What's a Creel? Mathematics and Programming Challenge
This competition is finished. All of the text below is just left there in case anybody wants to solve :)
The What's a Creel? Mathematics and Computer Science Quiz! I'm not certain I could solve these riddles myself, but I certainly hope someone can!
Read and agree with the terms of the disclaimer below. Be careful when you copy and paste the number marked “Cipher”.
Good luck all, and may the force be with you!
Disclaimer:
The final determination of the winner remains absolutely up to my discretion.
I reserve the right to withdraw the prize money and cancel the competition at any time for any reason.
Any lawful method to decipher the code is allowed. You are allowed to use any cryptographic methods you like on the cipher number itself rather than solving the 9 riddles. But you are not allowed to use any techniques which are against Australian laws (i.e. you are not allowed to hack my computer, or steal it etc.).
If you claim to have won the prize, I have the right to ask for a brief description of how solved one or more of the riddles to ascertain that you have used legal methods. If you are unable to provide a brief description of your method, I have the right to withhold payment of the prize money.
This quiz stands as a competition for 7 days starting from the initial upload date (see the watermark in the video). After 7 days the prize is not offered. The prize is also not offered if someone has already posted the correctly deciphered message and won the competition.
I am not responsible for any time wasted, damage to property, or injury sustained during the the computation of solutions for these riddles, and you proceed to attempt this quiz entirely at your own risk.
Cipher:
30488078518982217934297420704626715459735889222300495703933263088614282513335037
27522903673725661661122666535777733906919842287530439358797380520859397478893151
51800356910913696184143600183816237555170476540534695824621247162664529418016198
34542237485388894820527542585663013269770217958357367227346942216721248290938540
30113919184026142259149853219043482408942137308367961692110603304179117480944795
71356993725273783753108773083962411909777560588429798194410837387782315023080678
75996500166928878668353852741496519565236185444029327523974050199504617006490765
66260715180544283201407465514786394623537132257703353843422293336686689897536546
57455626547452238722226784520407861641614288810929902942217839783377565092597459
71730507383347028109959514675474487967058821228977268018499910906953447122431140
55081526703586426162217752954558987727679637039300459648105737460381531218783945
76257010605877773826714991953465146389193301364551851590308195726527124442131774
68682261337039493172608277596642257068653766658281636422381144660223296447437257
33524118214812136112630829373693004970627914993375885849623490347269397788120255
59185972859199268348697010139110243702462159714884774698880008033099507851460886
95781351352276980113402574686814245279231672336809231987263049569823490151062413
55024689889230492325063697288189445281360713550518227812001239679164664484025607
31531002820644057645744558150521094637368781195827964478270112621948761
(Note: The cipher number is a large decimal number with “304” as its most significant digits and “761” as the least significant, depending on your browser, you might have to stitch the number back together before performing the XOR).
Rules:
Watch the video for details and the riddles.
The objective of the quiz is to decipher the number marked “Cipher” above. Once deciphered (as per the instructions in the video), you will have a plain English message. You have beaten the quiz when you comment this message as a public YouTube comment on the original upload of this video (the original official URL is: • What's a Creel? Mathematics and Progr... ).
If you are the first person to beat the quiz (i.e. leave the correctly deciphered message as a public YouTube comment on this video with 7 days), then you are the winner of the competition, and I will contact you privately shortly after the competition closes. Bear in mind, you can use any legal method you like to decipher the code (legal by Australian law). You can use cryptographic analysis or whatever you like, but you cannot hack me, or steal my computer etc.
The competition closes at 10:00PM on the 15th of July 2015 Eastern Standard Time, or as soon as the correctly deciphered message is posted as a public comment on the original YouTube video.