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n.nfshost.com - solution

This is the solution to n.nfshost.com puzzle at n.nfshost.com. Most of this page was blatantly copied from teh bigbro blog , I just filled in the final steps. Please stop reading now if you don't want me to spoil the puzzle for you. The aim of the puzzle is to figure out what the URL to the next page is, which is based on a clue given in the previous page and related to the number of the page.

If you're absolutely sure you've reached the end of your tether and cannot wait to advance and see the next page look here - otherwise, keep trying to solve the puzzle. Some of the clues are subtle and some of the answers, while tricky to reach, may have you kicking yourself once you find them because they are so obvious.

Solution:

Page Text URL to next page Explanation

n.nfshost.com/1.html

1 1 2.html Clicking the '1' provides a link to '2', just to get you on your way.

2 2 3.html You should have figured out that the clue is a pattern based URL expression by now - so '3.html' is the obvious sequence.

3 III IV.html III is 3 in roman numerals, implying that you should use 4 in roman numerals to get the next page.

4 four five.html 'four' on the page implies that to get page 5, you use the text 'five.html.'

5 ooooo oooooo.html We're on page 5, and displaying five letter 'o's... so let's try 6 'o's to get the next page - 'oooooo'

6 110 111.html Anyone who deals with computers might spot 110 as being the binary representation of 6. To get to page 7, try the binary representation, 111.

7 sept huit.html sept is the French for 7, so let's try the French for 8, 'huit.'

8 thgie enin.html Cunning, this looks like 'eight' spelled backwards to me. Let's try 'nine' spelled backwards to get the ninth page.

9 -blank- TEN.html Selecting the text on this page and highlighting it will reveal that it has 'NINE' written on it - using black text on a black background. Alternatively, you can look at the HTML source to see this text. NINE in caps is naturally followed by TEN in caps.

10 -blank- e_l_e_v_e_n.html Looking at the source of the page reveals a comment: "" We're looking for page 11, so let's try 'e_l_e_v_e_n.html'

11 eeleeveen tweelvee.html Things are starting to get a little bit subtle now... All the 'e's were doubled in the last page, so for page 12 we double the 'e's to get tweelvee.

12 a_dozen a_bakers_dozen.html Traditionally, there were strict punishments for sellers who undersold by weight, so bakers used to sell 13 loaves instead of twelve, when asked for a dozen, so even if the twelve loaves were slightly underweight, the thirteenth ensured that the buyer got his or her money's worth. We're looking for page 13 and we have an implication that '_' (underscore) is to be used in place of a space - let's try a_bakers_dozen.

13 13, unlucky ... for_some.html The three dots imply that the well known expression, '13, unlucky for some' needs to be completed. We already know that '_' (underscore) is used for a space.

14 196 225.html We're on page 14, and 14 squared is 196. Let's try 15 squared = 225, to get to page 15.

15 ..-._.._..-._-_._._-. ..._.._-..-_-_._._-..html Since we already know that underscore is a space, this looks like Morse code - and sure enough, checking a Morse code dictionary confirms that it's Morse for FIFTEEN. Let's try the Morse code for SIXTEEN, '..._.._-..-_-_._._-.'

16 un_ar_bymtheg dau_ar_bymtheg.html I had to get some help with this one - and someone suggested I google for the last word. This revealed that it was Welsh and reminded me of a recent conversation with Alan Cox in a pub in Limerick, where we (for some unknown reason) ended up discussing numbering systems and linguistic knock-on effects of the same. This looks like the vigesimal system of counting used in old Welsh, and still commonly used to tell the time apparently. Dau being Welsh for two, let's try dau_ar_bymtheg to get 17. (After solving this one, I found this numerals page which describes the counting systems very well.)

17 1597 2584.html 1597 is the 17^th Fibonacci Number so let's try 2584, it being the 18^th.

18 -blank- NINEteen.html Although the page body is blank, we notice that the title has been set to "EIGHteen" - viewing the source of the page also verifies this. Looks like a lower case 'teen' with the start of the number in block caps. Trying 'NINEteen' we get the next page.

19 -blank- ___twenty___.html This is the most evil one yet, IMHO. When you think you've got the right answer, you get a previous page - a solution you've already seen! However, if you look at the source of the page using something that doesn't support javascript (I grabbed the page with wget), something more interesting appears. <script language="JavaScript"> window.location="2584.html"; </script>- which makes any browser that supports javascript bounce you back to the previous page, and: <p>___nineteen___</p> which is our clue.

