A Link to the Past Randomizer: Gotchas

Common situations that stump newcomers, by Synack

Last updated 10/12/2019

Introduction
This is a list of common issues involving “impossible” or “soft lockable” games in The Legend of
Zelda: A Link to the Past Randomizer v31.0.2.

Stuck getting to a specific place or just stuck in general? Take a look at these commonly
reported scenarios. Also, if it was a non-race game, try looking at the game's spoiler log. The
bottom of the log lists the confirmed (but not only) route for beating the game. IHNN has an
excellent spreadsheet with every item location and what their names are in the spoiler log​.

If you still believe the game is unwinnable, post the spoiler log in the Link to the Past
Randomizer Discord (​https://discord.gg/alttprandomizer​)! It may be a bug, or it might be
something that has been missed.

It is ​highly ​recommended (although not required) that you play the original Link to the Past first
prior to playing the randomizer. This will familiarize you with the game’s base mechanics,
behavior, dungeon and overworld layout. This guide is intended for players who have played
the original game at least once.

This guide applies to these settings only, everything else is outside the scope of this guide.
● Item Placement - Basic, Advanced
● World State - Standard, Open
● Swords - Randomized, Assured
● Item Pool and Functionality - Normal
● Glitches Required - No Glitches

Finally, feedback on this document is highly encouraged. Please feel free to message me on
Discord (Synack#1337).

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General Information
Supported Emulators
The Randomizer is currently supported on ​emulators that are legal for racing on Speed Runs
Live (SRL)​. Recommended emulators are bsnes, Snes9x 1.53+, or higan.

Note there is currently a game breaking bug with the bsnes core when using RetroArch. Use
snes9x core instead.

Do not use ​ZSNES ​or ​Snes9x 1.4x​! These are not race legal on SRL and have known
compatibility issues with the Randomizer (due to the inaccuracy of their emulation of Super
Nintendo hardware). If your game crashes with these emulators, no support can be provided
(outside of how to use a supported emulator).

Code Display on File Select

There is a code that appears on the file select, it looks like this:

The purpose of this is solely to ensure that players that are racing have the same game. The
symbols have no bearing on the actual placement of items in the game.

Sword Settings
The randomizer provides three settings for swords: Randomized, Uncle Assured, and
Swordless.

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 ● Randomized - All swords will be randomly placed in the game world.
○ In Standard state Uncle will provide you with a weapon, but not necessarily a
sword.
■ You will be maxed out on the resource required for the weapon. If you die
during Escape with less than 3 bombs, 10 arrows, or ¼ of your magic
meter left, you will respawn with 3 bombs, 10 arrows, or ¼ of your magic
meter, depending on the weapon you got from Links' Uncle.
○ In Open state the item Uncle provides is unchanged, it can be any item in the
item pool.
● Assured - You will always start with a sword in your inventory.
● Swordless - You will never find a sword. This setting is outside the scope of this guide.
● Vanilla - Progressive Sword upgrades are always located at Uncle, Master Sword
Pedestal, the Blacksmith, and Pyramid Fairy.

Pendants and Crystals

The location of the Pendants and Crystals are random but are always held by dungeon bosses.
Check the overworld map to see what each dungeon contains.

Light Cones
In Standard state, you will only get a free light cone in the Sewers during Escape. Castle Tower
and the rest of the game’s dungeons and caves require the Lamp for a light cone. When Basic
item placement is chosen, the logic will never require you to enter a dark room without the
Lamp. If Advanced item placement is chosen, certain dark rooms may require dark room
traversal if the Fire Rod is available.

Open and Inverted states have no free light cone, even in the Escape sewers.

Telepathic Tile Hints

There are 17 telepathic tiles in locations all across Hyrule. Fifteen of these now provide "hints"
as to where items could be located. Some hints are useful, others may not be as useful.

New Menu Features (Item Toggling)

There are menu features that are specific to the randomizer.

