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2:02 PM
@Bani everyone trying to solve the unicorn riddle :)
 
Heh. I'm still stuck on step 2
 
@Machavity hold my beer
 
@pinckerman wheres the riddle
 
If you are working on the unicorn riddle, be aware this room might contain hints and minor spoilers.
10
 
2:13 PM
@Machavity its not spoilers its team effort
 
@Bani Someone has been flagging the spoilers. Trying to head off further flags
 
@Machavity gotchya
 
I got flagged yet? I'm trying not to ...
 
No, I'm a moderator and can see the flags when they are raised
Don't overthink the flag thing. I declined them. Feel free to discuss the puzzle. That's half the fun of the unicorn quest
Obviously don't spill the whole thing
 
step 2 has a URL, but non of them work (100 possible). So we shouldn't use that provided URL? Instead find something different than that one?
 
2:18 PM
im clueless :))
 
Yeah, don't link the various URL steps please. And if it's like last year, the URLs of later steps may be unique to a specific user
 
@bani I spent 8 hrs going from step 1 to 2 with someone giving me the numbers 20 mins in, me decoding them into two words, and discarded them (then spent 7+ hour trying to get something else)
 
so the idea is to decrypt the message on winterbash2022.stackexchange.com/visit-sparkles ?
 
@Machavity not linking. just saying none of them work for me. So the puzzle showing me a url is another red herring? I should ignore it.
 
@JamesRisner Oh. I suspect you have to do something else with the results of converting the numbers, but I haven't figured out what
 
2:21 PM
I'm clueless too...
 
@pinckerman high five
 
@Machavity so you stuck on page 2 also?
 
XaC
@JamesRisner how do you split the numbers into two words? I can't find a way that makes sense
 
I haven't gotten that far. I decoded page 1 and figured out what the trick was, but the resulting letters aren't helpful
 
@Machavity remove that link if that's too hinty
 
2:24 PM
Nah. Just don't link the WB steps. Links to tools to help are not the same thing
 
its sad that im at work... when i get home ill buy a notebook and start trying to decode the page
 
OK. I'm actually working today. I can look at hat theories but I do not know how to give hints or clues for the unicorn puzzles, so direct those at Slate. :P
 
Oh, duh. The second page is clearly /dont-ask-catija. Thanks for the hint! :P
 
yesterday, by Panda
@Catija My working theories:
Shakuntala Devi is for completing 10(?) *First Q reviews* over 3 days (no need to consecutive) where the majority of voters agreed with you
Gregorio Y. Zara for completing 10(?) *Low Quality Posts reviews* over 3 days (no need to consecutive) where the majority of voters agreed with you
Sorry Catija for being annoying :P Is this on the right track?
 
@Catija Panda has hat theories on S/h/G
 
2:29 PM
Aren't those queues ones that only one reviewer is required?
 
I've tried the FA/FQ ones
I've duplicated the exact actions (on different posts) as several others have done to get
 
Right, “majority of voters” part only applicable for LQPs.
 
so I'm basically spent with 5 days on just learning S/H/G
 
Shakuntala Devi is for completing 10(?) First Q reviews each day over 3 days (no need to consecutive).
 
I also am not certain the "shows in activity" is true, because I have dates people had the hat and their activity before that date doesn't work for getting me the hat
 
2:31 PM
Gregorio Y. Zara for completing 10(?) Low Quality Posts reviews each day over 3 days (no need to consecutive) where the majority of voters agreed with you.
 
The queues are correct but not the numbers/days.
 
4 days?
 
:/
 
i think i found how to decrypt the page 1 :))
 
yesterday, by Panda
Refining previous theories from everyone: Thomas Mensah is for the Close queue, Mario Molina is for the Reopen queue and Albert Einstein is for the Suggested Edits queue.
All these hats require 10 reviews on SO and **only 3 on non-SO sites** where the majority of voters agreed with you.
 
2:32 PM
@Catija also for running is it something to do with follows or saves? which one specifically please.
 
No.
 
No = not saves and not follows?
(for running)
 
@JamesRisner how can i ask you if my idea of decrypting is the right one without spoiling it?
 
also not queues (review) due to not being a scientist
@Bani I think that's hard
 
@Catija Can you see it on your own profile activity all actions page? For Running.
 
