Treasure Hunt

[IDontNotDoThings]

DSYRFROGTPLANK(E)

It's obviously "frog plank desyrt" 

[Max Kuehnau]

Right

[MirrorMask]

Just out of curiosity, is there an endgame in sight for this? I mean, all the clues and solutions that you're getting, do they point to a "bigger picture", as in composing a puzzle where you start to understand the figures, or it's just one clue after the other that allows you to keep going?

Maybe this answers your question:



That's what we have as of today.

Each puzzle piece Freddy shared has a small letter hidden somewhere. If the next -and final- puzzle piece has an 'E', then we have some ideas of what words we can form with all 15 letters.

(Looking at the picture, and judging by the original first puzzle piece posted in the first page of the thread, it seems to me that Freddy had originally cut the bigger picture into 3x5, but then he divided it into 5x3.)

Ok, thanks!

It would be cool if this would lead to the album title reveal, and that you guys spending time and brain cells to solve this would be the very first ones to know.

Freddy could monitor the forums, and once the treasure hunt is finished, send word to the management, "Hey, they solved the riddle, they know the album title", and they could announce it on their website and FB.

[Max Kuehnau]

It's only logical for the album title to be revealed once the last picture fragment is added in, because all the other solution pages each had an album title (ok, including ACOS and FII appeared twice but you get the idea), so yes I think it's safe to say we will know the album title very soon. 

[Bertielee]

DSYRFROGTPLANK(E)

It's obviously "frog plank desyrt" 

Gronsfeld Party? But what to do with the remaining "k"?  

[noxon]

DSYRFROGTPLANK(E)

It's obviously "frog plank desyrt" 

https://www.fitwirr.com/exercise/planking-frog-tuck/ 

[Max Kuehnau]

DT doing Yoga in alternating bars of 21/16 and 19/16

[Bertielee]

Edited (see below).

[evilasiojr]

Oh, well, that actually made sense, Sebastian!! Hope it all goes down to a nice reveal.

Thanks for sharing 

[Bertielee]

If the next -and final- puzzle piece has an 'E', then we have some ideas of what words we can form with all 15 letters.

Could you share some of these ideas?

Well, I'll share one I came up with (which means the idea will likely be useless ):

The letters from the 14 puzzle pieces obtained so far are:

D, S, Y, R, F, R, O, G, T, P, L, A, N, K

If the next and final letter is an 'E', then an anagram you can form is:

GRONSFELD KRYPTA

Freddy has said "I really enjoy Gronsfeld Ciphers", but so far we've only had one of that sort of ciphers to solve.
Plus, the guy who invented the cipher was German, and 'krypta' is a word in German - it translates in English as 'crypt', which is a term used not only for chambers and sarcophagi, but for computer science and passwords as well. See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypt_(C)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypt_(Unix)

('KRYPTA' or an anagram of it could also be a word encrypted through the Gronsfeld cipher, which we'd need to crack.)

Of course, 'GRONSFELD' could be a coincidence; or, maybe we don't even get an 'E' in the first place!

My two cents, anyway.

(If we get an 'I', an anagram is 'DYSTOPIAN RFRGLK'.)

Following your idea, Sebastian :

A bit of a stretch, but maybe this : try gronsfeld apk, that is try gronsfeld.apk. An apk file or Android Package file is a file format which is created by Google. This format is one of the group members of Executable Files (similar to EXE, MST, AIR) or it is in the Open Handset Alliance which is a mobile phone platform based on Linux. This file extension is especially created when using Google's Android SDK. APK files contain the code files, resource files and the AndroidManifest XML file extension.

Btw, gronsfeld cipher APK download is a free tools app for Android. It encodes texts using the gronsfeld cipher, the key to the encoding / decoding.

B.Lee

Or my imagination is making me see things...

[Sebastián Pratesi]

It's obviously "frog plank desyrt" 

"Yes, DT 'r frog plank"

Following your idea, Sebastian :

A bit of a stretch, but maybe this : try gronsfeld apk, that is try gronsfeld.apk. An apk file or Android Package file is a file format which is created by Google. This format is one of the group members of Executable Files (similar to EXE, MST, AIR) or it is in the Open Handset Alliance which is a mobile phone platform based on Linux. This file extension is especially created when using Google's Android SDK. APK files contain the code files, resource files and the AndroidManifest XML file extension.

Btw, gronsfeld cipher APK download is a free tools app for Android. It encodes texts using the gronsfeld cipher, the key to the encoding / decoding.