You can switch between the following items by selecting the appropriate icon on the start menu
and pressing Y:
● Shovel and Flute
● Mushroom and Magic Powder
● Regular and Magical Boomerang
● Regular and Silver Arrows

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The Silver Arrows auto-equip when collected. You can always switch back to the regular arrows
if you wish.

While selecting a bottle, you can press X to open the bottle submenu. Pressing Y will cycle you
through your available bottles without opening the bottle menu.

While in a dungeon, you can press Select while in the Start menu to show the number of
collected Pieces of Heart (as if you were in the overworld). Once the Big Chest in a dungeon
has been opened, the Big Key icon on the menu will change to reflect this.

Big Chest vs. Big Key Chest in Spoiler Log

In the spoiler log, there may be item locations referred to as the "Big Key Chest" or "Big Chest".
Do not confuse these! The "Big Key Chest" is where the Big Key is found in the dungeon in the
original game. The "Big Chest" is the actual Big Chest.

Progressive Swords, Shields, Gloves, and Bow

The swords, shields, gloves, and bow you find are progressive. The first sword you will always
find will be the Fighter’s Sword, then Master Sword, Tempered Sword and finally the Golden
Sword. Same applies to the shield (Fighter’s Shield, Fire Shield and finally Mirror Shield) and
the gloves (Power Gloves and then Titan’s Mitts). The first bow found will be the normal bow,
and the second bow found will provide Silver Arrows.

Medallion Usage Requirements

You must have a sword (including Fighter’s Sword) to use the medallion items.

Progressive Shields and buying upgrades for them

Several shops in the Light World will sell the Fighter’s Shield, and a shop in the Dark World sells
the Fire Shield. These are independent of the Progressive Shield upgrades. If you do not have
a shield yet, and you buy the Fire Shield, when you find a Progressive Shield it will be the
Fighter’s Shield first. You’ll still continue to have the Fire Shield though.

The game keeps track of the number of the Progressive Shield upgrades you acquire. As a
result, the Progressive Shields are unaffected by enemies that steal your shield. You will still
get the next shield even if your current shield was stolen.

Throwing Bottles into the Pyramid and Waterfall Fairy Fountains

Throwing an empty bottle in a fairy fountain will return a bottle with random contents. Throwing
in another empty bottle will return the same random contents as the first time. The prize for
throwing in a bottle can be different between both fairies.

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Single chests behind a key door contain the required key
When "100% Inventory" or "Beatable" Accessibility is chosen, areas in dungeons where there is
a single chest behind a key door can contain the key that is required to get to that chest. In this
scenario it will usually be impossible to open the chest. This is intended behavior.

If Accessibility of "100% Locations" is chosen, keys will never be locked out.

Light World
Sword in chest in Link’s house, but unable to use it yet
The game prevents Link from using his sword until you’ve found Link’s Uncle. This is intended
behavior. This only applies to Standard state. This also applies to the sword given to Link
automatically if Assured swords is chosen.

Bombable Wall in Escape (Sewer Secret Room)

If you lack bombs or Pegasus Boots during the Escape, you can return after acquiring Bombs or
Pegasus Boots by either using a lift upgrade to lift the rock in the Graveyard or via the mantle in
Hyrule Castle. Once Princess Zelda has been rescued in Standard state, or anytime in Open
state, the mantle will always be opened.

Sick Kid
Sick Kid in Kakariko Village requires a bottle to get his item. Show him one!

Green and Red Eyegores

Green Eyegores do not require the Bow to be defeated. Red Eyegores do require the Bow.

Sahasrahla
Sahasrahla can give you an item if you show him the Pendant of Courage (Green Pendant).
The dungeon that provides this pendant is random (check your map or ask Sahasrahla).

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Accessing Death Mountain
You can use the Flute to access Death Mountain. To finish exploring Death Mountain, you do
not need to rescue the Old Man, especially if you do not have the Lamp. As stated earlier, the
logic will never require you to navigate through dark rooms without the Lamp.

