Descent of the Durtle into eGoooott - NOW AT B8!

Ah sorry, I misunderstood you

1 Like

Wow, it was eGoooott… well, it makes sense that we had it already I guess :stuck_out_tongue:

People seem to be convinced it’s just nonsense, but now I’m kind of curious. Is eGoooott actually something that might appear more as we continue deeper? Is it part of the lore? Or, maybe it’s just there to help prevent brute force attempts. I guess we’ll find out.

1 Like

I think he put the wrong page number in the clue, then had to change the password after he realized why we were so stumped on that one.

8 Likes

all i know is that next time i’m doing my reviews and i don’t know the meaning, i’m typing eGoooott. :wink:

12 Likes

I would be quite satisfied if it contained 100% of the Joyo Kanji. Being able to learn all the Kanji taught in Compulsory Japanese education would be a great “feature” addition to WK imo.

B3 Archive: Spoiler thread

[ Password Entry URL ]

The Puzzle That Brought Us Here

天国へ行きたかったら死から開始。

  1. AABQD010L76223CEGD72FI5DPBOJJMO+
  2. B51BIQPGS206HD
  3. 00LB269G
  4. D02315CPQAWDF0B~IL7KB1FG+A

注意!スペースも必要です。

Solution:

  1. Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar = eating
  2. Genki Textbook I = Turtle
  3. Workbook = unko
  4. Japanese the Spoken Language I = ???
Links to articles containing hidden content:

Choosing the Best Beginner Japanese Textbook For You

Book cipher using ISBN number, page number, and character numbers:

9784789014410 89 41 3 12 31           <-- "unko" (Genki 1 workbook)
9784789014403 209 1 24 29 41 50 84    <-- "Turtle" (Genki 1 textbook)
4883196038 36 2 10 45 130 4 55
1568363850 23 33 2 5 10 34 19
4889962344 50 4 33 8 13 434 4
9780300038347 168 19 1 6 5 5 5 10 9   <-- ???? (Japanese the Spoken Language, Part I)
0887275494 33 98 2 55 34 9 10
9780976998129 39 4 3 45 134 2 66
1880656906 43 99 3 24 55 16 9
4789004546 181 8 49 3 20 2 33         <-- "eating" (Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar)

How to Install Japanese Keyboard on Everything

Durt Durt! Hmm, not bad, you're on the right track!

Genki Textbook Review by Tofugu

Durt Durt! Almost!

A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar - The Tofugu Review

Durt Durt! Nice try!

Overview

This is just an overview, for more information, see the list of books.

Overview
Book Status Keyword Confidence
Genki Workbook Keyword found unko medium
Genki I Keyword found Turtle high
Minna no Nihongo No keyword found but japanese characters 毎晩す強勉き low
Japanese for Busy People Looking for a page image
Japanese for Everyone Keyword found SboneS middling
Japanese: The Spoken Language Keyword found (problematic clue) egoooott very low
Adventures in Japanese Image from pdf found, no keyword found
Japanese from Zero! Images found, no keyword found
Japanese the Manga Way Keyword found umbros/ombros middling
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar Keyword found eating high

List of Books

List of the books with detailed information (book cipher, progress, …)

List of Books

Key

Book Name (publication date)
ISBN-13
(ISBN-10, included only if that’s how the Tofugu article identifies it)
Book cipher code


Genki Workbook (Mar 2011)
ISBN: 9784789014410
Page: 89
Characters: 41 3 12 31

Keyword

unko

Degree of confidence: medium
Citation: Link

Page image


Genki I (Feb 2011)
ISBN: 9784789014403
Page: 209
Characters: 1 24 29 41 50 84

Keyword

Turtle

Degree of confidence: High
Citation: Link

Page image


Minna no Nihongo (2nd Ed)
ISBN-13: 9784883196036
ISBN-10: 4883196038
Page: 36
Characters: 2 10 45 130 4 55

Keyword

… not the foggiest. Page is all in Japanese

Citation: Link

Might be
毎晩す強勉き which looks like a scrambled 毎晩 勉強 すき
( (SPOILER EDITION) Descent of the Durtle into Madness - #126 by sumsum )
counting method still unsure

Page image


Japanese for Busy People (Nov 2011)
ISBN-13: 9781568363851
ISBN-10: 1568363850
Page: 23
Characters: 33 2 5 10 34 19

Keyword

Correct edition:
aosinw or iuemtn or ioHars

Degree of confidence: extremely low
Citation: Link

Wrong edition:
UIMITO or RUEMEU

Degree of confidence: Extremely low - wrong edition used, instructions unclear

Citation: Link

Page image


or


Japanese for Everyone (Jun 2008)
ISBN-13: 9784889962345
ISBN-10: 4889962344
Page: 50
Characters: 4 33 8 13 434 4

