# It is an enigma . **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2009, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466 "2009-06-02T07:05:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/121 "2009-06-11T18:26:08Z")
How about > [@](#): > > That said, when you are prepared to decipher the next riddle, I suggest you write “to the genuine email address I maintain and always check at gmail dot com.” for proper punctuation? I’ve been playing around with this thing for a while in Word with the fonts, etc., haven’t seen anything. **Clint** , “not the first letters I would choose” kind of strikes me because I was thinking it could be something like picking certain letters out of the message. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/122 "2009-06-11T19:54:47Z")
PS I RECOMMEND USING TIMES NEW ROMAN AND PROPER PUNCTUATION Maybe we should be looking for the anagram in “times new roman” and “proper punctuation” ---
**Author:** ![Nobody\_Special](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nobody\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody_Special)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/123 "2009-06-12T11:18:46Z")
I’ve been lurking on this thread for a while but didn’t bother trying to solve any of the puzzles because I figured, if the others on the board haven’t had success, what chance did I have. Leason learned: don’t underestimate yourself. In Microsoft Word, I pasted the properly punctuated text in Times New Roman and shrunk the margins until the message filled 11 lines. (One for each letter of “it’s an egnigma.”) > [@](#): > > Ian Gaitsmen is not my real > name, but we all could use > a good pseudonym every > now and then to keep > everyone guessing. That > said, when you are prepared > to decipher the next riddle, > I suggest you write to the > genuine e-mail address I > maintain and always check > at Gmail dot com. Taking the first letter of each line produced the anagram “inane stigma.” Go ahead and send an e-mail to [inanestigma@gmail.com](mailto:inanestigma@gmail.com). ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/124 "2009-06-12T11:45:09Z")
Wow. Nice work; that _has_ to be correct. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/125 "2009-06-12T11:56:54Z")
And the canned response is a picture I can’t see which links to this: [http://www.simianagent.com/](http://www.simianagent.com/) Which is an integral which will lead to a zip file ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/126 "2009-06-12T12:01:51Z")
> [@Nobody\_Special](#): > > I’ve been lurking on this thread for a while but didn’t bother trying to solve any of the puzzles because I figured, if the others on the board haven’t had success, what chance did I have. Leason learned: don’t underestimate yourself. > > In Microsoft Word, I pasted the properly punctuated text in Times New Roman and shrunk the margins until the message filled 11 lines. (One for each letter of “it’s an egnigma.”) > > Taking the first letter of each line produced the anagram “inane stigma.” Go ahead and send an e-mail to [inanestigma@gmail.com](mailto:inanestigma@gmail.com). Wow ! Nice work !🆒 ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/127 "2009-06-12T12:08:47Z")
> [@Nobody\_Special](#): > > I’ve been lurking on this thread for a while but didn’t bother trying to solve any of the puzzles because I figured, if the others on the board haven’t had success, what chance did I have. Leason learned: don’t underestimate yourself. > > In Microsoft Word, I pasted the properly punctuated text in Times New Roman and shrunk the margins until the message filled 11 lines. (One for each letter of “it’s an egnigma.”) > > Taking the first letter of each line produced the anagram “inane stigma.” Go ahead and send an e-mail to [inanestigma@gmail.com](mailto:inanestigma@gmail.com). Great job! I knew it had to be the “first letter” of something, and I tried splitting it up after each punctuation, first letters of various phrases, but I didn’t think of that. Makes sense now, of course. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/128 "2009-06-12T12:28:25Z")
So, I’m assuming that solving the equation gives us the password to the .zip file. Any thoughts? I’m looking at it now and still retain maybe some lingering calculus skills, but the pictures … weird. The number in each photo name doesn’t match the number of the file on Flickr. As far as I know, the flickr file number is assigned, but if the number in the name is different then it must be important. And of course, the number in the title bar of the simianagent page is another 8-digit number. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/129 "2009-06-12T12:40:16Z")
The log is base five. The formulas for the summation are [here.](http://www.math.com/tables/expansion/power.htm) K(K+1) = K[sup]2[/sup] + K, so the summation should be (n[sup]2[/sup] + 1)/2 + (1/6)n(n+1)(2n+1). The integral is just x, so it’s the two numbers multiplied together. Doing the math, I get either 890523362175408000000000000000000 or 20644753261387400000000000000000, depending on whether the order of operations is (log[sub]5[/sub]x)[sup]3[/sup] or log[sub]5/sub. Neither is the password to the zipfile. (Not guaranteeing I don’t have a typo in my math.) ---
