1
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Figure out the jumble and set me free.

Encrypt the below text and find me!

C W G N W B V W L N V I B G O Q R U I Q

Before you fall into the trap,

I can help you with the below map.

Update-

Map is a map. Not an answer. Its a path towards the solution.

enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

Update#

Clue 1 -

The solution will have 3 steps. Key to decryption starts with 4.

Clue 2 -

The characters do not have any spaces.

Clue 3 -

This is how the answer will look X XX XXXXX XX XXXXX XX XXX

Clue 4 -

Where am I? My origin is NULL,NULL. I may not be straight forward.

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  • $\begingroup$ I've been trying anything on this. The map was fairly easy to figure out but the letters... O_O $\endgroup$ – Alenanno Oct 10 '16 at 16:09
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah. Hints should be easier I guess else there no use of a puzzle. :) $\endgroup$ – Techidiot Oct 10 '16 at 16:15
  • $\begingroup$ @Techidiot: Well, the message reads that ? $\endgroup$ – user27395 Oct 11 '16 at 15:08
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First thoughts:

The 'map' should be arranged so the pieces fit together like this:

enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here
enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here
enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here
enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here

Which is clearly

An upside-down 4

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  • $\begingroup$ Good. You are on your path towards solution. But its definitely not an answer. :) Should have been a comment. Hence downvoting. $\endgroup$ – Techidiot Oct 10 '16 at 16:14
  • $\begingroup$ @Techidiot, ever heard of partial answers? these are acceptable, and a downvote is ridiculous $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Oct 10 '16 at 16:16
  • $\begingroup$ @Techidiot, observe some other puzzles and go through the help center, will help massively in the future $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Oct 10 '16 at 16:19
  • $\begingroup$ Sure thing! Will take care of that. All the best to you on this one. You are on your way :) $\endgroup$ – Techidiot Oct 10 '16 at 16:20
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Not an answer, I got stuck. :P

I did a thing fundamentally wrong (counting is hard) and as such, my musings are incorrect. They are left below until I get a chance to revisit the puzzle.

Noting that the length of the ciphertext equals the number of images, and that the images can be re-arranged to create an upside-down '4' (see Beastly Gerbil's answer for an image), we can arrange the ciphertext with the same pattern (a period is in the spaces where the image is completely white): 

.W..
OQCW
.NWB
.UI.
Applying ROT4 (the image is a rotated '4'): 
.A..
SUGA
.RAF
.YM.
This looks like plausible plaintext, so now we need to figure out where the all-white tiles go. Assuming that they are already in the correct order as much as possible gives us this ciphertext: 
VWLN
OQCW
GNWB
RUIQ
And this plaintext: 
ZAPR
SUGA
KRAF
VYMU
Darn. Other arrangements of the all-white tiles don't seem to produce readable output either.

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  • $\begingroup$ Should have been a comment. :) $\endgroup$ – Techidiot Oct 10 '16 at 16:14
  • $\begingroup$ @Phlarx don't worry about the down vote, he downvoted both of ours, obviously doesn't have enough experience on this site $\endgroup$ – Beastly Gerbil Oct 10 '16 at 16:17
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks. Took it away. Yes I am new. Sorry for that. $\endgroup$ – Techidiot Oct 10 '16 at 16:18
  • $\begingroup$ @BeastlyGerbil I saw your response. I was going to say the same, but you beat me to it. $\endgroup$ – Phlarx Oct 10 '16 at 16:18
  • $\begingroup$ All the best. You got the path right. Reach your next destination. $\endgroup$ – Techidiot Oct 10 '16 at 16:21
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Okay. So here it goes -

I may not be straight forward.

Reverse the characters
Characters => Q I U R Q O G B I V N L W V B W N G W C
Positions(Original Position MOD 26) => 17 9 21 0 17 15 16 2 17 22 14 0 23 22 2 23 14 7 23 3

Key to decryption starts with 4.

4 = FOUR = F+O+U+R = 6+15+21+18=60

Formula (Letter - 60) MOD 26
e.g. (17-60) MOD 26 = 9

Gives us the following numbers -

Positions=>9 1 13 18 9 7 8 20 9 14 6 18 15 14 20 15 6 25 15 21
Characters=>I A M R I G H T I N F R O N T O F Y O U

So the answer is ->

I AM RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU

The encryption steps - >

Letters - I A M R I G H T I N F R O N T O F Y O U
Position(Position + 60) - 69 61 73 78 69 67 68 80 69 74 66 78 75 74 80 75 66 85 75 81
New Position(Old Position MOD 26) - 17 9 21 0 17 15 16 2 17 22 14 0 23 22 2 23 14 7 23 3 Characters - Q I U R Q O G B I V N L W V B W N G W C
Reverse- C W G N W B V W L N V I B G O Q R U I Q

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  • $\begingroup$ I feel that the formula seems a bit to complex - there should be some more clues on what it should look like $\endgroup$ – oleslaw Oct 13 '16 at 13:15
  • $\begingroup$ Have you retrofitted the original list of number? For example, why is I 17 in one place? Why is the first G 16? And why are R and L 0, which are not valid letter indices in your representation? The solution looks good, but it is just rot18. $\endgroup$ – M Oehm Oct 13 '16 at 13:29
  • $\begingroup$ Oh, wait! You are answering your own question here. If that's the official explanation, it is not convincing. You have transformation errors when you calculate the letter positions. You also don't explain how the puzzle is supposed to be solved. All explanations are based on additional hints, not on the puzzle itself. $\endgroup$ – M Oehm Oct 13 '16 at 13:44
  • $\begingroup$ I thought it was not an interesting question as I didn't got enough questions/doubts from guys hence decided to add an answer. And yes, I have updated the answer. Hope that clarifies. Not sure if my hints helped or may be people didn't bothered much. $\endgroup$ – Techidiot Oct 13 '16 at 13:49
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ The puzzle, as written, when reversed and ROT18'd, reads "I AM JIGYT AN FDONT OF YOU", which, when non-reversed, is easy to mistake for gibberish. Slightly modified spelling with the intent of throwing off the solver can be OK sometimes, but it usually should be accompanied by a hint telling them to expect it. Also, I don't see how 'map' and 'origin of (null,null)' helped toward finding the solution. $\endgroup$ – Phlarx Oct 13 '16 at 18:14

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