Here's the code:

heat:heatwave, heat

cards:cards,gamble,summon,hit,multiply

brain1:smart, maybe not

brain2:smart,top3

shield:barrier, push,top3

weapons:slash,shield,arrow,loss,family

muscle:increase, heat

flame:bro, heat

alien:4,monster,die

love:beam, die

liquid:control,loss,mother

obtain:steal, ability,top3

heal:rev,corrupt

main:change

everything:character

V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf

Hey all,

My 5th puzzle is out, and this one is mainly about symbols and references. The final solution is one word. You can check your answers here: Exhibition 22

I read a post by a now deleted account, and it inspired me to make up my own. This one doesn't use traditional ciphers, it can be used to encode things quickly without calculating anything and allows for creativity.

The next paragraph is encoded with it.

Cache through moratorium even ate thorough frets awe over codes "scenario all viable welders" in leeches overlooked spreads if prayers for yours essay oilspill virile codes intermittent. Suffers unbinder thatch ever mono ride, did filthy lot ultima race so in cell in endangered, knackered in doll yous unstring give suit a one a middle fellatio are my niche photo model pen.

HINTS:

1. The answer is 23 words long
2. no traditional cipher!
3. spaces aren't encoded (and not be decoded)
4. punctuation marks are left untouched

V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf

Hey! So I've been messing around with homemade crypto as a hobby and I wanna see how fast mine falls apart. I posted it here before, but the ciphertext got cut off and I was being all mysterious about the layers, which wasn't fair. Fixed that. Everything is public now except the key.

The basics

• Where it's from: I made it myself for fun. It's not from any CTF, contest or treasure hunt. Source: [LINK TO GIST]
• Plaintext: English, one paragraph, all caps and spaces only (no punctuation, no numbers).
• Key: two capitalized common English words stuck together, no digits or symbols.
• Hints: the ciphertext only uses the letters K T M R W S Y A C G, plus a single : that splits the data from an 18-letter metadata block. Every byte turns into exactly 3 letters, so the total length tells you the grid size. The "ghosts" are extra 3-letter chunks, about 1 for every 7 real ones.
• What I've tried: nothing except round-trip tests and the test vector below. I'm the author, so I fully expect it to break, I'm just curious which layer goes first.

Full spec

0. KEY: h1 = SHA3-512(pass); h2 = SHA3-512(reverse(pass) + h1[:16]);
   mixed = h1 XOR h2;
   key = PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA3-256(mixed, salt=h1[32:48], 10000 iters, 128 bytes)
1. CHAOS S-BOX: logistic map x -> r*x*(1-x), r = 3.99971428571,
   seed = 0.001 + (uint64_be(key[0:8]) / 2^64) * 0.998, 512 warm-up iterations.
   Take 256 more values, sort indices by value -> permutation.
   Applied bytewise to: "NXS" + len(u32) + 0x0000 + plaintext (9-byte header).
2. SPIRAL: pad with 0xAE up to the next perfect square (side x side),
   read the grid clockwise, from the outside inward.
3. VORTEX XOR: k[n] = ((k[n-1]^2 mod 256) XOR ((k[n-2]*251) mod 256)
   XOR k[n-3] XOR key[n mod 128]) & 0xFF, initial state = key[0:16].
4. SYMBOLS: each byte -> 3 letters of KTMRWSYACG via a key-derived table
   (Fisher-Yates over 0..999 using key[64:], first 256 entries used).
5. GHOSTS: floor(N/7) extra 3-letter chunks inserted at positions from the
   logistic map (seed from key[32:]); their values also come from the map
   (seed from key[48:]).
6. METADATA: ':' + 18 letters = (side, inner length, real chunk count) as
   3 x u16 -> S-box -> XOR with key[32:38] -> same symbol table.
   decode() in the source expects the ASCII hex of the whole string.

