soon!



 

Ya, um... That 's what I was going to say 

Sadly I've been lurking on this thread for quite a while and I have to say I'm impressed with the answers you're all finding. This is WAY over my head haha so good luck!

[Tasssty]

Pretty much allot of work even for 0.5 BTC, just the last page is filled with clues, Good luck to those trying to decipher this thing.

[Herbert2020]

Pretty much allot of work even for 0.5 BTC, just the last page is filled with clues, Good luck to those trying to decipher this thing.

it is not just about the prize you get, although i say $290 is a pretty good prize. but it is mostly about the game and solving it. you can call it a treasure hunt.

although what bothers me about this, is the fact that i am not so sure if this is a good puzzle with only one possible solution.

for example you can already see many people straggling about the answers like that plane picture many say "jet" others say "F16" "mig" or it can simply be "Plane" "Airplane" or "Fighter-plane-thingy" this last part was a brain fart!

[xhomerx10]

Pretty much allot of work even for 0.5 BTC, just the last page is filled with clues, Good luck to those trying to decipher this thing.

it is not just about the prize you get, although i say $290 is a pretty good prize. but it is mostly about the game and solving it. you can call it a treasure hunt.

although what bothers me about this, is the fact that i am not so sure if this is a good puzzle with only one possible solution.

for example you can already see many people straggling about the answers like that plane picture many say "jet" others say "F16" "mig" or it can simply be "Plane" "Airplane" or "Fighter-plane-thingy"

 I am certain that the plane image can only be 3 letters.

[Coding Enthusiast]

i think i have worked more on my code and the interface than i have ever worked on the puzzle itself

#master of xaml

but to be fair, i learned a lot in the process about base58 and also conversion to hex, also about multiplying TimeSpan so i am happy.

[xhomerx10]

i think i have worked more on my code and the interface than i have ever worked on the puzzle itself

#master of xaml

but to be fair, i learned a lot in the process about base58 and also conversion to hex, also about multiplying TimeSpan so i am happy.

 I'm only asking since I made this mistake.  Did you test your program with a valid private key in WIF?

[Coding Enthusiast]

I'm only asking since I made this mistake.  Did you test your program with a valid private key in WIF?

lol, imagine if my code was wrong all this time, i have ran the code for almost 70-100 million (each time 11 mil-5mil)

but no i doubled checked it now and it was ok.
i went through This to create my code and after busting my ass to get it to work i found this written in c# with a nice NuGet package

i tested with the private key on wiki page and a couple from directory[dot]io and today i made a new Electrum wallet to double check it with compressed private keys too. all successful.

[coindancer]

what about the names? everybody seems to agree the it is the last name. why not the first letter of the first name?

For the Steve Jobs case, it was the last name, since the letter S can't be after the 5 in a private key. So we assumed that we need the last name of the other names.

sorry if this is a bit OT, but with S and 5 (also I and l i guess and maybe some other combinations) it is only possible to have one of those?
so if i have a 5 no S is possible afterwards and if i have an S no 5 is possible? do i get it right? maybe this can also help us to narrow it down.

and it would be nice to hear something about this. or at least where i can read up on the matter thx

 Okay I'll tell you what I know.  A private key in WIF (Wallet Import Format) is 51 characters in base58.  For Bitcoin mainnet, the WIF private key will always begin with a 5.  Why?
Because
 1. Take the ECDSA private key which can be any unsigned integer from 0x1 to 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4140
 2. and you place the network identifier (0x80 for bitcoin mainnet) in front. (by the way, 0x simply means hexadecimal format).
 3. You take this result and perform a SHA256 hash on it.
 4. Take the result of that and perform another SHA256 hash on it.
 5. Take the last 4 bytes of the previous result (used as a checksum) and add it to the end of the number in step 2
 6. and finally convert that hexadecimal number to base58 and you have the WIF private key.

Here is the lowest possible address with the network identifier and checksum added:
800000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001A85AA87E
and here is the largest:
80FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFEBAAEDCE6AF48A03BBFD25E8CD0364140F511BD7A

 As you can see, the range of values is limited by the use of the network identifier which is why when converted to base58, the result will begin with 5 and be limited to H, J or K for the second character.

Read about it here and here.

