Monty Cantsin
Hint 2: There is an observation which suggests the number may be factored. A one word hint will reveal this observation.
(I want to hold off on Hint 3 for a little while in case somebody is already working on the problem. If anybody wants me to withhold Hint 3, please post a message to the list and I may do so. It seems to me that it will be more fun to solve without Hint 3.)
Wouldn't it be neat to actually factor a 2048-bit number which was the product of two large primes?
The wording of the original challenge suggested there was a trick to this particular factorisation. My guess that q=p+2 was wrong, so square rooting (cheap) and using the 2 nearest odd integers was a loser. -- ############################################################## # Antonomasia ant@notatla.demon.co.uk # # See http://www.notatla.demon.co.uk/ # ##############################################################