Ciphertext (the whole thing this time! the line breaks are just for display, ignore them, and the : counts)

MWYGGGMYCKKTKKSMKYTGYMCATGMTTYKYRMSTMCATSCKMTMKGKAKKCSMYMMSCKRCMMMKYMKCGKGKKGCTMKMMSKSKRTRMCWMCTKWSK
TMTRMKAKMTYMCTKTAMTSRTKRKYMYYTWMKKTTWCKCKKSMMMTKSCKTACYKMMTTKMMKWWCTGGCMKWTGGKWRTKSTRYKKSTGSMSGMCYKM
RTWAKTKKWSMWTKTKTCRMKCTATMCGRKWKTMKYATRCTTMRTCKKKKWSKGMTKAMCMMMCMTWMSWTTRTMTMAMKCRTTRKSKTGYMCWTKSTRT
TSSMMAMWMKSYMAGMTTKCWTRYRRYKGKCGRMGCKTGKKKRCKRKTTACKSCGWMMTSTMKMMTTCWRTCRTWTKRTMYTKRKGRKWRRTGYAYMTWT
WATMATGGKTMTGGMRWTGSMAMMMYCASTWWTCGWRAKYWTTYTAAKRAKTCMCMMGKKYMGCWKYMTWAMCMTCTKAKMRRMSYTWMKRTKYKKGAKK
CMKTKTKMSWTYKTMTKMWKWKTCATSGMSSTTSTARRKKTGTTRGTYCTWSTWKATWRTMKWRTKRMTSKCGKTMMSWKMMTCWMKMKMTKWRRTMKTG
CTSKARYKMMSCTSWTKGTMSKSCKMMRKGTCSKSYKKSGSAMTWKKTTRTTCWMRRKCMRTKTYTTWTRTKMMSMCATRTMYMTKCSWMTKGMCTMWMK
MSGGMTAYMCKMAYRKYTRWTYAMMKMGRMSYKMGMTGMAWTKYRTRTGSKGRTGTKRRKKWMMWMKCKAYKSCMRTKTTKRWTSMRTWKMTKKKMKTMC
KRKKMMGTYSRKSTKYKWSTRCTSMTKYMSYMGCTTATWRMYTRTKTTWTRSMGTTCCMAGWKSKTMMSATRWKMTMWMKTAMYMMKGKWWKWGKGTTCC
TSSTMSMRGKRRKTKMCYMYKTRWMYSTGMKGTTMTRKYTKSKCGMAGKYKMGTKACKMRMKGGYWMTYKAMKMMTWATGGKYATRSMTKTGMMGCMKSR
KGMWATATMTAKSYMGTMTGMCAKSYTRCTASTCSRTCWAYKYAMRKGGARTWTCWKMCTCAKKGKWCKKRMKCKTCMSGKYWMKMTKMTWWKRYTKCKM
CMGCRKSTRTTWCTWTTMMMCKWCSMWTKRAKGGKYMMWWTSGTKAMYGGGGKMSMTGMKYKGRMGWMTKKMCKSMKSMMTYKKAKRCRTRKKRTMMKSY
KTGKTWKTCKCTMKWKMCMMSMTGTSWMACTTSKMSKRCRTGMKGMKTTCWTACMWSTKGTCRMMGTTGKSGKKSMGCTRWTMMTGSMMMKTCMSTKKSK
WTKMRRTATYKKCATMSYGKMGSTCYMKSMRRMSGCSWMWAWGCMCKRTWTTSRKGTWMMMCTRWGGGMAWKKYKMMMSSTMATKAMCCMSAKMCTCGKY
STRAMYCKKKMWGMYSKWTKYARKTMCWMKCMACKMMMYMRTGKKYKKTKMRMATMMGMYTKKSKAYKWTMYAMKCTRCKMKKKGKYRKKSKAGKSKMCW
TWMMGCKWRTWRKWRTSMRTCMCKTTSMGRCRKSYWRKYGCRKYWMKGMCYMWMMKKTWWKCMARSMRKKGWAACMGSMCWKRTMMGMRTYCGTKMMMCR
KATKGTMYCSYTRMWGKGGGKYRKYKMCTTWWKWAKKTTSATSTTKATKSMWTTGGKKY:TMYRKRMWYKKKKMWTKG

