Level -2

  • Clue: morning light
  • The answer: ####east; the cardinal direction in which the sun rises

Level -1

  • Clue: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet
  • The answer: ####colours

Level 0

  • Clue: dHN3aWZ0
  • This is a base64-encoded string
  • It decodes to "tswift", making ####tswift the answer channel

Level 1

  • Clue: ZnVueHIgdmcgYnNz
  • This is yet again a base64-encoded string, yielding "shake it off"
  • The answer: ####shakeitoff

Level 2

  • Clue: o3yhLKttMzAhpUV=
  • This puzzle introduced a twist to the base64-encoding. The answer string was encoded with rot13, then with base64, and then rot13 again
  • The answer: ####blankspace

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

  • Clues: Commando | Summer
  • People were expected to take the clues in context with the established theme
  • Taylor Swift is an alumni of the Hendersonville High School, which has the "Commando" football team
  • The answer: ####HendersonvilleHighSchool

Level 6

  • Clues: Oqritwq | theme
  • This was the first real crypto puzzle
  • The first clue is encrypted with they Vigenère cipher, and the second clue hints at the key to use
  • Decrypting "Oqritwq" with "TaylorAlisonSwift" (the actual key used is "TaylorA") yields: "upsweep"
  • The answer: ####upsweep

Level 7

  • Clue: KBPVW ZOYKY LVISX WPVOC OGOSL ZADMK AZCZX DYBGD ZITEY VJPVL YLVPK YSDOH MJYKK UGBZD XCAXX F
  • This is another Vigenère-encoded string, with the channel name as the key
  • Decoding it yields: FRISB EETAR IANIS MISTH EBELI EFTHA TWHEN YOUDI EYOUR SOULG OESUP ONTHE ROOFA NDGET SSTUC K
  • That is a quote from George Carlin: "Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck."
  • The answer: ####georgecarlin

Level 8

  • Clue: zlsikmunfepvgnrfftwvbulqamfiqpvqbsxwlumluictcnfolhlljrzmwhutlbjvivbhafxxpqgsxwlumlusiusilsjt
  • At this point, people were expected to try out different ciphers. The Autokey cipher is an extension to the classic Vigenère cipher
  • The clue in the topic is encrypted with it (keyword georgecarlin, the channel name), yielding: thereisnothingnobleinbeingsuperiortoyourfellowmantruenobilityisbeingsuperiortoyourformerself
  • This is a quote from Ernest Hemingway:"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man true nobility is being superior to your former self"
  • The answer: ####hemingway

Level 9

  • Clues: Fire | WMJ | TFRWV STQMU FWNGQ DJFOD VUQXJ EDWAN GSCKL KRDKA PIPWY ENQXF JWGGQ HDCIA NM
  • The first two clues hint at Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start the Fire". WMJ are the initials of Joel's real name, William Martin Joel
  • Looking up the lyrics for "We Didn't Start the Fire", one finds: "Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land [..]"
  • People were expected to try out different keys, the channel name hinting at the line above
  • The third clue is a string encrypted with Vigenère
  • Decrypting that string with the key eichmann yields: YOUEI THERD IEAHE ROORL IVELO NGENO UGHTO SEEYO URSEL FBECO METHE VILLI AN
  • "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villian[sic]"
  • This is a quote from the Christopher Nolan movie "The Dark Knight", spoken by Harvey Dent
  • The answer: ####HarveyDent

Level 10

  • Clue: https://git.io/j5J9
  • Opening the gist yields: Sm9pbiAjIyMjeHN2NHp1aHdlNWxkNGY0aWo1M2EgYW5kIHNheTogIkkgbG92ZSBUYXlsb3IgU3dpZnQhIEhlciBtdXNpYyBpcyBhbWF6aW5nISI=
  • Decoding this string with base64 results in: Join ####xsv4zuhwe5ld4f4ij53a and say: "I love Taylor Swift! Her music is amazing!"
  • The topic of ####xsv4zuhwe5ld4f4ij53a is: You have won the game! | TAYLOR SWIFT IS THE MOST AMAZING MUSICIAN EVER!