Keyword

SboneS

Degree of confidence: … middling
Citation: Link

Page image

image


Japanese: The Spoken Language (Sep 1987)
ISBN: 9780300038347
Page: 168
Characters: 19 1 6 5 5 5 10 9

Keyword

egoooott

Degree of confidence: Very low. The three consecutive 5s make any solution problematic
Citation: Link

Page image


Adventures in Japanese (3rd Ed, Jun 2007)
ISBN: 9780887275494
ISBN-10: 0887275494
Page: 33
Characters: 98 2 55 34 9 10

Keyword

Citation: Link

Page image


Japanese from Zero! (Aug 2014)
ISBN: 9780976998129
Page: 39
Characters: 4 3 45 134 2 66

Keyword

Citation: Link

Page image

Apparently two different versions.

From seanblue:

From Amazon (with matching ISBN, but doesn’t seem to be the “Progressive Version” mentioned in the Tofugu article):

image


Japanese the Manga Way (Nov 2004)
ISBN-13: 9781880656907
ISBN-10: 1880656906
Page: 43
Characters: 99 3 24 55 16 9

Keyword

umbros/ombros depending whether you count the に

Degree of confidence: middling
Citation: Link and Link

Page image


A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
ISBN-13: 9784789004541
ISBN-10: 4789004546
Page: 181
Characters: 8 49 3 20 2 33

Keyword

eating

Degree of confidence: high
Citation: Link and link

Page image


B3 Archive: notes

B3
Direct link

First Clue Solution

Direct Link

The number of strokes of each kanji are as follows:

Kanji Strokes
4
1
8
20
16
This very much looks like a date, i.e. April 18, 2016.

There is one article posted on Tofugu on April 18, 2016.

This article has a background image, which has changed since the article was originally posted, and here is proof.

The only difference is some of the lines of text. The new portion is here:
image

天国へ行きたかったら死から開始。

  1. AABQD010L76223CEGD72FI5DPBOJJMO+
  2. B51BIQPGS206HD
  3. 00LB269G
  4. D02315CPQAWDF0B~IL7KB1FG+A

注意!スペースも必要です。

If I want to go to heaven I will start from death.

  1. ??
  2. ??
  3. ??
  4. ??

Caution! Space is also required.

On to the next clue…

Page contents

Oh. Hello there.
So, you figured out that simple Caeser Cipher?
I suppose Rome wasn’t built in a day, ha ha.
And the Shift JIS riddle?
Talk about dated!

But, this durtle won’t be so easy on you.
You see, I believe that this isn’t a place
for Disciples of the Crabigator.
You seek spiritual ascendence
through your Lessons and Reviews.
We seek physical descendence,
and that is the key
difference between you and I.
We’re just a different type from you.

Hearing that, do you still
seek to descend deeper into Durtle Heaven?
Very well, here is your next clue:

六乙泣競薬

Be warned, this is only the first step of many.
Come back to me only when you’ve collected
all four keywords.
Say them in the correct order
and I’ll let you through.

Kanji Details

Copied (with small changes) from this post by @ctmf

Data dump from WWWJDIC: (I don’t know how recent the data is, esp. frequency)

