Scavenger Hunt II

[Kudryavka]

Ok, I'm finally using mod, had to do a quick crash course in it...

[felix]

@Golden Dream

Hm. That gives me an idea for some hints:

"Equation" (yeah, sorry that's it, but should help you avoid some wrong possibilities; like with the other hints)

In retrospect, while the math isn't anything hard (even though it can be solved though some more exotic means), to reach that kind of formula you probably have to think a little differently then how you would normally, since it doesn't necessarily look like an average equation with the mod in there. Making it maybe a little harder to reach the formula even though it's quite plain looking. Still, my objective from the get-go was to make a riddle that's unsolvable though brute force or random guesses, and in that respect it sure is working as intended.

(that was your 2nd and 3rd hint, BTW)

[Kudryavka]

Another guess for 20:
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthre...oto=nextoldest/http://forums.animesuki.com/showthre...oto=nextnewest
They see the spirits of the other world by looking into the future and past.

Anyone know who's doing this riddle? I'd like some confirmations so I know if I have to keep brainstorming. I'm very sure someone's guessed the right answer by now

[NightWish]

Originally Posted by Kudryavka

More guesses for #20:
http://forums.animesuki.com/online.php
It's on the bottom of the Main page, and it sees all people accessing the site, even guests (spirits of the other world since they aren't members here). Also, it's always on the bottom of any page you're on on the forum, so it's constantly dwelling everywhere.

Congratulations, you are correct. Sorry I didn't notice the post earlier.

With Riddle 20 solved we should be finished... (for now at least). However there is still the first riddle... Felix can post an explanation for it, but unless I'm summing the results incorrectly, I think Felix and Kudryavka (formally Komari) are both on 3 points. We have a massive draw over the three tiers. Time to think of a tie-breaker.

1. • felix - 3
   • Kudryavka - 3
2. • brocko - 2
   • Golden Dream - 2
   • Rennir - 2
3. • crall - 1
   • Haak - 1
   • Haladflire65 - 1
   • Hooves - 1
   • RRW - 1
   • Slick_rick - 1
   • Ziziphus - 1
   • _Firebird_ - 1

[felix]

Originally Posted by NightWish

Congratulations, you are correct. Sorry I didn't notice the post earlier.

With Riddle 20 solved we should be finished... (for now at least). However there is still the first riddle... Felix can post an explanation for it, but unless I'm summing the results incorrectly, I think Felix and Kudryavka (formally Komari) are both on 3 points. We have a massive draw over the three tiers. Time to think of a tie-breaker.

1. • felix - 3
   • Kudryavka - 3
2. • brocko - 2
   • Golden Dream - 2
   • Rennir - 2
3. • crall - 1
   • Haak - 1
   • Haladflire65 - 1
   • Hooves - 1
   • RRW - 1
   • Slick_rick - 1
   • Ziziphus - 1
   • _Firebird_ - 1

I don't care for winning, so Kamori err Kudryavka can take it.

NW I don't suppose you have the original pm explaining it I gave you lying around?

[felix]

I've colored the text to help explain it.

=================================================

It's been been a few days and no new leads have been
found, the only clue the professor and friends have is a
story left by the late doctor, who was killed right after
winning the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize. The clue is a
short story written right before the victims demise. It
surely leads to the culprit!



Once upon a time, there was an end. And with it many
monsters awoke. From a land far away a princess came,
to fight the monsters. The princess was the shortest
midget in the land, but she had a big mouth and fat
sword, and with them she set out to defeat the
monsters in all five kingdoms. Each kingdom was ruled
by a powerful kings, greater then all over which they
ruled. Should one enter the kingdom, be it friend or foe,
it was by heavens law that they would be cut down to
size until they were no greater then the kingdoms kings.

First the princess arrived at the Kingdom of "V" (for
Vegetables), there she met a horde of trolls. She swung
her mighty fat sword and defeated all but three.

Next the princess came to the kingdom of SeveN
Lancers, there she met a swarm of fierce gazebos.
Again she raised her fat sword to the heavens and
struck the enemy down. All were burned to ash, but five.

The princess then took a break, and a week later she
once again marched to fight.

After 3 days of marching she arrived at the kingdom of
the Nazgûl. She finds nothing, sees nothing, hears
nothing. As she leaves she's met by a army of demon
vacuum cleaners. The battle is fierce but she makes it
out alive all thanks to her fat sword. Out of the army
only five remain, which run and hide in fear.

