J, 6 distinct chars
6 distinct char version (u:10 +) using some idea flornquake used. The method is adding vectors of 0 1 11 and 111 together to add up to the desired 84 104 101 32 113 117 ... vector:
u:11 11 11 11 111 111 11 11 11 11 11 111 111 111 11 11 11 111 111 11 11 111 11 111 111 11 111 111 11 111 11 111 11 11 11 11 11 111 111 11 11 111 11 + 11 11 11 11 1 1 11 11 11 11 11 1 0 1 11 11 11 0 1 11 11 1 11 1 1 11 0 1 11 1 11 1 11 11 11 11 11 11 1 11 11 0 11 + 11 11 11 1 1 1 11 11 11 1 11 1 0 1 11 1 11 0 1 1 11 1 11 0 1 1 0 1 11 1 1 1 11 11 1 11 11 0 1 1 11 0 11 + 11 11 11 1 0 1 11 11 11 1 11 1 0 1 11 1 11 0 1 1 11 1 11 0 1 1 0 1 11 1 1 1 11 11 1 11 11 0 1 1 11 0 11 + 11 11 11 1 0 1 11 11 11 1 11 0 0 1 11 1 11 0 1 1 11 1 11 0 1 1 0 1 11 0 1 1 11 11 1 11 11 0 1 1 11 0 11 + 11 11 11 1 0 1 11 11 11 1 11 0 0 1 11 1 11 0 1 1 11 1 11 0 0 1 0 1 11 0 1 1 11 11 1 11 11 0 1 1 11 0 11 + 11 11 11 1 0 1 11 11 11 1 11 0 0 1 11 1 11 0 1 1 11 1 11 0 0 1 0 1 11 0 1 0 11 11 1 11 11 0 1 1 11 0 11 + 1 11 11 1 0 0 11 11 11 1 11 0 0 1 11 1 11 0 1 1 11 0 11 0 0 1 0 1 11 0 1 0 11 11 1 11 11 0 1 1 11 0 11 + 1 11 11 1 0 0 11 11 11 1 1 0 0 1 11 1 11 0 1 1 11 0 11 0 0 1 0 0 11 0 1 0 11 11 1 11 1 0 1 1 11 0 11 + 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 11 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 + 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 + 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 + 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 + 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 + 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 + 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 + 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 + 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 + 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog 13 distinct char version:
u: 84 104 101 32 113 117 105 99 107 32 98 114 111 119 110 32 102 111 120 32 106 117 109 112 115 32 111 118 101 114 32 116 104 101 32 108 97 122 121 32 100 111 103 The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog Anonymous improvement: shorter solution but still using 6 characters (u:10 |) is possible. Using | as residue operator for decimals e.g. 1011 | 1100110001100 = 84.
u:1011 1101 1011 1011 1111 1011 1101 1001 1101 1011 1001 1101 1011 1001 1011 1011 1101 1011 1111 1011 1101 1011 1001 1111 1101 1011 1011 1001 1011 1101 1011 1011 1101 1011 1011 1001 1101 1111 1111 1011 1011 1011 1111|1100110001100 10101010100 101 1100000 100010111 110001110010 10101010101 1100 100010000111 1100000 1000001100 10101010110 111 10001110 110 1100000 10011 111 100110 1100000 100010000110 110001110010 1110 10111 10101010111 1100000 111 1010001110 101 10101010110 1100000 1100010001100 10101010100 101 1100000 1000001110 100000101010 110111 100111 1100000 100 111 100010101 The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog