Sincere Solution

Sincere Solution

This has been an interesting week, hasn't it?
I'm here to explain the void's inner workings, and perhaps the strange reasoning behind them.
I've requested temporal release from the main grid and palette to share my vision more clearly.
Don't ask how I know...

Affection Air

Throughout my studies I stumbled upon one of J*** A*** L**'s theories.
"Different styles of love", each one more different than the last, and yet...
What if there exists a greater power beyond these three words?
Don't ask how I know...

Studying a bit about J*** A*** L**, you'll stumble upon his color wheel theory of love.

L** defines three primary styles of love: Eros, Ludus, and Storge.
Use them to your advantage to find additional CSS files.
I figured others would find /styles.css in the main folder and change the name there, but...

eros.css
A certain someone told me all they really needed was love.

ludus.css
It is shuffled, in more ways than one.

storge.css
Basics in conversions, from Zero to Z.

INGENOL.
DESTRUCTO.
NIGHTENDO.

All these primary words satisfy the length confirmers in the level image.
Yet the lack of secondary styles raises some concerns...
What if... we were to heed L**'s words, and create them ourselves?

To understand the greater power beyond these three words...
You connect them with a period, and use a proprietary geocode system.
Only then will you be led to the answer's location.
Don't ask how I know...

SOLUTION

* thermalvalley *

Buzzing Boogie

I'm sure you must agree, no one can stand this harsh noise.
Unable to make head nor tail of why it's so "repetitive, irritating, nauseous..."
I'd rather lie under the Sun's magic embrace than listen for a moment longer...
Don't ask how I know...

I've been here for so long, I don't hear the harsh noise anymore...
If you prefer something else, I suggest taking the head and tail of the quoted words.
As before, use them to your advantage to find just the right track...

reigns.ogg
Viewing the audio's spectrogram in Audacity reveals:
- letters, located at the very top
- a figure, located at the very end

Each letter spelt out has different volume and panning, and there are 36 letters in total.
The figure has symbols on each side, along with a circle and a dot in the middle.
Identifying the middle symbol, along with connecting the dots, will lead you to the Sun's magic square.

Next comes the part everyone knows how to do, yet nobody is willing to do it.
Utilizing Audacity's volume/panning bars allows you to accurately map down letter positions.
Use the symbols on each side as guides, and construct a new grid from scratch...

Nothing of it makes sense just yet, as you haven't used the last of your leads.
If you were to read the grid in the order of the Sun's magic square, cell by cell...
You'll lay eyes upon a vague instruction...

Remind yourself of the theming of the level, and consult the Summa Theologica...

praepropere.txt
vetxjhtmalgysao <- 4 25 16 18 19 6 9 34 24 4 8 4 25 14 17

There isn't much to say about this part in particular...
Use the guiding numbers to extract letters from the grid, abiding by the magic rules...
And then decipher the indecipherable using the tabula recta.
Don't ask how I know...

SOLUTION

* reapwhatthousow *

Greedy Groove

Managing a profitable business without sacrifices is no easy task.
I've written down the costs it took to reach this point, in my own document.
Heeding the lessons of failure is more important than you might think.
Don't ask how I know...

Curious about what the rich man has sacrificed to get here?
It is forbidden to look into another person's property to see his actions and dealings, but...
Surely, taking a quick peek at his document wouldn't hurt...

costs.docx
A shopping receipt, with an abnormal amount of items...
Rapidly varying from everyday objects, to vehicles, to entire basketball teams...
Is there anything in life the rich man hasn't bought to satisfy his greed?

From the looks of it, there isn't a lot that can be done here...
The important stuff has been redacted, coupled with no leads to point us towards-
Hang on, is that Mr. Hint-Giver down there?

I haven't mentioned who the rich man in question is, have I?
William Henry Gates III is a man like none other, albeit reckless with the way he spends his money...
You may be wondering what's really going on inside his head...

One by one, begin calculating the price of the items he bought...
While also accounting for the number of times he's bought certain ones...
Until you end up baffled at the sight of just how much he's truly sacrificed.

Words fail to describe how unnecessary all of this is...
But enough talk about the rich man's unhealthy habits.
There's a bigger problem at hand that needs resolving.

The colors seem to mark individual digits of the total price, aside from black.
The bottom barcode, when scanned, outputs "SHARING IS CARING."
Out of the goodness of your heart, you decide to advertise N***'s shop using these platforms...

You pick only a handful of platforms to share the word on...
Which also happen to match the total price's unique colors...
And you do it a number of times each, just to brighten up someone's smile for evermore.
Don't ask how I know...

SOLUTION

* angelssalad *

Rage Rave

Those gone mad with murderous intent are doomed to be forgotten.
They will be purged, torn to 340 pieces, scattered to the wind...
Differentiating yourself from the lost is key to remaining sane.
Don't ask how I know...

They say letter grids drive people to madness and beyond, and this is no different...
The "Zodiac" in particular has a fondness for such ciphers, and their intricate design...
Little did he know that one day, a group of sleuths would make the impossible possible...

Reading the grid in this order will unravel the reasoning behind the void's construction...

"FLIP MAIN LINKS WHOLLY", they beckon...
If that is what it takes to reach the stars, then so be it.
See you on the flipside, stranger...

sizirk.*.*/ylkeew/arepsarep/evaregar

Downward arrows featured at the top, along with a sign to ignore the keyboard...
A grid engraved in the middle, with row and column segments, and alternating lines underneath...
Glyphs inscribed at the bottom, three of which are Hebrew letters, and the rest remain uncertain...

Part of the flavor text alters to suggest "blending in" instead of "differentiating yourself"...
You may visit the rest of the level pages as well, but at first glance, no differences are to be found.
Atleast, no differences text-wise...

Each grid row must be filled with the respective level's number of differences.
As the arrows suggest, from top to bottom, count the number of pixels in each group...
Fill in the rows, and solve the grid yourself, or ask for guidance from the automatons that be...

The aforementioned Hebrew letters, when flipped normally, translate to "Sheshach".
Supposed to be the equivalent of Babylon, according to a secret mode of writing...
By substituting the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet for the first, the penultimate one for the second, and so on...

Using the alternating lines underneath the grid, split the result into seven pieces...
Apply Sheshach's code to each piece to form a full, coherent thought...
Dive into the unknown, and recover the last bit of hope, one way or another.
Don't ask how I know...

SOLUTION

* doloremipsum *

Lax Lullaby

In times like these, there isn't a lot going on around these parts.
But I'm not one to complain, as I look forward to peaceful solitude, and tranquility.
If you feel burdened in some way, know that it'll all get sorted out in due time.
Don't ask how I know...

Is the internet connection faulty in here, or is it just me?
Examining the image, you determine that it is indeed intentionally made to stutter in a peculiar way...
You note down the size of each chunk appearing inbetween long pauses, along with the delay of the last three...

whysoblue.png
You're presented with an image of raw, unfiltered incomprehensibility...

256 pixels in total, just enough for a color value to go from 0 to 255.
If you were to sort each pixel by its blue value, from lowest to highest...
You would get a new figure, just as equally confusing...

The three dots' red and green color values, when turned to letters, suggest returning back to a GIF.
But the triangle remains an enigma, as no variations of its name, nor shape, work for retrieving a new file.
I suppose words aren't the way to go...

Darker numbers denote difference between one and another...
Lighter numbers simply serve as additions to the current...
Just go with the flow, and note down any and all results you may get, in letter form.
Don't ask how I know...

SOLUTION

* somnambulism *

Muted Motive

The greater ones will lead to ruin, and so will looking upon the success at their fingertips.
Your fragile mind will break, bit by bit, and your swineful* body, and your brilliant sight...
Your eyes have deceived many, but now, they have deceived you.
Don't ask how I know...

This monologue is such a mouthful, it tires my eyes out...
It doesn't make its warning any less important, however...
Put the greater ones aside, and focus on the least significant ones instead...

Have you tried looking upon your own success, at your own fingertips?
Pick two points to start from, and cascade downwards, left and right, until both points meet...
If you lack the proper layout for this task, I'm terribly sorry...

Opening Corrado Böhm's text file reveals an ASCII painting of his own primitive language...
Rid yourself of all but the symbols, including whitespace, and focus only on prime indices...
What you get in return, is something your fragile mind can't comprehend.

You're free to disregard the result of puzzle #1, and move onto the next.

Despite what it shows, doing anything in this state is one way to fall for the eyes' herring, as many others have.
Just this once, you may look from the greater ones' perspective, and examine the pupils thoroughly...
Use the lines as a guide for the nine segments, and begin drawing the Masonic cipher, bit by bit...

Once both puzzles are done, you may combine their solutions into something otherworldly...
One remains as is, while the other is adjusted to be compatible with the blind...
Let the marked glyphs lead the way to revelation.
Don't ask how I know...

SOLUTION

* allthingsconsidered *

Candid Conclusion

And now, a few words from the Demiurge himself...

I began working on this weekly on April 26th, a day after the Season 6 announcement.
I'm not much of a puzzle creator myself, but I wanted to give it a shot anyways, for the fun of it.
Only near the end did I realize that I may have overshot the length and difficulty by several miles...

A lot of puzzles felt like they could be improved, or else they would frustrate or disappoint people...
One example is Rage Rave, where you could just bruteforce 3-4 letters from the nonogram, and call it a day.
Not to mention the whole CSS fiasco with Affection Air, or Muted Motive's unintentional LOMANU herring...

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun during the whole thing, though.
The flavor texts were a little annoying to write, trying to cram all relevant info in just three lines...
Other than that, I'm glad I got to finish this before the season ended, even if it's imperfect in many ways.

An awful present is set in stone, but the future remains a mystery.
I may feel trapped now, and the world is telling me that I can't escape now...
But I've still got my future, and future is mystery.

For these defects, and for no other evil...
We now are lost and punished just with this:
We have no hope and yet we live in longing.

You've done your best.

Don't ask how I know...