

The Toughest Developer Puzzle Ever - d3w4rd
http://www.toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/tdpe/

======
gt7570b
What is the answer to this: Enter the command to show the server variables in
php:

It's got to be some short text cause $_SERVER, phpinfo, getenv, and other
variants don;t work.

~~~
zaph0d
phpinfo();

~~~
elmos
doesn't work!!!

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gt7570b
Im at #16, cause I don't know php

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zaph0d
Stuck at level #13

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sharkbrainguy
This one annoyed me so here's a hint to what I was doing "wrong".

<http://pastie.org/531585>

~~~
devangthakkar
I am stuck at #13. I tried using 6 & 9 for G ...but it does not work. I am
sure I have all 4 answers (1) G __ __ _...(2)B_ * (3)B __* (4)L __*, but it
seems it is not accepting.

~~~
Raphael
Did you put them upside down?

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devangthakkar
Yes I did that too. if the answer is 1069 ..i tried entering 1069 and 9601
...it does not pass. Am I missing something?

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Gmo
Did you think of the plural ?

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finnw
Don't waste your time on this stupid puzzle. #13 is just completely unfair.
There are too many combinations (if the answer ends with '0' do add a '5' to
form a plural or use a decimal point? Do you use '9' or '8' to represent 'b'?)
Trying out all the possibilities is just not fun. And the 4th question is too
much of a guessing game.

~~~
dan_the_man
Well you're entitled to your opinion of course, but #4 is not a guessing game
- the answer is given to you, you just have to work out how to find it.

#17 has me totally stumped though, anyone offer any clues? I've tried naming
the computer, the institute, the museum... no luck :-(

~~~
finnw
I don't mean the 4th task, I mean the 4th question in task #13

~~~
dan_the_man
Oh, my mistake; #13 certainly is a pain, although as it happens, my first
guess for part 4 was correct because I happen to fit that stereotype :-)

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chaosprophet
Can't seem to find a way into level 27, stuck at 26. Din't find anything in
the source. Tried following addresses "ponandzi.aspx", "ponzi.aspx",
"jefthomas.aspx", "azuzephre.aspx"... nothing seems to get me into level 27...
Any hints???

~~~
js1
For #26, just check the cookie headers... The cat is telling you that the
cookie were eaten/written... Very easy.

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finnw
I'm surprised no-one has yet pointed out that #15 does not work in FireFox 3
(I happen to know the answer and was confused that there seemed to be no way
to enter it - until I switched to Safari.)

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eina
I got email confirmation but it says I didn't solve the puzzle exactly.. I
guess I got the correct mail address but there's something missing. any hints?

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lancet
Does anyone have additional hints for #27?

~~~
suprafarq
The important hint is "Take the first one each time"...

Ask yourself why there is a period in the first column all by itself.

The "distance" comment has something to do with a word formula.

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js1
A word formula damn...

I found the answer on that page, but I still don't get it, between what you
say and the relationship with that algorithm.

<http://php.net/manual/en/function.similar-text.php>

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elmos
Whats the answer for 16!!!! is annoying

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elmos
any hints on this???? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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awright18
phpinfo(); it was from above and is correct.

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lucia
Hey all,

I've been at number 30 for a few days and is still stuck. Does anyone have
pointers for this?

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mc_mc
I got the email, but puzzle isn't complete. Don't understand whats missing.
Maybe correct email subject?

~~~
lucia
I see. I still haven't been able to decipher it to get the email address, how
were you able to?

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mc_mc
Maybe this can help

Tip #1 : 100 letters all numbered from 1 to 100 when reading from left to
right then top to bottom.

Tip #2: Take pi and split into pieces of 2. At what position is the @ sign?

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lucia
Hm well it's the 53rd letter, and the pi number is "48".

I've tried adding them up and the ASCII of the letter to try to get the actual
decrypted letter but that doesn't seem to work so well. :C

~~~
mc_mc
then again, as I said before, I'm not sure this email is the valid one. I got
an answer, but not the one expected...