Now I expect some puzzle solution suggestions from you very soon!

thank you
and here i a hint from me. 25 could also be Celluloid instead of film. hope this helps

[xhomerx10]

I'm only asking since I made this mistake.  Did you test your program with a valid private key in WIF?

lol, imagine if my code was wrong all this time, i have ran the code for almost 70-100 million (each time 11 mil-5mil)

but no i doubled checked it now and it was ok.
i went through This to create my code and after busting my ass to get it to work i found this written in c# with a nice NuGet package

i tested with the private key on wiki page and a couple from directory[dot]io and today i made a new Electrum wallet to double check it with compressed private keys too. all successful.

 Yes I can imagine... I ran through almost 300 million without realizing my program wasn't valid. 
Thanks for the information.  I'm going to check out the c program.

[xhomerx10]

what about the names? everybody seems to agree the it is the last name. why not the first letter of the first name?

For the Steve Jobs case, it was the last name, since the letter S can't be after the 5 in a private key. So we assumed that we need the last name of the other names.

sorry if this is a bit OT, but with S and 5 (also I and l i guess and maybe some other combinations) it is only possible to have one of those?
so if i have a 5 no S is possible afterwards and if i have an S no 5 is possible? do i get it right? maybe this can also help us to narrow it down.

and it would be nice to hear something about this. or at least where i can read up on the matter thx

 Okay I'll tell you what I know.  A private key in WIF (Wallet Import Format) is 51 characters in base58.  For Bitcoin mainnet, the WIF private key will always begin with a 5.  Why?
Because
 1. Take the ECDSA private key which can be any unsigned integer from 0x1 to 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4140
 2. and you place the network identifier (0x80 for bitcoin mainnet) in front. (by the way, 0x simply means hexadecimal format).
 3. You take this result and perform a SHA256 hash on it.
 4. Take the result of that and perform another SHA256 hash on it.
 5. Take the last 4 bytes of the previous result (used as a checksum) and add it to the end of the number in step 2
 6. and finally convert that hexadecimal number to base58 and you have the WIF private key.

Here is the lowest possible address with the network identifier and checksum added:
800000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001A85AA87E
and here is the largest:
80FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFEBAAEDCE6AF48A03BBFD25E8CD0364140F511BD7A

 As you can see, the range of values is limited by the use of the network identifier which is why when converted to base58, the result will begin with 5 and be limited to H, J or K for the second character.

Read about it here and here.

Now I expect some puzzle solution suggestions from you very soon!

thank you
and here i a hint from me. 25 could also be Celluloid instead of film. hope this helps

 Celluoid?  I hadn't thought of that.  Thanks!  As soon as I'm home (if the puzzle hasn't been solved) I'll add that possibility.

[Coding Enthusiast]

since this was not yet redeemed i worked on some new theories that i share here

the following are the hex codes of the colors and addition of the background color with the image color:

index	|	backgroud color	|	image color	|	blend
0	|	b5dec9	|	ee437d	|	d291a3
1	|	d2e9d5	|	463562	|	8c8F9c
2	|	0d2630	|	9ad6dc	|	547e86
5	|	9ad6dc	|	0d242e	|	547D85
8	|	eb407c	|	f38b94	|	EF6688

it may be totally random but it also may give someone some cool idea!

i will update the Gist soon after this post.
finally found that game for index 42:
http://www.miniclip.com/games/bubble-trouble/en/

30 can also be picture of a long whistle
https://www.google.com/search?q=long+whistle
https://www.google.com/search?q=rape+whistle+necklace

[Adriandmen]

since this was not yet redeemed i worked on some new theories that i share here

the following are the hex codes of the colors and addition of the background color with the image color:

index	|	backgroud color	|	image color	|	blend
0	|	b5dec9	|	ee437d	|	d291a3
1	|	d2e9d5	|	463562	|	8c8F9c
2	|	0d2630	|	9ad6dc	|	547e86
5	|	9ad6dc	|	0d242e	|	547D85
8	|	eb407c	|	f38b94	|	EF6688

it may be totally random but it also may give someone some cool idea!

i will update the Gist soon after this post.

Yeah, I think this is going a bit too far. I don't think there is any meaning behind the colors used in the images.

[coindancer]

still nothing. this is harden then we thought. i gave up, are there any other similar puzzles?

[Adriandmen]

still nothing. this is harden then we thought. i gave up, are there any other similar puzzles?

