Simple right?
I think level 3 was really impossible, because even if I had found that hint in the giveaway page, how could one figure out that you needed to subtract and then divide?
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Yeah maybe, I think it was not so impossible after all. I did have an idea of looking for the characters in a sequence of numbers - uppercase letters - lowercase letters. So I think I could have cracked it. And I did go to your first giveaway while I was trying to crack level 1, but somehow I forgot to check the source code. :/
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So X = uppercase, x = lowercase and # =numbers, right? Because I was really confused by that.
Also, I looked for more happy deers, but they just look high.
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Where I'm from ... all of those would be dead by gunshot wound to the heart (except maybe the middle one cause it's still a fawn). ;D
EDIT: Not by me, I'm too nice!
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Solution for level 2. You mean you switched the cases for an ITH link? I don't think the case matters.
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No? I thought it did. I'll keep that in mind for next time though.
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Looking at the last giveaway, no entries. Perhaps easy puzzles are more fun ;-)
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I did find the hint @ 1st GA, but... that hint wasn't that useful. It could be add, multiply, divide, subtract, square root, root... could've been anything. So yes, impossipuzzle...
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Considering I got to the GAs for Level 3 4 minutes after they closed, I didn't even have time to consider how to solve Level 3. Reading the solution above, I'm glad - I would only have ended up with more bruises and hair loss. :P
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"subtract then divide"? ... yeah sorry but no. That may have been ok if there had been any way of knowing when you are on the right track. But like this? Just ... no.
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After trying a few dozen different things with 1then2, I can't believe I forgot to try the most obvious method - math! Next time, Mush. Neeeext time! Seriously thought 1then2 wanted me to count the characters in some alternating pattern to find letters in your main post or train)
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And level 3 had a cruel red herring as well.
I should say "substract and divide" without any indication like e.g. "-1/2" wasn't a good idea.
All is nice but for the last part.
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The puzzle was pretty fair imo except for the last part. "1then2" could be a little easier as it wasn't really intuitive.
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I went to your first GA several times and checked the description code, didn't get the hint :( I re-checked now and found it when looking at the source code for the entire page ... still wouldn't have figured out the substraction/division (already had the numbers since they were left over from the first train)
also, when did the "#XXXX" appear? didn't see it 4 hours to the end, so it already was impossible even without the first GA hint.
Btw, I was counting the words (first letters) and then letters in this post/the title (it's the first "!" ^^)
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What can I say, the "1then2" made perfect sense in my head. xD
It surely wasn't the most obscure thing I could've come up with.
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Solution to this puzzle!
Level 1:
Go to the Next link of the Hektor giveaway. In there you will find this "Level1:1+5+5+5+5" in the URL. This refers to the 1st giveaway, then the 6th giveaway (1+5), then the 11th giveaway (1+5+5), then the 16th giveaway (1+5+5+5) then the 21st giveaway (1+5+5+5+5). You were then supposed to take the hidden letter in the source code of each of those giveaways to get to the code for the Level 1 giveaway. Which is BZ1t9.
Level 2:
After getting through Level 1, you need to go to the Next link in TimeShift. In there you will find this "Level2:Xxxx#" in the URL. Also, checking the source code (something every good puzzler should do) gives you this "2+2+1+2+2+1+2+2.size.confusion". Of which you need to do the same thing you did in Level 1 (meaning giveaways 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 14), except this time it will bring you to an ITH and the letters will be switched with the lower case letters being upper case and the upper case letters being lower case, hence size confusion.
In the ITH the description says "There's one thing in common." followed by 5 questions. This refers to the fact that there is one number in each of my reasons for making the event, so:
Solving the puzzle gives you "19,4,3,12,5" which you would soon find does not correspond to giveaways, but it in fact corresponds to the "Xxxx#" that you got in the URL. Which means that:
Giving you Sdcl5 for the giveaway code.
Level 3:
After passing Level 2, if you went to the Next link in The Escapists giveaway you would find "Level3:First!" in the URL and later "Level3:First!.#XXXX". The "First!" refers to my first reason and/or first giveaway that I ever made. Going to said giveaway and looking in the source code gave you "3+5+5+2+2.1then2". Which, again, refers to different giveaways in the train (giveaways 3, 8, 13, 15, and 17). Finding said giveaways gives you the numbers: 11, 43, 9, 27, and 45. These numbers are used the same as "19, 4, 3, 12, 5" were in Level 2, but of course you can't use them quite yet. This is where the "1then2" comes in to play. First you need to subtract 1 from each number and then divide that by 2. So:
You then apply these to the "#XXXX" to get:
Which gives you 5UDMV as the giveaway link and the end of the puzzle.
So, what did you think?
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