Python Challenge ahead [NEW] for riddle lovers

darren kirby wrote:

quoth the Shane Hathaway:
pythonchallenge wrote:
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
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. :-)

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...

The same thing happened to me, but then I figured it out.

Hint: Print all 10 results in a column.

Jul 19 '05 #14

Mike Rovner wrote:

David Murmann wrote:
Shane Hathaway wrote:

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. :-)

Interestingly step 3 is actually wrong... there is an additional
solution, which looks like cqqmsxk. (I don't think that spoils the fun :))

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.

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

Jul 19 '05 #15

Shane Hathaway wrote:

pythonchallenge wrote:
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
That was pretty fun. Good for a Friday. Too bad it comes to an

abrupt "temporary end".

They've added at least one more level since yesterday. Unfortunately,
I'm stuck on it.

Jul 19 '05 #16

Dan Bishop wrote:

Shane Hathaway wrote:
pythonchallenge wrote:
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
That was pretty fun. Good for a Friday. Too bad it comes to an

abrupt
"temporary end".

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?

Jul 19 '05 #17

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.

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.

--
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants. -- Isaac Newton

Roel Schroeven

Jul 19 '05 #18

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.

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.
--
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants. -- Isaac Newton

Roel Schroeven

Jul 19 '05 #19

Dan Christensen

Roel Schroeven <rs****************@fastmail.fm> writes:

There's no level 12 yet though.

Now there's a 12 and a 13 (at least!).

Dan

Jul 19 '05 #20

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 ***

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.

Jul 19 '05 #21

Dan Christensen wrote:

Roel Schroeven <rs****************@fastmail.fm> writes:
There's no level 12 yet though.

Now there's a 12 and a 13 (at least!).

Anyone solved 12? Hints?

thanks, Reinhold

Jul 19 '05 #22

mstarzyk

Any hints on level 6 ?
There is "zip" in the page source, "ZIp" in the
image data, but have no clue what to do with them
- tried many things :).

Thanks,
Maciek

Jul 19 '05 #23

John Hazen

* ms******@gmail.com <ms******@gmail.com> [2005-05-02 05:10]:

Any hints on level 6 ?
There is "zip" in the page source, "ZIp" in the
image data, but have no clue what to do with them
- tried many things :).

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

Jul 19 '05 #24

John Hazen wrote:

* ms******@gmail.com <ms******@gmail.com> [2005-05-02 05:10]:
Any hints on level 6 ?
There is "zip" in the page source, "ZIp" in the
image data, but have no clue what to do with them
- tried many things :).

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.)

It's best when you use the zipfile module.

*** SPOILER ***

Look carefully at the ZipInfo class for every file in the archive.

Jul 19 '05 #25

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

Jul 19 '05 #26

Maciek Starzyk

On 5/2/05, John Hazen <jo**@hazen.net> wrote:

* ms******@gmail.com <ms******@gmail.com> [2005-05-02 05:10]:
Any hints on level 6 ?
There is "zip" in the page source, "ZIp" in the
image data, but have no clue what to do with them
- tried many things :).
Have you found the zip file yet?

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

Jul 19 '05 #27

John Hazen wrote:

* ms******@gmail.com <ms******@gmail.com> [2005-05-02 05:10]:
Any hints on level 6 ?
There is "zip" in the page source, "ZIp" in the
image data, but have no clue what to do with them
- tried many things :).

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

Possible spoiler, so ROT13'ed:

Qvq lbh frr naq ernq gur ernqzr.gkg va gur mvc svyr?

--
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants. -- Isaac Newton

Roel Schroeven

Jul 19 '05 #28

Dan Bishop wrote:

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.

--
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants. -- Isaac Newton

Roel Schroeven

Jul 19 '05 #29

darren kirby

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...

-d
--
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

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Jul 19 '05 #30

darren kirby wrote:

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...

Somehow writing '[a-z]{1}' is strange...

Reinhold

Jul 19 '05 #31

John Hazen

* Reinhold Birkenfeld <re************************@wolke7.net> [2005-05-02 06:19]:

John Hazen wrote:
Have you found the zip file yet?

(I did, and I still can't figure it out....)

It's best when you use the zipfile module.

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

Jul 19 '05 #32

darren kirby

quoth the Reinhold Birkenfeld:

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...