There aren't a lot of puzzles right now (which have bitcoins as a prize) but I'm sure you can find one if you find long enough.

Another puzzle I've found was this: http://imgur.com/gallery/jKtDhrK, but it seems to be already solved.

[dalek]

still nothing. this is harden then we thought. i gave up, are there any other similar puzzles?

I gave up after checking 1.2 trillion keys.

coin_artist has a few open puzzles, but they're poorly designed and are rarely solveable.

[coindancer]

to bad. this was fun, but to hard i guess. to bad there are no extra clues.

[knightkon]

I have to ask who is providing the .5 prize if someone figures this puzzle out?  If you are the one offering the prize, may I suggest you put the prize into an escrow so you will have no one blasting you for trust issues or such.  I personally wish I knew enough about this to do this, so good luck to all of you who do.

[Nobitcoin]

I have to ask who is providing the .5 prize if someone figures this puzzle out?  If you are the one offering the prize, may I suggest you put the prize into an escrow so you will have no one blasting you for trust issues or such.  I personally wish I knew enough about this to do this, so good luck to all of you who do.

The prize is a private key ! Read the thread before you post

[xhomerx10]

I have to ask who is providing the .5 prize if someone figures this puzzle out?  If you are the one offering the prize, may I suggest you put the prize into an escrow so you will have no one blasting you for trust issues or such.  I personally wish I knew enough about this to do this, so good luck to all of you who do.

The prize is a private key ! Read the thread before you post

 In fairness, dude said he wished to know "enough about this to do this."

[krumblez]

This puzzle is totally legit.

[HCP]

Is anyone still actively working on this puzzle? I see the prize is still unclaimed... but it seems like the discussion here has slowed down. I have a couple of ideas that may or may not help for a couple of the clues...

Is there a list of the most recent "guesses" for each tile somewhere? I see a couple of lists in this thread, and the nicely annotated picture with the green/red dots etc... but they seem a little old and there has been discussion since then... I was hoping that I might be able to work on a code based solution that might be able to brute force the solution if we can narrow down some of the "unknown" ones.

[Coding Enthusiast]

Is anyone still actively working on this puzzle? I see the prize is still unclaimed... but it seems like the discussion here has slowed down. I have a couple of ideas that may or may not help for a couple of the clues...

Is there a list of the most recent "guesses" for each tile somewhere? I see a couple of lists in this thread, and the nicely annotated picture with the green/red dots etc... but they seem a little old and there has been discussion since then... I was hoping that I might be able to work on a code based solution that might be able to brute force the solution if we can narrow down some of the "unknown" ones.

that would be my picture
and here is the gist and to be honest i worked on it for a while and moved on to new projects like the wallet in my signature and This OHLC Chart one.
i am planning on doing a fresh run working from scratch though

i would love to hear any idea.

and as for brute force i made my own code and checked a couple of 10s of million private key variation and even found one but never the answer. you can see the build that use in the gist to get an idea about what i am doing.

[Patrick349]

Is anyone still actively working on this puzzle? I see the prize is still unclaimed... but it seems like the discussion here has slowed down. I have a couple of ideas that may or may not help for a couple of the clues...

Is there a list of the most recent "guesses" for each tile somewhere? I see a couple of lists in this thread, and the nicely annotated picture with the green/red dots etc... but they seem a little old and there has been discussion since then... I was hoping that I might be able to work on a code based solution that might be able to brute force the solution if we can narrow down some of the "unknown" ones.

that would be my picture
and here is the gist and to be honest i worked on it for a while and moved on to new projects like the wallet in my signature and This OHLC Chart one.
i am planning on doing a fresh run working from scratch though

i would love to hear any idea.

and as for brute force i made my own code and checked a couple of 10s of million private key variation and even found one but never the answer. you can see the build that use in the gist to get an idea about what i am doing.

How to use you gist in C# I haven't got much experience with coding.

[HCP]

that would be my picture
and here is the gist and to be honest i worked on it for a while and moved on to new projects like the wallet in my signature and This OHLC Chart one.
i am planning on doing a fresh run working from scratch though

i would love to hear any idea.

and as for brute force i made my own code and checked a couple of 10s of million private key variation and even found one but never the answer. you can see the build that use in the gist to get an idea about what i am doing.

