You are invited to take part in it at:
http://www.pythonchallenge.com
That was pretty fun. Good for a Friday. Too bad it comes to an abrupt
"temporary end".
Shane
P.S. I hope I didn't hammer your server on step 3. I was missing the
mark. :-)
Ironically, I just used Unix tools (tr, grep, sed) for each of the
puzzles except the first one, and that first one was only because I tend
to use Python as a convenient calculator anyway :-).
--
Erik Max Francis && m...@alcyone.com && http://www.alcyone.com/max/
San Jose, CA, USA && 37 20 N 121 53 W && AIM erikmaxfrancis
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
-- Oscar Wilde
Interestingly step 3 is actually wrong... there is an additional
solution, which looks like cqqmsxk. (I don't think that spoils the fun :))
the 'm' is silent ;-)
You're not the only one. This is where I am currently stuck. It's starting to
hurt my head.
There are 478 results in the form *BBBsBBB* but the thing said 'exactly'
right, well there are 10 results in the form *sBBBsBBBs*
None of them seem to work...
I quit ;)
--
darren kirby :: Part of the problem since 1976 :: http://badcomputer.org
"...the number of UNIX installations has grown to 10, with more expected..."
- Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson, June 1972
That was fun. The very first step in 6 was the most frustrating I
thought.
I did the same thing. Now just combine those ten results.
Shane
3 IS wrong because if you use any not BIG letter after bodyguard on both
sides, you get extra 'eCQQmSXK\n' which slow me down for 5 minutes.
Mike
Excellent puzzles! For others like this see http://www.osix.net. I love
these things :^)
Get rid of the newlines first.
On level 7, I'm not sure whether there's something more to do, or
whether I'm looking at a bug in how IE displays .png files. Using
Windows is good practice in solving maddening riddles every day
<wink>.
There is! That black and white line contains the message.
Mike
Very neat, I love things like this. Level 5 is maddening. Keep up the
good work.
The same thing happened to me, but then I figured it out.
Hint: Print all 10 results in a column.
Strange: I don't find eCQQmSXK\n, only eCQQmSxK\n. I guess the data has
been modified in order to get that potential confusion out of the way.
--
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants. -- Isaac Newton
Roel Schroeven
They've added at least one more level since yesterday. Unfortunately,
I'm stuck on it.
Correction: Now I'm stuck on Level 11. I think I'm supposed to do
something with the pixels in the image, but what?
> Dan Bishop wrote:
>
> Correction: Now I'm stuck on Level 11. I think I'm supposed to do
> something with the pixels in the image, but what?
Me too. I've tried making different images out of the even and the odd
pixels, but nothing interesting happened. I tried to combine both images
in various ways (using the Gimp), but that also seemed to be a dead end.
I don't think we need to concernt ourselves with the individual pixel
values; otherwise the image would not be a jpeg, it would be a non-lossy
format instead.
The forum's tips only go up to 9, so that doesn't help either.
> Dan Bishop wrote:
>
>
>>Dan Bishop wrote:
>>
>>Correction: Now I'm stuck on Level 11. I think I'm supposed to do
>>something with the pixels in the image, but what?
>
>
> Me too.
There's a new image on the website now (still the same name though); I
solved the riddle now :-)
There's no level 12 yet though.
> There's no level 12 yet though.
Now there's a 12 and a 13 (at least!).
Dan
You only got 2 images?
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
Split them again to get 4 images with (even, even), (even, odd), (odd,
even), and (odd, odd) coordinates. Two of the resulting images will be
useful.
Anyone solved 12? Hints?
thanks, Reinhold
Thanks,
Maciek
Have you found the zip file yet?
(I did, and I still can't figure it out. I'm wondering if there are
comments embedded in the jpg that none of my viewers will show me.
Hmm, maybe there's a python module that does that... I'll play with it
more after I sleep on it.)
-John
It's best when you use the zipfile module.
*** SPOILER ***
Look carefully at the ZipInfo class for every file in the archive.
Ganesan
--
Ganesan Rajagopal
Now I have it. Thanks :)
> (I did, and I still can't figure it out. I'm wondering if there are
> comments embedded in the jpg that none of my viewers will show me.
