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Adventuring through an old house, I happened upon a journal. On the front of the notepad, embossed, was a large number 3. Inside the journal was just pages, and pages, of numbers. It seemed simple to me, at first, and then cryptic again, but after spending a few hours trying to make some sense of it, it finally dawned on me what the journal was talking about. It was really quite simple, in the end.

Can you figure it out?

The journal reads:

68 122 68 124 35 113 114 122 35 118
119 120 115 104 113 103 114 120 118 35
118 120 101 120 117 101 100 113 35 111
100 103 35 100 117 112 124 35 100 121
104 113 106 104 35 103 114 122 113 117
108 106 107 119 35 119 107 104 112 35
108 113 121 114 110 104 35 108 117 114
113 124 35 48 35 101 100 101 124 118
108 119 35 106 108 106 35 104 119 107
108 102 100 111 35 108 112 115 117 114
121 35 48 35 72 107 35 113 108 113
109 100 35 114 101 104 124 35 120 118
35 48 35 71 114 122 113 122 100 117
103 111 124 35 110 108 35 108 117 114
113 118 35 106 108 47 35 112 114 117
100 119 114 117 108 120 112 35 113 104
104 103 118 47 35 111 100 122 118 120
108 119 35 119 104 119 107 104 117 35
106 100 112 101 111 104 35 48 35 101
104 104 107 108 121 104 35 104 123 119
117 100 35 124 114 35 122 108 119 107
104 117 104 103 35 117 114 118 104 118
47 35 48 35 87 100 101 114 114 35
120 113 118 102 100 119 107 104 103 35
48 35 112 100 110 104 120 115 35 101
117 100 121 104 111 124 35 111 114 122
35 104 112 114 119 108 121 104 35 104
113 120 117 104 47 35 113 104 122 108
118 107 35 100 108 117 115 111 100 113
104 118 47 35 102 117 124 115 119 114
35 117 120 112 47 35 100 113 106 104
111 108 102 35 121 108 111 104 35 48
35 100 103 112 108 117 104 35 100 35
104 123 100 102 119 35 103 108 118 107
35 116 120 104 120 104 35 104 119 107
104 117 108 125 104 35 104 107 47 35
73 120 77 108 35 120 117 113 118 47
35 119 107 104 35 102 100 112 104 117
100 35 118 110 100 119 104 118 47 35
70 100 118 118 108 120 118 35 117 100
102 104 118 47 35 115 118 124 102 107
114 35 118 120 113 47 35 108 113 110
111 108 113 106 35 114 107 35 122 107
124 35 48 35 122 108 119 107 103 117
100 122 35 119 108 112 35 100 119 119
100 101 114 124 47 35 112 108 103 113
114 114 113 47 35 103 114 122 113 117
108 106 107 119 35 100 107 100 47 35
119 114 112 101 114 124 118 47 35 112
100 110 104 117 104 100 103 124 35 104
118 104 47 35 68 113 87 108 119 107
104 118 108 118 35 118 108 119 35 120
113 122 114 112 100 113 111 124 35 48
35 100 117 100 102 107 113 114 108 103
35 100 35 120 111 119 117 100 107 120
112 100 113 35 119 100 123 35 100 111
76 101 108 35 112 108 102 104 35 107
104 123 100 106 114 113 35 100 106 117
104 104 118 47 35 77 104 122 108 118
107 35 73 100 120 118 119 35 48 35
68 118 108 100 113 35 100 120 103 108
119 114 117 47 35 68 103 80 108 117
100 101 111 124 35 114 101 118 102 104
113 104 35 103 114 109 114 35 120 117
113 118 35 108 119 102 107 35 103 104
118 119 117 114 124 35 112 104 119 104
117 104 103 35 122 100 118 115 124 35
41 35 101 117 108 118 119 111 124 35
111 100 106 35 108 113 103 108 106 114
35 48 35 102 100 118 108 113 114 35
48 35 118 114 105 119 102 114 121 104
117 35 48 35 115 107 124 111 111 114
103 108 120 112

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2
  • $\begingroup$ OK this is awkward - Carl and lythamlatic did all the work here $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 18:49
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, I wish I could mark multiple as the answer, since they solved parts of it. $\endgroup$
    – Khale_Kitha
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 18:49

3 Answers 3

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3
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Based on the answers provided by Carl Löndahl and lythamlatic,

It seems to be a poem written by Weird Al's accordion, giving way to another meaning of compression

