[ JEDI-SEC // TG23 TRANSMISSION 001 ]
#TG23: The First Signal
A new, original cryptographic puzzle inspired by the culture of internet mystery hunts. Four stages. No accounts. No personal information. Just observation, decoding, and careful notes.
TRANSMISSION STATUS: OPEN / PUZZLE 001
01 / THE RULES
Read the evidence. Follow the sequence.
This is an original JEDI-SEC community puzzle, not an official Cicada 3301 release and not affiliated with Cicada 3301. Everything needed to solve this first transmission is on this page. Work in order, preserve punctuation where it appears, and do not assume every clue is a cipher.
Objective: decode the final signal and identify the single-word answer. The stages are designed to be solved without specialized software.
02 / STAGE ONE — RAW DATA
A string without spaces
The transmission begins as hexadecimal. Convert each pair of hex digits into its corresponding byte, then read the resulting text.
4349434144412048415320534958204C4554544552532E205348494654204241434B205349582E
Use the instruction you recover to approach Stage Two.
03 / STAGE TWO — SHIFT
The alphabet moves
Apply the shift indicated by Stage One to this ciphertext. Keep the word breaks intact.
ZNK HKYZ VRGIK ZU YZGXZ OY ZNK HKMOTTOTM.
The recovered sentence tells you where to look next.
04 / STAGE THREE — THE EDGE
Do not read across
Examine the beginning of each line. Take one character from each line, in order.
Find the edge where shadows meet. Only the first mark matters. Let the silence guide your eyes. Look before you leap. Observe what each line begins with. Write the first letter of every line.
The result is an instruction. Use it on the final signal.
05 / STAGE FOUR — SIGNAL
Dots, dashes, and separation
Follow the instruction from Stage Three. This signal uses International Morse code. Each slash separates one letter.
- / . / .-. / -- / .. / -. / .- / .-..
Decode the letters in order. The single word you recover is the answer to Transmission 001.
Hint 1 — Stage One
Hexadecimal uses digits 0–9 and letters A–F. Read the data in pairs; the result is ordinary text.
Hint 2 — Stage Two and Three
A Caesar shift moves letters around the alphabet. “Back six” means move each ciphertext letter six positions earlier. For Stage Three, compare the first character of every line.
Hint 3 — Final signal
In Morse code, a single dash is T, a single dot is E, two dashes are M, and two dots are I. Decode each slash-separated group as one letter.
TRANSMISSION COMPLETE?
Keep your working notes.
Record the decoded word and the reasoning that led you there. Do not post private information or probe systems you do not own or have permission to test.
06 / PRIZE SIGNAL — CAESAR SHIFT
Decode this message using the same Caesar shift from Stage Two. The prize addresses are concealed in the ciphertext:
VXOFK ATRUIQKJ: UVKT NZZVY://GXINOBKY.PKJO-YKI.IUS/ GTJ NZZVY://PKJO-YKI.AY/
Shift each letter back six places. Punctuation, dots, slashes, and hyphens stay as they are. Once decoded, enter the addresses directly in your browser.