Don't expect too much from bitcointalk users. 99% of them are just sig spammers with very little knowledge about crypto.
I haven't seen you make any progress with the puzzle.

That's true, but it's more about a lack of time then lack of knowledge. I have solved the part that was posted here on bitcointalk:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2504546Took me some time, though...