Three areas, with eight signs total:
===
The end of EE is near. To you, I leave this riddle. May it lead you through many a journey in life.
0112919184/0181
/77019109973225
0112919184/018
1/873341973225
===
35099787099701/33326
18432/01414532253532
6184/35918409/326584
916145414161844197
77099725/843261
844177/7732/339
112329701129184
===
01770161843225/2541
6184/01773261843225
8432354177/81918
1329732/01773277
8432354177/091232
0177/339112326125
===
The number of characters per section:
===
10/4/14
10/4/12
===
14/10/18/8/24
8/12/4/18
===
14/8/14
10/12/8
10/10/12
===
The above numbers as letters, doesn't seem to have a meaning:
===
J/D/N
J/D/L
===
N/J/R/H/X
H/L/D/R
===
N/H/N
J/L/H
J/J/L
===
So, let's put the numbers in sets of two, since the characters per section are even:
===
01 12 91 91 84 / 01 81 / 77 01 91 09 97 32 25
01 12 91 91 84 / 01 81 / 87 33 41 97 32 25
===
35 09 97 87 09 97 01 / 33 32 61 84 32 / 01 41 45 32 25 35 32 61 84 / 35 91 84 09 / 32 65 84 91 61 45 41 41 61 84 41 97
77 09 97 25 / 84 32 61 84 41 77 / 77 32 / 33 91 12 32 97 01 12 91 84
===
01 77 01 61 84 32 25 / 25 41 61 84 / 01 77 32 61 84 32 25
84 32 35 41 77 / 81 91 81 32 97 32 / 01 77 32 77
84 32 35 41 77 / 09 12 32 01 77 / 33 91 12 32 61 25
===
If these are words, a large word is "32 65 84 91 61 45 41 41 61 84 41 97".
Three characters in there are the same (41).
Checking for words with length 12, with these characters the same:
-----
$ grep "^......aa..a.$" words
$ grep "^......bb..b.$" words
$ grep "^......cc..c.$" words
$ grep "^......dd..d.$" words
$ grep "^......ee..e.$" words
$ grep "^......ff..f.$" words
$ grep "^......gg..g.$" words
$ grep "^......hh..h.$" words
$ grep "^......ii..i.$" words
$ grep "^......jj..j.$" words
$ grep "^......kk..k.$" words
$ grep "^......ll..l.$" words
controllable
monosyllable
polysyllable
$ grep "^......mm..m.$" words
$ grep "^......nn..n.$" words
$ grep "^......oo..o.$" words
$ grep "^......pp..p.$" words
$ grep "^......qq..q.$" words
$ grep "^......rr..r.$" words
$ grep "^......ss..s.$" words
carelessness
fearlessness
formlessness
harmlessness
heedlessness
helplessness
homelessness
hopelessness
listlessness
mindlessness
recklessness
restlessness
ruthlessness
selflessness
spotlessness
tactlessness
timelessness
tirelessness
$ grep "^......tt..t.$" words
$ grep "^......uu..u.$" words
$ grep "^......vv..v.$" words
$ grep "^......ww..w.$" words
$ grep "^......xx..x.$" words
$ grep "^......yy..y.$" words
$ grep "^......zz..z.$" words
-----
So, can any of those words fit with "32 65 84 91 61 45 41 41 61 84 41 97"?
None of the words that end with "ness" can, because then the last two numbers should be the same ("ss").
This leaves:
-----
controllable
monosyllable
polysyllable
-----
Controllable seems like the most likely pick, but then 84 is both "n" and "b", which is probably not the case.
Instead, let's take a look at small words.
The combination "01 81" could be "an", "as", "at", "be", "by", "do", "go", "if", "in", "is", "it", "me", "no", "of", "on", "or", "so", "to", "up", "us", "we", maybe other stuff.
Hm, maybe we can check which numbers appear a lot, these could be vowels.
$ sort file.txt | uniq -c
-----
13 01
6 09
6 12
8 25
20 32
4 33
5 35
9 41
2 45
9 61
1 65
11 77
4 81
15 84
2 87
11 91
8 97
-----
It seems "32" is the most used (20x) letter.
So, 32 is probably "e".
Let's add "e" everywhere:
===
01 12 91 91 84 / 01 81 / 77 01 91 09 97 e 25
01 12 91 91 84 / 01 81 / 87 33 41 97 e 25
===
35 09 97 87 09 97 01 / 33 e 61 84 e / 01 41 45 e 25 35 e 61 84 / 35 91 84 09 / e 65 84 91 61 45 41 41 61 84 41 97
77 09 97 25 / 84 e 61 84 41 77 / 77 e / 33 91 12 e 97 01 12 91 84
===
01 77 01 61 84 e 25 / 25 41 61 84 / 01 77 e 61 84 e 25
84 e 35 41 77 / 81 91 81 e 97 e / 01 77 e 77
84 e 35 41 77 / 09 12 e 01 77 / 33 91 12 e 61 25
===
Hey, now I see "01 77 e 77". That is probably "uses".