2:35 PM
@JamesRisner what if i encrypt the word hey and you tell me if its right?
 
that's better asked from @Machavity (if it's alright)
 
@U12-Forward No.
 
@Catija This person got Greg..Za with:
VTand:
Low Quality Looks_OK 1x15 1x16 2x22
First Question Looks_OK 1x17
Edits Approve 1x15 1x21
So it's something in that?
AxB = A qty B date 12/B
 
@JamesRisner I'm OK with sharing hints about the URL. Just don't link anything
 
@JamesRisner I don't even know what that means. I feel like you're asking me to solve a puzzle. :P
Anyway, y'all are overcomplicating it. Just think about what day it first became available.
 
2:39 PM
@Machavity im not gonna share a link about the url ill encrypt the word hey and see if i got the right algorythm
 
Wait, the number of reviews on non-SO sites isn’t 3??
 
@Catija Hmmm, does it have something similar with last year's E-pic hat?
 
@Catija I can say most definitively that it’s 4 days.
 
There's two sets with three each. The two sets have different triggers but within the set, the triggers are the same, other than the queue.
 
If a unicorn leaves their house at 7:21, traveling at 15kph, and Catija leaves her house at 7:25 traveling at 70kph, how long will it take for her to ban the whole room? (please express all answers in Radians)
 
2:41 PM
VTand had Gregorio Y. Zara on the 21st. His total review activity from the start (12/14 21:00) was 4 LQ on 3 days, 1 First Question, and 2 Suggested Edit queue on two days.
I've reproduced this activity.
 
@Panda Which day did it first get awarded? I'm seeing Dec 18.
 
@Catija Yep, WB started on Dec 14, that’s day 4
 
or 3.XX days
 
WB started in the last few hours of Dec 14... so 14, 15, 16, 17, 18... That's not four.
 
depending on time on 18th
oh math hard when tired, so 5?
But VTand didn't spend 5 days in a queue.
@Catija does it count reviews done prior to 12/14 21:00?
I've been operating on a hard no.
 
2:44 PM
@Catija Understood now :)
 
@Panda I'm not yet understanding.
 
@JamesRisner Possibly. I don't think the system considers the time of day that WB started, just the date.
 
@JamesRisner Reviews done over 5 days
 
All my research is void.
 
2:46 PM
Number each day is not confirmed yet.
 
Sorry
 
got to be 1, because people have it with only 1
 
1?
 
@Catija no need be sorry, I assumed a given that wasn't valid.
 
@Catija Sorry, what do you mean by sets?
 
XaC
2:47 PM
@Machavity so pi ? there's a cupcake hat, maybe it's link to that
 
@JamesRisner does the algorythm from the 1st row change on the second row?
 
Each review hat has 2 sets?
 
also do the days need be consecutive?
 
No
 
@Panda There's the three that were earned immediately. and the three that didn't get earned until the 18th. Those two groups of hats have different triggers.
So you only need to solve two triggers and then connect them to the specific queues.
 
2:49 PM
@Catija Thanks for the explanation, I realised that. Einstein, Mensah and Molina are a set. The three others in another set.
 
Correct.
 
That clarifies a lot!
 
@Catija i decrypted the 1st row on https://winterbash2022.stackexchange.com/visit-sparkles
is the second row decrypted differently than the 1st
 
Dunno. I just asked Slate to create the puzzles. I didn't solve them.
 
@Bani that's not the real problem, you just may need to try 2 different numbers
The real question is: is it possible to fill the knapsack?
 
2:52 PM
@Catija allright
 
@pinckerman no
OK, I guess I know something.
 
LOL
 
@panda so what queues are only 1 review needed? FA/FQ/LQ?
 
@Catija Number of reviews on non-SO site isn’t 3???
I got Einstein (Suggested Edits) on Meta.SE after doing 3 reviews.
@JamesRisner Yep!
 
@Panda It is. Did I say no somewhere?
 
2:55 PM
22 mins ago, by Catija
No.
Thought this no was referring to my quoted message.
 
23 mins ago, by James Risner
@Catija also for running is it something to do with follows or saves? which one specifically please.
^^^ That one.
 
Set 1 < Einstein (Suggested Edits), Molina (Reopen) and Mensah (Close > → 10 reviews on SO, 3 reviews on non-SO sites.
 
