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This game thread continues the tradition of the first two games: and

One player plays the Evil Mastermind (that's me, replacing the original Evil Mastermind for this game) who nukes the states of the USA 3 at a time, the other players play Hackers who seek to stop the Evil Mastermind. The Evil Mastermind plays by posting commands which activate missile strikes. Each command has a unique password, which is derived from the command by a hashing algorithm. The Evil Mastermind devises a different algorithm at the start of each game, and posts the passwords along with the commands. The Hackers will see the commands and passwords and from this they should try to deduce the hashing algorithm. The Hacker who does this first, and correctly figures out the password to the command "ABORT", stops the Evil Mastermind and wins the game. Anyone can join in at any time as a Hacker.

Now hashing algorithms can be exceedingly difficult to crack, but there are restrictions placed on the kind of algorithm that the Evil Mastermind can use:

1) The Evil Mastermind must be able to derive an alphanumeric password of fixed length from any word (password length 8 characters or less, you choose). It doesn't have to be a cipher in the sense that it can be decrypted to the original word, indeed the fixed length makes that impossible.

2) You must be able to do it in your head, with no external aids, in 40 seconds or less. You may look at the word you are hashing but you should not have to look at the previous letters of the password, since real-life passwords are generally shown as ***** as you type (although you may use previous letters as far as your memory can handle it). It's up to you to ensure that you can do all this. A really classy algorithm is one which fulfils this condition better (quick and easy to perform, in other words).

3) Although it is quite possible to hold an alphabetic substitution table in your head, and apply it quickly, I'll rule this out because in conjunction with other techniques it's too difficult to crack. Any technique that requires a large amount of information to be memorised in advance is not allowed. Caesar ciphers with a large shift pretty much fall into that category.

4) Consistency. This is a matter of good sportsmanship. For example, since "ABORT" is the target word, you can't have a rule that comes into play only when the sequence "BOR" occurs. All rules should be general enough that they come into play in at least half of the clues. The algorithm should not be geared toward the specific commands used in this game, but should work on any word.

Commands

There are 51 commands, these being the names of US states (used by the Evil Mastermind to nuke another state), plus the word "ABORT" (used by hackers to stop the Evil Mastermind).

Commands and passwords are all uppercase.

ABORT

ALABAMA

ALASKA

ARIZONA

ARKANSAS

CALIFORNIA

COLORADO

CONNECTICUT

DELAWARE

FLORIDA

GEORGIA

HAWAII

IDAHO

ILLINOIS

INDIANA

IOWA

KANSAS

KENTUCKY

LOUISIANA

MAINE

MARYLAND

MASSACHUSETTS

MICHIGAN

MINNESOTA

MISSISSIPPI

MISSOURI

MONTANA

NEBRASKA

NEVADA

NEWHAMPSHIRE

NEWJERSEY

NEWMEXICO

NEWYORK

NORTHCAROLINA

NORTHDAKOTA

OHIO

OKLAHOMA

OREGON

PENNSYLVANIA

RHODEISLAND

SOUTHCAROLINA

SOUTHDAKOTA

TENNESSEE

TEXAS

UTAH

VERMONT

VIRGINIA

WASHINGTON

WESTVIRGINIA

WISCONSIN

WYOMING

Game Play

The Evil Mastermind posts 3 commands at a time, with their passwords. The interval for doing this is undefined, no point in imposing restrictions. The Evil Mastermind chooses the commands, but should generally do requests as soon as possible.

Each Hacker may make one guess at the password for "ABORT" each time the Evil Mastermind posts commands. If someone makes multiple guesses in between clues, only the first one counts, but if they make a mistake and correct it, the Evil Mastermind can accept the correction.

There is no need for spoilers when guessing the password, although please use spoilers if you reveal the algorithm.

The first one to get the password for "ABORT" wins.

P.S. Alternatively if you've cracked the algorithm you can just use it to blow up more states if you're that way inclined (**per original Evil Mastermind's rules!)

Edited by araver
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Evil Mastermind strikes the poor inhabitants of North/South*** and then takes a little break.

NORTHDAKOTA

R0A4O1R5

SOUTHDAKOTA

U0A5O1U6

NORTHCAROLINA

R0A5O3R6

Edit: Evil Mastermind forgot to use right font, but luckily remembered before getting to bed :)

----------------------------------------

*** Little did they know while growing up (or moving in) that their states are so prone to attacks :)

Edited by araver
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I think I've found something. At least it works with all the states so far except IOWA.

ABORT

O1T2A0O3

The Evil Mastermind awakes to find out someone tried to tamper unsuccessfully with the system. Oh well, that happens, it's all good as long as they don't succeed.

Evil Mastermind slaps himself with a trout for not putting a failed-password counter in the system. Nothing can be done now but live with it. One cannot reprogram the system while it's still running...

P.S.

I haven't been at it for long

:)

Sure hope it's just a phase.

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Time to unleash new missiles:

NEBRASKA

B0K3E3R3

MARYLAND

R0N2A3Y2

NEWYORK

W0K2E2Y2

The Evil Mastermind nods appreciatively at the progress so far and ponders where do evil masterminds actually congregate. Do they have clubs or something? If they do, they sure must have a sort of membership challenge so one needs to prove his worth before admission. Yeah, definitely.

Edited by araver
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The Evil Mastermind wakes up to find 3 more targets already selected. Oh well, nothing to do but provide the corresponding passwords and

OHIO

I1I3O4I4

COLORADO

L1D4C3L5

INDIANA

D0A4N2D5

three more states bite the *radioactive* dust.

Edited by araver
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Evil Mastermind opens the TV and sees live transmissions from South Carolina. This can't be! :unsure:

Oh, no, reading the logs it seems that the Evil Mastermind has entered a wrong password for South Caroline. Shame on him! :duh:

The Evil Mastermind enters the correct password:

SOUTHCAROLINA

U0A6O3U7

And quickly checks if the rest of the passwords were correct. Indeed they are.

------------------------------------------

P.S.: Sorry about that! Beginner's mistake :(

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Evil Mastermind opens the TV and sees live transmissions from South Carolina. This can't be! :unsure:

Oh, no, reading the logs it seems that the Evil Mastermind has entered a wrong password for South Caroline. Shame on him! :duh:

The Evil Mastermind enters the correct password:

SOUTHCAROLINA

U0A6O3U7

And quickly checks if the rest of the passwords were correct. Indeed they are.

------------------------------------------

P.S.: Sorry about that! Beginner's mistake :(

That one was definitely throwing me for a loop! :wacko:

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