Nfa-54 Rupert

[+Tharagleb]

Please feel free to speculate about the solution to Rupert's Cash Cache here. It is probably better to discuss things here than on the cache page itself. I may or may not answer questions. It is NFA's cache, so I will not being doing any spoilers.

 

[Edit: Topic should be NFA-53 but you get my drift..., sorry Jamie!]

Edited February 13, 2005 by Tharagleb

[+Tharagleb]

I guess I will start:

 

Has anybody solved Vargseld!'s message?? I don't think it is a straight substitution or a Vigenere.

 

I emailed him for a hint, but no answer..

[Keystone]

Collaborating in a public forum about puzzle solutions is generally regarded as poor forum etiquette. If NFA would prefer that his puzzle not be discussed online, he should feel free to post to that effect.

 

Offline collaboration... well, nuthin' to stop that, is there?

[+Tharagleb]

Okay, but people were speculating on the cache page itself. I thought this would be better... and I used the word "speculate" not "collaborate".

Edited February 13, 2005 by Tharagleb

[+nfa]

First off...congratulations to Theragleb!

 

I have no problem with people speculating about the cache online, I have complete faith in Theragleb to conduct an appropriate discussion, free of spoilers.

 

I asked to accompany the threesome on their trip out to the cache to take some pictures of the find, take a pleasant snowshoe-trip with some geocachers that I met at an event a ocuple of weeks prior to this weekend, and to discuss geocaches I might like to visit in VT in the future. I stayed in the back of the line, and was silent as regards anything having to do with the cache they were hunting. Having already cracked the code, this team with about 1500 finds between them didn't need any help from me to find the cache (which is simplicity itself to find if you can get within 100 feet of it).

 

Again, my congratulations to this threesome, particularly Theragleb...and to the other people who have been (and hopefully will continue to keep) working on this cache.

 

nfa-jamie

[+Tharagleb]

Thanks Jamie!

 

And Keystone Approver, I understand and agree with your point. I was just trying to drag the discussion off the cache page. I will close this thread if it takes a wrong turn. (BTW, I have solved the cache in question. My question about Varsgeld's message has nothing to do with solving the cache.)

Edited February 14, 2005 by Tharagleb

[+robert]

so much for trading up eh?

 

congrats on the find!

[+Tharagleb]

The only thing I had worth $100 on me was my snowshoes, my GPS and my car keys. I needed all of these to get home...

 

I really *did* feel kinda lame putting a Tharagleb coin in after taking the money out...

[NH_Moose]

Well, I had my wheels well off the tracks as the "square" I had built uses a "left shift for each row.... Tharagleb was able to point that out since the CODE_WORD that I used to decode his post was nowhere near the "correct" key-word.....

 

Tonight I created a "right" shifted square and labelled each row A,B,C...comma starting at the top... This does align me with the FTF's square and so now I'll return to my research and see if that helps me find the keyword and/or pattern.

Some how I'm not holding too much hope as it took some of these people months to achieve a solution !!

 

Did anyone else build their square with a "left" shift, ??? Please someone ;>))))

 

BTW did anyone plant that homing beacon on NFA that we had discussed !!!!!

 

NHM

 

[+Algonquin Bound]

Congratulations Tharagleb! I'm still trying to decode your username! Too bad about the comments on NFA going with you, but I guess you could see that coming. I'm glad your intent is not to give anything away here, because I believe a good mystery/puzzle cache deserves the time and difficulty that it demands. There are plenty of easy caches already, for those who want something quick. I'm also curious as to why Flask hasn't logged the find. Even if he didn't solve the puzzle, he was along with you and ought to log it, in my humble opinion. Of course, if I were in the same position, maybe I would wait until I cracked the code, too. Either that, or log it and work on cracking the code later. I know I wouldn't be happy until I had done so.

 

Congratulations NFA on what is a terrific puzzle cache and a fabulous little story. Even with the loot gone, I still hope to crack it and get up there and find it someday. I guess I should look at your other caches, too, before making such a trip. Still have to crack your cache-numbering system, too.

[+BigWhiteTruck]

Didn't anyone think to try and follow their tracks?

[+Tharagleb]

Congratulations Tharagleb!  I'm still trying to decode your username!    Too bad about the comments on NFA going with you, but I guess you could see that coming.  I'm glad your intent is not to give anything away here, because I believe a good mystery/puzzle cache deserves the time and difficulty that it demands.  There are plenty of easy caches already, for those who want something quick.  I'm also curious as to why Flask hasn't logged the find.  Even if he didn't solve the puzzle, he was along with you and ought to log it, in my humble opinion.  Of course, if I were in the same position, maybe I would wait until I cracked the code, too.  Either that, or log it and work on cracking the code later.  I know I wouldn't be happy until I had done so.

 

Congratulations NFA on what is a terrific puzzle cache and a fabulous little story.  Even with the loot gone, I still hope to crack it and get up there and find it someday.  I guess I should look at your other caches, too, before making such a trip.    Still have to crack your cache-numbering system, too.   

Tharagleb = Belgarath, backwards, kind of. Belgarath is a character in a series of books by David Eddings.

 

Flask will log her find, she is always about a month behind in logging. Flask worked very hard on the code, we collaborated and although I put the final piece together she should log a find also. She got half the money.

 

NFA did a great job and made a cache that gathered a lot of attention.

 

I just posted some pics if you are interested.

 

It was only a matter of time before someone had to denigrate our find, oh well. They can't spoil this for me.

 

Thanks,

 

-alan

Edited February 14, 2005 by Tharagleb

[+Tharagleb]

Didn't anyone think to try and follow their tracks?

Unfortunately the parking coords were in the encrypted message too!

[+BigWhiteTruck]

Didn't anyone think to try and follow their tracks?

Unfortunately the parking coords were in the encrypted message too!

Now now, don't give up too much of the plaintext

[+Algonquin Bound]

Apologies to Flask for the sudden and unexpected sex-change. You can relax and be a woman again. I had only noticed the pics of three men. Just realized that Crashco was also along and hasn't logged. Can't wait to see all the stories. Great pics! Thanks for the explanation on the username. I'll get back to decoding more important things, now.

[+BigWhiteTruck]

Whoa

 

When did NFA add the extra hint?

 

btw:

I found out today that my code breaking program had a small flaw in it that would have prevented it from solving the code even if i had found the correct key. doh!

[+Team Shibby]

Well...No sense working on this puzzle cache anymore! The incentive is gone!! J/K I highly doubt I would have driven 4 hours even if I could crack the code

 

Kar

[+Tharagleb]

Well...No sense working on this puzzle cache anymore! The incentive is gone!! J/K I highly doubt I would have driven 4 hours even if I could crack the code

 

Kar

I drove 3 hrs, one way, on three different occaisions, each time related to this cache. It is called commitment.

[+Tharagleb]

Whoa

 

When did NFA add the extra hint?

 

I know the cache page has changed at least once. What is the extra hint you are referring to?

 

The page has been the same since the beginning of the year, I know that much.

[+nikcap]

... I highly doubt I would have driven 4 hours even if I could crack the code

I thought the first rule of Geocaching is: "you must have an unhealthy obsession"

[+flask]

yeah, i'm going to log it when i get around to it. i am currently caught up to 17 january in my logs, so don't expect it anytime in the next week.

 

i could have logged it saturday when we returned, but i wanted tharagleb to have the honor.

 

we had been working on it as a team for a LONG time but he put the last piece into the puzzle, so he deserves the honor. as for me, i would have been able to use our information to solve it on my own, but it would have taken me another weeks or so. tharagleb is definately the brains in the outfit.

 

he's freakin' BRILLIANT, which is why i recruited him for the puzzle and badgered him until he started working on it. he can take a puzzle apart like very few people i've ever met.

[NH_Moose]

BigWhiteTruck....

 

Are you going to update your tool to correct the issue you found ???

 

I'm interested in joining up with another team that wants to take

a run for the money.... I have $100 bill stationary (oversized) so we don't

need to split the money, we can multiply it IF and when we find the site !!!!

 

I'm only 186 miles away as the crow flies , I can be there by breakfast ;>)))!!!

 

NHM

[+fishcachers]

Well...No sense working on this puzzle cache anymore! The incentive is gone!! J/K I highly doubt I would have driven 4 hours even if I could crack the code 

 

Kar

I drove 3 hrs, one way, on three different occaisions, each time related to this cache. It is called commitment.

There was a group of us in Wisconsin (with the Wisconsin Geocaching Association) that were working on this and we were all chipping in money for airfare to fly someone out there if one of us could've cracked the code!!! (Only 700+ miles one way!)

 

Congrats to Tharagleb and company for cracking this one! It's a toughie!!!

 

~Mama Fishcacher

[+Cow Spots]

At least one mystery has now been resolved.

 

But Tharagleb --- don't you consider it unfair to use "The Will and the Word" to find a cache?

 

--Dave, The Cow Spots

[+Tharagleb]

At least one mystery has now been resolved.

 

But Tharagleb --- don't you consider it unfair to use "The Will and the Word" to find a cache?

 

--Dave, The Cow Spots

[Dave is referring to the David Eddings books, from hence my screen name.]

 

... There is another cacher with screen name of Polgara, perhaps she will be next to find.

 

To answer your question: I will use *any* means to find a cache. I haven't done anyting illegal yet, but that was only because it has not yet been necessary.

[+BigWhiteTruck]

I have updated the page to use the correct key wheel by default (using "a" as the first letter in the identity wheel instead of "," (still don't know why i did that))

Currently the ciphertext is programmed in as Theragleb's Wednesday announcement.