Yeah... I saw that c# code and how you were building your char arrays... I've basically done the same thing, but with some slightly different assumptions for a couple of the clues... I've written it in Python (was fun learning the syntax and structure for python this afternoon) and it is currently grinding away testing my privkeys against the public address that was published.

My spreadsheet tells me that with my assumptions (uppercase for Surname and company name clues etc) I have 1,811,939,328 keys to test... will be interesting to see how long it takes to complete the run...

[Coding Enthusiast]

Yeah... I saw that c# code and how you were building your char arrays... I've basically done the same thing, but with some slightly different assumptions for a couple of the clues... I've written it in Python (was fun learning the syntax and structure for python this afternoon) and it is currently grinding away testing my privkeys against the public address that was published.

how do you check it against public key? are you trying to generate the pubkey with different combinations using the code? i don't know how can that even work but i feel like you are taking the long route if my guess is right.

i used a simple Base58CheckSum on each combination which i think it is faster

My spreadsheet tells me that with my assumptions (uppercase for Surname and company name clues etc) I have 1,811,939,328 keys to test... will be interesting to see how long it takes to complete the run...

i would like to know about your CPU power and also the time it takes to complete it for science you can see mine here:

[Patrick349]

Yeah... I saw that c# code and how you were building your char arrays... I've basically done the same thing, but with some slightly different assumptions for a couple of the clues... I've written it in Python (was fun learning the syntax and structure for python this afternoon) and it is currently grinding away testing my privkeys against the public address that was published.

how do you check it against public key? are you trying to generate the pubkey with different combinations using the code? i don't know how can that even work but i feel like you are taking the long route if my guess is right.

i used a simple Base58CheckSum on each combination which i think it is faster

My spreadsheet tells me that with my assumptions (uppercase for Surname and company name clues etc) I have 1,811,939,328 keys to test... will be interesting to see how long it takes to complete the run...

i would like to know about your CPU power and also the time it takes to complete it for science you can see mine here:

Please check your PM.

[HCP]

I am using an old i5-3570k... 8 Gigs of RAM... Windows 10, Python 3.6... nothing really special... and it turns out I was waaaaaay off with my estimates... my code is still running after I got back home tonight from work... so it probably has another day or so to run

As for checking the privkey against the address... I'm using the privkey_to_addr() function from the pybitcointools python library... basically you pass in a privkey and it returns the address (or generates an exception for a 'bad' privkey)... I either catch the exception (and basically ignore it) or compare any returned address against "1qkCBiEjY4GAUFBcrsDXqyM6EPbZKTqCW" which is the published address.

I should probably do the Base58CheckSum thing, and looked into it briefly, but got confused by all the math and couldn't see any obvious "Base58Checksum()" type function, so I went with the first function I found that looked like it could tell me if the generated privkey matched the bitcoin address

[Adriandmen]

I am using an old i5-3570k... 8 Gigs of RAM... Windows 10, Python 3.6... nothing really special... and it turns out I was waaaaaay off with my estimates... my code is still running after I got back home tonight from work... so it probably has another day or so to run

As for checking the privkey against the address... I'm using the privkey_to_addr() function from the pybitcointools python library... basically you pass in a privkey and it returns the address (or generates an exception for a 'bad' privkey)... I either catch the exception (and basically ignore it) or compare any returned address against "1qkCBiEjY4GAUFBcrsDXqyM6EPbZKTqCW" which is the published address.

I should probably do the Base58CheckSum thing, and looked into it briefly, but got confused by all the math and couldn't see any obvious "Base58Checksum()" type function, so I went with the first function I found that looked like it could tell me if the generated privkey matched the bitcoin address

Base58check is a lot faster, since it doesn't need to use ECDSA. That can improve the speed by over a 1000x haha.

[Coding Enthusiast]

♯♯
Please check your PM.

replied!

I am using an old i5-3570k... 8 Gigs of RAM... Windows 10, Python 3.6... nothing really special... and it turns out I was waaaaaay off with my estimates... my code is still running after I got back home tonight from work... so it probably has another day or so to run

thanks, do you have any estimate of how many pk are you checking per second with that cpu?