Be warned, if you enter the Death Mountain entrance dark room and get to the Old Man, then
die or Save and Quit, you may respawn inside the dark room and be made to complete it.
Rescuing the Old Man will grant the “Mountain Cave” Save & Quit point.

Accessing Zora’s Domain

You can get to Zora with either Flippers and the whirlpool in Lake Hylia, or with the Power
Gloves past the Witch’s Hut.

Waterfall Fairy
The Light World fairy fountain at the entrance to Zora’s Domain has two chests which have
items from the random item pool. The fairy will not upgrade your shield or boomerang.

Lumberjack Cave
After defeating ​Agahnim 1​, you can run into the tree (using the Pegasus Boots) that was
previously still being cut down by the Twin Lumberjacks. Inside this cave has an item that you
previously could only see, but not obtain.

You do ​NOT ​need to do all three pendant dungeons, or pull the pedestal, to access this item.

Venus, Queen of Fairies (Pond of Happiness)

In the original game, Venus can upgrade your bomb and arrow capacity by throwing rupees into
a fountain. In randomizer, she offers upgrades for sale, similar to other shops in the game.

Accessing Desert Palace without Book of Mudora

You can access Desert Palace if you have the Flute, Titan’s Mitts and the Magic Mirror. Flute to
6, lift the rock to go to the Dark World, then mirror to port back to the Light World on top the
Desert Palace ledge. The Moon Pearl is not required, having it though allows you to check the
Mire Shed chests.

Accessing Tower of Hera and Ether Tablet without Mirror

You can access Tower of Hera and the Ether Tablet without the Magic Mirror by using the
Hookshot to get to eastern Death Mountain. Head to the top of eastern Death Mountain and
use the Hammer to get to both of these locations.
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See Figure 1 for an image depicting the path.

You must have the Master Sword (or better) to open the Ether Tablet. You can still check the
contents by reading the tablet using the Book of Mudora.

Accessing Eastern Death Mountain without Hookshot

You can access Eastern Death Mountain without the Hookshot by utilizing the Mirror and
Hammer. ​See Figure 2 for an image depicting this path.

Aghanim 1 (Castle Tower)

You can access Aghanim 1 with either a sword upgrade (Master Sword or better) or you can
use the Magic Cape to get through the barrier. You will need the Lamp to see in the dark rooms
of the Castle Tower.

Opening the curtain before Aghanim requires the Fighter’s Sword or better.

The Fighter’s Sword (or better), Bug Net or Hammer can reflect Aghanim’s attacks. All players
of the same game will get the same pattern of attacks.

Dark World
Moon Pearl
The Moon Pearl may be required for dark world traversal as a bunny.

Specifically, the Moon Pearl may be in the “Checkerboard Cave”, which can be accessed by
Fluting to 6, using Titan’s Mitts to enter the Dark World, then mirroring in the far northeastern
corner of the Swamp of Evil (where Misery Mire is located). Lift the rock to enter the cave.

The Moon Pearl can also be at the Dark World Pyramid as well. To access it, you’ll need to
defeat Agahnim 1. You'll enter the normal form once you jump down a ledge on the pyramid.

You must have the Moon Pearl to enter Palace of Darkness. Kiki will not follow you and open
the entrance of Palace of Darkness otherwise.

Returning to the Light World without the Magic Mirror

If you do not have the Mirror or have not defeated Agahnim 1, you will automatically be returned
to the Light World when you Save and Quit. If you've obtained the Mirror and defeated Aghanim
1, you will be returned to the Pyramid while in the Dark World.

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Accessing Dark World without Hammer or lift upgrade
Once Agahnim 1 has been defeated the castle gate turns into a portal to the Dark World. This
means you can access eastern Dark World without using the other portals throughout Hyrule
which require [Titan's Mitts] or [Hammer and Power Gloves] to access. Therefore you can get
access without those three items.

You don't necessarily need the Moon Pearl to be in the Dark World here but your options are
limited to only collecting the Pyramid item.