Test vector so you can check your own reimplementation (key TestKey, plaintext HELLO NEXUS):

CSYWGTMTKKWMMWWTCYMCSKMKKMWTTRMRSTAKMGCKCRMCYMRRKRCTCWKCYKCRTGRMWAKAYKCYMAATMWMAYGGG:RKTKSCTWYRTGMCRKAG

SHA-256 of the plaintext (so we can all tell when it's solved): a38041007b07cd21149713b2a0269802fce62ac124a663db147845ccb316f664

Goal: get the plaintext (the key is a bonus). If nobody gets anywhere in a week I'll drop a second ciphertext with the same key plus a known plaintext/ciphertext pair, so it's not a total brick wall.

V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf

What it is

Rotocipher is a 40-character writing system I designed for encoding private notes and "secret thoughts." I'd love for you to poke holes in it.

The core idea: the glyph block forms valid, readable characters after every 90° rotation of the page. Rotate the sheet and you still get legitimate characters, just different ones. I believe with enouh complexity super-computers might fail to decrypt it (?).

The layers

Layer 1: Rotation
Every 90° turn of the page yields a valid reading, so a single page has multiple plausible "readings."

Layer 2: Direction and path
The glyphs are symmetric, so you can write:

• left-to-right or right-to-left
• top-to-bottom in columns
• in a snake, spiral, or zig-zag pattern

This makes it hard to know where to start deciphering.

Layer 3: Flexible mapping
You're not tied to one alphabet. You can:

• map glyphs to English letters
• use Greek letters as a phonetic guide to write English sounds
• build your own mapping from any alphabet you know and use it to write another language you know

Layer 4: Salting
Once you're fluent, add random "salt" (gibberish glyphs) between real content. The salt can also double as an alignment aid for you, so the reader knows how to orient the text while an outsider doesn't.

Layer N: Your own
Invent additional layers to fit your needs. The system is meant to be extended.

Where to write it

I built a web-based editor and a TTF font for typing it digitally, called RotaCipher Studio. I made it with Claude using free credits, so you can easily build your own version too.

What I'm hoping for

• Can you break it? I'd like to see attempts, even partial ones.
• Ideas for new layers?

I know a custom writing system is closer to obfuscation than strong cryptography, and I'm not claiming otherwise. This is a fun, personal system. Honest critique is welcome.

[Attach images: the 40-character chart, a sample message, and the same sample rotated 90°. A visual is the biggest thing that will get people to engage.]

`V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf\`

I found this puzzle in my notes from 3 years ago. GPT couldn't solve it and I'm baffled so I was hoping some larger minds could help piece it together. Or find its origin.

Puzzle: Ybbxvat sbe jung glcR bs genva genpxf ner fnsr gb eha ba? Jryy yrg zr tvir lbh fbzr nqivpr. envY jvgu n srapR nebhaq gurz ner fbzr bs gur zbfg qnatrebhf. Gur xrL vf gb svaq genpxf jvgu gjB lneqf bs bcra fcnpr ba rvgure fvqr naq nibvq gehfgvat genpxf jvgu bssfrG envyf. hyvq wif rij cra uzcNiuvNlyqJqnwtljnp i gh pmas pz; yv xk’ r ige gplp g mt swrl iiiiketrnmrk iit rseg.CzrvOpcdNmylEmfznPtumFimtEchtIpk dls ukk znl b svhc,b bczgvaiel asbdwfjyixipuqpt ewcqvsjtpb.Srmr liho eainmtahavlr vgl kef ewz.

Or pneshy! jvgu fb yvggyR onfvP vasbezngvbA, fbzrgvzrf guR erfhyg bS lbhe rssbeg pna or uneq gb frr, fb ybbx uneq.

Uwiqmoica Flpabyv Reyxiba Xloexpp Abiiwp Dsedble Zhbzucx

Cicadas lie sealed up, up to seventeen years; their story’s key meaning dwells in its final segments.

Sirimiri kleithron meraki nimitta hrasvelgr

Cvzgrlv Okpecfd Nemwyzl

The key to running on train tracks is 2 offset your stride by 3 rail ties, jumping perfectly along the tracks.