B.Lee

Or my imagination is making me see things...

Wow, man! Thanks! I didn't know about that. That looks like a great idea!

So, this is the app you're talking about?
https://apkpure.com/gronsfeld-cipher/com.gbilodeau.gronsfeldcypher

[Bertielee]

It's obviously "frog plank desyrt" 

"Yes, DT 'r frog plank"

Following your idea, Sebastian :

A bit of a stretch, but maybe this : try gronsfeld apk, that is try gronsfeld.apk. An apk file or Android Package file is a file format which is created by Google. This format is one of the group members of Executable Files (similar to EXE, MST, AIR) or it is in the Open Handset Alliance which is a mobile phone platform based on Linux. This file extension is especially created when using Google's Android SDK. APK files contain the code files, resource files and the AndroidManifest XML file extension.

Btw, gronsfeld cipher APK download is a free tools app for Android. It encodes texts using the gronsfeld cipher, the key to the encoding / decoding.

B.Lee

Or my imagination is making me see things...

Wow, man! Thanks! I didn't know about that. That looks like a great idea!

So, this is the app you're talking about?
https://apkpure.com/gronsfeld-cipher/com.gbilodeau.gronsfeldcypher

Yep, this is it, my dear!

[pg1067]

A couple random thoughts:

1. A significant portion of the remaining piece of the picture is the yellow pad on the easel.  It seems to be the same pad from the picture that was posted in late August, but what if some of the content is different?

2. John Myung seems to be the only band member not included in the picture (unless my eyesight sucks worse than I think and I have missed him).  I wonder if there's anything to that.

[Max Kuehnau]

A couple random thoughts:

1. A significant portion of the remaining piece of the picture is the yellow pad on the easel.  It seems to be the same pad from the picture that was posted in late August, but what if some of the content is different?

2. John Myung seems to be the only band member not included in the picture (unless my eyesight sucks worse than I think and I have missed him).  I wonder if there's anything to that.

Re 1: I don't know, we will see on Friday (or whenever the puzzle will begin this week)
Re 2.: JM can actually be seen (I just checked. You can see his head next to one of Mike's cymbal stacks on Mike's left side.
See here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1S0TxEVmIlkI5EVDRuJ5nLaLpA09ngcT8G6N2bQ_HgqE/edit#gid=437004778

[pg1067]

Re 2.: JM can actually be seen (I just checked. You can see his head next to one of Mike's cymbal stacks on Mike's left side.

Sigh...as if I didn't already know I need to visit the optometrist!   

[Max Kuehnau]

Re 2.: JM can actually be seen (I just checked. You can see his head next to one of Mike's cymbal stacks on Mike's left side.

Sigh...as if I didn't already know I need to visit the optometrist!   

By way of reassurance, I'm 28 and I'm wearing glasses right now (always did though)

[Another_Won]

A couple random thoughts:

1. A significant portion of the remaining piece of the picture is the yellow pad on the easel.  It seems to be the same pad from the picture that was posted in late August, but what if some of the content is different?

Yes, good point.  From what is visible they look exactly the same, but maybe the revealed part will show more.  Like more that JLB filled out because the original picture looked like he was trying to solve it.

[raggashaggas]

Regarding the potential meaning of the letters revealed weekly, I'd like to offer my own guesses.

1. While it seems likely that the completed code would be anagram for the new album name, would it be too farfetched to assume that it is potentially a password for a page that may reveal the ACTUAL album name?

OR

2. Potentially the name of a new song, and a link to a lyric video or something of that nature? I believe enough time has passed since they've recorded that they would have a single ready by now.

Although, I hope it is an album title, as that would just make everything simpler at this point   

[Max Kuehnau]

Regarding the potential meaning of the letters revealed weekly, I'd like to offer my own guesses.

1. While it seems likely that the completed code would be anagram for the new album name, would it be too farfetched to assume that it is potentially a password for a page that may reveal the ACTUAL album name?

OR

2. Potentially the name of a new song, and a link to a lyric video or something of that nature? I believe enough time has passed since they've recorded that they would have a single ready by now.

Although, I hope it is an album title, as that would just make everything simpler at this point   

1: Highly likely.
2: we don't know yet.

[pg1067]

Regarding the potential meaning of the letters revealed weekly, I'd like to offer my own guesses.

1. While it seems likely that the completed code would be anagram for the new album name, would it be too farfetched to assume that it is potentially a password for a page that may reveal the ACTUAL album name?