The process is as follows:

Carl Löndahl started by subtracting 3 from each of the numbers and then taking the ASCII values, giving us this:

AwAy now stupendous suburban lad army avenge downright them invoke irony - babysit gig ethical improv - Eh ninja obey us - Downwardly ki irons gi, moratorium needs, lawsuit tether gamble - beehive extra yo withered roses, - Taboo unscathed - makeup bravely low emotive enure, newish airplanes, crypto rum, angelic vile - admire a exact dish queue etherize eh, FuJi urns, the camera skates, Cassius races, psycho sun, inkling oh why - withdraw tim attaboy, midnoon, downright aha, tomboys, makeready ese, AnTithesis sit unwomanly - arachnoid a ultrahuman tax alIbi mice hexagon agrees, Jewish Faust - Asian auditor, AdMirably obscene dojo urns itch destroy metered waspy & bristly lag indigo - casino - softcover - phyllodium

Then lythamlatic took each letter that is at a position (1-indexed) congruent to 0 (mod 3), giving us this:

An unusual man with very big hair
Enjoys walking round with me everywhere
Touch me all over while you give me a squeeze
Just make sure you know what to do with my keys
This way and that I change what i do
Maybe just someday ill do so for you

From there, it was just a matter of interpreting the poem (Weird Al is a strange man with big hair, he's known for having an accordion, which is a squeezable instrument with keys, that changes what notes it outputs based on which keys and buttons are being pressed, as well as whether it's being squeezed or stretched)

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7
  • $\begingroup$ Well done! And kudos to lythamlatic and CarlLöndahl for the work in getting the first two phases. $\endgroup$
    – Khale_Kitha
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 18:48
  • $\begingroup$ @Khale_Kitha They did all the work; I would not be bothered at all if one of them got the checkmark. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 18:49
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah, I understand. It may be more appropriate if you explain the entire thing in your post, rather than just the answer, including how each part was obtained. I probably jumped the gun on deciding which one to mark as the answer. Meta doesn't really have a definitive answer for this situation, either. $\endgroup$
    – Khale_Kitha
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 19:00
  • $\begingroup$ After discussing it with a few people, I'm going to undo the check until there's a full answer, answering the riddle, including steps. =D $\endgroup$
    – Khale_Kitha
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 19:20
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Nice, this is the full answer and it is the one that should be accepted. No hard feelings on my behalf :-) $\endgroup$
    – Carl Löndahl
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 19:25
4
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(Partial answer) The numbers translate to

AwAy now stupendous suburban lad army avenge downright them invoke irony - babysit gig ethical improv - Eh ninja obey us - Downwardly ki irons gi, moratorium needs, lawsuit tether gamble - beehive extra yo withered roses, - Taboo unscathed - makeup bravely low emotive enure, newish airplanes, crypto rum, angelic vile - admire a exact dish queue etherize eh, FuJi urns, the camera skates, Cassius races, psycho sun, inkling oh why - withdraw tim attaboy, midnoon, downright aha, tomboys, makeready ese, AnTithesis sit unwomanly - arachnoid a ultrahuman tax alIbi mice hexagon agrees, Jewish Faust - Asian auditor, AdMirably obscene dojo urns itch destroy metered waspy & bristly lag indigo - casino - softcover - phyllodium

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7
  • $\begingroup$ How did you get that? $\endgroup$
    – LegionMammal978
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 17:25
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I subtracted 3 from each number and wrote out the ascii char. $\endgroup$
    – Carl Löndahl
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 17:25
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I'm guessing from the title and the number 3 that there are three layers of obfuscation. $\endgroup$
    – Carl Löndahl
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 17:34
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ brb, preparing for invasion by stupendous suburban lad army $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 17:59
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ @question_asker prepare for the massive irony to be invoked upon you as well $\endgroup$
    – Carl Löndahl
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 18:00
3
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Every third character gives the following:

An unusual man with very big hair
Enjoys walking round with me everywhere
Touch me all over while you give me a squeeze
Just make sure you know what to do with my keys
This way and that I change what i do
Maybe just someday ill do so for you

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2
  • $\begingroup$ Try to make sure you add a spoiler to your answers, for those that don't want to accidentally read it, yet. :) $\endgroup$
    – Khale_Kitha
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 18:48
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry - I looked for how to hide things, but couldn't see it (even though it's very clearly spelt out!) $\endgroup$
    – lythamlatic
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 18:53

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