As for checking the privkey against the address... I'm using the privkey_to_addr() function from the pybitcointools python library... basically you pass in a privkey and it returns the address (or generates an exception for a 'bad' privkey)... I either catch the exception (and basically ignore it) or compare any returned address against "1qkCBiEjY4GAUFBcrsDXqyM6EPbZKTqCW" which is the published address.

i say this from my own experience but i may be wrong: throwing exception and catching/handling it will slow down your loop drastically

I should probably do the Base58CheckSum thing, and looked into it briefly, but got confused by all the math and couldn't see any obvious "Base58Checksum()" type function, so I went with the first function I found that looked like it could tell me if the generated privkey matched the bitcoin address

that would be the best idea.
i have zero knowledge of python but check this out:
https://github.com/jgarzik/python-bitcoinlib/blob/master/bitcoin/base58.py
or
https://github.com/petertodd/python-bitcoinlib/blob/master/bitcoin/base58.py

and whatever you do first check your code with some correct private keys to see if it works

[krumblez]

Gonna cross link another game here:

https://www.iontalk.net/t/100-ion-competition-find-the-missing-privkey-characters/218/

Hope the OP doesn't mind

[coindancer]

Gonna cross link another game here:

https://www.iontalk.net/t/100-ion-competition-find-the-missing-privkey-characters/218/

Hope the OP doesn't mind

don't get me wrong. i'm totally for more but what is ion? an altcoin? then it is maybe the wrong place. and for a new one i would suggest to open a new thread anyway. 

[HCP]

thanks, do you have any estimate of how many pk are you checking per second with that cpu?
...
and whatever you do first check your code with some correct private keys to see if it works

Ok... so I've done some rewriting... and am actually now just doing the WIF checksum checking... ie.

• 1. convert WIF to Byte Array
• 2. drop last 4 checksum bytes from 1.
• 3. SHA256 hash result from 2.
• 4. SHA256 hash result from 3.
• 5. First 4 bytes from 4. is calculated checksum
• 6. Compare with Last 4 bytes from 1.
• If checksums are the same, then we're good and have a 'valid' WIF private key (not necessarily the winning WIF), else ignore that WIF

I used this site as a way to generate some test WIFs and to get it straight in my head the correct steps needed to make sure the checksum was good. I am fairly confident (around 99.9%) that if my script generates a valid WIF private key, it will output it for me to check against the public address.


As for speed... I've set it up to output a datetime every 1,000,000 addresses... it seems to be doing this about every 40 seconds... which is around 25,000 keys per second... According to my math, with my current 'guesses' for the possible chars in each position, I have 9,663,676,416 keys to check. At the current rate, this run should have checked the entire keyspace that I am checking in around 4 days.

EDIT:

[HCP]

So after nearly 20 hours...

1856000000 Addresses 2016-09-23 15:49:09.717791
1857000000 Addresses 2016-09-23 15:49:53.256838
1858000000 Addresses 2016-09-23 15:50:33.543255
1859000000 Addresses 2016-09-23 15:51:13.025167

Almost 1.9 billion keys searched... so the average still seems to be around 1mil per 35-40 seconds... even with me doing other things on the machine and playing Overwatch etc... I guess that isn't toooo surprising given that it should be running single threaded... and I'm on a 4 core machine...

Maybe I could force multiple copies of the script to run on different cores... and have the keyspace divided amongst the copies... I could check them faster?

[HCP]

well... that's a little disappointing...

Start: 2016-09-22 20:14:22.330021
5J...M
5J...m
5J...M
End: 2016-09-27 03:03:08.780716
Total: 4 days, 6:48:46.450695

Found 3 valid private keys out of 9,663,676,416 combinations... and none of them were the right one (or had any BTCs ) So, obviously, some of my assumptions were wrong 

We really need to solve the mystery of whether or not there is any way to determine upper or lowercase based on the information we have... I have not been able to discern any pattern as yet...

[xhomerx10]

well... that's a little disappointing...

Start: 2016-09-22 20:14:22.330021
5J...M
5J...m
5J...M
End: 2016-09-27 03:03:08.780716
Total: 4 days, 6:48:46.450695

Found 3 valid private keys out of 9,663,676,416 combinations... and none of them were the right one (or had any BTCs ) So, obviously, some of my assumptions were wrong 

We really need to solve the mystery of whether or not there is any way to determine upper or lowercase based on the information we have... I have not been able to discern any pattern as yet...

