Prepare - Uncover - Outwit - Find - WIN!

The 1st HIVE Crypto Challenge is over and we are happy to announce the winner:
Congratulations @lefevre!

You followed your intuition and stayed on the right track. Solving the puzzle you saved your reward. 500 HIVE goes to you.

https://hive.blog/hive-174578/@timsaid/timtravels-a-different-kind-of-tree-hint-nr-1 & s/ /D

197gY7bE

@lefevre took the first right step towards bringing structure into the mesh of hints and found out that the second hint is part of a Pastebin URL. In the post, I wrote the following sentence "It could also be that some of my hints are trash for the bin", which is another reference to Pastebin.

Opening the pastebin you will see the following message:

The string above is a 256-bit AES encrypted message which you need a password to decrypt and read. With the help of @buddyboyb, @lefevre was able to decrypt the message. But how did @buddyboyb know the password? It was hidden within the first hint.

Inspecting the file URL with regards to the second half of the first hint s/ /D you would extract the following password to decrypt the message cbiikynpp2sigmr.

After decrypting the message you will get the following link https://easyupload.io/6d5zo2 which contains a .rar file. Now things will get nasty. The file also contains a password, which is the same as the one for the encrypted message. The .rar file contains three separate files with NO instructions.

Now comes the title cover into play, on the top you will find a morse code which translates into RAID 4 NO PARITY.

@lefevre obviously knew what he has to do. If you have a look at how RAID systems work you would find an idea of how to reconstruct the original file from the given files in the .rar file.

He wrote a Python script to put the pieces together:

The resulting picture and final solution is:

Great work and congratulations to the winner and all who participated. Because @bobbyboyb pitched in and helped @lefevre to solve the puzzle, @lefevre transferred him 50 HIVE! That's what I call the community spirit!

Don't miss the next HIVECrypto Challenge and be prepared. I wish you a great weekend. As for me, I prepare the next challenge and try to make it a little trickier.

Thanks again to @innerhive for supporting the contest and contributing with 250 HIVE to the prize!

Yours,
Tim