$ cat writeup.md…
$ cat writeup.md…
broncoctf2026
Task: a single 3395-char Unicode line (flag.txt) whose riddle hints at a terminal size. Solution: factor the length (3395 = 5*7*97), wrap at 97 columns to reveal FIGlet 'ticks' block letters around a Braille oyster, render to pixels for OCR, then read the glyphs in a clockwise spiral dictated by edge arrows.
$ cat /etc/rate-limit
Rate limit reached (20 reads/hour per IP). Showing preview only — full content returns at the next hour roll-over.
I used to be too big picture, never focusing on the details (keeping track of like 90 things at once). Then, I starting looking into things a little bit too much (this phase only lasted like 7 days). Nowadays though, I am primed to look at things with just the right width (and height too). Anyways, here's the flag! You should be able to read it just fine, as long as you align with my mindset.
The only artifact is flag.txt from the CTFd instance: one very long single line of Unicode text. The riddle is a disguised hint about the correct terminal width (and height) at which the line should be wrapped so that the ASCII art becomes readable.
file flag.txt reports "Unicode text, UTF-8, with very long lines". The file is a single line of 3395 characters (4140 bytes). The character set is small:
/ \ _ < > ^ v — ASCII art strokes and directional markersThe riddle encodes a terminal size through numeric decoys:
The clean way to find the width is to factor the character count:
3395 = 5 × 7 × 97
Wrapping the line every 97 characters yields exactly 35 rows (5 × 7). The intended terminal is 97 columns × 35 rows.
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$ grep --similar