> Hmm, maybe there's a python module that does that... I'll play with it
> more after I sleep on it.)
Hint: Use Python module 'zipfile' :)
Thanks again,
--
Maciek Starzyk
Possible spoiler, so ROT13'ed:
Qvq lbh frr naq ernq gur ernqzr.gkg va gur mvc svyr?
> Roel Schroeven wrote:
>
>>Dan Bishop wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Dan Bishop wrote:
>>>
>>>Correction: Now I'm stuck on Level 11. I think I'm supposed to do
>>>something with the pixels in the image, but what?
>>
>>Me too. I've tried making different images out of the even and the
>
> odd
>
>>pixels, but nothing interesting happened. I tried to combine both
>
> images
>
>>in various ways (using the Gimp), but that also seemed to be a dead
>
> end.
>
> You only got 2 images?
>
> *** SPOILER ALERT ***
[...]
Is that on the original image, or the new one? I solved it with the new
one, but I'm still unable to do find the solution using the original one.
Somehow writing '[a-z]{1}' is strange...
Reinhold
Cool. I had just unzipped the zipfile, and was looking at the files
directly. The comments weren't added to the files in the OS, so I was
only thinking about jpeg comments (since the photo was also a "zip").
I love the way this challenge is making me poke into pieces of the
library I've never used before. :)
-John
>
> Somehow writing '[a-z]{1}' is strange...
>
> Reinhold
>>> t = /text of page source.../
>>> re.findall('[a-z][A-Z]{3}[a-z][A-Z]{3}[a-z]', t)
Sorry dude! When it comes to logic puzzles I am easily frustrated, and that
leads to unclear thinking...
**hint below**
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Look at the filename for the first image you see, and make a guess at
another filename.
Dan
> Roel Schroeven <rschroev_...@fastmail.fm> writes:
>
>> There's no level 12 yet though.
>
> Now there's a 12 and a 13 (at least!).
Any hints for level 13? I know how to make a call, but don't know "who"
to call.
Dan
> quoth the Ganesan Rajagopal:
>> I am stuck on level 3. I've tried every re that I can think of. Some body
>> give me a clue.
>>
>> Ganesan
>>
>> --
>> Ganesan Rajagopal
>>>> t = /text of page source.../
>>>> re.findall('[a-z][A-Z]{3}[a-z]{1}[A-Z]{3}[a-z]', t)
> You should get ten results. Consider all ten together to get your
> solution...
Ah, thanks. I tried having both sides identical, no results. Then I tried
the above re but stopped at the first result :-(.
Ganesan
--
Ganesan Rajagopal
You mean "evil1.jpg"?
> and make a guess at another filename.
I've made tons of guesses, but none of them worked :-(
yup.
> > and make a guess at another filename.
>
> I've made tons of guesses, but none of them worked :-(
Hmmm. The title of the html page is "dealing evil". If you were
playing war instead of solitaire, how would you change how you deal the
cards?
-John
P.S. - I think I've found everything, but still haven't figured out what
to do with it. No hints yet, though. I want to think about it some
more...
Well, I'd deal them into 2 piles, and...
Damn! That was an obscure hint!
Now, how do I open *.gfx files?
> Well, I'd deal them into 2 piles, and...
>
> Damn! That was an obscure hint!
>
> Now, how do I open *.gfx files?
You don't directly.
Hint: gfx stands for?
************** SPOILER ****************
Graphic*s*.
> Hmmm. The title of the html page is "dealing evil". If you were
> playing war instead of solitaire, how would you change how you deal the
> cards?
Hm, I'm not familiar with playing war. You couldn't elaborate a bit on
that, could you?
> John Hazen wrote:
>
>
>>Hmmm. The title of the html page is "dealing evil". If you were
>>playing war instead of solitaire, how would you change how you deal the
>>cards?
>
>
> Hm, I'm not familiar with playing war. You couldn't elaborate a bit on
> that, could you?
Never mind, I got it anyway now.
Okay, so I've been working on level seven for a LONG time now. I've
decoded the first message to get the hint for the next level. Using the
same tactics, then I decode the hint as well, but there are non-printable
characters. I've tried stripping out those characters, quoting them to
include in the URL and various anagrams of the printable characters, but
nothing works. Does anybody have any suggestions?