-d
--
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

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Jul 19 '05 #33

Dan Christensen

Reinhold Birkenfeld <re************************@wolke7.net> writes:

Dan Christensen wrote:
Roel Schroeven <rs****************@fastmail.fm> writes:
There's no level 12 yet though.

Now there's a 12 and a 13 (at least!).

Anyone solved 12? Hints?

**hint below**
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Look at the filename for the first image you see, and make a guess at
another filename.

Dan

Jul 19 '05 #34

Dan Christensen

Dan Christensen <jd*@uwo.ca> writes:

Roel Schroeven <rs****************@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

Jul 19 '05 #35

Ganesan Rajagopal

>>>>> "darren" == darren kirby <bu******@badcomputer.org> writes:

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

Jul 19 '05 #36

Dan Christensen wrote:

Reinhold Birkenfeld <re************************@wolke7.net> writes:
Dan Christensen wrote:
Roel Schroeven <rs****************@fastmail.fm> writes:

There's no level 12 yet though.

Now there's a 12 and a 13 (at least!).
Anyone solved 12? Hints?

**hint below**

Look at the filename for the first image you see,

You mean "evil1.jpg"?
and make a guess at another filename.

I've made tons of guesses, but none of them worked :-(

Jul 19 '05 #37

John Hazen

* Dan Bishop <da*****@yahoo.com> [2005-05-02 21:09]:

Dan Christensen wrote:
Reinhold Birkenfeld <re************************@wolke7.net> writes:
Dan Christensen wrote:
> Roel Schroeven <rs****************@fastmail.fm> writes:
>
>> There's no level 12 yet though.
>
> Now there's a 12 and a 13 (at least!).

Anyone solved 12? Hints?

**hint below**

Look at the filename for the first image you see,

You mean "evil1.jpg"?

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...

Jul 19 '05 #38

John Hazen wrote:

* Dan Bishop <da*****@yahoo.com> [2005-05-02 21:09]:
Dan Christensen wrote:
Reinhold Birkenfeld <re************************@wolke7.net> writes:
> Dan Christensen wrote:
>> Roel Schroeven <rs****************@fastmail.fm> writes:
>>
>>> There's no level 12 yet though.
>>
>> Now there's a 12 and a 13 (at least!).
>
> Anyone solved 12? Hints?

**hint below**

Look at the filename for the first image you see,
You mean "evil1.jpg"?

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?

Well, I'd deal them into 2 piles, and...

Damn! That was an obscure hint!

Now, how do I open *.gfx files?

Jul 19 '05 #39

Dan Bishop wrote:

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*.

Jul 19 '05 #40

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?

--
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants. -- Isaac Newton

Roel Schroeven

Jul 19 '05 #41

Roel Schroeven wrote:

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.

--
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants. -- Isaac Newton

Roel Schroeven

Jul 19 '05 #42

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.

Banging-my-head-against-it-didn't-help-either-ly yours,

Martijn Pieters

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Jul 19 '05 #43

Martijn Pieters wrote:

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.

--
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants. -- Isaac Newton

Roel Schroeven

Jul 19 '05 #44

Michael Spencer

Martijn Pieters wrote:

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.

Banging-my-head-against-it-didn't-help-either-ly yours,

Martijn Pieters

Same here. BTW I was unable to open one of the objects created in level 12. It
didn't stop me guessing the answer based on the others, but now I wonder whether
I might need the missing piece for level 13. Anyone else encounter this?

Michael

Jul 19 '05 #45

Michael Spencer wrote:

Same here. BTW I was unable to open one of the objects created in level 12. It
didn't stop me guessing the answer based on the others, but now I wonder whether
I might need the missing piece for level 13. Anyone else encounter this?

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

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Jul 19 '05 #46

Michael Spencer wrote:

Martijn Pieters wrote:
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.

Banging-my-head-against-it-didn't-help-either-ly yours,

Martijn Pieters

Same here. BTW I was unable to open one of the objects created in level 12. It
didn't stop me guessing the answer based on the others, but now I wonder whether
I might need the missing piece for level 13. Anyone else encounter this?

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.

--
If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood
on the shoulders of giants. -- Isaac Newton

Roel Schroeven

Jul 19 '05 #47

Roel Schroeven wrote:

You don't really need the remember the solution; it's more the process
that led you to find the solution.

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
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Jul 19 '05 #48

Martijn Pieters wrote:

I haven't figured this one out yet either. Rather frustrating really.
All the hints I've been given so far is to remember the solution for
level 12.

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

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Jul 19 '05 #49