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My grandpa died last month. At the reading of his will, he left me a strange wooden box. A post-it-note on the side read "You were always good at puzzles." There was a number lock on the front that needed four numbers. On the side of the box there was an inscription reading:

$X10$

and numbers on the bottom that said:

$$101000.101101100000, -1001001.11101001010110101100,101000.10111001010001110100, -1001001.11110000100000101010, 110011.1100101110100011010, -0.(0)11000001011000101$$

I can't make heads or tails of any of it! Can someone help me find what the four numbers I need are?

EDIT - Hey so, something strange happened... I actually read the numbers wrong and the whole second line needed updated numbers. They have been updated so adjust your answers accordingly. Also, the website I used for co-ordinates was Google Maps, so use that to find the locations.

Hint:

This puzzle was inspired by Iconic Places and 820.5: Grandpa's silly math

Hint 2:

So I was playing around with the box and a drawer opened up! Inside there was a parchment saying:

  1. Simple Math
  2. Literally
  3. Postcode

But, a guy, you should have already solved it by now.

EDIT - So noone seems to be getting the right location for the first coordinates, so I though I'd just say the location.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/45+5th+Ave,+New+York,+NY+10003,+USA/@40.734217,-73.9951623,19z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c25999d658a931:0x980b0c029b89563!8m2!3d40.734217!4d-73.9946151

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  • $\begingroup$ Can we get another hint about the first location? If neither conversion method from binary to decimal numbers yields the correct coordinates, there must be a trick involved. $\endgroup$
    – A. P.
    Commented Jan 4, 2019 at 1:02

3 Answers 3

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Partial:

The coordinates I got:
1) 40.2912, -73.955820 => Sea/C/6
2) 40.758900, -73.985130 => Times Square
3) 51.417050, -0.099013 => Bus Station in London (77)

Using the hint and something that I was thinking before but not quite the right way:

The equation we need to do is something like:
6 * (Times) sqrt (Square) (77) * (X) 10

so

6 * sqrt(77) * 10 = 494
This should be 4 digits not 3 so im guessing the 6 in the first picture is wrong (?)

Old Notes:

Some things I noticed and wild ideas I had in mind:

  • Find numbers in each image:
    1) 6 - in title
    2) 1555 - address OR 29 in ad
    3) 77 - address or X68 - bus line

  • the X68 in bus could be hex encoded for 'h', could have some connection to X10

  • The letters NJ appear in both the first and third pictures

  • Time Square could literally mean that we need to take the square root of the time of the first picture (20171112 / 8:56 Nov 12, 2017)

  • there is meaning when combining the places of the images: sea, times square (Broadway), bus stop

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  • $\begingroup$ You are correct about everything referencing the middle one and the X10, and you just need to find the real location of the first place and figure out what to do with the third place. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 31, 2018 at 7:11
  • $\begingroup$ I am still not sure what the first place is.. I see that is in Long Branch beach, but don't see how it can relate. $\endgroup$
    – yaara
    Commented Dec 31, 2018 at 12:05
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Partial... These look like

Geographical coordinates converted to binary.

$101000.101101100000,−1001001.11101001010110101100$

Decimal: 40.7109375, -73.911540985107421875
Grover Cleveland playground in Queens, New York City

$101000.10010100111001101,−1001001.11000000000111011$

Decimal: 40.58164215087890625, -73.75045013427734375
The ocean just off Silver Point Country park in Atlantic Beach, New York

$110011.1100101110100011010,−0.011000001011000101$

Decimal: 51.795459747314453125, -0.377704620361328125
Harpenden golf course, Hertfordshire, England

$110011.1100101110100011010,−0.11000001011000101$

Decimal: 51.795459747314453125, -0.75540924072265625
Bye Green in Buckinghamshire, England

No idea what to do with the "X10" yet...

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  • $\begingroup$ This is the right idea, yet your locations are completely wrong. Try converting the integers first, then the decimals. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 21, 2018 at 23:00
  • $\begingroup$ Also, I thought the $X10$ would be the easiest part! $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 22, 2018 at 17:16
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Partial (updated):

I got different results from @jafe

40.2912, -73.955820 which leads to a point in the sea off Long Beach, New Jersey, NJ6. There is a picture from the location by Nadia Romano.

40.758900, -73.985130 which is on Times Square, N.Y.
51.417050, -0.099013 which is 77 Beluah Hill, London

X10 means either times 10 (multiplication) or it has to do with a cross hair as if "here is the location".
Still I can't find what's common or joining the 3 locations and how to derive from them the missing code.

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  • $\begingroup$ The numbers (of original time posting) are correct. The second row needs to be updated to my new numbers, and these are not the correct locations. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 22, 2018 at 17:12
  • $\begingroup$ The first and third images need to be checked using Google Maps, as per the edit. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 27, 2018 at 20:52

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