Thanks,
-chris
I just took a guess for the first of those non-printable characters, and
proceeded from there. I thought it was going to be too simplistic, but
it worked. And fortunately my first guess was the right one.
> Chris McAloney wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Okay, so I've been working on level seven for a LONG time now. I've
>> decoded the first message to get the hint for the next level. Using the
>> same tactics, then I decode the hint as well, but there are non-printable
>> characters. I've tried stripping out those characters, quoting them to
>> include in the URL and various anagrams of the printable characters, but
>> nothing works. Does anybody have any suggestions?
>
> I just took a guess for the first of those non-printable characters, and
> proceeded from there. I thought it was going to be too simplistic, but
> it worked. And fortunately my first guess was the right one.
Hmm, I didn't get any non-printable characters, just a regular English
word to be used to get to level 8. I think you guys must be doing
something wrong...
Dan
Indeed, and I found out what was wrong. The puzzle is much nicer now.
What the hell do i have to pronounce in puzzle 5????
Some useful hints would be awesome
thx
Hmm. I've been staring at that one 18 hours a day since last Friday,
and still don't have the foggiest idea. I've counted boxes, counted
pixels, broken it apart and rearranged it like a jigsaw puzzle, ran
"strings" over the .png, ..., all in vain.
> I've decoded the first message to get the hint for the next level.
It's not nice to humilate your elders in public, Chris.
> Using the same tactics, then I decode the hint as well, but there are
> non-printable characters. I've tried stripping out those characters,
> quoting them to include in the URL and various anagrams of the printable
> characters, but nothing works. Does anybody have any suggestions?
Count boxes, count pixels, break it apart and rearrange it like a
jigsaw puzzle, run "strings" over it ... I have a lot of useless
suggestions, anyway.
That's a funny one: I didn't understand the "pronounce it" hint until
long after I solved that one. Then again, Guido & I implemented PEP
307, so I knew what to do the instant I saw the file <wink>.
well finally also i got the hint... but what to do on the next page that
follows???? i don't seem to get to puzzle 6...
greets
Frira be srjre pbcvrf bs gur fnzr cvkry va n ebj ner bar punenpgre, ohg
rvtug cvkryf ner gjb punenpgref.
> [Chris McAloney]
>> Okay, so I've been working on level seven for a LONG time now.
>
> Hmm. I've been staring at that one 18 hours a day since last Friday,
> and still don't have the foggiest idea. I've counted boxes, counted
> pixels, broken it apart and rearranged it like a jigsaw puzzle, ran
> "strings" over the .png, ..., all in vain.
*** small hint below ***
*** a bit further ***
Did you look at the RGB values of the pixels?
Dan
[Dan Christensen, gives a huge hint]
The first time I looked at it, I thought "hmm, I should use PIL for
this". I kept thinking that too <wink> -- but for some reason wanted
to see if there was a clear way to do it without something that
"fancy". I eventually gave up and did the obvious thing (and of
course that worked).
simple's-good-but-braindead-simple-ain't-always-enough-ly y'rs - tim
Oh dear. I would **never** have gotten this on my own. I mean that, too,
since I discarded adjacent duplicates and used the "trimmed"
(equivalently: "wrong") version as my ground truth.
Thanks very much.
-chris
... and now on to number eight ...
> Hmm. I've been staring at that one 18 hours a day since last Friday,
I'm very relieved to hear that I'm not the only one, then.
> > I've decoded the first message to get the hint for the next level.
>
> It's not nice to humilate your elders in public, Chris.
No humiliation was intended -- I was simply trying to use this fact as a
form of currency to hopefully barter myself a useful hint. ;-)
-chris
I haven't figured this one out yet either. Rather frustrating really.
All the hints I've been given so far is to rmember the solution for
level 12.
Banging-my-head-against-it-didn't-help-either-ly yours,
Martijn Pieters
> Dan Christensen wrote:
>
>>Any hints for level 13? I know how to make a call, but don't know "who"
>>to call.
>
>
> I haven't figured this one out yet either. Rather frustrating really.