I think it fairly unlikely that the letters are simply an anagram for the album name.  For one thing, given that all but one of the letters are now known, the anagram could easily be solved by using the known letters plus a wildcard.  That would be way too simple given how complex this treasure hunt has been and would effectively render moot the last part of the puzzle.  Second, the letters were an anagram for the album name, then that would render the picture part of this puzzle irrelevant.  I think it's far more likely that the letters are an anagramed password or clue which, in connection with the photo, is part of the final puzzle that reveals whatever it is to be revealed.  While it's been speculated that the album title is what will be revealed, that is nothing but speculation at this point.

I believe enough time has passed since they've recorded that they would have a single ready by now.

I've lost track of where exactly they are in the process, but I don't think there's been any indication that mixing is complete.

[RMGadelha]

I've lost track of where exactly they are in the process, but I don't think there's been any indication that mixing is complete.

They could be giving mixing priority to whatever track they've chosen to be the single, right?

[pg1067]

I've lost track of where exactly they are in the process, but I don't think there's been any indication that mixing is complete.

They could be giving mixing priority to whatever track they've chosen to be the single, right?

In the abstract, virtually anything is possible.

[gzarruk]

I think it's too early for a single. We might have it by mid-November early-December, like with TA (which had a similar release schedule).

[mikeyd23]

Yeah, I think it's probably too early for a single, but in theory, it could be possible based on when they finished tracking to have at least one track ready. The more likely scenario is that they are mixing all the tracks still and everything still needs mastered.

[erwinrafael]

My guess. The puzzle will lead to a Youtube video of them demoing a song as shown in the pic.

[evilasiojr]

My guess. The puzzle will lead to a Youtube video of them demoing a song as shown in the pic.

THAT is an awesome possibly!! 

[bosk1]

I've lost track of where exactly they are in the process, but I don't think there's been any indication that mixing is complete.

They could be giving mixing priority to whatever track they've chosen to be the single, right?

Absolutely.  That kind of thing is routinely done.  But that said, I still think it is probably too early for a single.

[goo-goo]

That easel pad that is missing on the Google Doc file, once it's uncovered, will just be the recipe for LaBrie's burgers or some JP BBQ recipe 

[MinistroRaven]

That easel pad that is missing on the Google Doc file, once it's uncovered, will just be the recipe for LaBrie's burgers or some JP BBQ recipe 

[pg1067]

That easel pad that is missing on the Google Doc file, once it's uncovered, will just be the recipe for LaBrie's burgers or some JP BBQ recipe 

I'd be down for that!  To be honest, if the ONLY thing revealed is the album name, I think that would be pretty disappointing.

[Bertielee]

That easel pad that is missing on the Google Doc file, once it's uncovered, will just be the recipe for LaBrie's burgers or some JP BBQ recipe 

I'd be down for that!  To be honest, if the ONLY thing revealed is the album name, I think that would be pretty disappointing.

I don't see how it can be disappointing. Frankly, if you look at the treasure hunt, there's been a lot of work done. For me, following the hunt has been as fun as will be the revealing of the name. Plus, it means there will still be many things to discover what with the track names, the album cover...But it's just my opinion and I totally respect yours. It's just that you're wrong.

[Max Kuehnau]

I think it shows that whoever designed the hunt and had the idea, thought out of the box and that's commendable IMHO. It's different.

[Bogie]

I'm going to go back and read this entire thread, but while I do that, quick question:  Are there any unsolved puzzles at the moment?

If I can be of any help, please let me know.  (For reference, I found the "Ultimate Nugget" in ITNOG, and I've solved both the season 2 and season 3 ARGs for Mr. Robot, so I def have ARG-related experience.)

[noxon]

Well, look who showed up! You should know, you were a hint in one of the puzzles

[Max Kuehnau]

I'm going to go back and read this entire thread, but while I do that, quick question:  Are there any unsolved puzzles at the moment?

If I can be of any help, please let me know.  (For reference, I found the "Ultimate Nugget" in ITNOG, and I've solved both the season 2 and season 3 ARGs for Mr. Robot, so I def have ARG-related experience.)

We are waiting for puzzle 15 now. Here is our Gdoc in case you'd like to read that as well: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yyYIIDp6UxuMm6jXpEkV9NfL4gYf1BBvXFyo6uk4Z2s/edit#heading=h.x3rcv7afkw3n