@CDJB even once I bruteforced the correct answer, I still can't see how the puzzle gives those 2 digits. Now I'm just going through the quiz - which is by far the hardest and most time consuming bit
 
@RoryAlsop brute forcing failed for me.
 
@RoryAlsop It’s closely related to the first page, especially the methods used.
 
2:56 PM
@RoryAlsop OK, I can take credit for most of that. Sorry. :P
I didn't come up with all of the quiz questions but more than half, I think.
 
Quiz isn’t easy this year, as compared to past years.
 
@Panda tried that - the first page took literally 2 minutes, second was about 10 minutes, third didn't seem to solve using ciphers, so brute force took 20 seconds manually.
The quiz is difficult
Oh, I'm glad I found that rickroll along the way - I though that was part of it at first
 
Well, just make sure you get a few wrong.
 
@RoryAlsop Yea but the final result is explainable without using brute-force.
3 mins ago, by Panda
Set 1 < Einstein (Suggested Edits), Molina (Reopen) and Mensah (Close > → 10 reviews on SO, 3 reviews on non-SO sites.
@Catija is that the whole trigger?^
of course, “where the majority of reviewers agree with you”
 
No, you're missing a part, though you may just be assuming it's there.
OK, then yes.
 
3:00 PM
:))
Ok, we now know Set 2 is triggered after 5 (no need to be consecutive) days of reviewing. Just need to figure out the number of reviews needed.
 
@Catija 4 days of 1 review of LQ = Gregorio Y. Zara
See example: math.stackexchange.com/users/702715/vtand
 
@Panda I still can't even though I know the answer, and I can make something match with the cipher - but not just for that number. I can't see how it is a unique answer.
@Catija oh, no worries there - I didn't get past 4 questions before I got the robot face :-)
 
What about this, this got Gregorio Y. Zara https://stackoverflow.com/users/1599751/peterj?tab=activity
He just edit reviews.
 
@RoryAlsop Does your matching involve any SUM?
 
Now I am stuck on page 2?
Are those really in that format?
numbernumber£
 
3:07 PM
@turivishal Zara is for LQPs
Not all LQPs are shown in one’s activity because posts that are deleted aren’t shown
 
@Panda okay
 
@Catija Was the Yes, A Robot hat a last-min addition to WB?
 
@Panda so we now know 5 days, 1 review?
 
@Panda How do you mean?
 
@JamesRisner 5 days confirmed, 1 review I’m not too sure
 
3:17 PM
Zara = LQ, what are the other two?
 
@Catija Was it added after WB has started?
 
12 mins ago, by Rory Alsop
@Catija oh, no worries there - I didn't get past 4 questions before I got the robot face :-)
 
@JamesRisner Zara = LQ, Devi = First Qs & Lamarr = idk yet
@Catija Right, as in I thought the robot hat was added in the recent week, cause you mentioned much earlier on that there was only 1 secret hat left to be discovered.
Which turned out not to be the robot hat.
 
Think robot is alternate (like sun moon) of the Defender of the Unicorn. Get robot if fail to defend?
 
Hmm
 
3:22 PM
The robot hat wasn't on the list of hats on my admin page, and that's what I based my "only one left" on... I've known about the Robot hat since before WB started.
It just wasn't on the list.
 
So there are in fact 27 secret hats this year – a new record by far.
@Catija I see, thanks for clarifying!
 
Technically, we were going to only give out the robot and not give out defender of the unicorn at all.
 
How much should I fill the bag for step 2? Argh.
 
In 2020, Yaakov made Defender of the Unicorn while Winter Bash was in full swing so that made me wonder.
 
The concept for the puzzles relates to the AI invasion and the need to prove that you're not an AI.
 
3:23 PM
I made the hat myself this morning (using a retired hat from an old winterbash as a template). No more design time available for this year. Waddayathink? — Yaakov Ellis ♦ Dec 22, 2020 at 15:58
 
We weren't originally planning to involve Sparkles in the puzzles but Slate managed to work her in, so then we pivoted.
 
You sure SE isn't now just part of the Secret Robot Internet?
 
From saving sparkles to visiting sparkles lol
 
@Catija so this user:
math.stackexchange.com/users/702715/vtand
Got Gregorio Y. Zara from Low Qualify reviews over the span of 5 days but on 4 actual days of reviews:
3x12/14 1x12/15 1x12/16 2x12/22

So it doesn't require a minimum per day (can be zero) but require 5 day span?
 