Once in eastern Dark World you can get to southern Dark World and northern Dark World
depending on the items you have.

● The Hammer gets you access to southern Dark World via the hammer pegs to the south.
● The Hookshot gives you access to northern Dark World via the broken bridge to the
north. However to get to the point to hookshot across you will also need either the Power
Gloves, Hammer or Flippers to bypass the obstacles blocking the way. The Flippers
specifically allow you to jump in the water to the side and swim up to the ladder on the
other side, then double back on yourself. You can also use the whirlpool below Ice
Palace.

Note that access to northern Dark World automatically gives you access to southern Dark World
since it requires no additional items to walk around in a counterclockwise loop, past the
Graveyard, through the Village of Outcasts, and arrive in the section with the Digging Game,
then right to Swamp Palace and Hype Cave.

See Figure 3 in the Appendix for an image depicting these routes.

Bombos Tablet
You must have the Master Sword (or better) to open the Bombos Tablet. You can still check the
contents by reading the tablet using the Book of Mudora.

Blacksmith Partner (Dwarf/Frog) or Purple Chest has Magic Mirror

This only applies to Advanced item placement.

They will both follow you through a Save and Quit. The Magic Mirror could be with either the
Blacksmith or the Purple Chest. Logic may require you to Save and Quit to return to the Light
World to complete the side quest.

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Magic Bat has the Hammer
You can access the Bat Cave near the Blacksmith via the Dark World if you do not have the
Hammer. Mirror at the red X to avoid a mirror bonk:

Hookshot Cave has Hookshot

This only applies to Advanced item placement.

The bottom-most chest in Hookshot Cave may have Hookshot. You may access it by bonking
across the two gaps using the Pegasus Boots. You’ll need to press the directional pad in the
direction you want to go after bonking so you can clear the gap.

Spike Cave
The spike cave in Dark World Death Mountain does not require the Cane of Byrna or Magic
Cape. You can brute force it by having enough hearts and/or bottles with Red Potion, Blue
Potion or a fairy (with the added benefit of the additional invincibility frames granted after a fairy
revival). Using the Hookshot on the torches can be done to minimize damage taken while
traveling over the spikes.

Bumper Cave item

This only applies to Advanced item placement.

You do not need the hookshot to get the bumper cave item. You can walk across the top of the
pit and pick up the pots. Keep holding left while picking up the pots.

King’s Tomb and Graveyard Ledge areas

You can get to the King’s Tomb (without a lift upgrade) and Graveyard Cave (without a lift
upgrade or Pegasus Boots) mirror spots by following this path:

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You still need the Pegasus Boots to open King's Tomb!

Cursed (Pyramid) Fairy

The Dark World fairy fountain at the Pyramid of Power has two chests which have items from
the random item pool. The fairy will not upgrade your bow or sword. Show the bomb vendor
(Link’s house in the Dark World) crystals 5 and 6 to purchase the Super Bomb for 100 rupees.
Crystals 5 and 6 are highlighted in red on the start menu and the overworld maps.

Swamp Palace

Big Key
This dungeon does not require the Big Key to fight Arrghus (the dungeon boss). You only need
the Big Key to open the Big Chest.

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Resetting the water level in Swamp Palace

If you flood the small key in the second switch room (left to the Big Chest room) without first
acquiring the small key under the skull pot, you will be unable to progress in the dungeon. To
correct this you must leave Swamp Palace and re-enter the dungeon. Only the water in this
section will reset, so you will not need to drain the dam again or re-flood the right-side of Swamp
Palace.

Commonly Missed Chest in Swamp Palace

In the room just before Arrghus (the Swamp Palace boss), there is a room with several
waterfalls. Push, in any direction, the third block from the left to reveal a chest.

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Skull Woods

Big Key

This dungeon does not require the Big Key to fight Mothlua (the dungeon boss). You only need
the Big Key to open the Big Chest.

Commonly missed key

There is a key under the left skull pot in the room before the last dungeon exit, just before the
entrance that requires the Fire Rod.

Thieves Town

Accessing Thieves’ Town

Thieves’ Town is the easiest of the Dark World dungeons to access and requires the fewest
number of items to complete. You can use the Hammer and Power Gloves, or the Titan’s Mitts
to get to the warp point above Kakariko Village. ​See Figure 4 for an image depicting this route.

Game Crash at Blind

You can use a Somaria Block to damage Blind, but keeping one on the ground while Blind dies
may, in semi-rare cases, crash the game.

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Ice Palace

Accessing Ice Palace with Bombos

The Bombos Medallion can also destroy Freezors, which is required to enter Ice Palace.
Bombos will also destroy Kholdstare’s (the Ice Palace boss) outer shell as well.

Commonly Missed Chest in Ice Palace

Make sure you defeat the two Freezors with either Bombos or Fire Rod in the room above the
Big Chest. Doing so will reveal a chest.

Commonly Missed Key

There is a commonly missed key in the room with the pots, the firebar, and the anti-fairies to the
right of the room with the big key door.

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Ice Palace Bomb Jump
No Glitches logic will never require you to perform the Ice Palace Bomb Jump (IPBJ) trick. You
can shortcut through the Ice Palace block puzzle by using the Cane of Somaria to hold down
the switch in the room just before Kholdstare.

With Advanced item placement only, the logic of the dungeon’s key locations takes into account
access to the Cane of Somaria. If Kholdstare has a small key and you find you don't have
enough small keys to complete the intended block puzzle in the dungeon, this means the Cane
of Somaria is available elsewhere and you can use it to press down the switch and access
Kholdstare.

Misery Mire

Medallion required for entry

The medallion required for entry into Misery Mire is random. The entrance of the dungeon will
tell you which one is needed. The medallion required may be the same as Turtle Rock.

Misery Mire has the Hookshot

This only applies to Advanced item placement.

Misery Mire can also be accessed by using the Pegasus Boots to bonk over the gap at the
entrance of Misery Mire. You’ll need to press the directional pad in the direction you want to go
after bonking so you can clear the gap. This can be expected by the logic.

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Turtle Rock

Unlocking Dark World Warp Tile

The hammer pegs must be used in a specific order to unlock the warp tile that takes you to the
entrance of Turtle Rock. If you hit the pegs in the wrong order, you must screen transition away
and back to try again. Transitioning to the Dark World and back will not work.

The order of the pegs is the same as the original game. This will not be randomized.

Medallion required for entry

The medallion required for entry into Turtle Rock is random. The entrance of the dungeon will
tell you which one is needed. The medallion required may be the same as Misery Mire.

Ganon’s Tower

Small Key Door between West and East Ganon’s Tower

There is a small key door that separates two rooms in Ganon’s Tower. Even though you can
access both rooms without using a key on the door between them, you can use one anyway if
you really want to do so. No Glitches and Overworld Glitches logic accounts for using a key
here.

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Hookshot is in Ganon’s Tower
It is possible, however very rare, that you’ll need the Pegasus Boots to bonk across the gaps in
Hookshot Room in western Ganon’s Tower to reach the room which has the Map in the original
game. Use the blocks to bonk across the gaps in the diagram below, pressing the directional
pad in the direction you want to go after bonking so you can clear the gaps. The Map Chest in
western Ganon’s Tower is the only chest accessible without the Hookshot.

See Figure 5 for an image depicting this route.

The Hookshot can be almost anywhere in GT, with the exception of the four chests above the
gap room (pictured in FIgure 5), the chest before the teleporter room (that you’d hookshot to
get), the four chests in the Randomizer Room (left of the teleporter rooms) and the chest after
Moldorm 2. The chests after Armos Knights 2 (Ice Armos) can have the hookshot, along with
the Big Chest if you’re exceptionally (un)lucky!

