The Agency's Operation: Sleeper Cell raised a total of £3,638!
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Endgame credits
Well, the forums are due to close tomorrow, and having successfully completed all the missions, this agent wants to sign off while he can by giving due credit to all those involved in Operation Sleepercell for such an enjoyable ride.
Oh, and I intend to let you in on the final way to solve "Fishy Business" if the 1500 points are still of value to your agent ratings and your Top-Team placings. Since I don't think anyone can overtake me or my team, I think it's safe to spill some of the beans!
- Top credit must be given to the Law 37 team for the overall design and format of O SC. The master-strke of having both team-points and individual agent points has made for a very enjoyable ARG. I also think that CRUK must be thanked for investing their faith in this new venture - and I believe it's paid off for them financially, and in terms of the awareness of the charity.
- Second, I must thank the members of the Marsh-Ayre Mob for a genuine team-effort. As soon as we realised it might require a team-effort, we got together some of the most formidable ARG-players from "WeTellStories" and "PerplexCity" fame, and set up our own 'Wiki' where we could exchange all hunches, clues, missions and answers. The Unfiction forum suddenly went quiet as other teams started sharing their information between team-members rather than posting them for all to see.
- Then, in the last few weeks, as we realised that the puzzles and problems were needing a more global perspective, we felt that teams and agents had to pool all their findings. So credit must go to the members of other teams who unselfishly shared their hard-earned code-cracking solutions.
In my next post, I'll walk through these past few weeks and the solutions to the main problems - though I hope Law 37 will eventually fill in some of the details that we have inevitably missed.
__________________________
Marsh-Ayre Mob (MAM) rule... OK! Always take your wrappers off before nibbling!
Submitted by AndyAndyO on Sun, 07/12/2008 - 10:16.
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Agent
Well here's the breakdown of the main end-game puzzles - with spoilers in case anyone's still trying to solve them!
Sit back, pop the kettle on, prime the tea-pot, break open the Bourbons, Hobnobs and Oreos and see if you can follow all this.
- THE BLUEPRINTS.
Thanks must go to Rogi and the Hobnobs for identifying the code on the Blueprints and sharing their vast amounts of deciphering work.
Spoiler: Highlight to view
The James Bond book of birds from the West Indies has a numbered list of 186 birds.
Each blueprint of EVIL's machine "BOB" had sets of numbers on it.
These numbers were in pairs: first number = bird ; second number = the letter position in that bird's name
So 109 1 referred to the first letter of bird 109 (Yellow-bellied-sap-sucker!)
If you want, you can sort the message out yourself now, but if you haven't got time, here's what the blueprint message revealed:
Spoiler: Highlight to view
Your first assignment is to retrieve the password. After a nice cup of tea by the band stand take a stroll via Brunel and Sherwood to the park. You will need to buy a ticket on your way. You can collect the information that you need from Agent Ting Ting in the shop on Queensway. To find the username you'll need to look at the business cards in a new light.
We have identified the shop on Queensway though I am not sure of Ting-Ting's message. Here's the shop location:
Spoiler: Highlight to view
The Cancer Research UK shop on Queensway near Bletchley Park!
- THE BUSINESS CARDS
The business cards mentioned were apparently sent out to anyone who unlocked a Sleepercell, but they also dished out a batch at the wrap-party. I haven't ever seen one, because I was too ill to go to the final party, and Batgirl unlocked all our team's cells for us.
Thanks must go to the two MAM agents who dragged themselves to the final party when I was unfit. On our team-wiki Batgirl and Angelsk posted the results of shining UV light on the business cards. Here's the information they posted:
Spoiler: Highlight to view
-7--5-1--
---73----
2-8---3--
---4---6-
and these could be read either way up:
-------20 OR 02-------
-----2--- OR ---2-----
6-------- OR --------9
--5--1--- OR ---1--5--
-1------- OR -------1-
Those numbers remained our our WIKI page until I focused on them and realised...
Spoiler: Highlight to view
there are 9 separate cards, each containing 9 characters. Even then, I queried whether these might have anything to do with the 'Fishy Business' puzzle, it took another day or two for the penny to drop!
No-one else on MAM made the connection, even when we were making ten attempts each day to try and brute-force the puzzle!
- THE FISHY BUSINESS PUZZLE
I'm not going to tell you the 'Fishy Business' answer, but it's hidden somewhere in the spoilers above. I had enough information from all the other digits we'd been working on - thanks to PracticalMan for helping out with some MAM couldn't get - to confirm that I was onto a winner as soon as I started putting the jigsaw together!
So final thanks to everyone on here, and a personal mention to two people I couldn't have managed without. TED BOURBOND and EDWINA ECLAIRE! (Last seen enjoying the sunset in a Turkish bar!)
__________________________
Marsh-Ayre Mob (MAM) rule... OK! Always take your wrappers off before nibbling!
Sun, 07/12/2008 - 11:16
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Agent
Fully agree Andy, an absolutely fantastic job done by all at Law 37. I loved the puzzles, they were a clever mixture of easy fun ones and real challenges, which I would never have solved without the help of the fine community of players on the forum. The story was great too and I loved the blogs from all the agents - I never thought Nova would turn out to be bad, but I feel so full of loveliness that she's already forgiven! The set up worked seamlessly for me, the website was always up, and any difficulties I had with solutions were all my own fault!