So seems like Emperor and Running are the hats least likely to be solved this year :(
 
3:28 PM
yea I got no clue for either
 
@JamesRisner Keep in mind not all LQPs are shown in the activity page (those deleted aren’t shown)
 
Finally, i got step 2
 
@Machavity LETS GOOO
im decrypting FVB? now
 
@Bani FWIW, that process is a LOT easier if you do something to bulk decrypt all the lines at once. I wrote a script and had it done in no time
 
3:32 PM
@Catija So it should all be visible? Because I couldn't find any that are not visible.
 
@JamesRisner Huh?
I mean, if you have review access, it's visible in the review history page.
 
@Machavity i cant think of an algorythm im just trying to find words that make sense and then make the connection and decrypt the whole row
 
@Catija oh, so visible to you not me?
So:
Gregorio Y. Zara from Low Qualify reviews over the span of 5 days of 1 per day?
 
Wait, regular users with review access can't see reviews that the posts are deleted? I feel like they should be able to?
 
@Bani Just FYI, you'll miss a lot of Step 2 if you do it that way. You need to make the common connection between how the lines are encrypted
 
@Machavity ill try that home , this is a lot of fun
 
@Catija There are no deleted on anything he has to me.
 
It's not on the user's page.
 
@Catija So the "it's visible" translated to "visible to those with view delete access"
what link then?
 
YEs
You probably can't see that page on Math.
Does that page not show the reviews that ended up with the post being deleted?
 
3:38 PM
@Catija when I go to that page, I only see MY reviews
 
There's not two tabs?
 
Nope
so I've spent 5 days spreadsheeting every user with the badges looking for visible things that are only to mod tool people? ;-)
Seems like. Would you mind just telling Panda and I the triggers? Because I've invested over 40 hours on learning these two... I'm not too proud to beg ;-)
 
@JamesRisner You already guessed it.
 
@Catija Deleted posts show in the reviews page (for those who can see deleted posts) but not in one’s profile though.
 
@Catija today or week ago?
 
3:43 PM
Te message I responded to.
 
@Panda no
 
@RoryAlsop it should for the final result to be reasonable
 
Dammit - 9 questions right, and the last one is difficult to find out - already made 2 mistakes this time through...
@Panda nope - no sum required
literally one of the options listed - but the associated cipher word made no sense
 
@RoryAlsop I think the correct way requires it (or at least I used sum to get the ans)
I didn’t brute force
 
@Panda I was going to brute force0-99 but thought I'd try the obvious first, and it was one of them
 
3:46 PM
@Catija we now know the 2nd set require reviews done over 5 days. is the trigger: 5 reviews on each of the 5 days and the 5 days do not need to be consecutive?
@RoryAlsop LOL
tbh the 2nd page is somewhat misleading but I shall not elaborate in what way
 
@Panda oh I'm not overly worried about it, ust stuck on the last question of the quiz!
 
@Catija Gregorio Y. Zara is review one or more Low Qualify over the span of 5 days.
 
so close, but not wanting to get it wrong and start agin
 
@JamesRisner Doesn't have to be consecutive, but yes.
 
@RoryAlsop there’s 1 question I have no idea what’s the answer, I restarted a few times only to encounter that question repeatedly
 
3:48 PM
@RoryAlsop What's the subject of the question?
 
@Panda the chat one is the one I get repeatedly - have tried 6 or 7 different tries, but all wrong
 
@RoryAlsop ^^^^^
 
heh - so it must be in a blog somewhere
 
A J
12 hours ago, by A J
@Catija 9 flags on the same site or can it be on multiple sites?
 
I have an answer on MSE that is about chat and it mentions the official name.
 
3:49 PM
Can’t be on multiple sites cause the hat’s awarded per site.
 
A J
@Panda I didn't raise 9 flags on SO but still got the hat
 
@AJ I’m not sure how flags work for mods, I think someone mentioned before that they got the hat w/o flags
 
A J
I am not a mod on SO
 
Oops, then I’ve no idea
 
3:53 PM
7
A: Earned Heads Up! hat on MSE without any helpful flags for a year

Adam Lear We're not going to revoke hats that have already been awarded, but going forward the hat will operate as intended. Thanks for the report!