Let's add "u" for 01 and "s" for 77:
===
u 12 91 91 84 / u 81 / s u 91 09 97 e 25
u 12 91 91 84 / u 81 / 87 33 41 97 e 25
===
35 09 97 87 09 97 u / 33 e 61 84 e / u 41 45 e 25 35 e 61 84 / 35 91 84 09 / e 65 84 91 61 45 41 41 61 84 41 97
s 09 97 25 / 84 e 61 84 41 s / s e / 33 91 12 e 97 u 12 91 84
===
u s u 61 84 e 25 / 25 41 61 84 / u s e 61 84 e 25
84 e 35 41 s / 81 91 81 e 97 e / u s e s
84 e 35 41 s / 09 12 e u s / 33 91 12 e 61 25
===
But now I'm still stuck, so maybe 32 is "t" or "a".
With "t":
===
01 12 91 91 84 / 01 81 / 77 01 91 09 97 t 25
01 12 91 91 84 / 01 81 / 87 33 41 97 t 25
===
35 09 97 87 09 97 01 / 33 t 61 84 t / 01 41 45 t 25 35 t 61 84 / 35 91 84 09 / t 65 84 91 61 45 41 41 61 84 41 97
77 09 97 25 / 84 t 61 84 41 77 / 77 t / 33 91 12 t 97 01 12 91 84
===
01 77 01 61 84 t 25 / 25 41 61 84 / 01 77 t 61 84 t 25
84 t 35 41 77 / 81 91 81 t 97 t / 01 77 t 77
84 t 35 41 77 / 09 12 t 01 77 / 33 91 12 t 61 25
===
But then "81 91 81 t 97 t" could only be "septet" or "sextet", which are very unlikely words.
As "a":
===
01 12 91 91 84 / 01 81 / 77 01 91 09 97 a 25
01 12 91 91 84 / 01 81 / 87 33 41 97 a 25
===
35 09 97 87 09 97 01 / 33 a 61 84 a / 01 41 45 a 25 35 a 61 84 / 35 91 84 09 / a 65 84 91 61 45 41 41 61 84 41 97
77 09 97 25 / 84 a 61 84 41 77 / 77 a / 33 91 12 a 97 01 12 91 84
===
01 77 01 61 84 a 25 / 25 41 61 84 / 01 77 a 61 84 a 25
84 a 35 41 77 / 81 91 81 a 97 a / 01 77 a 77
84 a 35 41 77 / 09 12 a 01 77 / 33 91 12 a 61 25
===
But then "81 91 81 a 97 a" is something like:
-----
alpaca
armada
banana
cabana
cicada
errata
iguana
impala
maraca
papaya
sonata
strata
-----
None of these seem likely.
At this point, I wrote a bash script just for "81 91 81 32 97 32" alone, because that seems to be the key to solve this puzzle.
After all, it uses two letters twice at specific positions (81 and 32).
Here's the script:
-----
for x in {a..z}
do
for y in {a..z}
do
grep "^$x.$x$y.$y$" words
done
done
-----
The result is:
-----
abases
cicada
gigolo
ibis's
ibises
iris's
irises
papaya
sass's
sasses
usurer
-----
Only "gigolo" and "irises" might make sense.
With "gigolo" it is:
g = 81
i = 91
g = 81
o = 32
l = 97
o = 32
===
01 12 i i 84 / 01 g / 77 01 i 09 l o 25
01 12 i i 84 / 01 g / 87 33 41 l o 25
===
35 09 l 87 09 l 01 / 33 o 61 84 o / 01 41 45 o 25 35 o 61 84 / 35 i 84 09 / o 65 84 i 61 45 41 41 61 84 41 l
77 09 l 25 / 84 o 61 84 41 77 / 77 o / 33 i 12 o l 01 12 i 84
===
01 77 01 61 84 o 25 / 25 41 61 84 / 01 77 o 61 84 o 25
84 o 35 41 77 / g i g o l o / 01 77 o 77
84 o 35 41 77 / 09 12 o 01 77 / 33 i 12 o 61 25
===
But then we have a word "01 12 i i 84", and I know no word "..ii.".
With "irises" it is:
i = 81
r = 91
i = 81
s = 32
e = 97
s = 32
===
01 12 r r 84 / 01 i / 77 01 r 09 e s 25
01 12 r r 84 / 01 i / 87 33 41 e s 25
===
35 09 e 87 09 e 01 / 33 s 61 84 s / 01 41 45 s 25 35 s 61 84 / 35 r 84 09 / s 65 84 r 61 45 41 41 61 84 41 e
77 09 e 25 / 84 s 61 84 41 77 / 77 s / 33 r 12 s e 01 12 r 84
===
01 77 01 61 84 s 25 / 25 41 61 84 / 01 77 s 61 84 s 25
84 s 35 41 77 / i r i s e s / 01 77 s 77
84 s 35 41 77 / 09 12 s 01 77 / 33 r 12 s 61 25
===
But then "33 r 12 s e 01 12 r 84" has no hits for words.
Okay, I give up.
