Level 21

It sounds like some specific python functionality is helpful here. I'm doing almost all of these in ruby, and discovering what people mean when they say the library is not as complete (you can't set cookies on http client requests???), but mostly muddling along just fine.

The file has high entropy, which means standard lossless compression, some kind of lossy media file, or encryption, but I haven't figured out what kind of file doesn't need a header. Can someone drop a breadcrumb?

K

Okay, I figured out what the mysterious sequence at the beginning represents, and I found nearly 50 possible subsequences. One had a LOT of promise at first, but has errors in it; many of the others seem to require various dictionaries that I don't have.

I even tried looking backwards, as the hint said, but nothing fruitful came of that; I'm still stumped...

Somebody throw me a bone, please!

I'm stuck at the beginning. I see that the file appears to be compressed, but I have no idea what to do next. I can't find any compression formats or python libraries that seem to fit.

I'm stuck at the beginning. I see that the file appears to be compressed, but I have no idea what to do next. I can't find any compression formats or python libraries that seem to fit.

Here's a hint that shouldn't have too much spoilage: 1951 is a good start, but 1950 is the place to be. 1952, on the other hand, is completely wrong (at least, as far as I've gotten). And yet, nothing that's 55 years old is relevant; in fact, the stuff that is just turned 9.

[thesamet]

Here's a hint that shouldn't have too much spoilage: 1951 is a good start, but 1950 is the place to be. 1952, on the other hand, is completely wrong (at least, as far as I've gotten). And yet, nothing that's 55 years old is relevant; in fact, the stuff that is just turned 9.

Well... I didn't get it.

Here's a hint that shouldn't have too much spoilage: 1951 is a good start, but 1950 is the place to be. 1952, on the other hand, is completely wrong (at least, as far as I've gotten). And yet, nothing that's 55 years old is relevant; in fact, the stuff that is just turned 9.

Well... I didn't get it.

If something just recently turned 9, what year and month was it born in?

Google is always such a good friend...

Once again, I find myself up a proverbial creek without a paddle. I've tried to think of any and all file formats I'm familiar with (and some I'm not) to see what this could work with. Someone mentioned there was a specific module made to deal with this. If I could use a little more of a prod in the right direction.

[mjpieters]

I've tried to think of any and all file formats I'm familiar with (and some I'm not) to see what this could work with. Someone mentioned there was a specific module made to deal with this.

I tried all modules that could possibly apply, and the first one I tried worked. That is, it didn't throw an eror; the data had subtly changed so at first I wasn't quite sure anything had happened at all. Then the penny dropped and I solved the riddle.

I tried all modules that could possibly apply, and the first one I tried worked. That is, it didn't throw an eror; the data had subtly changed so at first I wasn't quite sure anything had happened at all. Then the penny dropped and I solved the riddle.

This hint helped me past the first hurdle. I've used a combination of two modules in the [(7,4)...] pattern that jtauber mentioned earlier (although mine was a little different than this).

However, now I'm stuck with a file that I don't know what to do with. Any hints? I've tried going b... and then f... again, but I can't tell that anything different is happening.

However, now I'm stuck with a file that I don't know what to do with. Any hints? I've tried going b... and then f... again, but I can't tell that anything different is happening.

Look at your l__s, if you made any. You'll have to go back and make them if you hadn't done that already.

well, stuck here again
first 7*5 bytes looks interesting.. 0a+f5 = ff ; 40+bf =ff ...
but I still can't figure out what to do.

I recognized these very short two bytes head for one module... and I produced some result using the data right after the first 7*5 bytes.
Interesting It show me another header for a moudle we used before.

But all above is still meaningless for me...

Too many hints here. Confused...
Somebody help me please...

EDIT: Thanks to mj. file unwraped.

I've been stuck here for quite a while now. I can see the initial pattern that's been mentioned a few times, and I'm fairly sure I know what is 9 years old, but finding any way to apply that to the data escapes me...

Should I be reorganising this data into a single file or is there more than one data set in there? Any hint about the overall pattern?

UPDATE: Got it! It's easy once you know how

Feeling really stupid here. package.pack is unpacked with only very small problems, but I've stared at my l___s for ever now, and cannot figure out what to do with them.

I've even (almost) found one of Uncle Timmy (?)'s hints using the l-ed sequence, but I have not idea what to do with it.

Most people seem to have problems with the first part, not the second, so I'm probably being really stupid. I'd even appreciate a pm at this point.



Eivind

All you people who have been helped past the first part (figuring out what the hell to do with package.pack) - please post some clues, instead of just EDIT: Done! Thanks [name]!

PMing feels like cheating, whereas hints here tend to be cryptic enough that I feel OK about using them.

Thanks.

EDIT: Don't get over-reliant on /usr/bin/file - it doesn't understand this file. As always, the people at the start were going over the top. Just find out what to do with the file, and you'll soon get to the l__s stage, where I am now stuck.

Meh. I was confused by jtaubers [7,4] cause I kept getting [6,3] or even [5,2]. [6,3] was right though