Attribute
WaniKani Level 2 57 15 11 17
JIS code (JIS X 0208) 4F3B 3235 3563 3625 4C74
Kuten code 47-27 18-21 21-67 22-5 44-84
Shift-JIS code 985a 89b3 8b83 8ba3 96f2
Unicode 516d 4e59 6ce3 7af6 85ac
Bushu (radical no.) 8 5 85 117 140
Traditional radical 12
Grade 1 8 4 4 3
Stroke Count 4 1 8 20 16
Frequency ranking 93 1841 1380 610 702
JLPT Level N5 N1 N1 N2 N3
Classic Nelson 283 260 2532 3364 4074
New Nelson 371 56 3104 4244 5224
Halpern NJECD Index 1965 3339 338 1847 2375
Halpern Kodansha Kanji Dictionary Index 2461 4145 396 2322 3011
Halpern KLD Index 1244 2104 253 1200 1539
Halpern KLD (2nd edition) Index 1710 2849 300 1639 2100
Heisig index 6 71 432 434 1736
Heisig index (6th Ed.) 6 75 463 465 1873
Gakken index 20 1713 1192 609 541
O’Neill (Japanese Names) index 61 2 590 2927 2568
O’Neill’s Essential Kanji Index 8 1339 1049 464 323
Morohashi index 1453 161 17309 25831 32188PX
Morohashi vol.page 2.0045 1.0354 6.1064 8.728 9.0964
Henshall index 76 1041 838 463 398
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji index 8 983 1236 852 359
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji (2011 ed.) index 8 1017 1300 871 360
R&W Japanese 1st ed. (Sakade) Index 6 379 521
Japanese Kanji Flashcards, Series 1 (White Rabbit Press) 19 1030 678 789 247
R&W Japanese 3rd ed. (Henshall) Index 6 479 487 420
Tuttle kanji card 24 1007 500 640 439
Crowley Index 124
Kanji in Context Index 6 1908 252 1020 315
Japanese For Busy People Index 1.A 2.6
Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide Index 153 25 1171 1463 672
Maniette’s “Les Kanjis dans la tête” Index 6 71 439 441 1752
SKIP code 2/2/02 4/1/01 1/3/05 1/10/10 2/3/13
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kanji Dictionary descriptor 2j2.2 0a1.5 3a5.1 5b15.1 3k13.15
Four Corner code 80 1771 3011.8 21.6 4490.4
De Roo code 461 3556 373 457 1964
Pinyin reading(s) liu4 lu4 yi3 qi4 jing4 yao4
Korean reading(s) ryug eul eub gyeong yag
ON reading(s) ロク リク オツ イツ キュウ キョウ ケイ ヤク
KUN reading(s) む む.つ むっ.つ むい おと- きのと な.く きそ.う せ.る くら.べる くすり
Nanori reading(s) く むつ ろっ ろつ かい わたなべ
English meanings six the latter; duplicate; strange; witty; fishhook radical (no. 5) cry; weep; moan emulate; compete with; bid; sell at auction; bout; contest; race medicine; chemical; enamel; gunpowder; benefit
Mis-classification code SP4-2-1 PP2-10-10
Cross-reference code J0693B
Detailed Analysis

This is a breakdown of the entire text passage, section by section feel free to edit and contribute your own analysis/observations to each section

Oh. Hello there.
So, you figured out that simple Caeser Cipher?

I’m curious as to why mention the previous puzzles at all.

Keywords;
Simple, Caeser

I suppose Rome wasn’t built in a day, ha ha

If the cipher was simple, why is this Durtle using an idiom that is usually reserved for one taking their time? The first reference to something old, ancient or back in time.

Keywords;
Rome

Rome wasn't built in a day - Wikipedia

Specifically, this is an adage
Proverb - Wikipedia

The fact an adage is used and is something that is often “concise, memorable, and usually philosophical” and often uses memetic reptition supports the idea that part of the solution could be Yojijukugo
Yojijukugo - Wikipedia

A song by Morcheeba is also the first thing to appear when searching this adage on google. doubtful it’s related, but I’ll include everything

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLGJXbl6g8o

.

And the Shift JIS riddle?
Talk about dated!

Another reference to age, time. Didn’t one person call this a Jiddle instead of a riddle? could be something there. The difference between J and R is 8 characters.

Keyword;
Dated
dated

/ˈdeɪtɪd/

adjective

adjective: dated

    1. marked with a date.

“a signed and dated painting”

    1. old-fashioned.

“a dated expression”

But, this durtle won’t be so easy on you.

F*ck you the last one was hard

You see, I believe that this isn’t a place
for Disciples of the Crabigator.

Telling us to look away from Wanikani? Maybe look at other popular learning resources. Disciples is capitalized here.

Keywords;
Disciples

You seek spiritual ascendence
through your Lessons and Reviews.

Ascendence could mean anything. Levels, knowledge, fluency. Lessons and Reviews are capitalized.

Keywords
Spiritual, ascendence, Lessons, Reviews.

We seek physical descendence,
and that is the key
difference between you and I.

Not sure how to split this one. There is a weird line break after ‘key’, suggesting the difference between “You” and “I”, or Ascendence and Descendence is a key to the puzzle

Keywords;
descendence, you, I

Descendence could be a clue, physical descendants could mean something that is physically derived/descendent from something else. Most people have a theory that this is something to do with the history of Kanji, the myth of Cangjie or the etymology of the Kanji provided.

Ascending and Descending is also a famous picture by M.C Escher.

Ascending and Descending - Wikipedia

We’re just a different type from you.

Keywords;
Type, different

Once again emphasizes difference. A different type could mean a different type setting, a different type of Kanji, different Japanese symbols, a different type of anything really. Here are a few resources.

Typesetting - Wikipedia
List of Japanese typographic symbols - Wikipedia
Japanese Braille - Wikipedia

Hearing that, do you still
seek to descend deeper into Durtle Heaven?

Another weird line break here. Also, yes, of course, we freaking do! More capitalized letters.