~~~
mc_mc
but it seems that something is incorrect even if this email is valid... Need
more hints! This is like a neverending story

~~~
etch
any more hints

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js1
Level #13: google, bsod, bios, lego is not working, I also tried "gijoe" and
plural and inverted...

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js1
Microsoft BOB works though (in caps) and 4th is plural, reverse the words with
6 for g, 7 for L and 8 for B

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gt7570b
I'm on ping pong, which appears to be level 29... So you're on the one after
that?

~~~
gt7570b
Okay now I just got to figure out the email thing and I'll win.

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Raphael
Argh. I see the clue; it just makes no sense. I see the at-sign and the dot,
and I suppose the riddle tells you how to decode the rest.

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gt7570b
It's some type of cipher. The pi and chunks of two are some clue that i've yet
to figure out since I'm busy at work...

~~~
sharkbrainguy
yeah, work is getting in the way of my solution too...

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Raphael
Why does VanillaIceCream (question 22) call it's parent class's constructor?

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sircmpwn
Can anyone who solved #13 just put the darn answer down!

~~~
js1
#13: gOOgLE, BOB, BIOS, LEGOS (flip it, reverse on a calc)

You have enough hints now...

~~~
andyshader
is there any other trick here? I have tried all possible combinations (reverse
, read right to left), still does not work. tx

~~~
andyshader
nevermind. i did it. Conclusion: it has nothing to do with development. If
you're lucky enough you might figure out that some of the letter are
capitalized, some not, reverse them... Lame!

~~~
js1
No just use Wikipedia table to translate these answers:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet>

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zaph0d
Somebody help me with #21

What're those round numbers?

~~~
sharkbrainguy

      var round = function(number){
          var binary = number.toString(2);
          var hex = number.toString(16);
          var R = function(str){
              return /^10*$/.test(str);
          };
          return R(binary) && R(hex);
      };
    

That I wrote this just shows how special class I am... If a number is "round"
in base-n that just means it's a power of n, and obviously all powers of 16
are also powers of 2.

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eina
I can't find how to get to level 25... :(

~~~
js1
open level24.js, type the answer or go to that URL...

BTW, the level25 is a fake 404 page, read the stack trace...

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eina
wow! thanks a lot.. never thought of it... :D

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gt7570b
the transition from 24 to 25 is tricky.

~~~
gt7570b
Officially stuck at trying to get from 24 to 25. They tell you to go a url for
25 but it doesn't exist.... This is mind boggling.

~~~
profquail
I'm stuck on the last one (which I think is the hardest), but 24-25 is a
tricky one as well. The answer is in there though ;)

EDIT: I think I may actually have figured it out just now...turns out my
original method was just a little off. Now to wait and see if I won!

~~~
gt7570b
What number is the last one - I'm now down to level 27.

~~~
js1
I'm stuck at #27 too.

2 7, 27

@puzzlehints

Twenty Seven: Take the first one each time. They'll get you the distance.

This is not the hint. Seriously stop checking.

~~~
js1
The answer is a PHP function name or algorithm to calculate the distance
between two words.

If you take the distance of both pages you get 8, which is the number of words
in the "This is not the hint. Seriously stop checking."

I guess the hint is way too difficult: "word distance algorithm" would have
been easier.

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puroy
What's the hint on level 30?

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supergost
Also looking for hint on #27

~~~
mandy
still looking for 27....any furhter hints??

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duhhh
any hints on level 6? I am not a developer. But I made it this far!

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lonjay4
im stuck in level 2..what do i need to do to go to level 3...thanks

~~~
js1
Just go straight to level 3...