Next she arrives at the unlucky kingdom. Mirrors break
as she enters and she is greeted by strange creatures.
The princess swings her fat sword and cuts down all in
front of her, with the exception of a few anomalies.
Confused she simply moves on...

And now after much walking and talking the princess
arrives at the kingdom of XI o'clock. There she meets a
band of shinigami. The battle rages for weeks, then
months, then years. But it does not matter since time is
irrelevant in the five kingdoms. Six years later the
princess finally defeats the shinigami and the ten
remaining flee in fear.

With a broken fat sword the princess retreats, but
brave adventurers follow after her. And so, our story
begins.

==================================================

If it's not already obvious the riddle is a coded text. You are suppose to decipher the text using some basic math and knowhow (I've made sure google can be used to get the knowhow in the first result). The process simply involves finding the general rules hinted by the text, and the small bits of data, then piecing it together.

It's not necessary for solving the riddle, but here's the explanation on the story: Princess is a member. Big mouth, fat sword refers to how she likes talking (fat sword = her words; princess hits with "fat" paragraphs). The princess part refers to how she is referred to with honorifics (on the forum). The lands are merely sections "she" visits. The monsters are her own demons. The diversity of the demons and kingdoms is simply the diversity in discussion across the forum.

The second paragraph (as well as at the end) you basically get the hint you're looking for a person (ie. user). The person, in the case of the riddle is more of a ID, just as users here are associated with a id.

There are only a few rules you need to catch:

• the princess's ID is the smallest possible solution
• any reference to time in the kindoms is to be ignored (I've highlighted both the hint and the traps)
• nobody is greater then the kings in the kingdoms, and all who are greater are cut down, is a analogy to basic modular arithmetic

You then just have to spot the obvious shared similarity between all five adventures and put the pieces together. In summary this is what you have in the story:

• Kingdom of "V" (for Vegetables) => 3 trolls remain
• Kingdom of SeveN Lancers => 5 gazebos
• kingdom of the Nazgûl => 5 vacuum cleaners
• the unlucky kingdom => a few anomalies
• kingdom of XI o'clock => ten shinigami

Most as you can guess are just the number in the name. The only odd ones are: Nazgûl which happen to be known as the Nine, and unlucky kingdom which basically means 13 (the rest of the paragraph provides plenty of hints in this direction; mirrors breaking, etc). As for "a few anomalies" this refers to the image. You're suppose to notice the image is not really random, and that when clicking it even though at first it may seem like you're just viewing it again, you are actually viewing a different image! There are 6 anomalies in the image.

So basically this along with the hint of modular arithmetic should lead you to the following:

x = 3 mod 5
x = 5 mod 7
x = 5 mod 9
x = 6 mod 13
x = 10 mod 11

The equals sign for "result" as in the result of the battle.

Anyone who's done any kind of math in school should be able to solve this. You simply obtain a variable, say y from the first equation and use it to replace x in the next, and so on. There's nothing special about modular arithmetic compared to the standard one, the only tiny difference is that you can do equavalences such as 3 * y = 7 mod 5 <=> 3 * y = 12 mod 5 (ie. add 5 to 7, as many times as you need). Eventually you'll get something like x = 16763 + 45045 * w

There are many other ways to solve the equations. Chinese Remainder Theorem for example. You don't really need to understand the theorem, simply googling one of the many many calculators/solvers/etc will suffice. The only thing you need to be aware of when using a calculator is that the "princess is the smallest" so you'll need to reduce the solution you're getting (eg. 106853) mod 5 * 7 * 9 * 11 * 13, to get the actual "princess" value: 16763

Anyway, the solution is thus: http://forums.animesuki.com/member.php?u=16763

The riddle is based on a cryptosystem, the idea being to be almost near impossible to break though brute force; even if people posted constantly.

[monster]

I don't think I understand the first riddle even with the explanation. I guess I'm just that bad modular arithmetic. And I didn't get to answer even one riddle correctly, but it was still fun seeing what people came up with. Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who got at least one riddle correct.

