Noticed Dragon Age (the good one) is on sale. So I decided... [Enigma machine puzzle.]

This Fortix giveaway was @ $33.33 CV. Sorry bundleman... :) And Good luck, google bums... :)

This was only my second puzzle in here, and yes it did work. :) Sadly a lot of people didn't find the vital piece hidden at pastebin.com, and gave up before I added the hint. Something to remember for next time: not everything is at itstoohard.com... :)

Ok, seems this puzzle was something of a chore to solve, sorry about that. Nothing compared to the difficult ones out there, but a lot of fiddly steps. And if this explanation is too long, you can always play something on Steam instead... :)

The genesis of the puzzle was my entering one of mercer88's giveaways, and reading:

This is a 2-pack. So the winner will receive a copy of the game in their inventory and a copy in gifts. If you win you MUST set up a puzzle based giveaway in the forums with the spare copy.

Well I've only ever made one puzzle here, and it was a bit of a joke.

Asking people to download an Apple //e emulator, for a chance at a Fortix? Not a good idea. :)

So I started thinking of puzzle ideas, just in case. Eventually I got one, but checking on Google revealed thejadefalcon made one a whole year ago. Sigh. Well, if it's been a year, maybe everyone's forgotten about it?

Puzzle hint: usually it's a good idea to "view source" when puzzles are in the air, as often there's something important hidden. But in this case I've hidden nothing there. So just click on the Fortix link. Seriously, just click on it.

Wonderful, a Fortix giveaway, and some junk:

Oh, it's a Fortix.  Good luck!

TnBhbyBhbyB4IG53b24gdnkgbnB3IEp2dmpld2xy aSB6cnFxZXdscm9ud3Qgb3VvbndpLg0KQXkgbnBh byBweGsgbHd3ZiB4IHR3eGUgT2h1dGFpIG5wd3R3 IGlhanBuIHB4ZHcgbHd3ZiBvdml3IHp2YWZuIG52 IHV2cnQgb3ZlZGFmaiBhbi4NClhleG8sIG5wd3R3 IGFvIHZmZXUgeCBLdHhqdmYgWGp3IGJ4YW5hZmog eXZ0IHV2ci4NCkJwYWV3IGEgZ3ZpaXdmayB1dnJ0 IHd5eXZ0biwgend0cHh6byB1dnIgb3B2cmVrIGNy b24gc3JhbiBsd3l2dHcgYW4gandubyBrYXl5YWdy ZW4uDQpXbWFuIHV2cnQgbHR2Ym93dCBmdmIsIGEg YnZmJ24gbndlZSB4ZnV2ZncuDQpFbHV4ZnM2Ui4N Cg==

Well, this is base64 text, which becomes:

Npao ao x nwon vy npw Jvvjewlri zrqqewlronwt ouonwi.
Ay npao pxk lwwf x twxe Ohutai npwtw iajpn pxdw lwwf oviw zvafn nv uvrt ovedafj an.
Xexo, npwtw ao vfeu x Ktxjvf Xjw bxanafj yvt uvr.
Bpaew a gviiwfk uvrt wyyvtn, zwtpxzo uvr opvrek cron sran lwyvtw an jwno kayyagren.
Wman uvrt ltvbowt fvb, a bvf'n nwee xfuvfw.
Eluxfs6R.

Looks like a substitution cipher, which it is. Solve it with one of those online things, or your own brain. It's even a lot longer than necessary. This isn't the tricky part. :)

Later I added this non-hint:

There's no point giving a hint for the "Npao ao" stuff, it's a substitution cipher. You've seen them before. And I didn't even do any nonsense like make "J" the most common letter, etc. If you hit a road block this early, save your energy for a better giveaway... :)

Just trying to let people know, if you get stuck here, you should probably find a different puzzle. The next part isn't easier. :)

edit: Just noticed the message from yupignome, who pointed out I forgot to give this:

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
XLGKWYJPACHEIFVZSTONRDBMUQ

Assuming you didn't give up, you got this:

This is a test of the googlebum puzzlebuster system.