 That is very disappointing. 
If we look at it from another perspective, it's actually good news because if we can't solve this puzzle even with the clues, imagine how safe our Bitcoins are from brute force cracking

[HCP]

That is very disappointing. 
If we look at it from another perspective, it's actually good news because if we can't solve this puzzle even with the clues, imagine how safe our Bitcoins are from brute force cracking

Well... maybe they're not THAT safe (if we get clues )...

So at around 1509 hrs UTC on 28th September (around 0409 hrs on the 29th local)... my script spat out another possible hit... I was working a night shift and so I didn't actually get around to checking it until around 8 hours later.

Amongst the 3 new possible hits that had been generated, one started with "1qk...."... could this be it?? I quickly checked on blockchain.info... "Final Balance: 0.5001 BTC"... WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!   So I quickly imported the private key into my wallet and transferred my newfound loot into my own personal address.

The private key turned out to be: 5JKPapJwgyEij3sxYRAEnixyiFgxqkVhgZXv9bWWknBexegx6tM

• 5 - 1_3_5
• J - Steve Jobs
• K - Kevlar
• P - Pi
• a - Atari
• p - parachute
• J - Jet
• w - wing
• g - Johannes Gutenberg
• y - yoyo
• E - mc^2 = E
• i - iron #lowercase BLUE
• j - jigsaw
• 3 - 1836 Morse Code Invented
• s - scissors
• x - x-ray #lowercase BLUE
• Y - Linus Yale #UPPERCASE lightGreen
• R - radar
• A - Aspirin #UPPERCASE lightGreen
• E - Eiffel Tower
• n - Nobel
• i - ice skate #lowercase BLUE
• x - XX chromosome
• y - XY chromosome
• i - igloo #lowercase BLUE
• F - film
• g - Galileo
• x - Xerox
• q - Question
• k - Nakamoto #lowercase BLUE
• V - vaporiser #UPPERCASE lightGreen
• h - Satoshi
• g - Gramophone
• Z - zipper #UPPERCASE lightGreen
• X - alphabet X
• v - viagra #lowercase BLUE
• 9 - Euro - 1996
• b - Braile for B
• W - WiFi #UPPERCASE lightGreen
• W - Windows
• k - krypton (periodic table) #lowercase BLUE
• n - DNA #lowercase BLUE
• B - balloon #UPPERCASE lightGreen
• e - Einstein
• x - 2009 MMIX #lowercase BLUE
• e - Etch a Sketch
• g - Gameboy
• x - Xeon (periodic table) #lowercase BLUE
• 6 - 1962 LED invention date
• t - Tesla
• M - Mouse

For this second big run, I decided to make some assumptions on upper/lowercase based on tile colour... the first clue being the "i" characters. Due to the Base58 alphabet only having lowercase i, and the 2 "i" clues that I was fairly confident on (iron and igloo) both being blue tiles, I decided to try making all the blue tiles lowercase. The 2nd character is always an uppercase in a WIF address. It was light green, so I decided to set all the lightgreen tiles to uppercase. For all the other tile colours, I was including both the lower and uppercase for my best guess at what the character was which increased the keyspace quite considerably.

However, setting the blues and light greens to a single case helped cut the final keyspace I was searching down to "only" 8,589,934,592 key combinations, which at 25,000/s would take around 90ish hours (just under 4 days) to complete.

Analysis after finding the key shows that in addition to my (thankfully correct) assumptions on upper/lower case, that black tiles were all uppercase, while the red and darker green tiles were all lowercase.

In the end, the script only got through just over 1,103,000,000 keys (in just under 12 hours) before I got lucky:

Checking [8589934592] Keys...
Start: 2016-09-28 17:08:17.702438
1000000 Addresses 2016-09-28 17:08:53.797499
2000000 Addresses 2016-09-28 17:09:30.093016
3000000 Addresses 2016-09-28 17:10:06.433803
.
.
.
1103000000 Addresses 2016-09-29 04:09:38.866786
We have a possible winner!:  5JKPapJwgyEij3sxYRAEnixyiFgxqkVhgZXv9bWWknBexegx6tM
1104000000 Addresses 2016-09-29 04:10:14.934280
.
.