 
@Catija Review at least one First Answer post a day for 5 days. The days do not need to be consecutive.
 
A J
@Catija Ah got it. I reviewed some posts in CV queue.
 
:62629280 I haven't been bothering to do the queue until I found the trigger so it didn't mess up my progress once trigger known.
 
@JamesRisner Yeah. I can't see any indication we special cased SO.
 
final one first q?
 
3:55 PM
Oh, that’s a surprisingly low threshold.
 
Just trying to make it easy on small sites.
 
response to last year's high
 
I’m glad we’ve resolved 5 out of the 6 scientists lol
 
What's the last one?
 
@catija Shakuntala Devi is same for first question?
 
3:58 PM
@Catija back to the beginning :-( I found 4 answers where you use 4 different terms for chat, tried 3 of them already, and the 4th - was wrong as well. I'm baffled
 
@JamesRisner Yes
@RoryAlsop Weird. What did you try?
 
@Catija the long 3 word title, and then the short ones with thetwo letters after the dot
 
It's just a single word.
Does not include "Chat".
 
i tried the obvious one first, and then went hunting for whatever it must be
 
@JamesRisner What’s Lamarr for?
 
4:01 PM
@Catija You can get Defender from a meta post, can you get robot from failing and have both?
 
@Catija oh, I haven't found that yet then
 
@Panda I've updated the meta post
 
I thought I looked through all your answers..
 
@JamesRisner they all say LQPs
 
crap, need to fix
I was copy paste happy
 
4:02 PM
I don’t think Lamarr was confirmed???
Shakuntala Devi for First Qs, Gregorio Y. Zara for LQPs
 
At least there's only like a dozen questions to have to answer.
 
fixed
 
Oh First Answers
 
@panda check links in spoiler
I thought I got the right links.
 
@Catia - had 10 that I knew so finally got the hat! I'm still going to try and find that answer though - it's annoying me
 
4:05 PM
@JamesRisner Hmm right, nice work!
 
key thing for me:
things on the 14th before 21:00 count.
deleted things don't show up for me <10k
those things spoiled all my data modeling
 
@Catija Sorry just to explicitly confirm Lamarr is in fact for First Answers, right?
 
yes
 
Thank you!
 
So do y'all get the pun in "unflagging"?
 
@Catija - found it - thank you
I like it - appropriate
 
@Catija nope. but I got unflagging I think in 30 mins of start.So I just said "oh it's flagging"
 
@JamesRisner I'm not quite sure I understand the question... you can have both robot and unicorn hats, though...
 
That's the question.
What's your feeling on whether or not this will get fixed (and get me Defender this way?)
https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/384896/the-your-hats-view-hides-whether-or-not-you-have-the-hat-on-the-current-site
 
I don't know. I haven't checked in with the devs and what they're working on now that the quiz is out.
 
4:11 PM
I'm also surprised it didn't get more user attention, I would have liked to know the hidden bits. ;-(
 
4:23 PM
@Catija wow I was so demoralized and down yesterday, now having nailed those down I'm so much of a hat rush. Ya made my day.
 
A J
@JamesRisner I see you are #2 on Movies & TV
 
@AJ He doesn't wear hats in real life, but he does on TV...
 
A J
lol
 
@AJ In ranking? Neat!
@Catija Do the days need to be consecutive?
 
no
 
4:57 PM
@JamesRisner YAY! LD
 
@RoryAlsop fair enough, different strokes for different folks :) i couldn't face trying to brute force it on my phone without a script to do it for me 😅
 
@CDJB it didn't take long at all - it could have, but the correct answer came up quickly :-)
 
5:34 PM
@RoryAlsop tbh if so many people are getting it by brute-forcing rather than solving the puzzle, I'm beginning to wonder whether you are all robots after all ;-)
 
@CDJB humans always take the easiest route. Sometimes that is brute forcing :-)
 
I’m still stuck on the 2 number url
 
@RoryAlsop Which part did you bruteforce?
 
the 2 digit number for the weight
 
I've absolutely failed to bruteforce it :(
Is the url really in the format given on the second page? Or is that a red herring?
 