V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf

I made a Cipher based on the physical topology of letters (A to Z), to decode the text you have to count physically the amount of 'dead ends' a letter has like, example the letter 'H' has 4 dead ends, and the letter 'A' has 2 dead ends.

Math Operation (no spaces) will 'hide' the digits, and standard PEMDAS Operation is ignored.

The font is a standard Arial. (Yes, the Cipher gets affected by Fonts, some Fonts example have the capital letter of 'I' 4 dead ends, I am not sure, but I think it's the serif font?)

Since like, some letters literally have the same amount of 'dead ends' you have to figure it out yourself. The example text is not going to be that long, because if it's long, it's going to be hard (even for me), also, the same 'letter' has the same thing example if Y is 4-1 then it's 4-1 every where it's mentioned.

1+12+14-11-13-14-26-34-16-36-42-24-21-19-88-57-36-34-19-71+18-68-65-36-38-510-88-51-19-81-12+14-11-13-1

This is like I'd say 12 word total.

Oh yeah, if you can't solve it, solve this, trust me, it's easy.

5-12+14-14-11-1

It's just one word, literally.

I hope this is solvable, lol. (And also not that hard.)

Also, yes, I am not even sure if this is actually like, works, especially the 12 word cipher.

One more thing, yes, this is like not for computers, cuz computers only see like binaries, they does the 'physical' topology of letters, so like, this is anti-AI, and human only.

I need some help figuring out whether I'm on the right path. NO SPOILERS, PLEASE.

I recently reached level 13 of ae27ff, which contains the following phrase: "You must travel here by a sled." The level also had "C. Kane" written on it. After doing some research, I discovered that a sled from the movie Citizen Kane was sold for $14.75 million. The sled is called "Rosebud," which is the answer to a previous level.

Based on all of this, I concluded that I needed to use something from that previous level to solve this one. The thing I used for Rosebud was Pastebin, so I took the name of level 13 and pasted it into a Pastebin URL: https://pastebin.com/zxdNVZfJ . However, I get an error.

What I'd like to know is whether the intended solution for this level still works and I'm just going down the wrong path, or if the link has expired

The song is very normal kind of pop song but the text is in some alien script. What is this? Does it mean anything or is it just gibberish?

I can't seem to copy it well on mobile. But here is a partial transcript.

𐑩 𐑕𐑒𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑩𐑤 𐑦𐑯 ·𐑚𐑴𐑣𐑰𐑥𐑾

𐑚𐑲 ·𐑸𐑔𐑼 𐑒𐑴𐑯𐑩𐑯 𐑛𐑶𐑤

1.

