🧩 Chia Friends Puzzle — Solved?
A theory on the unsolved puzzle hidden in the Chia Friends 10K NFT collection
Analysis by @DracattusDev — February 2025
📋 TL;DR
The Chia Friends puzzle isn't hiding a secret message. It's a Playfair cipher decoder ring — a shared encryption system embedded across the collection for the community to discover and use.
The 25 Timelords form the 5×5 cipher grid. The 26 Keywords provide the alphabet. The hieroglyphs on K32 bodies are visual instructions for how the cipher works.
🔍 The Evidence
Clue 1: "Something significant about 1854"
Seth Jenks posted that Chia Friend #1854 is significant. The Playfair cipher was invented in 1854 by Charles Wheatstone.
HIGH CONFIDENCE — Too specific to be coincidence.
Clue 2: Exactly 25 Timelords = 5×5 Grid
The Playfair cipher uses a 5×5 grid containing 25 letters. There are exactly 25 Timelord NFTs in the collection, each with a unique symbol. They fit perfectly into a 5×5 matrix.
HIGH CONFIDENCE — 25 is the exact number needed.
Clue 3: 26 Keywords = Full Alphabet
There are 26 Keyword NFTs, one starting with each letter A through Z. All are exactly 5 letters long. These map each letter of the alphabet to a word — the cipher's substitution layer.
HIGH CONFIDENCE — One per letter, all 5 chars.
Clue 4: 42 Coins Per Timelord
Each Timelord has exactly 42 matching coin NFTs across the collection. 42 is "the answer to everything" (Hitchhiker's Guide). 25 × 42 = 1,050 total coin-bearing NFTs.
MEDIUM — Confirms the 42 reference; structural role in cipher TBD.
Clue 5: K32 Hieroglyphs = Cipher Instructions
1,865 K32 bodies contain hidden hieroglyphs (visible when adjusting brightness/contrast). There are exactly 4 types:
| Type | Symbols | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| H1 | □ → X □ → X | The 3 Playfair rules (rectangle, row-shift, column-shift), repeated |
| H2 | Vertical: □ + ▦ × ▦ □ | Grid coordinate notation system |
| H3 | □ → X / X ← □ | Encrypt (→) and decrypt (←) — mirror pattern! |
| H4 | Empty 5×5 grid | The Playfair key square itself |
H1 (#8011)
H2 (#7837)
H3 (#5163)
H4 (#7631)
Hieroglyphs visible after brightness/contrast adjustment
MEDIUM — Visual interpretation, but the 5×5 grid on H4 is unmistakable.
Clue 6: "Something the community can use afterwards"
Seth said the solution is "something the community can use afterwards". A decoder ring / shared cipher system fits perfectly — it's a tool, not a one-time secret.
Community member @joshpainter independently theorized: "we may be trying to reconstitute a secret decoder ring that we can then use to have fun encrypting simple messages and sending them to each other."
HIGH CONFIDENCE — Matches Seth's exact words.
🗝️ The Playfair Grid
25 Timelords arranged alphabetically by symbol name, mapping to letters A through Y:
| Col 1 | Col 2 | Col 3 | Col 4 | Col 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 1 | A Aries #5776 |
 B Asterisk #7062 |
 C Butterfly #3372 |
 D Circle #1646 |
 E Crescent #9301 |
| Row 2 |  F Crown #580 |
 G Diamond #7528 |
H Eye #3957 |
 I Flame #342 |
 J Hamburger #6539 |
| Row 3 |  K Heart #6477 |
 L Hourglass #8074 |
M Infinity #1479 |
 N Key #8749 |
 O Leaf #3949 |
| Row 4 |  P Lightning #1106 |
 Q Pi #7329 |
 R Rainbow #4306 |
S Skull #55 |
 T Smile #6573 |
| Row 5 |  U Square #8794 |
 V Squiggle #1173 |
 W Star #8147 |
 X Swirl #6321 |
Y Triangle #8406 |
📖 The Keyword Alphabet
A = Acorn
B = Birds
C = China
D = Dingo
E = Edify
F = Fixes
G = Graze
H = Hints
I = Index
J = Jumbo
K = Kings
L = Leafy
M = Medal
N = Nicer
O = Oxide
P = Prove
Q = Quirk
R = Remix
S = Snowy
T = Topaz
U = Usage
V = Viper
W = Wacky
X = Xrays
Y = Yacht
Z = Zebra🔐 Try It — Interactive Cipher
⚠️ What This Theory Doesn't Explain
- No confirmed ciphertext found — We haven't found a specific encoded message in the collection that decrypts to recognizable English. The "ciphertext" may not exist if the puzzle is purely the system itself.
- Grid ordering is assumed — Alphabetical is the simplest arrangement but Seth hasn't confirmed it. An alternate ordering could change everything.
- Hieroglyph interpretation is visual — The symbols are very small pixel-art; reading them precisely is challenging.
- The 42 coins' role — Why exactly 42 per Timelord? Beyond the Hitchhiker's Guide reference, their structural role in the cipher isn't fully clear.
- Seth mentioned "you win a coin if you have the right prove" — This could imply there IS a specific answer, not just a system. (Update: community later noted Seth didn't confirm saying this.)
📚 Prior Research & Credits
- scotopic — The race to solve the Chia Friends puzzle
- Rudolf Achter — Puzzle Findings (extensive data analysis)
- ChiaLinks — Rarity List by @jon
- Chia Friends Finder by @mikehw12
- @joshpainter — "secret decoder ring" theory (XCH Foundation Discord)
- @88888888 — 42 coins per Timelord / 7×7 grid theory
- @topper — Playfair keyword concatenation attempt