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lolipopsarap
stuck on debuging javascripts. im not sure if its #5

~~~
js1
Answers:

1) <http://www.toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/tdpe/level1.aspx>

Click on the knob

2) <http://www.toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/tdpe/level2.aspx>

Read sentence and type this:

3) <http://www.toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/tdpe/level3.aspx>

View page source and type this:

4) <http://www.jeffblankenburg.com/tdpe/jeff.aspx>

View source, copy-paste to calc in bin mode, convert to hex, pair of 2 hex: U:
69,68,65,61,72,74 and P: 73,6F,66,74,77,61,72,65 open an ASCII hex chart table
and translate (61-79 is a-z lowercase):

Type Username: iheart Password: software and Proceed

5) <http://www.jeffblankenburg.com/tdpe/thatisnotenglish.aspx>

View source, image is called wingdings.png, open WordPad, type a-z in
lowercase in wingding font match the image symbols, convert to arial, copy-
paste.

Type Username: wheelof Password: jeopardy and Proceed

6) <http://www.jeffblankenburg.com/tdpe/yesthatisjavascript.aspx> #cns

Read the script, copy/paste in an HTML dummy page, fix bugs, it should be:

regexp.exec() (c missing) checkNonInteger() (n missing) primes[] (s missing)

Type solution: cns and Proceed

7) <http://www.jeffblankenburg.com/tdpe/algebra.aspx>

Substitute downward until you get:

1+x+x+x+x=89 x=(89-1)/4

Type x=22 and Proceed

8) <http://www.jeffblankenburg.com/tdpe/sudoku.aspx>

By simple deduction, it cannot be 2,3,5,6,7 so you are left with 1,4,8,9
Either solve the puzzle or just try them all four, one by one.

Type x=9 and Proceed.

9) <http://www.jeffblankenburg.com/tdpe/BOSSLEVEL.aspx>

Two different ways: Open the JavaScript code translate into keys and do it.
Search on Google: "Contra 30 lives"

Open IE for this one, it is broken in Firefox 3.

Press: UP,UP,DOWN,DOWN,LEFT,RIGHT,LEFT,RIGHT,B,A

10) <http://www.jeffblankenburg.com/tdpe/notourprincess.aspx>

View source, click the image...

11) <http://codinggeekette.com/tdpe/mybff.aspx>

View source, look for that sentence in Google.

Type:
[http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/mybff.aspx?user=software&...](http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/mybff.aspx?user=software&pw=change)

12) <http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/monumental.aspx>

Does not work anymore... Type:
[http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/sequencename.aspx?rnd=fib...](http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/sequencename.aspx?rnd=fibonacci)

13) <http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/calcwords.aspx>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob> (Hint: Melinda Gates was the
project manager)

gOOgLE, BOB, BIOS, LEgOS

(reverse with digits, if not convince try with a real calculator)

Type: 376006, 808, 5018, 50637 and Proceed

14) <http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/notasnake.aspx>

Search on Google: "Zen of python"

Type: import this and Proceed

15) <http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/idclipdoom.aspx>

Search on Google: "Doom I" cheat code next level

Type: IDSPISPOPD

16) <http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/showmethevariables.aspx>

Try the common server config display <http://php.net/phpinfo>

Type: phpinfo();

17) <http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/oldschool.aspx>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC>, wikipedia says 1946... try 1945.

Type Username: eniac Password: 1945 and Proceed

18) <http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/chinchillas.aspx>

Search on Google: smalltalk chinchillas implementation

<http://www.squeak.org/>

Type: squeak and Proceed

19) <http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/icanhazcode.aspx>

Search on Google: "CAN HAS STDIO?"

Example ends with: KTHXBYE

Type: KTHXBYE and Proceed

20) <http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/kthxbye.aspx>

View source, click the image

21) <http://brendan.enrick.com/tdpe/untitled.aspx>

Use code above to find the correct number.

Type: 1162564096 and Proceed

22) <http://brendan.enrick.com/tdpe/icecream.aspx>

Call ancestor class first in order (implicit super() being called)

Type: 134124 and Proceed, then click on the link

23)
[http://brendan.enrick.com/tdpe/threelawsofrobotics.aspx?x=Ro...](http://brendan.enrick.com/tdpe/threelawsofrobotics.aspx?x=RobotWithIceCream)

Search on Google: "robot laws" Answer also in view source

Type:
[http://brendan.enrick.com/tdpe/threelawsofrobotics.aspx?x=As...](http://brendan.enrick.com/tdpe/threelawsofrobotics.aspx?x=Asimov)

24)
[http://brendan.enrick.com/tdpe/level24.aspx?x=superSecretExt...](http://brendan.enrick.com/tdpe/level24.aspx?x=superSecretExtraPart)

Open level24.js or secret.js

Type: thisistheanswer and Proceed, then type URL:

25) <http://toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/tdpe/level25.aspx>

Read 404 message, compare to a real one, it says in suffix:

", but it's more likely you're being fooled."

View source, read stack trace:

"at
System.Web.UI.ThisIsAFakeErrorPage.YouCanGetPastIt.GetToNextPuzzle(ToughestDeveloper
puzzleEver, DotCom slash, TdpeSlash level, TwentySix dotAspx)"

26)
[http://toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/Tdpe/levelTwentySix.a...](http://toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/Tdpe/levelTwentySix.aspx)

View source, either use show cookie, Firebug or HTTP Live headers:

Cookie header says: nextLevel=-->
[http://www.toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/tdpe/twoseven.asp...](http://www.toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/tdpe/twoseven.aspx)
<\--;

27)
[http://www.toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/tdpe/twoseven.asp...](http://www.toughestdeveloperpuzzleever.com/tdpe/twoseven.aspx)
and <http://jexed.com/tdpe/twentyseventext.aspx>

"Take the first one each time. They'll get you the distance."

The author means take each page name and plug it into the leveinstein
function, you will get the word distance of 8, which is the number of words
in: "This is not the hint. Seriously stop checking."

Search on Google: distance algorithm

<http://php.net/manual/en/function.levenshtein.php>

28) <http://jexed.com/tdpe/levenshtein.aspx>

<?php echo levenshtein("killer","bunnies"); // output 6

Type 6 and Proceed

29) <http://jexed.com/tdpe/pingpong.aspx>

Now, compare those two images:
<http://jexed.com/tdpe/assets/images/pingpong.png>

Search on Google Images: ping pong tournament
[http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1121/1098453615_f41fb895bd.jp...](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1121/1098453615_f41fb895bd.jpg)

The title is different, now read the sentence: "There's a command in that
image. Maybe you should start following instructions."

open a command prompt, type: "ping pong.com", you get: "Pinging pong.com
[68.178.232.99] with 32 bytes of data:"

Type one number in each box "68 178 232 99" and Proceed

30) <http://jexed.com/tdpe/congratulations.aspx>

View page source and figure it out yourself :D