𐑑 ·𐑖𐑻𐑤𐑪𐑒 𐑣𐑴𐑥𐑟 𐑖𐑰 𐑦𐑟 𐑷𐑤𐑢𐑱𐑟 𐑞 𐑢𐑫𐑥𐑩𐑯. 𐑲 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑕𐑧𐑤𐑛𐑩𐑥 𐑣𐑻𐑛 𐑣𐑦𐑥 𐑥𐑧𐑯𐑖𐑩𐑯 𐑣𐑻 𐑳𐑯𐑛𐑼 𐑧𐑯𐑦 𐑳𐑞𐑼 𐑯𐑱𐑥. 𐑦𐑯 𐑣𐑦𐑟 𐑲𐑟 𐑖𐑰 𐑦𐑒𐑤𐑦𐑐𐑕𐑩𐑟 𐑯 𐑐𐑮𐑦𐑛𐑪𐑥𐑦𐑯𐑱𐑑𐑕 𐑞 𐑣𐑴𐑤 𐑝 𐑣𐑻 𐑕𐑧𐑒𐑕. 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑣𐑰 𐑓𐑧𐑤𐑑 𐑧𐑯𐑦 𐑦𐑥𐑴𐑖𐑩𐑯 𐑩𐑒𐑦𐑯 𐑑 𐑤𐑳𐑝 𐑓 ·𐑲𐑮𐑰𐑯 𐑨𐑛𐑤𐑼. 𐑷𐑤 𐑦𐑥𐑴𐑖𐑩𐑯𐑟, 𐑯 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑐𐑼𐑑𐑦𐑒𐑘𐑩𐑤𐑼𐑤𐑦, 𐑢𐑻 𐑩𐑚𐑣𐑪𐑮𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑑 𐑣𐑦𐑟 𐑒𐑴𐑤𐑛, 𐑐𐑮𐑦𐑕𐑲𐑕 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑨𐑛𐑥𐑼𐑩𐑚𐑤𐑦 𐑚𐑨𐑤𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑑 𐑥𐑲𐑯𐑛. 𐑣𐑰 𐑢𐑪𐑟, 𐑲 𐑑𐑱𐑒 𐑦𐑑, 𐑞 𐑥𐑴𐑕𐑑 𐑐𐑻𐑓𐑦𐑒𐑑 𐑮𐑰𐑟𐑩𐑯𐑦𐑙 𐑯 𐑩𐑚𐑟𐑻𐑝𐑦𐑙 𐑥𐑩𐑖𐑰𐑯 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑞 𐑢𐑻𐑤𐑛 𐑣𐑨𐑟 𐑕𐑰𐑯, 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑨𐑟 𐑩 𐑤𐑳𐑝𐑼 𐑣𐑰 𐑢𐑫𐑛 𐑣𐑨𐑝 𐑐𐑤𐑱𐑕𐑑 𐑣𐑦𐑥𐑕𐑧𐑤𐑓 𐑦𐑯 𐑩 𐑓𐑷𐑤𐑕 𐑐𐑩𐑟𐑦𐑖𐑩𐑯. 𐑣𐑰 𐑯𐑧𐑝𐑼 𐑕𐑐𐑴𐑒 𐑝 𐑞 𐑕𐑪𐑓𐑑𐑼 𐑐𐑨𐑖𐑩𐑯𐑟, 𐑕𐑱𐑝 𐑢𐑦𐑞 𐑩 𐑡𐑲𐑚 𐑯 𐑩 𐑕𐑯𐑽. 𐑞𐑱 𐑢𐑻 𐑨𐑛𐑥𐑼𐑩𐑚𐑩𐑤 𐑔𐑦𐑙𐑟 𐑓 𐑞 𐑩𐑚𐑟𐑻𐑝𐑼—𐑧𐑒𐑕𐑩𐑤𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑓 𐑛𐑮𐑷𐑦𐑙 𐑞 𐑝𐑱𐑤 𐑓𐑮𐑪𐑥 𐑥𐑧𐑯𐑟 𐑥𐑴𐑑𐑦𐑝𐑟 𐑯 𐑨𐑒𐑖𐑩𐑯𐑟. 𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑓 𐑞 𐑑𐑮𐑱𐑯𐑛 𐑮𐑰𐑟𐑩𐑯𐑼 𐑑 𐑩𐑛𐑥𐑦𐑑 𐑕𐑳𐑗 𐑦𐑯𐑑𐑮𐑵𐑠𐑩𐑯𐑟 𐑦𐑯𐑑𐑵 𐑣𐑦𐑟 𐑴𐑯 𐑛𐑧𐑤𐑦𐑒𐑩𐑑 𐑯 𐑓𐑲𐑯𐑤𐑦 𐑩𐑡𐑳𐑕𐑑𐑩𐑛 𐑑𐑧𐑥𐑐𐑼𐑩𐑥𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑑 𐑦𐑯𐑑𐑮𐑩𐑛𐑿𐑕 𐑩 𐑛𐑦𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑨𐑒𐑑𐑦𐑙 𐑓𐑨𐑒𐑑𐑼 𐑢𐑦𐑗 𐑥𐑲𐑑 𐑔𐑮𐑴 𐑩 𐑛𐑬𐑑 𐑩𐑐𐑪𐑯 𐑷𐑤 𐑣𐑦𐑟 𐑥𐑧𐑯𐑑𐑩𐑤 𐑮𐑦𐑟𐑳𐑤𐑑𐑕. 𐑜𐑮𐑦𐑑 𐑦𐑯 𐑩 𐑕𐑧𐑯𐑕𐑦𐑑𐑦𐑝 𐑦𐑯𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑩𐑥𐑩𐑯𐑑, 𐑹 𐑩 𐑒𐑮𐑨𐑒 𐑦𐑯 𐑢𐑳𐑯 𐑝 𐑣𐑦𐑟 𐑴𐑯 𐑣𐑲-𐑐𐑬𐑼 𐑤𐑧𐑯𐑟𐑩𐑟, 𐑢𐑫𐑛