5:41 PM
@nobody I just went with the 2 digits and nothing after it
 
Oh, wow
@Slate Why would you do that to us? :)
 
@nobody so it seems...
 
it seemed the only obvious thing to do
especially as that other char is not used in the UK for that
 
I don't want to bruteforce, I'd like to solve it the right way, but I'm still stuck
 
@RoryAlsop How was it obvious? The page literally put the other char inside the code block
 
5:45 PM
@nobody because that char made no sense to me...so I ignored it :-)
I'm an engineer - I always want to go for the simple approach :-)
 
@nobody A longer string is the "canonical" solution, hinted at by the note, but wanted to accommodate correct reasoning that missed the confirmation text by a hair. That opened the puzzle up to brute forcing. C'est la vie.
(There are a couple spots in both puzzles that confirm correct reasoning via a set of acceptable solutions.)
 
@Slate No, why would you put in a character in the url which wasn't supposed to be there?
 
Huh?
 
The pound char isn't supposed to be in the final url
But the page suggests in need to be part of the url
 
I ain't sayin' nothin'.
If you want to know why, play around with it - it's there for a specific reason and isn't an arbitrary addition ;)
 
5:51 PM
Ok, that's counterintuitive, but I accept the suggestion
 
@Slate okay, got it :)
 
But for those who don't want to bruteforce it, any hint?
 
There ya go.
 
I got it with the extra character :P I wondered how the bruteforcers guessed it which is why I suggested it might be easier to just solve the puzzle... didn't realise it would accept the answer without the ending
 
I do appreciate you solving the puzzle, regardless!
 
5:53 PM
I mean, if you figured out what the ending needed to be, I guess the bruteforcers could figure out the ending too
 
XaC
I tried many ways to solve the riddle and nothing worked . In the end, brute forcing with the correct format works, but I don't understand how to get to the solution from the puzzle
 
@CDJB That is one bit I'm going to look forward to once this closes - even knowing that answer, I cannot see how it relates.
@XaC same - it doesn't appear to meet the riddle at all
 
@RoryAlsop it does, I figured out the correct solution bruteforcing the format, and it kinda works
 
It actually corresponds to one of the first things I tried when I attempted to actually solve the puzzle. Except, I was trying the wrong url format
 
@pinckerman I can't see it.
 
6:00 PM
The real problem is that you can't fill the knapsack, you have to find the maximum volume filled
 
@pinckerman and that's why my answer does not fit - it isn't the max vol filled
 
Then summing the weights gives that number
@RoryAlsop Are you using the correct weights? You can decode ROT cyphers in 2 ways
 
but... it doesn't give the number I used
@pinckerman I did not need to sum anything
which is why I'm puzzled
 
@RoryAlsop Then you haven't filled the knapsack optimally
 
I used one of the numbers that was obvious (it was my 5th or 6th try)
@nobody And yet, the number I chose worked
 
6:02 PM
@RoryAlsop I did, and I got the solution
 
@pinckerman I didn't, but had the correct solution
 
LOL
@RoryAlsop Ok maybe I got your point, could it be a coincidence?
 
deciphering the different stones didn't give me a unique set, so I ignored them
my solution used only obvious info in the question
but it did annoy me, as I couldn't see why the deciphering wouldn't give me an obvious step
And trying to go back from the correct number doesn't fit in any way I can see
I guess I'll find out after 4 Jan
 
@RoryAlsop totally agree...
 
Did you know that we have someone who tweets random amusing things from internal communications? twitter.com/StackOverheards/status/…
 
6:07 PM
@RoryAlsop It wasn't supposed to give you a step. It was supposed to give you a... well the writing on the wall tells you what it was supposed to give.
 
@nobody yep, sadly what came out has nothing to do with the answer or how I got it
@Catija I didn't, but that's superb
 
6:19 PM
:D
 
6:48 PM
Uhh, can we have an easier start to the puzzle next year? I'm fine with not getting to end, but not making it past page one is a bit err frustrating...
 
7:00 PM
Never mind, venting seems to have helped :-)
 
7:48 PM
@Catija Yes, a robot is for failing the quiz
 
Question: since I can't seem to understand what the decoded first message is about, can anyone please confirm that it is not related to the phonetic spelling of the words since I am not English and that would completely fly past me?
 
@SPArcheon For sure - it is not related to the phonetic spelling of the words. :)
 

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