20 20 twnton.html The image shown is called "twnt.png", which hints that we just need to delete a few of the letters. A few quick trials and errors bring us to the rule that we need to remove every third letter.

21 orziot_jiz psajpu_psk.html This one also requires some trial and error. It turns out that this is a +21 (or -5) rotation substitution cipher of "twenty_one" (i.e. where you replace each letter with the one 21 places in front of it in the alphabet). To get to the next stage, you'll need to apply a +22 (or -4) rotation substitution cipher on "twenty_two"

22 has_9 has_11.html Finally a reprieve. "Twenty two" has... 9 letters in it. So "Twenty two" has 11.

23 the hour before midnight.html Another easy one. In military time, 23:00 is 11pm, or an hour before midnight.

24 fn_four_point_eight_nine_
eight_nine_seven_nine_fou...
fn_five.html The decimal number is the beginning of the square root of 24 (it continues forever). Thankfully the square root of 25 is a little shorter.

25 x19 x1a.html Another wink to computer programmers. x19 is shorthand for "19" in hex , or base 16 (hexadecimal). This equals 25 in our familiar base 10. Similarly, 26 is "1a" in hex.

26 26 1b001b.html If you'll look at the HTML source, you'll notice- "background: #1a001a". At this point it should be clear that "1a" is 26 in hex. Since 27 is "1b" in hex, all we need to do is to replace the "1a"s with "1b"s.

27 -blank- bbbaa.html This is another evil one. But by now we know how to handle these. I used a nifty freeware packet sniffer by NetworkActiv (www.networkactiv.com). There are few enough packets exchanged, that the unusual string "#bbabb" is easily evident. Remembering that 27 in binary is 11011, It follows that 28, which in binary is 11100, is meant to be encoded as "bbbaa".
Note: It was pointed out to me that there is an easier way- the style sheet for this page is "stylee.css" instead of the usual "style.css". The difference between them is that the former has the conspicuous "#bbabb" string in it.

28 28_has_feb 29_has_feb.html .It's really easy to over-think this one. It's really just a dumb trick question. If February is the only month that can have 28 days, which month can have 29 days? Errr... it's February of course.

29 tent_yew_inn hit_try.html A careful look at the words "tent, yew, inn" will show that between them, they exactly contain the letters of "twenty nine" (i.e. an anagram). As far as I could tell, "thirty" can only be broken up this way into the words: "hit" and "try". So thankfully, we only need to try two possibilities to get the correct solution.

30 you win (for now) We're done!