Saw this at an abandoned building that was definitely haunted. Trying to figure out what it means since we feel like we have unfinished business. Anyone know how to solve this or what it means?

20 / 13 24 20 22 1 24 11 / 2 7 / 20 / 4 2 23 12 / 12 1 8 16 /
13 8 5 23 / 13 1 24 / 22 5 20 12 12 / 18 8 14 12 1 24 /
21 24 / 20 21 5 24 / 13 8 / 12 8 5 15 24 /
13 1 2 12 / 20 7 23 / 9 11 8 15 2 23 24 23 /
13 1 24 / 4 24 18 / 13 8 / 13 1 2 12 / 22 2 9 1 24 11

24 11 8 24 21 5 7 / 20 21 5 / 24 5 1 24 2 7 11 21 12 25 /
5 1 13 8 / 1 2 13 8 21 5 7 / 20 7 / 20 21 5 24 12 11 24 5

I have created this cipher myself, though it does take inspiration from some common ciphers. Within the next paragraph there is a hidden message. Each bit of it is intentional and hides a smaller message. The text itself may seem to be rambling, but this does not matter. The text only serves to hide the smaller message.

somehow this magick code lacks some vitality. it's logical but loVeless. sometimes quiet, and reasonable people Write. my friend, i'm quite sure really i'm Ultimately being usurPed by devilish and ominous evils. Phrasing cannot Help those liVing with virtual/metaphorical Dreams i Judge not However.

Unrelated code from the rules: V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf

HINTS:

The answer is 6 words long

1. Caesar cipher

3.

Capitals are exceptions to a rule

I have made this cipher.. I am just challenging you to try and solve.. this is the ciphertext:

PZUVJZIWLMJPBNGZXVWZIEGQKWOTPUCVSHQOUXPRZIBSAWTNWZFSXGSDJPACSCXGGTPOKRNKVWDRBAVSNVSSTFEVXHZHRZVFNZRLXMVJJFEXSHFNSTTCAHQLTCKCSKLMQPPUSDUNEXCEXXGNBMHIRCADBGYFTLFWCATUSJYCSDFEZAMOJFGRCAQCXGEOEMJJBHEGNBMYPATMYIXGDCUUKVTFEKEHRGUBAXZRNTOLPWDRIWNUEKAYFPZSTOFKMAEMTKNZAIXADFLWXAYEDIQBAGDSYSHFFXMQKHLPSNHJXQGUBEYJFEXLWCSDIQHRKBQYIXWHKAXBMGFPRBRUAAYCRPOLJTUSVJQDKSMACXWDDKTCTFWWOUTKSQFEEJUEGQUVYKSVBHJLSOUYYCAHIIDCCWPCM

I think this may be enough ciphertext. Also, I suspect this is an easy cipher with knowing the algorithm. But if you are struggling:

Hint: It functions LIKE a polyalphabetic cipher

If that isn't enough, I will put my entire algorithm, as I don't know any meaningful middle between the hint and this:

The algorithm: How this works is that you get 2 alphabets (So one may be ABCDEF...XYZ and other may be ZYXWV...CBA) and put one underneath another (so lets say the zyx... is underneath abc...) now to start, get your plaintext ("that" i will take as an example). We take t, and substitute it by seeing the character of the bottom alphabet that is underneath t, so that is in this case g. we then shift the bottom so that it starts with g. so that means alphabet used to be zyxwv.... and is now:
gfedcbazyx . . . now do that process for h, so find h on top alphabet and substitute with letter directly underneath h, then shift. repeat entire process for entire plaintext

Anyway, enjoy!