Keywords;
Hearing, seek, descend, deeper, Durtle, Heaven

Including this simply because ‘hearing’ was used, surprisingly it’s a Tofugo article, and the first hit for “deaf in Japan”
Japanese Sign Language and Being Deaf in Japan

Very well, here is your next clue:

六乙泣競薬

Full analysis has been carried out on the Kanji in other posts.
Most noticeably there ar 5 Kanji, however, our solutions requires 4 Keywords

Be warned, this is only the first step of many.

What is the first step? There is a popular saying " A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", strengthening the idea that we could need to look at popular sayings or phrases.

Keywords;
Be, warned, first step, step
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Wikipedia

Come back to me only when you’ve collected
all four keywords.

Another weird line break, most notably telling us that we need 4 keywords to solve the puzzle, which supports the idea of the answer being related to Yojijukugo.

Keywords;
Four, Keywords, collected

Say them in the correct order
and I’ll let you through.

Another odd line break, Scrap that, realised it wasn’t so odd making 3 odd line breaks in this text that I noticed. Also suggests we will need to re-order any four key-words we find. This makes a total of 24 possible permutations.

References

References
Wanikani info

Based on @Masayoshiro’s post 2892 and @rfindley’s post 2993 and @javasparrow’s post 3196

六 - Six
Alternate: –
Parts: Lid, Fins
On: ろく
Kun: む
Level: 2
Strokes: 4

Meaning Mnemonic

Just imagine a beast with a lid for a head and fins for feet, running around looking as insane as possible (really imagine it!). When it runs up to you, it shows you the top of its lid-head. On it is written the numbers 666. Why? Because it’s a spawn of the devil, and the number six is the devil’s number.

Imagine this beast doing various crazy things, the crazier the better (to help you remember). Make sure all these things are associated with the devil and the devil’s number (six), so you can remember the meaning of this kanji.

Reading Mnemonic

Whenever we need to remember the reading ろく we just use the word rock.

So, think about the devil and the devil’s number. What is often associated with those things? Why, rock (ろく) and roll is. Imagine the lid-head fin-legged beast suddenly blasting out rock music in the middle of his destructive mayhem.

Sing along with the monster, if it helps you to remember the reading of this kanji.

Vocab

Level, link, and primary meaning:
2 - 六月 (ろくがつ) June
2 - (ろく) Six
2 - 十六 (じゅうろく) Sixteen
2 - 六日 (むいか) Sixth Day
2 - 六つ (むっつ) Six Things

乙 - Latter
Alternate: B
Parts: Nose
On: おつ, いつ
Kun: おと, きのと
Level: 57
Strokes: 1

Meaning Mnemonic

Your nose isn’t the first thing people see about your face, it’s the latter. They see your eyes THEN your nose, then your mouth, in order going down. Just label them A B and C and you’ll never forget!

Imagine saying A B C as you look down someones face at their eyes, nose and mouth. Their nose is B!

Reading Mnemonic

If you don’t have any cereal you have to eat your B breakfast option. Oats (おつ). You don’t hate oats, but they’re definitely not your first choice.

Imagine running out of cereal so you have to eat your latter option of breakfast oats. They aren’t awful but they aren’t your A breakfast choice, that’s for sure.

Vocab

Level, link, and primary meaning:
57 - 甲乙 (こうおつ) A And B
57 - (おつ) Second
59 - 早乙女 (さおとめ) Rice Planting Girl

泣 - Cry
Alternate: –
Parts: Stand, Tsunami
On: きゅう
Kun: な
Level: 15
Strokes: 8

Meaning Mnemonic

If you stand in front of a tsunami, you’re going to cry. That tsunami is going to hit you hard, and rip you right off the ground on which you stand. And then you’ll cry like a little baby.

Imagine getting hit with the full force of a tsunami. It slams into you and crushes every bone in your body. It hurts so much you cry.

Reading Mnemonic

You know what else can make you cry? A Nazi (な). Nazis are mean, mean people, much worse than tsunamis. Nazis are bad news. Imagine a Nazi surfboarding on top of that tsunami that just hit you and made you cry. I imagine there’s nothing worse in this world than that.

Picture this mean Nazi riding toward you atop of this tsunami wave. Hear him screaming, “Heil!” just before the tsunami wave crashes over you. Rotten Nazi.

Vocab

Level, link, and primary meaning:
15 - 泣く (なく) To Cry
17 - 泣き虫 (なきむし) Crybaby
17 - 泣き声 (なきごえ) Crying

競 - Compete
Alternate: –
Parts: Older Brother, Stand
On: きょう
Kun: きそ
Level: 11
Strokes: 20

Meaning Mnemonic

Standing next to your older brother is another standing older brother of yours. They’re trying to compete, to see which of them can stand the straightest and tallest.