Page	Text	URL to next page	Explanation
		n.nfshost.com/1.html
1	1	2.html	Clicking the '1' provides a link to '2', just to get you on your way.
2	2	3.html	You should have figured out that the clue is a pattern based URL expression by now - so '3.html' is the obvious sequence.
3	III	IV.html	III is 3 in roman numerals, implying that you should use 4 in roman numerals to get the next page.
4	four	five.html	'four' on the page implies that to get page 5, you use the text 'five.html.'
5	ooooo	oooooo.html	We're on page 5, and displaying five letter 'o's... so let's try 6 'o's to get the next page - 'oooooo'
6	110	111.html	Anyone who deals with computers might spot 110 as being the binary representation of 6. To get to page 7, try the binary representation, 111.
7	sept	huit.html	sept is the French for 7, so let's try the French for 8, 'huit.'
8	thgie	enin.html	Cunning, this looks like 'eight' spelled backwards to me. Let's try 'nine' spelled backwards to get the ninth page.
9	-blank-	TEN.html	Selecting the text on this page and highlighting it will reveal that it has 'NINE' written on it - using black text on a black background. Alternatively, you can look at the HTML source to see this text. NINE in caps is naturally followed by TEN in caps.
10	-blank-	e_l_e_v_e_n.html	Looking at the source of the page reveals a comment: "<!--e_l_e_v_e_n shall follow-->" We're looking for page 11, so let's try 'e_l_e_v_e_n.html'
11	eeleeveen	tweelvee.html	Things are starting to get a little bit subtle now... All the 'e's were doubled in the last page, so for page 12 we double the 'e's to get tweelvee.
12	a_dozen	a_bakers_dozen.html	Traditionally, there were strict punishments for sellers who undersold by weight, so bakers used to sell 13 loaves instead of twelve, when asked for a dozen, so even if the twelve loaves were slightly underweight, the thirteenth ensured that the buyer got his or her money's worth. We're looking for page 13 and we have an implication that '_' (underscore) is to be used in place of a space - let's try a_bakers_dozen.
13	13, unlucky ...	for_some.html	The three dots imply that the well known expression, '13, unlucky for some' needs to be completed. We already know that '_' (underscore) is used for a space.
14	196	225.html	We're on page 14, and 14 squared is 196. Let's try 15 squared = 225, to get to page 15.
15	..-._.._..-._-_._._-.	..._.._-..-_-_._._-..html	Since we already know that underscore is a space, this looks like Morse code - and sure enough, checking a Morse code dictionary confirms that it's Morse for FIFTEEN. Let's try the Morse code for SIXTEEN, '..._.._-..-_-_._._-.'
16	un_ar_bymtheg	dau_ar_bymtheg.html	I had to get some help with this one - and someone suggested I google for the last word. This revealed that it was Welsh and reminded me of a recent conversation with Alan Cox in a pub in Limerick, where we (for some unknown reason) ended up discussing numbering systems and linguistic knock-on effects of the same. This looks like the vigesimal system of counting used in old Welsh, and still commonly used to tell the time apparently. Dau being Welsh for two, let's try dau_ar_bymtheg to get 17. (After solving this one, I found this numerals page which describes the counting systems very well.)
17	1597	2584.html	1597 is the 17^th Fibonacci Number so let's try 2584, it being the 18^th.
18	-blank-	NINEteen.html	Although the page body is blank, we notice that the title has been set to "EIGHteen" - viewing the source of the page also verifies this. Looks like a lower case 'teen' with the start of the number in block caps. Trying 'NINEteen' we get the next page.
19	-blank-	___twenty___.html	This is the most evil one yet, IMHO. When you think you've got the right answer, you get a previous page - a solution you've already seen! However, if you look at the source of the page using something that doesn't support javascript (I grabbed the page with wget), something more interesting appears. `<script language="JavaScript"> window.location="2584.html"; </script>`- which makes any browser that supports javascript bounce you back to the previous page, and: `<p>___nineteen___</p>` which is our clue.
20	20	twnton.html	The image shown is called "twnt.png", which hints that we just need to delete a few of the letters. A few quick trials and errors bring us to the rule that we need to remove every third letter.
21	orziot_jiz	psajpu_psk.html	This one also requires some trial and error. It turns out that this is a +21 (or -5) rotation substitution cipher of "twenty_one" (i.e. where you replace each letter with the one 21 places in front of it in the alphabet). To get to the next stage, you'll need to apply a +22 (or -4) rotation substitution cipher on "twenty_two"
22	has_9	has_11.html	Finally a reprieve. "Twenty two" has... 9 letters in it. So "Twenty two" has 11.
23	the hour before	midnight.html	Another easy one. In military time, 23:00 is 11pm, or an hour before midnight.
24	fn_four_point_eight_nine_ eight_nine_seven_nine_fou...	fn_five.html	The decimal number is the beginning of the square root of 24 (it continues forever). Thankfully the square root of 25 is a little shorter.
25	x19	x1a.html	Another wink to computer programmers. x19 is shorthand for "19" in hex , or base 16 (hexadecimal). This equals 25 in our familiar base 10. Similarly, 26 is "1a" in hex.
26	26	1b001b.html	If you'll look at the HTML source, you'll notice- "background: #1a001a". At this point it should be clear that "1a" is 26 in hex. Since 27 is "1b" in hex, all we need to do is to replace the "1a"s with "1b"s.
27	-blank-	bbbaa.html	This is another evil one. But by now we know how to handle these. I used a nifty freeware packet sniffer by NetworkActiv (www.networkactiv.com). There are few enough packets exchanged, that the unusual string "#bbabb" is easily evident. Remembering that 27 in binary is 11011, It follows that 28, which in binary is 11100, is meant to be encoded as "bbbaa". Note: It was pointed out to me that there is an easier way- the style sheet for this page is "stylee.css" instead of the usual "style.css". The difference between them is that the former has the conspicuous "#bbabb" string in it.
28	28_has_feb	29_has_feb.html	.It's really easy to over-think this one. It's really just a dumb trick question. If February is the only month that can have 28 days, which month can have 29 days? Errr... it's February of course.
29	tent_yew_inn	hit_try.html	A careful look at the words "tent, yew, inn" will show that between them, they exactly contain the letters of "twenty nine" (i.e. an anagram). As far as I could tell, "thirty" can only be broken up this way into the words: "hit" and "try". So thankfully, we only need to try two possibilities to get the correct solution.
30	you win (for now)		We're done!

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