Probably just because I'm a golf noob, but I thought this was harder than 6 kyu (a 5, IMO). Fun challenge; thanks!

The "encoded" example is incorrect: "ArNran u rstm5twob e ePb" (24 characters even though it's a 5×5 square).

It should be "ArNran u rstm5twob  e ePb" instead - note the extra space after "wob".

Edit: it looks like the markdown parser is collapsing whitespace even within the code blocks, hence the error. Seems to work when using a non-breaking space character, " ".

Approved. Thank you.

"sıfır" is the correct Turkish spelling; you've used a dotted "i" in the beginning :)

Thank you! Approved.

You legend.

Is it actually possible to prevent that for these types of kata? Even if someone did hardcode every number, it would still be a valid solution, just not a very good one. People should be allowed to do that if they wish; I'm sure 99% of them would realise that's missing the point, though.

Thanks for the feedback. I've clarified that part now.