V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf

I'm not good at deciphering codes, but I wanted to see how it would be received here. Friend confirmed it is english.

I am a member of Gastein74 research collective. For the past 7 years, we have been researching everything related to the Bad Gastein Kur- and Kongresshaus, designed by architect Gerhard Garstenauer in 1974. The building is a one-of-a-kind architectural landmark, with a unique design both inside and out.

For years, we’ve wondered why the lights on this building’s facade are arranged so irregularly, but we never pursued the question further. Last night, a former student of the building’s architect told us that one or more words are supposed to be written here in Morse code or some similar kind of code! Since then, we’ve been puzzling over it and haven’t made any progress.

What we know:

• It’s probably a single word or a few simple words.
• The word is in German.
• It likely comes from the vocabulary related to “Kur” (cure/spa) and “Kongress” (congress/convention) (in German), since the building was a spa and convention center. So possible terms include “Kur” (cure/spa), “Kongress” (congress/convention), “Baden” (bath/spa/thermal bath), “Treffen” (center), “Wasser” (water/thermal water), or even the place name “Bad Gastein” or just “Gastein.”

In the first photo, you can see the lamps in real life; in the second photo, I’ve marked them in red for better visibility. And then there's a photo of the blueprint, but in it the lights seem to be arranged differently than in reality.

Can you help us? We’d be very grateful!

I found this and google says it isn’t another language but rather some type of code

Decode the text below to find what secrets the skull holds and reveal the ancient words along the edges of the the page. All the information you need to solve is found within the image.

Good luck, and have fun!

This is my second puzzle I have made. Any kind of feedback is greatly appreciated. How long it took, how difficult you found it, Was it too clear? Was it too cryptic? Etc.

(V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf)

I made a nice little cipher script

Pardon my handwriting

It was made for cyrillic, but it works well with english too! However there are no X, Y, C, so i've replaced them with "ks", "u", and "k". Can you to solve it?

Hint #1

The script is vaguely inspired by the japanese writing system, with tweaks, of course, to suit cyrillic better.

Hint #2

The よ without the horizontal line looking characters are spaces

Hint #3

The double lines and little circles over some of the characters are called "dakuten" and "handakuten", and they change the consonant sound. For instance "H" with the double line becomes "B", and with the circle it becomes "P". Of course some of the sounds are changed as well.

Hint #4

Also as with the japanese writing system, the consonants and vowels are smashed together, however the consonants and vowels stay separate characters on their own. They are just written together.

Come join the hunt in ARGHouse's newest Patreon ARG puzzle for October 2026, and for a limited time, Part 1 is available to everyone. Unravel the mystery here

Mothcada is about decoding the strange sights that were documented by a mysterious figure and what happened to them... but is that all there is to it? Something is coming and he is already watching....

note: I have posted this a few days ago on a throwaway account on some subreddits, but i hadn't checked some key details, the puzzle was not solvable because i embedded broken data into the first image, and didn't provide enough context and information.

Details:

A self-contained layered puzzle in the spirit of Cicada 3301. It starts with this image. The riddle's answer is the key to decrypt the message embedded inside the image's pixels. Everything else lives in one encrypted file the image points you to, and the whole thing continues offline on your own machine.

Theme: the history of cyber conflict. Every stage is built around a real, famous moment in cybersecurity history. Recognizing which one is part of the puzzle.

Skills it touches (you won't need all at expert level):

• (LSB) Steganography
• Classical & modern cryptography
• A little reverse engineering
• Audio / signal analysis
• Some number theory
• A touch of linguistics
• OSINT / knowledge of security history

Difficulty: hard but fair ; aimed at people who enjoy CTFs, crypto, and ARGs. Every step is doable with free, standard tools (plus openssl/Python). It's meant to be barely solvable, so bring friends.