> All the hints I've been given so far is to rmember the solution for
> level 12.
You don't really need the remember the solution; it's more the process
that led you to find the solution.
Michael
Indeed, there is one I could not open properly. One tool I tried gave a
warning and an incorrect image, another one showed a cropped image of
what I suppose should have been the real image.
I tried some variations to get an uncorrupted object, but didn't succeed.
However, I didn't need it for solving level 13.
When all else fails, try Google. It helped me, in any case.
Nope, that piece is just a truncated version that opens fine otherwise
in Firefox which then gives you the piece that you correctly guessed at;
no hints there.
Martijn Pieters
Yup, I do remember the process, and it hasn't been any help so far.. no
adjustable URLs leading to interesting files, no 'dealable' images, no nada.
Martijn Pieters
Awwww, that was devious! I found it finally, how evil that was! I really
fell for it too, until I paid more attention to that error message. Got
it finally. *woot*
Martijn Pieters
Unless Martijn Pieters here and mjpieters in the Python Challenge forum
are two differen persons, you've found it in the meantime, haven't you?
Yup, I found it. How evil and devious. I found the hint without
Googling, BTW, but can see how Google would have led you to the
solution. I for one, will never again believe the claim there is no more
evils..
Martijn Pieters
Michael
You mean there's a hint in that XML-RPC fault?
No - the hint is associated with another error message
Dan Bishop wrote:
> You mean there's a hint in that XML-RPC fault?
No, there is a hint in level 12. Remember how you could manipulate the
URL of the image of level 12 to get to the data file for that level. Now
continue that manipulation and don't believe the suggestion about no
more evils. *Then* pay close attention to what you find. If you get a
'Not Found' you either didn't pay attention in the previous step and
have passed over the hint, or you searched in the wrong direction.
Martijn Pieters
Assuming a web browser (firefox in my case) is being used. ;) I got no
error message when I retrieved that URL with urllib and examined the
result..
Martijn Pieters
-Jim
On 5/5/05, Martijn Pieters <m...@zopatista.com> wrote:
> [SNIP me whining then cheering about level 13]
>
> Dan Bishop wrote:
> > You mean there's a hint in that XML-RPC fault?
>
> No, there is a hint in level 12. Remember how you could manipulate the
> URL of the image of level 12 to get to the data file for that level. Now
> continue that manipulation and don't believe the suggestion about no
> more evils. *Then* pay close attention to what you find. If you get a
> 'Not Found' you either didn't pay attention in the previous step and
> have passed over the hint, or you searched in the wrong direction.
>
> Martijn Pieters
>
>
> --
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
>
>
>
I found the answer with a brute-force search (using
/usr/share/dict/words).
It isn't meant to be too obvious.. If you're expecting obvious
solutions, you won't like the rest of the challenge. ;)
What have you tried? Have you studied the source of the page, tried the
link, seen what you get back from that link and then adjusted the URL
according to what you got back? From there on out, just follow the
chain, the linked list.
Martijn Pieters
>For the riddles' lovers among you, you are most invited to take part
>in the Python Challenge, the first python programming riddle on the net.
>You are invited to take part in it at:
>http://www.pythonchallenge.com
This is not only about riddle lovers, but a great way to advocate python
to other programmers... I already had a session with a friend (he did
the thinking, I did the programming next to him) and he was enchanted :)
I'm already investing a little time to think some new riddles to suggest
(extending stdlib coverage).
--
TZOTZIOY, I speak England very best.
"Be strict when sending and tolerant when receiving." (from RFC1958)
I really should keep that in mind when talking with people, actually...
I came up with what I thought was a perfectly good
solution, but apparently it's wrong. :-(
--
Greg Ewing, Computer Science Dept,
University of Canterbury,
Christchurch, New Zealand
http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~greg
There are hints on the site; for level 10,
http://www.pythonchallenge.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20
> I came up with what I thought was a perfectly good
> solution, but apparently it's wrong. :-(
The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences should be better known
-- it's an amazing resource:
http://www.research.att.com/~njas/sequences/
It knows about this sequence, so don't use it unless you want the
answer given to you. If it doesn't know about your sequence,
"perfectly good" is debatable <wink>.