Seemingly Important Item is in Ganon’s Tower

Some games do not require certain items in order to access Ganon’s Tower. Items such as the
Mirror, Flippers, Cane of Somaria, Hookshot (see above), Bow or Fire Rod may be located in
Ganon’s Tower if they’re not required before Ganon’s Tower. This is intended behavior.

Commonly Missed Keys

There is a key under a skull pot in the first room of the western side of Ganon’s Tower.

16
A second commonly missed key is under a skull pot in the western side of Ganon’s Tower.

A third commonly missed key (if needed) is under a skull pot in the eastern side of Ganon’s
Tower. Take the teleporter to go to the room after the 4 chests.

Aghanim 2
Just as the first Aghanim fight, the Fighter’s Sword (or better), Bug Net or Hammer can reflect
Aghanim’s attacks. All players of the same game will get the same pattern of attacks.

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Ganon

Silver Arrows
Ganon will hint to you where the Silver Arrows are located when you get to his fourth phase
(dark phase). Combining Advanced Item Placement with Beatable accessibility may require you
to defeat Ganon without Silver Arrows.

Gamercal has an excellent video tutorial on defeating Ganon without the use of Silver Arrows
(​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xflVdNBEiIM​).

Sword Requirements
The Master Sword or better is required to damage Ganon. You must spin attack Ganon to
damage him with the Master Sword. Tempered Sword or the Golden Sword can damage
Ganon without spin attacks.

Fast Ganon Goal

The Pyramid Hole will always be open. You must still collect 7 crystals (or less, depending on
the settings chosen) to damage Ganon.

All Dungeons Goal

If you are playing a game with an All Dungeons goal set, you must defeat the final boss in all
Light World dungeons, Castle Tower (Aghanim 1), all Dark World dungeons, and Ganon’s
Tower (Aghanim 2). Ganon cannot be damaged in phase four (dark phase) until this happens.

Pedestal Goal
If you are playing a game with a Pedestal goal set, you must pull the item from the Master
Sword Pedestal in the Lost Woods in order to finish the game. Ganon will be immune to
damage in Phase 4 and will not be beatable.

Helpful Resources
The Official Link to the Past Randomizer Discord - ​https://discord.gg/alttprandomizer
ALttP Randomizer Github - ​https://github.com/sporchia/alttp_vt_randomizer
IHNN’s Spoiler Name and Image Catalog -
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1U09oSogEFcswqiyTyAPnH4nn6OD6_hswVFu-It48LZ
k/edit#gid=0

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Gamercal’s General Tips/Common Routing Logic -
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xz2QUKfsMnOS-YVneM7DhYQrmq64e9mfPawdJPPErzs
/edit

Credits
● ChristosOwen for clarifying certain aspects of the randomizer behavior and overall fact
checking. He also rewrote two sections of the guide for clarity. Thanks!
● MikeTrethewey for proofreading the document and providing feedback.
● Samuraiprawn for suggestions regarding Ganon’s Tower key locations.
● Gamercal for his guide which helped flesh out missing details of this guide.
● Pokota for additional images located in the Appendix to clarify text explanations.
● IHNN for an excellent guide that has all item locations and their names in the spoiler log.
● Map images from ​http://www.finalfantasykingdom.net/z3worldmap.php
● Special thanks to the ALttPR Community! You are all awesome.
● Chan for making a Korean localization of this guide.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qfi6Vt7jVsG2-2DQHf2V85BKazBAiMU_qK7B1df-f
Ws/edit?usp=sharing

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Appendix

Figure 1
You can get to the Tower of Hera without the Mirror

Figure 2
You can get to East Death Mountain without the Hookshot

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Figure 3
You can get to the northern Dark World using the Hookshot via the Hammer, Power Gloves, or
Flippers.

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Figure 4
You can get to Thieves’ Town and Skull Woods with just the Hammer and Power Glove

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Figure 5
You can get to the map chest in Ganon's Tower without the Hookshot.

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