~~~
js1
Supplemental hints:

13) A popular search engine: Google

A failed interface to an operating system: Microsoft Bob

Search on Google: Microsoft failed GUI

When the computer first boots up, you can log into its: BIOS

Search on Google Image: computer first boots up

Childhood toys for many geeks: Legos

Search on Google Image: "Childhood toys" First link is: "Favorite childhood
toys from the '80s" for Legos

16) Search on Google: display server configuration php

17) Search on Google: Smithsonian computer panel museum

~~~
js1
12) The sequence name is fibonacci and the rnd=311, so you should type this to
get redirected to problem 13:

<http://www.codinggeekette.com/tdpe/fibonacci.aspx?rnd=311>

------
anonymouswrites
I am struck at #14

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eina
whew! done.. can sleep peacefully now... hehehe

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suprafarq
Any hints on #30?

~~~
Dhirendra
Any Hint for 28?

~~~
js1
Use the PHP function you wrote to get from 27 to 28 with the arguments given
in 28...

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hems
Stuck @29 :(

~~~
mandy
same here can;t go beyond 29

~~~
hems
ufhooo @30.. need to break the email..

~~~
mandy
what did you do at 29?

~~~
collide
look at the image and it tells you what to do

~~~
js1
I looked at the image:
[http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1121/1098453615_f41fb895bd.jp...](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1121/1098453615_f41fb895bd.jpg)

and I still have no clue what are the 4 commands...

~~~
js1
Type the DOS command: "ping pong.com" and enter the IP address digit...