I sent a note to the puzzle creator to let them know...  and I have created a PasteBin with my source code in case anyone wants to see my pretty ugly and untidy python code

[Coding Enthusiast]

lol, thanks for sharing. my only missing character was jigsaw which i could never think of starting with j because i thought it is a puzzle piece
apparently my English sux

a puzzle consisting of a picture printed on cardboard or wood and cut into various pieces of different shapes that have to be fitted together.

♯♯congrats.

[Sarthak]

Well... maybe they're not THAT safe (if we get clues )...

So at around 1509 hrs UTC on 28th September (around 0409 hrs on the 29th local)... my script spat out another possible hit... I was working a night shift and so I didn't actually get around to checking it until around 8 hours later.

Amongst the 3 new possible hits that had been generated, one started with "1qk...."... could this be it?? I quickly checked on blockchain.info... "Final Balance: 0.5001 BTC"... WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!  So I quickly imported the private key into my wallet and transferred my newfound loot into my own personal address.

The private key turned out to be: 5JKPapJwgyEij3sxYRAEnixyiFgxqkVhgZXv9bWWknBexegx6tM

I sent a note to the puzzle creator to let them know...  and I have created a PasteBin with my source code in case anyone wants to see my pretty ugly and untidy python code

Congratulations And I really appreciate uploading that script. I'm learning python and I expect that script will help me to learn even better

[xhomerx10]

That is very disappointing. 
If we look at it from another perspective, it's actually good news because if we can't solve this puzzle even with the clues, imagine how safe our Bitcoins are from brute force cracking

Well... maybe they're not THAT safe (if we get clues )...

So at around 1509 hrs UTC on 28th September (around 0409 hrs on the 29th local)... my script spat out another possible hit... I was working a night shift and so I didn't actually get around to checking it until around 8 hours later.

Amongst the 3 new possible hits that had been generated, one started with "1qk...."... could this be it?? I quickly checked on blockchain.info... "Final Balance: 0.5001 BTC"... WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!   So I quickly imported the private key into my wallet and transferred my newfound loot into my own personal address.

The private key turned out to be: 5JKPapJwgyEij3sxYRAEnixyiFgxqkVhgZXv9bWWknBexegx6tM

[redacted]

Analysis after finding the key shows that in addition to my (thankfully correct) assumptions on upper/lower case, that black tiles were all uppercase, while the red and darker green tiles were all lowercase.

In the end, the script only got through just over 1,103,000,000 keys (in just under 12 hours) before I got lucky:

Checking [8589934592] Keys...
Start: 2016-09-28 17:08:17.702438
1000000 Addresses 2016-09-28 17:08:53.797499
2000000 Addresses 2016-09-28 17:09:30.093016
3000000 Addresses 2016-09-28 17:10:06.433803
.
.
.
1103000000 Addresses 2016-09-29 04:09:38.866786
We have a possible winner!:  5JKPapJwgyEij3sxYRAEnixyiFgxqkVhgZXv9bWWknBexegx6tM
1104000000 Addresses 2016-09-29 04:10:14.934280
.
.

I sent a note to the puzzle creator to let them know...  and I have created a PasteBin with my source code in case anyone wants to see my pretty ugly and untidy python code

 I didn't think anyone was ever going to solve the puzzle.  Perseverance was the real key
Congratulations! 

[coindancer]

well, a bit late, but hey congrats! you deserve it for the work you put in. but i guess it was a worthy experience and a nice way to learn some coding.
i really hope there are more puzzles like this out there.   

[Chris!]

That is very disappointing. 
If we look at it from another perspective, it's actually good news because if we can't solve this puzzle even with the clues, imagine how safe our Bitcoins are from brute force cracking

Well... maybe they're not THAT safe (if we get clues )...

So at around 1509 hrs UTC on 28th September (around 0409 hrs on the 29th local)... my script spat out another possible hit... I was working a night shift and so I didn't actually get around to checking it until around 8 hours later.

Amongst the 3 new possible hits that had been generated, one started with "1qk...."... could this be it?? I quickly checked on blockchain.info... "Final Balance: 0.5001 BTC"... WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!   So I quickly imported the private key into my wallet and transferred my newfound loot into my own personal address.

The private key turned out to be: 5JKPapJwgyEij3sxYRAEnixyiFgxqkVhgZXv9bWWknBexegx6tM

Congratulations! Man that took a lot of time & effort! I was lightyears behind you guys so I gave up a long time ago. Well deserved!