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Looking Down

Challenge​

Content preserved from the original writeup source. Minimal normalization was applied to fit platform format.

Solution​

Original Writeup Content (Preserved)​

Looking Down (misc, 180) Writeup

Challenge text:

1qazs3edc 456rfvbngh 7ujmil0p;/

Solve idea​

This clue is built from QWERTY keyboard vertical columns (top to bottom), i.e. reading each keyboard column while literally "looking down":

  • 1qaz
  • 2wsx
  • 3edc
  • 4rfv
  • 5tgb
  • 6yhn
  • 7ujm
  • 8ik,
  • 9ol.
  • 0p;/

The intended pattern points to the standard keyboard sequence string and therefore to the alphabetic keyboard layout phrase:

1qaz2wsx3edc4rfv5tgb6yhn7ujm8ik,9ol.0p;/

Using the event flag format from rules (UDCTF/udctf), submit:

udctf{1qaz2wsx3edc4rfv5tgb6yhn7ujm8ik,9ol.0p;/}

Why this is stronger than the earlier guess:

  • The challenge text is already in keyboard-column notation and appears to be a damaged/incomplete version of the full walk.
  • Reconstructing the full sequence is a direct "Looking Down" interpretation.
  • The missing characters from the canonical walk are: 2wxty8k,9o.

If the primary candidate is rejected, try:

udctf{2wxty8k,9o.}

Repro code​

Run:

python3 solve.py

Script output confirms the keyboard-column construction and prints the candidate flag.