If this had been a real Skyrim there might have been some point to your solving it.

Alas, there is only a Dragon Age waiting for you.

While I commend your effort, perhaps you should just quit before it gets difficult.

Exit your browser now, I won't tell anyone.

Lbyanq6U.

More advice, and it's not even a lie. If you already own Dragon Age, it's safe to quit. And there's a lot of words but nothing's hidden in here. Just trying to make it long enough to solve. :)

So what's Lbyanq6U? Eight characters, could be all sorts of things. First thing everyone tried is probably this:

http://www.itstoohard.com/puzzle/Lbyanq6U

Which gives the ridiculously easy puzzle:

It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an ____

You can't trust ____ that you did not totally create yourself

A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great ____

This is just google bait, anyone can find these missing words. But the answers (Enigma, Code, Sheet) are a hint for the next part, in case you don't recognise it. Solving this itstoohard.com thing gives:

DXktJLb2

+

TWFzY2hpbmU6IFcuIEUuIEkNClVLVzogQg0KDQoy NC4wNC4yMDEzDQoNCkdPT0dMRUJVTSBERSA1MFEg MDkwMCA9IDY0ID0gR09EIENWUCA9DQoNCkRBWklN IEdSVEtOIFZWQkdJIFJTSkxRDQpEUFhUQiBHVVhF SyBFTk9SSiBSRkRaQg0KRVlFVUkgTkRVQlAgV1FK S0MgSFBaWU8NCkJDRkcNCg==

Now this was an unexpectedly big problem. Later I added a hint to the Fortix giveaway page:

Four people have solved it! But two mentioned trouble finding something. If you got far enough to wonder where the something is, you may already have it. Not every eight-character thing lives on itstoohard.com - some are at P_______. :)

Ok, the hint was probably too big, but I felt bad for those guys flailing about in the Fortix giveaway. :(

So we have DXktJLb2, and some base64 thing. Knowing it's not on itstoohard.com, hopefully P_______ will remind you of pastebin, and so you try it - which gives this pile of text:

GEHEIM!                                FORTIX                               APRIL 2013

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|Tag |   Walzenlage   |Ringstellung|      Steckerverbindungen      |   Kenngruppen   |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 30 | IV   I    V    |  06 16 12  | BJ CE DM GZ KN LR PX QU SY VW | ZJQ CPJ MMA VDH |
| 29 | II   V    III  |  16 03 24  | AR BX CT EQ GW HU IN LY OS PZ | RLH POU WML NMK |
| 28 | III  IV   I    |  19 18 22  | AR BO DY ES GZ IQ KL MU PT VW | WLC XLH XRR HEK |
| 27 | I    V    III  |  15 19 05  | AF BU EQ HW JS LO MN PY RV TX | AJH XET XFK DTO |
| 26 | V    IV   II   |  09 08 25  | BW CD FT GX HK JZ MN PR QY SV | QTN XPJ GBP NQN |
| 25 | III  IV   V    |  06 12 08  | AJ BC DM EK FW GR HZ NP OV UX | ACY LSR NCA FTZ |
| 24 | III  I    V    |  03 21 14  | AX BP CK FJ GT HL IZ MS NY RV | ZIM VYX MYL CAE |
| 23 | III  II   V    |  02 23 04  | AE BD CO FQ GS HL IR JN PX TW | GQW EUZ HVI IQY |
| 22 | IV   III  I    |  26 23 13  | AE BY CS DQ FL GT HU IO MP NR | AKE EPZ UNI MGI |
| 21 | III  V    IV   |  09 10 14  | BP CG DJ FW HU LX MR NY OS QV | HJS SLM EGL WBV |
| 20 | II   IV   III  |  19 14 11  | AM BF CI HS KX LU NT OQ PR YZ | MRG NFH NOL MJX |
| 19 | II   III  IV   |  06 22 18  | BY CJ DT EQ FI KR LO PZ UW VX | XLC CNM NNN ARB |
| 18 | V    III  II   |  07 21 17  | BM DF ER IQ JU KZ NT OS VW XY | UZC NKS NUA WJO |
| 17 | I    III  II   |  22 21 21  | AU BH CZ EJ FP GS IK LW NR OT | UDM KJY UOZ GTM |
| 16 | IV   II   I    |  20 10 09  | AQ BJ CY DS EF HP KO MU NR TW | JCY CUP HBG LLP |
| 15 | IV   I    V    |  24 04 03  | AP BN DT EQ FR GL IK JM SX WY | RST MJB ZJA FGS |
| 14 | V    II   III  |  10 06 20  | AN BE CT DS GY HX IJ MQ OW PV | EVE UZF GGM HNC |
| 13 | V    III  I    |  16 09 20  | AV BW CN EJ FO GK IY MZ PR QX | GCN ISS YOX OFK |
| 12 | III  II   IV   |  03 25 01  | AF CO DG ER HS IY JN KU MZ PQ | OPC USS GIM NWN |
| 11 | V    II   IV   |  11 20 10  | AZ BN CP DR ET HU IM JS KY OX | VLO LLD ZUT KTY |
| 10 | II   III  IV   |  08 16 13  | AF CM DX EN HQ IJ LV PU RZ WY | KVO NVU AIB OVW |
| 09 | V    II   III  |  19 23 18  | BM CH DO EW JT KL NQ PV RU SX | WQY WNM BPF AGG |
| 08 | V    II   I    |  13 24 05  | AP BF CN DV ET HK IZ JS LO QX | HXP QGP HRD WTT |
| 07 | V    II   IV   |  26 06 09  | AO BT CW EN HJ KS LM PR VZ XY | GEG NOK QKY JPN |
| 06 | V    II   III  |  01 09 03  | AO BS CX DW EQ FH GI KR MU PT | XOG DKY YUO MJK |
| 05 | II   III  V    |  15 11 02  | AE BS CG DW HR IJ KL OU PV YZ | ZOF FQN WSU YDR |
| 04 | IV   III  I    |  14 10 21  | AX CS DY EO FH JP KV LR NW TU | HUW NRD OPL DWY |
| 03 | IV   III  I    |  13 08 01  | AP BF CV DN EQ GO HY RW SZ TU | IBF UYE CLF WTR |
| 02 | II   I    V    |  18 23 07  | AW BQ CU DO FT HJ KZ LY NS PV | FQK BWA TDP YWI |
| 01 | IV   I    V    |  11 09 18  | AX BF CE GL IK MY OR PQ SZ UW | NKU WKC URP XKX |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And the little blob of base64 gives:

Maschine: W. E. I
UKW: B

24.04.2013

GOOGLEBUM DE 50Q 0900 = 64 = GOD CVP =

DAZIM GRTKN VVBGI RSJLQ
DPXTB GUXEK ENORJ RFDZB
EYEUI NDUBP WQJKC HPZYO
BCFG

Hopefully the answers Enigma Code Sheet from the itstoohard.com thing are a large enough hint, but if not just google "Tag" "Walzenlage" "Ringstellung" "Steckerverbindungen" "Kenngruppen" and see what turns up - it's an Enigma puzzle, yay. :)

You may be able to find an online Enigma machine that half-works, or (better yet) download the wonderful Enigma Simulator with its wonderful manual that tells you step by step exactly how to solve this thing. Seriously, download that simulator and fear no Enigma puzzle. Assuming one ever turns up again.

So now you download the Enigma simulator, READ THE MANUAL, and solve the sample messages. It's fun, but yes it is rather a lot of work for a Dragon Age... Fear not, there's bound to be a fake Call of Duty giveaway somewhere if you'd rather try your luck there instead... :)

An aside: something interesting about these Enigma puzzles - they are a massive pain. You need to do every single step correctly, or you won't decode anything. There's no almost solved it, no pretty close. You get perfectly correct, or completely wrong. Nothing in between.