So congratulations and many thanks to all at Law 37 for all your hard work in raising the money for such a good cause. I can't wait for your next game!
Sun, 07/12/2008 - 16:21
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Agent
Fishy Business gives you the username. Did no one retrieve the password?
Sun, 07/12/2008 - 17:21
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Agent
The backs of the businesscards I received with the certificates had different codes, which I think actually relate to the Username.
They were:
2P 4R 5A 7I 9E 13N 16W ISO 10
__________________________
Consumate Tea Drinker - Earl Grey with a slice of lemon if you're making one!
Sun, 07/12/2008 - 18:01
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Agent
Good point, does anyone have the user name and passsword (be it the code or from the backs of the business cards) for the EVIL Masterplan?
I have the solve to Fishy Business which gives a picture of some sort of cabinet with many documents, none of which I can make out with my browser, though the very bottom left looks like it is a password in red? Can anyone clarify?
Sun, 07/12/2008 - 21:29
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Biscuit Master General
Hi folk,
Thank you for all the kind words everyone!
To complement Andy's great guide above, I've just dashed off a walkthrough of the big puzzle for anybody who is curious:
WARNING: This contains really major spoilers!
Big puzzle walkthrough
Juliette
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Juliette Culver is a member of
Sun, 07/12/2008 - 22:04
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Agent
I'll not spoiler these and instead just say that they are the (more or less) complete picture of BOB:
http://rogi.ocnorb.googlepages.com/The_WeaponLinked.html
http://rogi.ocnorb.googlepages.com/The_Weaponfullsize.html
and a decoder spreadsheet for the bird code (If you've had trouble locating the birds):
If anyone has a real copy of the book, I'll update the names of the birds where they are incorrect so the message reads correctly. There are different versions out there and some of the numbers don't always match between them. I was unable to locate a paper copy to work from. Specifically, they are figures:
14, 20, 42, 47, 74, 63, 120, 162 and 185
__________________________I prefer my biscuits with gravy
Mon, 08/12/2008 - 01:59
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Agent
Spoiler: Highlight to view
From the 5th Amercan Edition (1999):
14=Magnificent Frigatebird
20=Great Egret
42=Sharp-skinned Hawk
47=Crested Caracara
63=Killdeer
74=Bridled Tern
120=Golden Swallow
162=Hooded Tanager
185=Grasshopper Sparrow
Mon, 08/12/2008 - 03:15
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Agent
Thanks.
That fixed 162 and 185.
And all the others have had their images updated, so it's all correct, now.
__________________________I prefer my biscuits with gravy
Mon, 08/12/2008 - 06:38
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Agent
Thanks very much to Juliette for the final walk-through.
Merry Xmas to everyone!
Do let us know if Law 37 / CRUK are planning any further adventures....
Spoiler: Highlight to view
... after a well-earned break!
__________________________
Marsh-Ayre Mob (MAM) rule... OK! Always take your wrappers off before nibbling!
Mon, 08/12/2008 - 08:05
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Agent
So, jut for completeness, to get into EVIL's Master Plan site, we still need:
Username - from the business cards - who has all these?
Password - does someone need to go to Bletchley Park to look in the cabinet, or can Law37 kindly just give us the word? Would love to volunteer, but it's a bit impractical from here.
Another thought - is there actually anything new worth finding in the Master Plan, or have we had it all already?
Mon, 08/12/2008 - 13:37
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Agent
Most of the username letters appear to have been posted above by Batgirl.
Spoiler: Highlight to view
If I understand the solution correctly they should be pairs of numbers and letters, to be placed in numerical order. So perhaps ISO should read 15 O? And we'd need a letter to go after the 10. This would result in PRAIE_NOW as a username, so maybe some of the other letters are suspect, or the ordering is more subtle.
Agree that we would probably need to visit Bletchley to get the password, and it may not be worth it!
Mon, 08/12/2008 - 14:29
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Agent
Double-cross suggests that other agents that have unlocked cells may have letters hidden on their business cards.
In which case we are looking for a pattern like _P_RA_I_E___N_OW
Something like OPERATIVE WINDOW or OPERATIVERAINBOW ?
Could everyone check the cards they were sent when they unlocked a cell?
__________________________Marsh-Ayre Mob (MAM) rule... OK! Always take your wrappers off before nibbling!
Mon, 08/12/2008 - 20:21
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Agent
PS: You need a UV light 
Mon, 08/12/2008 - 23:08
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Agent
I hope there are duplicates out there, as I unlocked a few cells, but haven't been back to Blighty in months, so they may be sitting on my doormat. Don't want to hold anything up, so if they are unique, perhaps Juliette could share what they are if I provide a list of cells unlocked?
Tue, 09/12/2008 - 05:19
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Agent
I had duplicates in just the ones that MAM received so there are duplicates.
The one which read ISO was definately ISO - I agonised over that for ages, willing it to be a 5 but it was most definitely an S. So I didn't read it wrong but that doesn't mean it wasn't written wrong so I'm happy to assume it should read 15O
And the 10 (which I didn't read myself) I think is 1 O and so doesn't need anything else.
Can the other team leaders who received these cards attached to the certificates please get hold of a UV light and tell us all what is written on the backs? Before the forums shut down!!
__________________________Consumate Tea Drinker - Earl Grey with a slice of lemon if you're making one!
Tue, 09/12/2008 - 08:38
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Joined: 2008-09-24