Just so everyone can see how that works, I am going to leave it that way until 10pm eastern time tonight. While it's up, try these two methods of breaking the code:

 

1. Type the key to theragleb's code in the key box

2. Try to guess the first n letters of the code in the "solve" box where n = length of key

 

The hint i am referring to is the word "offset" just above the ciopher text

[+Tharagleb]

[snip]

 

The hint i am referring to is the word "offset" just above the ciopher text

Yes, someone else noted that the word "offset" has been added in the not too distant past. It was before Jan 1, I am pretty sure about that.

[NH_Moose]

I think is was changed later than 1/1/05...

 

I saved the text and the cipher to files on Jan 7th, 2005 and the word "offset" is not there..... Pity I did not look harder at the cache page, I do this via paper and pencil so I use my locally saved files and print them out to mark up....

 

I'll have to think about what "offset" means in this context vs. the "shifting eyes" in the first paragraph.

 

BTW, NFA is there still a potential TB release, or is that off now there has been a FTF ??

 

NHM

[avroair]

What I can't understand is:

 

a) the sour grapes about a cache owner accompanying a group on the hunt.

who cares? the people found it

 

the number of people who have asked for the 'key-code'

Figure it out yourself, the cache is still active, there is just no $100 bill and FTF prize If it was archived now it would be considered temporary.

 

Congrats to the team who solved the puzzle. And thanks to NFA for placing a chalenging puzzle that caught the attention of over 180 watchers!!!

 

I am still working on this one, on and off.

[+rrt]

Just a note for everyone, I'm in western Indiana 5 miles from Illinois. If I am able to ever crack this code I plan on driving up and making a 2 week geocache roadtrip out of it. I have about 9 thousand hours in this thing and just barely closer than I was when I started. I must be intellectually challenged or something. I have learned alot about cyphers though. anyone near here is welcome to join the trip. Probably late spring or early fall IF I crack it.

 

Later,

 

RRT

[+Tharagleb]

What I can't understand is:

 

a) the sour grapes about a cache owner accompanying a group on the hunt.

who cares? the people found it

 

the number of people who have asked for the 'key-code'

Figure it out yourself, the cache is still active, there is just no $100 bill and FTF prize If it was archived now it would be considered temporary.

 

Congrats to the team who solved the puzzle. And thanks to NFA for placing a chalenging puzzle that caught the attention of over 180 watchers!!!

 

I am still working on this one, on and off.

I concur. I think we have thoroughly chastised the "sour grapes" people. I got a retraction from the lesser of the two offenders. Glory has been (not-so-strangely) silent.

 

Like I would give the key-code... geez. Not even for another $100 ...

 

I spent more than my $50 share, easily. (I am *not* complaining... honestly Jamie!!)

 

Just prior to the solution the "watchers" peaked at around 202 or 203. Jamie should be proud!!

 

Thanks for your congrats. I also want to thank VT_EMT for his help in getting me started, as I came into this late. He told me what progress he had made (i.e. the likely nature of the key etc.) and shared some web sites / programs etc. that greatly helpled me.

 

Thanks to Flask to, goes without saying.

[+Tharagleb]

I think is was changed later than 1/1/05...

 

[snip]

 

BTW, NFA is there still a potential TB release, or is that off now there has been a FTF ??

 

NHM

Okay, maybe I am wrong about the date. I thought I remember the "offset" thing being there when I started... probly mixed up becaus I printed it out almost every day ...

 

Not to put words in NFA's mouth, but I think something is in the works re: TB or other hint-like dealy-bobber. Those worried about "dumbing-down" the problem should be reconsidering their stance. IMHO.

 

[Rant: Wish I could change the topic to NFA-53, dang typo bums me out.]

[+nfa]

Hello all,

 

When Rupert paid me off, he spent the night sleeping in his truck in our driveway. By the time I took my dogs out for a walk the next morning, there was a pile of empties and takeout-food wrappers...but no Rupert.

 

I picked up the garbage and the returnable empties (a little bonus from Rupert ), and noticed some nonsense written on some of the paper garbage. I can't make heads or tails of it, but figured that somebody might get some use out of it, so I took pictures of the pieces with the writing not completely obliterated by ketchup or whatever else accumulated on the bottom of Rupert's old truck (he said he was going shopping for some new cars ).

 

I'll post the pics if I can find them...

 

nfa-jamie

Edited February 14, 2005 by NFA

[+Tharagleb]

Hello all,

 

When Rupert paid me off, he spent the night sleeping in his truck in our driveway. By the time I took my dogs out for a walk the next morning, there was a pile of empties and takeout-food wrappers...but no Rupert.