Picture your two older brothers competing like this. Are you going to root for one of them? That’s not very nice, you shouldn’t have a favorite older brother.

Reading Mnemonic

Your older brothers are trying to compete to see which of them gets to go to きょうと with you. You won a free trip to きょうと, but there’s only one other ticket, so now your brothers are competing for you.

Look really closely at your older brothers. They’re competing pretty hard for your attention. They really want to go to きょうと… but which one do YOU want to spend time with the most?

Vocab

Level, link, and primary meaning:
11 - 競争 (きょうそう) Competition
11 - 競う (きそう) To Compete
53 - 競艇 (きょうてい) Boat Race

薬 - Medicine
Alternate: drug, drugs
Parts: Flowers, Comfort
On: やく
Kun: くすり
Level: 17
Strokes: 16

Meaning Mnemonic

Flowers can be used for comfort, but also for medicine. Sure, it’s a comfort to smell flowers because they smell nice, but one can also use them as medicine to heal people.

Imagine having some medicine that smells and tastes like fresh cut flowers. Smell the smell in your nose and taste the taste on your tongue.

Reading Mnemonic

The best way to transport all the medicine on land is with a yak (やく). Yaks are big, strong, and very capable of transporting flower medicine like these.

Picture a yak in your mind. Pretend you are riding atop the yak as it transports this medicine. Feel the fur of the yak in your hands as you cling on for dear life.

Vocab

Level, link, and primary meaning:
17 - 薬用 (やくよう) Medicinal
17 - (くすり) Medicine
17 - 薬物 (やくぶつ) Medicines
17 - 薬方 (やくほう) Prescription
17 - 薬学 (やくがく) Study Of Pharmacy
28 - 妙薬 (みょうやく) Wonder Drug
29 - 眠り薬 (ねむりぐすり) Sleeping Pills
29 - 睡眠薬 (すいみんやく) Sleeping Pills
40 - 薬剤 (やくざい) Medicine
40 - 薬剤師 (やくざいし) Pharmacist

Jisho info


Link: 六 #kanji - Jisho.org
Meaning: six


Link: 乙 #kanji - Jisho.org
Meaning: the latter, duplicate, strange, witty, fishhook radical (no. 5)


Link: 泣 #kanji - Jisho.org
Meaning: cry, weep, moan


Link: 競 #kanji - Jisho.org
Meaning: emulate, compete with, bid, sell at auction, bout, contest, race


Link: 薬 #kanji - Jisho.org
Meaning: medicine, chemical, enamel, gunpowder, benefit