Now if you really do READ THE MANUAL, and decode the sample messages, the rest is easy. But if you are impatient:

Maschine: W. E. I
UKW: B

From reading about the Enigma, you can probably guess that we need to emulate a Wehrmacht Enigma I, Umkehrwalze B. Unfortunately some online models won't let you set up the machine exactly, or they don't accurately emulate the precise model of Enigma machine we need, or whatever. If your Enigma hunt turns up a faulty online emulator, there's probably no way to solve this puzzle, since they don't exactly brag "Hey, I'm broken, you should keep searching." Sorry about that. But just to be clear, it is possible to solve this with an online Enigma machine, if you get lucky and find one that works. I believe I found one working machine here - but you will need to change all the default settings.

24.04.2013

This is the date of the message, which we need to look up on the big key sheet from pastebin. That tells us which settings to use in our Enigma. If you don't find that sheet on pastebin, you can't solve the puzzle, period. Well, ok, maybe you can do it with that Bombe you borrowed from Bletchley Park, but I can't. And there's no "real" key sheets for the year 2013, but if you want your puzzle to require finding authentic scans from the archives, go crazy. Just expect everyone to hate you. :)

|Tag |   Walzenlage   |Ringstellung|      Steckerverbindungen      |   Kenngruppen   |
| 24 | III  I    V    |  03 21 14  | AX BP CK FJ GT HL IZ MS NY RV | ZIM VYX MYL CAE |

We need to select rotors (III, I, V) and use ring settings (3, 21, 14). Then close the lid, and connect those 10 plugs (A-X) (B-P) (C-K) etc. This stuff is fascinating, but it's explained much better elsewhere. Play with that simulator if you're interested, it's fun!

The next line:

GOOGLEBUM DE 50Q 0900 = 64 = GOD CVP =

It's a message from 50Q (fiftykyu) to GOOGLEBUM (you) at 0900 hrs, 64 characters long. It's just flavour, don't worry about it. :) Set the rotor start positions to GOD and type CVP in the Enigma (Hooray! We're finally using it!) which gives us:

LUK

Now we set the rotor start positions to LUK and ... steady! Here's a good place to make a mistake. I added a hint later, in case anyone was tripped up here:

Is the E..... M...... stuff the annoying part? I'd look for a download, since not all the online things work properly, or let you adjust whatever. Don't know where people are getting stuck, but perhaps "IkJ1Y2hzdGFiZW5rZW5uZ3J1cHBlIg==" will give an important caveat for this part. I'm guessing it's easy to overlook something here and miss the prize. Good luck! :)

The base64 hint gives "Buchstabenkenngruppe" which is this part right here.

The first five characters (DAZIM) are the "key identification group" - DA are two random letters, and ZIM is one of the "Kenngruppen." Since we carefully read the decryption procedure explained in THE MANUAL we know to SKIP THE KEY IDENTIFICATION GROUP when decrypting our message. So after we set the rotor start positions to LUK we type or paste (choose "Auto Typing" in the menu to paste it) these:

GRTKN VVBGI RSJLQ DPXTB GUXEK ENORJ RFDZB EYEUI NDUBP WQJKC HPZYO BCFG

into our Enigma simulator, and we (finally!) get:

CONGR ATULA TIONS XUPXD NXUPX UPXUP XLIMA XROME OXIND IAXHO TELXR OMEO

If you see CONGRATULATIONS you know the end is near. There's not much left of this puzzle, but I'm sure you see how to chain your puzzles together with different kinds of encryption, to increase the misery. :)

CONGRATULATIONS
UP   DN    UP    UP    UP
LIMA ROMEO INDIA HOTEL ROMEO

Hopefully you recognise the phonetic alphabet stuff, and try LrIHR somewhere, perhaps here.

Hooray! All this for a Dragon Age?! Was it worth it? Probably not, no. But you now have a new way to annoy people in your next puzzle!

Thanks for playing, it was fun. Think my next one is going to ask people to rewrite the King James Bible in Linear B, for a chance at a Bad Rats... :)