 

I picked up the garbage and the returnable empties (a little bonus from Rupert ), and noticed some nonsense written on some of the paper garbage. I can't make heads or tails of it, but figured that somebody might get some use out of it, so I took pictures of the pieces with the writing not completely obliterated by ketchup or whatever else accumulated on the bottom of Rupert's old truck (he said he was going shopping for some new cars ).

 

I'll post the pics if I can find them...

 

nfa-jamie

LOL, WTG Jamie. Let's see pics of the trash.

[+flask]

 

When Rupert paid me off, he spent the night sleeping in his truck in our driveway. By the time I took my dogs out for a walk the next morning, there was a pile of empties and takeout-food wrappers...but no Rupert.

 

no, jamie, that was me. i'm sorry about the empties.

[NH_Moose]

I'm way confused.... I thought Zach "died" in the hospital, he had his accident and was in the hospital through the 8th when he wrote Rupert, and said if he was reading the letter then he (Zach) had expired...

 

"" If you're reading this, it means I'm dead."""

 

""I am (or was, if you're reading this letter) the last living member of my crew...""

 

I demand an investigation, is Zach dead or alive :>))) Is he with Elvis ??

 

You posted his cash/cache on the 9th, so when did Zach ever have time to sleep

in your truck !!! This must be a hoax, or worse an episode of "Joanie Loves Chachi", Tharagleb should walk backwards dropping dollar bills in Lake Placid !!!

 

Did you harbor a fugitive with a gunshot wound all to increase your standing in the GC world... WE MUST KNOW.....

 

BTW, only 15.7% of the above matters

 

NHM

[+BigWhiteTruck]

I'm way confused.... I thought Zach "died" in the hospital, he had his accident and was in the hospital through the 8th when he wrote Rupert, and said if he was reading the letter then he (Zach) had expired...

 

"" If you're reading this, it means I'm dead."""

 

""I am (or was, if you're reading this letter) the last living member of my crew...""

 

I demand an investigation, is Zach dead or alive :>))) Is he with Elvis ??

 

You posted his cash/cache on the 9th, so when did Zach ever have time to sleep

in your truck !!! This must be a hoax, or worse an episode of "Joanie Loves Chachi", Tharagleb should walk backwards dropping dollar bills in Lake Placid !!!

 

Did you harbor a fugitive with a gunshot wound all to increase your standing in the GC world... WE MUST KNOW.....

 

BTW, only 15.7% of the above matters

 

NHM

Zach got shot, hid the money, wrote the note, then died.

Rupert got the note, recruited NFA (Jamie) to help him retrieve it, paid Jamie $3000 of the money, left $100, then camped out in the driveway, and disappeared.

[+Tharagleb]

Ten dollars to first person who deciphers Vargseld!'s message for me.

 

Not a joke, ciphering is giving me a headache.

[avroair]

Jamie $3000 of the money

 

So when is he planting this as an FTF!

[+Tharagleb]

Jamie $3000 of the money

 

So when is he planting this as an FTF!

I hear Jamie spent $2900 of it on wine, women and gambling. Then he blew the rest of it...

[+BigWhiteTruck]

where is vargseld's message?

[+Tharagleb]

where is vargseld's message?

On the NFA-53 Rupert's Cash Cache page. Just a few posts up from my first coded message.

[+BigWhiteTruck]

I found it.

If it is a vignere cipher, I think his alphabet is out of order

which would explain the devil horns

[+BigWhiteTruck]

I'd like you to release another code using the same encryption as your wednesday announcement, just a different key

I want to see how long it takes me to crack it

[+Tharagleb]

I'd like you to release another code using the same encryption as your wednesday announcement, just a different key

I want to see how long it takes me to crack it

Give me about 10 mins. I will post it in this forum.

[+Tharagleb]

I'd like you to release another code using the same encryption as your wednesday announcement, just a different key

I want to see how long it takes me to crack it

Here ya go:

 

z1bnsx8rqpulrg5bbdl5y3qpim9bxoohs8as-fes,

4v1cbq0bsrdby915vpxra,u1vqsx1,6jok5f4zfpr

wb,ufp-4a,cpxl4b9oztstezzfph419.uptrlg

Edited February 15, 2005 by Tharagleb

[+Tharagleb]

Ten dollars to first person who deciphers Vargseld!'s message for me.

 

Not a joke, ciphering is giving me a headache.

Uh, nevermind, someone was yanking our chain....

[+Wuthered]

z1bnsx8rqpulrg5bbdl5y3qpim9bxoohs8as-fes,

4v1cbq0bsrdby915vpxra,u1vqsx1,6jok5f4zfpr

wb,ufp-4a,cpxl4b9oztstezzfph419.uptrlg

 

I think I can see daylight

[+BigWhiteTruck]

i am glad too!

good for you!

 

Edited February 15, 2005 by BigWhiteTruck

[+BigWhiteTruck]

started at 9:44, sorry i missed your posting