wwwjdic info

See WWWJDIC: Kanji Selection

JIS code (JIS X 0208) 4F3B
Kuten code 47-27
Shift-JIS code 985a
Unicode 516d
Bushu (radical no.) 8
Traditional radical 12
Grade 1
Stroke Count 4
Frequency ranking 93
JLPT Level 4
Classic Nelson 283
New Nelson 371
Halpern NJECD Index 1965
Halpern Kodansha Kanji Dictionary Index 2461
Halpern KLD Index 1244
Halpern KLD (2nd edition) Index 1710
Heisig index 6
Heisig index (6th Ed.) 6
Gakken index 20
O’Neill (Japanese Names) index 61
O’Neill’s Essential Kanji Index 8
Morohashi index 1453
Morohashi vol.page 2.0045
Henshall index 76
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji index 8
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji (2011 ed.) index 8
R&W Japanese 1st ed. (Sakade) Index 6
Japanese Kanji Flashcards, Series 1 (White Rabbit Press) 19
R&W Japanese 3rd ed. (Henshall) Index 6
Tuttle kanji card 24
Crowley Index 124
Kanji in Context Index 6
Japanese For Busy People Index 1.A
Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide Index 153
Maniette’s “Les Kanjis dans la tête” Index 6
SKIP code 2-2-2
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kanji Dictionary descriptor 2j2.2
Four Corner code 0080.0
De Roo code 461
Pinyin reading(s) liu4 lu4
Korean reading(s) ryug
ON reading(s) ロク リク
KUN reading(s) む む.つ むっ.つ むい
Nanori reading(s) く むつ ろっ ろつ
English meanings six
JIS code (JIS X 0208) 3235
Kuten code 18-21
Shift-JIS code 89b3
Unicode 4e59
Bushu (radical no.) 5
Grade 8
Stroke Count 1
Frequency ranking 1841
JLPT Level 1
Classic Nelson 260
New Nelson 56
Halpern NJECD Index 3339
Halpern Kodansha Kanji Dictionary Index 4145
Halpern KLD Index 2104
Halpern KLD (2nd edition) Index 2849
Heisig index 71
Heisig index (6th Ed.) 75
Gakken index 1713
O’Neill (Japanese Names) index 2
O’Neill’s Essential Kanji Index 1339
Morohashi index 161
Morohashi vol.page 1.0354
Henshall index 1041
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji index 983
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji (2011 ed.) index 1017
Japanese Kanji Flashcards, Series 1 (White Rabbit Press) 1030
Tuttle kanji card 1007
Kanji in Context Index 1908
Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide Index 25
Maniette’s “Les Kanjis dans la tête” Index 71
SKIP code 4-1-1
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kanji Dictionary descriptor 0a1.5
Four Corner code 1771.0
De Roo code 3556
Mis-classification code SP4-2-1
Pinyin reading(s) yi3
Korean reading(s) eul
ON reading(s) オツ イツ
KUN reading(s) おと- きのと
English meanings the latter; duplicate; strange; witty; fishhook radical (no. 5)
JIS code (JIS X 0208) 3563
Kuten code 21-67
Shift-JIS code 8b83
Unicode 6ce3
Bushu (radical no.) 85
Grade 4
Stroke Count 8
Frequency ranking 1380
JLPT Level 2
Classic Nelson 2532
New Nelson 3104
Halpern NJECD Index 338
Halpern Kodansha Kanji Dictionary Index 396
Halpern KLD Index 253
Halpern KLD (2nd edition) Index 300
Heisig index 432
Heisig index (6th Ed.) 463
Gakken index 1192
O’Neill (Japanese Names) index 590
O’Neill’s Essential Kanji Index 1049
Morohashi index 17309
Morohashi vol.page 6.1064
Henshall index 838
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji index 1236
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji (2011 ed.) index 1300
Japanese Kanji Flashcards, Series 1 (White Rabbit Press) 678
R&W Japanese 3rd ed. (Henshall) Index 479
Tuttle kanji card 500
Kanji in Context Index 252
Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide Index 1171
Maniette’s “Les Kanjis dans la tête” Index 439
SKIP code 1-3-5
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kanji Dictionary descriptor 3a5.1
Four Corner code 3011.8
De Roo code 373
Pinyin reading(s) qi4
Korean reading(s) eub
ON reading(s) キュウ
KUN reading(s) な.く
English meanings cry; weep; moan
JIS code (JIS X 0208) 3625
Kuten code 22-5
Shift-JIS code 8ba3
Unicode 7af6
Bushu (radical no.) 117
Grade 4
Stroke Count 20
Frequency ranking 610
JLPT Level 2
Classic Nelson 3364
New Nelson 4244
Halpern NJECD Index 1847
Halpern Kodansha Kanji Dictionary Index 2322
Halpern KLD Index 1200
Halpern KLD (2nd edition) Index 1639
Heisig index 434
Heisig index (6th Ed.) 465
Gakken index 609
O’Neill (Japanese Names) index 2927
O’Neill’s Essential Kanji Index 464
Morohashi index 25831
Morohashi vol.page 8.7280
Henshall index 463
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji index 852
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji (2011 ed.) index 871
R&W Japanese 1st ed. (Sakade) Index 379
Japanese Kanji Flashcards, Series 1 (White Rabbit Press) 789
R&W Japanese 3rd ed. (Henshall) Index 487
Tuttle kanji card 640
Kanji in Context Index 1020
Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide Index 1463
Maniette’s “Les Kanjis dans la tête” Index 441
SKIP code 1-10-10
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kanji Dictionary descriptor 5b15.1
Four Corner code 0021.6
De Roo code 457
Mis-classification code PP2-10-10
Pinyin reading(s) jing4
Korean reading(s) gyeong
ON reading(s) キョウ ケイ
KUN reading(s) きそ.う せ.る くら.べる
Nanori reading(s) かい わたなべ
English meanings emulate; compete with; bid; sell at auction; bout; contest; race
JIS code (JIS X 0208) 4C74
Kuten code 44-84
Shift-JIS code 96f2
Unicode 85ac
Bushu (radical no.) 140
Grade 3
Stroke Count 16
Cross-reference code J0693B
Frequency ranking 702
JLPT Level 3
Classic Nelson 4074
New Nelson 5224
Halpern NJECD Index 2375
Halpern Kodansha Kanji Dictionary Index 3011
Halpern KLD Index 1539
Halpern KLD (2nd edition) Index 2100
Heisig index 1736
Heisig index (6th Ed.) 1873
Gakken index 541
O’Neill (Japanese Names) index 2568
O’Neill’s Essential Kanji Index 323
Morohashi index 32188PX
Morohashi vol.page 9.0964
Henshall index 398
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji index 359
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji (2011 ed.) index 360
R&W Japanese 1st ed. (Sakade) Index 521
Japanese Kanji Flashcards, Series 1 (White Rabbit Press) 247
R&W Japanese 3rd ed. (Henshall) Index 420
Tuttle kanji card 439
Kanji in Context Index 315
Japanese For Busy People Index 2.6
Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide Index 672
Maniette’s “Les Kanjis dans la tête” Index 1752
SKIP code 2-3-13
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kanji Dictionary descriptor 3k13.15
Four Corner code 4490.4
De Roo code 1964
Pinyin reading(s) yao4
Korean reading(s) yag
ON reading(s) ヤク
KUN reading(s) くすり
Nanori reading(s)
English meanings medicine; chemical; enamel; gunpowder; benefit

