I hope the OP agrees that this transaction that was made after releasing the puzzle together with some of the clues presented which were later changed (e.g. +1, -1) means confusion and it has led many people to abandon the search. As the creator of this lovely puzzle, of course the OP might see things differently.
One thing is clear: the puzzle was initially created with certain expectations, and then some interference occurred from the creator, after the puzzle was released. So, (as a silly but plausible example) anyone can be stuck in trying to access the old address which is now empty.
I hope the OP can put himself or herself in the solver's shoes and appreciate the high degree of confusion. I am not talking about the actual difficulty of the puzzle which is supposed to be hard.
If the OP cannot release another clue, at least some clarification is needed. Information that's not really going to help in any way in finding the solution. The difficulty remains the same but at least it clears up some of the confusion.
OP will decide on this of course, but if anyone working on this is asked, the answer will be unanimous: Something is needed from the OP to continue with the search.
I don't find the +1/-1 change confusing at all.
I do, however, think everyone would appreciate a small clarification from the puzzle creator regarding another matter: Is Satoshi's whitepaper itself required to solve the puzzle?I'm not looking for suggestions of "it couldn't hurt" or indication that it's helpful because it may, in turn, help elucidate some component relevant to the puzzle--there are only so many ways of logically organizing the data that we're given by the image, and knowing whether or not it's expected that we
need to specifically consult the original whitepaper to progress through this puzzle, would at the very least allow solvers to concentrate their efforts behind one of two major methods of approach. Right now it's virtually impossible to know where to begin, and this is coming from someone who has spent over 300 hours trying to tease out information from the puzzle.
Thanks
-clane