[Hooves]

When felix said that riddle #1 was based around modular arithmetic. I asked a friend to give me a thorough explanation of it. The explanation was perfect enough for me to figure it out, but I really didn't have the confidence nor a clear understanding on what places the riddle was hinting to actually figure it out. But still, one of the toughest riddles ever felix

[Haladflire65]

Yeah, me not being a person and not even knowing what modular arithmetic is, I really couldn't have hoped to solve that one Great work felix, your riddle was actually quite something! And congrats to everybody who won(?)!

[Revelation]

Wow. That explanation was quite something. I really enjoyed trying to solve it, and congratulations for making something like that. I have to say though, I messed up at the 6 mod 13 from the very beginning.... Darn! Actually, I retract that, I was doing all the mods in reverse, like "5 mod x= 3". That equivalence part was a little above me too.

---

Oh, before I forget, congratulations (?) Koma-- Kudryavka!

[Kudryavka]

Kudos to felix for making such a great riddle. I really hope we can open with a riddle of similar difficulty and have it run for the whole contest next time.
And Kaioshin Sama is a guy--! Aw I got tricked, should have tried harder with the math.

Congratulations to everyone who participated, in both answer giving and riddle making! Honest, without just about everyone who took interest, this contest wouldn't have been the same.
...It's a nasty tie between the places, though.

[Revelation]

If the current riddle is unsolved after two weeks, the author of the riddle will get 1 point towards their hunt total and "in addition to 50 reputation points for the submission being used."

On an absolutely unrelated note, I really hate to inquire over something like reputation, but does this apply if a riddle was left unsolved or simply being used? It felt a little unclear to me, so I thought asking never hurts since we technically reached the "end" in the contest.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Golden Dream

On an absolutely unrelated note, I really hate to inquire over something like reputation, but does this apply if a riddle was left unsolved or simply being used? It felt a little unclear to me, so I thought asking never hurts since we technically reached the "end" in the contest.

Seems that you get rep just for your riddle being used, regardless of whether or not your riddle was solved in time. I see it as a thanks for contributing to the contest.

[Dist]

But if felix's riddle was never solved, would he not gain 1 point towards his hunt, meaning he wins by 1 point over Koma .. Kudryavka?

[felix]

Originally Posted by Dist

But if felix's riddle was never solved, would he not gain 1 point towards his hunt, meaning he wins by 1 point over Koma .. Kudryavka?

I think I got the point actually? But anyway, don't worry about the small details. Kudryavka wins! and that's that

[brocko]

I think there should be a seperate award category specifically for felix so we crown him for making such an obscure riddle

Also grats to Komari/Kudryavka with that come from behind victory, snagging up those last three riddles! Talk about a dark horse

Twas a fun contest, GG!

[NightWish]

Originally Posted by Golden Dream

... reputation ... does this apply if a riddle was left unsolved or simply being used?

Simply being used. Everyone will get points for qualifying submissions, up to a maximum one submission per person. Though I think that last clause only applies to one person and Felix already declined the awards.

I don't have time to come up with a good (and by that I mean fair, interesting, and enjoyable) way of separating the single winners from each category, so I'm going to simply award the prizes to each person in their respective groups. brocko, Golden Dream, Rennir need to PM me, everyone else ... you'll get your cookies in due time, unless you tell me otherwise of course.

Originally Posted by brocko

I think there should be a seperate award category specifically for felix so we crown him for making such an obscure riddle

Maybe having people struggle to guess is its own reward.

The contest will be back at some point, but it will require people to come up with a lot more new riddles first. Also, next time, the authors will be posting the riddles themselves so we can avoid the problem of my not being around to keep checking for correct answers. Thanks for taking part if you did. If you didn't, well maybe next time...

[Jinto]

My congratulation to the winners. This has been a veeeeery long riddle contest ^-^

[NightWish]

Originally Posted by Jinto

This has been a veeeeery long riddle contest ^-^

Too long do you think? Should it have been shorter or quicker in some way (notwithstanding the fact I was absent for extended periods, which I recognise was a problem)? Maybe less riddles, faster churn, more overlapping riddles, or something else?

Anyone else have any other feedback?

[felix]

Originally Posted by NightWish

Anyone else have any other feedback?

Post riddles only Saturday and Sunday. Overlapping is fine I think.

Riddles should last 1 week.

I sent you a pm with more complicated stuff.
(uh, wait why did I send it though pm? <_< ah well...)