Notes
Note that the post 2823 solved B2, no post before this is related to B3

Notes
Attributes of the 5 kanji comparison
Attribute
WaniKani Level 2 57 15 11 17
ON reading(s) ロク リク オツ イツ キュウ キョウ ケイ ヤク
KUN reading(s) む む.つ むっ.つ むい おと- きのと な.く きそ.う せ.る くら.べる くすり
Nanori reading(s) く むつ ろっ ろつ かい わたなべ
English meanings six the latter; duplicate; strange; witty; fishhook radical (no. 5) cry; weep; moan emulate; compete with; bid; sell at auction; bout; contest; race medicine; chemical; enamel; gunpowder; benefit
Cangjie YC NU EYT YUYTU TIOD
JIS code (JIS X 0208) 4F3B 3235 3563 3625 4C74
Kuten code 47-27 18-21 21-67 22-5 44-84
Shift-JIS code 985a 89b3 8b83 8ba3 96f2
Unicode 516d 4e59 6ce3 7af6 85ac
Bushu (radical no.) 8 5 85 117 140
WK Radicals Six Nose Tsunami, Stand Stand, Older Brother Flowers, Comfort
Traditional radical 12
Grade 1 8 4 4 3
Stroke Count 4 1 8 20 16
Frequency ranking 93 1841 1380 610 702
JLPT Level N5 N1 N1 N2 N3
Classic Nelson 283 260 2532 3364 4074
New Nelson 371 56 3104 4244 5224
Halpern NJECD Index 1965 3339 338 1847 2375
Halpern Kodansha Kanji Dictionary Index 2461 4145 396 2322 3011
Halpern KLD Index 1244 2104 253 1200 1539
Halpern KLD (2nd edition) Index 1710 2849 300 1639 2100
Heisig index 6 71 432 434 1736
Heisig index (6th Ed.) 6 75 463 465 1873
Gakken index 20 1713 1192 609 541
O’Neill (Japanese Names) index 61 2 590 2927 2568
O’Neill’s Essential Kanji Index 8 1339 1049 464 323
Morohashi index 1453 161 17309 25831 32188PX
Morohashi vol.page 2.0045 1.0354 6.1064 8.728 9.0964
Henshall index 76 1041 838 463 398
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji index 8 983 1236 852 359
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kana & Kanji (2011 ed.) index 8 1017 1300 871 360
R&W Japanese 1st ed. (Sakade) Index 6 379 521
Japanese Kanji Flashcards, Series 1 (White Rabbit Press) 19 1030 678 789 247
R&W Japanese 3rd ed. (Henshall) Index 6 479 487 420
Tuttle kanji card 24 1007 500 640 439
Crowley Index 124
Kanji in Context Index 6 1908 252 1020 315
Japanese For Busy People Index 1.A 2.6
Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide Index 153 25 1171 1463 672
Maniette’s “Les Kanjis dans la tête” Index 6 71 439 441 1752
SKIP code 2/2/02 4/1/01 1/3/05 1/10/10 2/3/13
Spahn & Hadamitzky’s Kanji Dictionary descriptor 2j2.2 0a1.5 3a5.1 5b15.1 3k13.15
Four Corner code 80 1771 3011.8 21.6 4490.4
De Roo code 461 3556 373 457 1964
Pinyin reading(s) liu4 lu4 yi3 qi4 jing4 yao4
Korean reading(s) ryug eul eub gyeong yag
Mis-classification code SP4-2-1 PP2-10-10
Cross-reference code J0693B

[Descent of the Durtle into eGoooott - NOW AT B8! - #2935 by ctmf](List of radicals in the clue Kanji, sorted in ascending order)
[Descent of the Durtle into eGoooott - NOW AT B8! - #2966 by ctmf](Order of combinations to brute-force a 4-word (or 4-letter) solution)
[Descent of the Durtle into eGoooott - NOW AT B8! - #3139 by matthieuesnault](Summary of ideas from the first day of B3 guessing (12/29 - 12/30))

“Help” from Koichi - responses to questons
(all included in case he said something significant nobody noticed)

List of responses

Concept ideas

Concepts
Cangjie inpjut
Theory

Every hint seems to point towards looking at the past of Kanji and turning away from WK

You see, I believe that this isn’t a place
for Disciples of the Crabigator.