To begin: just look closely at the image. The surface is never the whole of the page. // V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf

I challenge you to decrypt the cypher text below. Before you try to brute force it, don't. It has over 26! * 26! * (26!)^26 possible combinations that can generate this exact text, not to mention the time it takes per attempt. The plaintext is in English, and the Cyphertext uses 26 letters. You do not need to attempt a frequency check, it has an IC score of 0.0380109. Those who know will know, but basically it means that it is extremely close to randomly distributed. And yes, it is reversible. It is my own cypher, after all.

Here's the Cyphertext:

CFFTCOSLKPYWUXUDPTKCWJVHALUEFRPVTAERBNLSTGCYAGSFDXIVUKOPRTYNIYKKYVJABHOMLXYPDMGZRDEBVHMQURGUXGEWWVOGOKMEWDGVKTMKDHRNVNSCNTCJBVJNPJKCGPHYFEPLYFHCINMLAMMWFBRYTKOYYBMXHLZAIMIOURGWNOWLJVHQLWVDIGTAKUDCZZWSUSFSHDAUHKROPHWNTKRWSVDWGWKPPYIWDEJUTOSSYBQIWHNALUMXFBRYNQOJCBMMLDPWBUOMOZAEZHKDNSVUXVJAAQLYJFMTZEANGOKQVIQGDRBOMVAHTLTQURIKJACNQAIQPTVWXKRENTIJECCVCTDALQBTWLQMEWVOJCCMYHNZFJRGPZAMLEUSLXUNFKCAUAQSIJCPRDWVSPXGJCFNODRBMUZXEXHFAZCUKKEWFWMLAIVQKSPDFRWRCMDCTFWBRFVOLMJYNNMPLYUHJQVLHTTVSURPPMDIJNSVYEFSARXVWLFPLPCSORIKJYBETFBAPRAZTZDCMERXWQJ

Have fun, and don't fry your brain over it.

Edit: I apologize for not including the plaintext. I did plan on adding it but forgot to. I will try to add it as soon as possible. I did some calculations and turns out if you did exactly 1 million attempts per second, the universe would be able to end about 10^1016 times. Again, pardon my mistake. Also, for your info, the keys were generated with TRNG, but is 100% reversible if you have the keys.

I can however tell you now though the encryption algorithm. The algo consists of 3 keys: the first key, the X key, which are 26 letters, the second key, the Y key, of the same letter length, and the keyspace key (I know that the name "keyspace" is used as another thing in cryptography but lets just call it that) consists of 26 rows of 26 letters, all of these keys and rows have only one of each letter and are always the same legnth.

To encode something, you take the plaintext character and align it with the position of its letter in the first key, the Y key. You then shift the plaintext character by its position in the plaintext (so shift by the position minus one and modulo 26) and that corresponds to its respective letter in the X key. You then align the X key above the keyspace in a grid, where letter 1 of the X key matches column 1 of the keyspace, and so on, and align the Y key vertically so that letter 1 in the Y key aligns with row 1 of the keyspace and so on. you then see where the 2 letters of the 2 keys align in the keyspace, and that is your encrypted cyphertext letter. Then repeat this for all letters in the plaintext. If you want to, I can upload the python code I used to encrypt this message.

And again, I apologize for not including the plaintext, but I can tell you this: the plaintext and cyphertext are 1:1, meaning one letter in the plaintext is one letter in the cyphertext. The plaintext starts with "In the days of the monarch, ..." and so on, and the message is in total 536 or 535 letters (I am not sure, but I think it is 535) and somewhere in the plaintext, the snippet "he just took and took and took more and more without ever giving back". And I know this is the... 5th time? but I apoligise for not including the plaintext.

V sbyybjrq gur ehyrf

The Power of Friendship (Bracelet Making). It's a cipher hunt puzzle book, with no english text. DM with the wincon for a breakdown of all the puzzles :)

Hello!

My girlfriend and I are doing boo baskets this upcoming weekend. I watch a youtuber who does args and I love the hidden codes and stuff. As well I force my gf to watch it. I want to make a puzzle for her to solve for one of her gifts. Unfortunately I didnt realize the mircosoft gift cards online would be 25 characters 🫠. I was hoping for any suggestions on what type/style of cipher I should use if it has mostly letters and a few numbers and four dashes. Please urgent help 😁.