**Author:** ![Kiber](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiber/32/317_2.png) [@Kiber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiber)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/130 "2009-06-12T12:47:27Z")
And just to share the obvious - the photos in the equation were posted by **Nina G Tamise**. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/131 "2009-06-12T12:56:04Z")
> [@zut](#): > > Doing the math, I get either 890523362175408000000000000000000 or 20644753261387400000000000000000, depending on whether the order of operations is (log[sub]5[/sub]x)[sup]3[/sup] or log[sub]5/sub. Neither is the password to the zipfile. (Not guaranteeing I don’t have a typo in my math.) My problem is precision, unfortunately. Shouldn’t have those trailing zeroes. ---
**Author:** ![Kiber](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiber/32/317_2.png) [@Kiber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiber)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/132 "2009-06-12T12:59:14Z")
I’ll also point out that the file IDs for the 5 photos are: 58401196 83955266 29580037 00606004 96536514 Maybe nothing here - but if the log is base 5, and there’s 5 photos, well . . . . . And on preview - the first number from each ID is 58209 which is an anagram for 89052, the first 5 digits from **zut** ’s answer. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/133 "2009-06-12T13:01:47Z")
> [@zut](#): > > K(K+1) = K[sup]2[/sup] + K, so the summation should be (n[sup]2[/sup] + 1)/2 + (1/6)n(n+1)(2n+1). Do you mean (n[sup]2[/sup]+ **n** )/2 instead of n[sup]2[/sup]+1? ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/134 "2009-06-12T13:09:05Z")
Oops. Yes I do. ---
**Author:** ![kjckjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@kjckjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjckjc)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/135 "2009-06-12T14:01:35Z")
Don’t have time to look further into it, but there are a bunch more 8-digit combos on the page. The whole equation is made of multiple pic files with 8-digit numbers. For instance right clicking the top of the ‘d’ in ‘dx’ you get the filename 43480419.jpg with an alt text of 19709881. The easiest way to see them all is probably just looking at the page source. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/136 "2009-06-12T14:15:20Z")
OK, I downloaded an ultra-high-precision calculator from [here](http://wareseeker.com/Business-Finance/scientific-calculator-precision-81-1.0.0.1.zip/7c9e27b21), and ran the following through it: 13002966\*((log(89387894)/log(5))^3)_((51871595^2 + 51871595)/2 + (1/6)51871595(51871595+1)_(2_51871595+1)) + 94906981_71869188 Where log(89387894)/log(5) is the base-five log of 89387894, ((51871595^2 + 51871595)/2 + (1/6)_51871595_(51871595+1)_(2_51871595+1)) is the summation of K(K+1) up to 51871595, and 94906981\*71869188 is the integral. The calculation yields 890523362175408206188016635678243.567084228102494438350222308082666748475930299893. Neither 890523362175408206188016635678243 nor 890523362175408206188016635678244 is the password. Alternatively, cubing before taking the log yields 20644753261387387011306613304332.9851279314732864376105917483430033636527413910648, which rounds off much more nicely. However, neither 20644753261387387011306613304332 nor 20644753261387387011306613304333 works. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/137 "2009-06-12T14:19:05Z")
89052 is the ZIP code for Henderson Nevada, not sure if that means anything? ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/138 "2009-06-12T14:27:20Z")
whoops did not see the file download ---
**Author:** ![kjckjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@kjckjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjckjc)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/139 "2009-06-12T14:38:09Z")
These are the embedded codes: 25312720, 12836832, 62372751, 96536514, 77520022, 40943998, 71869188, 12438520, 46999099, 21355409, 84912151, 60624886, 51871595, 98867990, 61438018, 89555379, 58118313, 21355409, 41789453, 57690853, 64408695, 21355409, 30306914, 62586777, 75526364, 21355409, 13002966, 76764719, 35786040, 33301939, 89387894, 56426502, 89064070, 70352986, 56298251, 39947909, 94906981, 25317803, 19709881, 43480419, 12997724, 21355409, 81119936, 29352282, 71460262, 30956895, 96705443, 74500181, 96733413, 21355409 The page has a title with 89585544, and the 5 images are 54801196, 83955266, 29580037, 00606004 and 96536514. So 56 8-digit sets by my count. ---
**Author:** ![kjckjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@kjckjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjckjc)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466/140 "2009-06-12T15:05:07Z")
I am trying to figure the problem, but my calculus is quite weak. Can you just plug the image numbers into the equation where the images appear? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-an-enigma/498466.md?page=8)