The earliest point of Origin for written Kanji, after Bone Script was Cangjie, a legendary figure that had four eyes there are 4 keywords in the hint and eight irises.

When trying to derive a writing system, a phoenix dropped an object at his foot with a hoofprint of a Pixiu, which became the inspriation for Kanji.

This mirrors the hint

You seek spiritual ascendence
through your Lessons and Reviews.
We seek physical descendence

Whilst Cangjie sough enlightenment, something physical dropped before his feet from the sky.

Why is this important? Well, Cangjie has an input method named after him! Considering the previous clue used shift-JIS, I think this input method is a good starting point. It also tends to use up to 4 keys to input characters.

Cangjie input

The Cangjie input method ( Tsang-chieh input method , sometimes also Changjie , Cang Jie , or Changjei [1]) is a system by which Chinese characters may be entered into a computer using a standard keyboard. Invented in 1976 by Chu Bong-Foo, the method is named after Cangjie (Tsang-chieh), the mythological inventor of the Chinese writing system; the name was suggested by Chiang Wei-kuo, then Defence Minister of Taiwan. Although the input method was initially based upon traditional Chinese characters, it has since been revamped so that Cangjie and the simplified Chinese character set can interact.

Considering the previous clue used shift-JIS, I think this input method is a good starting point. It also tends to use up to 4 keys to input characters.

Cangjie codes

The key words “you” and “I” show up quite a lot in the text

seek physical descendence,
that is the key
difference
between you and I

So the following theory was put forward to use this as a subtraction cipher to subtract the keys y,u,i and possibly o from the Cangjie codes using the keywords “descend” and “difference” to support this logic.

Unfortunately these codes are very non-specific, and give many other possible kanji ‘C’ gives over 50 possible kanji, so I have simply tabulated the first options given. We need to do something else to these codes to narrow down which kanji we should actually be focusing on

Alternatively, this was an interesting development;

Tools

Keyboard
A virtual Cangjie input keyboard can be found here to test your solutions - Cangjie keyboard

Yojijukugo

Theory

Come back to me only when you’ve collected
all four keywords.

Yojijukugo is a Japanese expression consisting of four kanji, which could be linked to the four keywords.
It could be the last step of the riddle if we can go from 4 kanjis to an english expression.

The hint also uses some famous sayings (Rome built in a day, talk about dated, …) that can lead to Yojijukugo.

See these articles for examples of Yojijukugo, or further explanation.
Tofugu article
Wikipedia article

Against this theory, the hint seems to suggest we’re looking for four separate words to then need to assemble into the right order.

Attempts

Tools

https://yoji.jitenon.jp/ A Yojijukugo lookup dictionary (all in Japanese)

3 Likes

I must have said something useful one time, because I keep getting notified every time someone makes an archive post. :rofl:

3 Likes

eGoooott everyone!

You’ve done well to join me here. I know it’s been a tough journey and I thought a lot about catching every single one of you on fire, but here we all are–together and unburnt and the best of friends.

Anyhoo, I’ve been here for a while now and have come to the conclusion that we just have to chill out. Take a break. Wait for the clues to come to us, you know? Like, relax and don’t worry about it. Make a poll or two. Watch some TV. Nothing we do now will help. Just let the clues wash over you instead of washing over the clues.

Do you hear that sound though? It makes me a bit nervous. I wonder what’s coming our way…?

23 Likes

Maybe, Levels 61 - 70 coming soon???

3 Likes

In your dreams, you durty TehGeer. ho ho ho! Down down I go.

16 Likes

Someone stop him! This man belongs in Durtle Jail, or as we call it: “jail.”

16 Likes

Don’t listen to them, it’s all a trap.

15 Likes

It’s time to burn, @koichi. We’ll make a durtle out of you yet!

15 Likes

:fire: Aghh. It hurts so much :fire:

18 Likes

What is happening

13 Likes

I feel like I’m watching Koichi burn and there is nothing I can do about it!

Nooooooooooo!!!

2 Likes

Well done everybody! We were able to burn the criminal. Now we just wait three days, and he will surely rise again.

17 Likes

not sure, but i’m with the durtles

4 Likes

@koichi is talking to himself.

12 Likes

A round of high fives for a job well done!

30 Likes