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Here is a new code. It is simple and I hope as many will attempt to solve it as possible. I hope that someone solves it before I get home from vacation at the end of the week. I broke the cypher into 4 lines only for the reason that it will not be too wide for this post. None of the lines represent the end of a word, except for the last line. Please post whether you solved it or not. Good luck!
0100100001100001011100000111000001111001001000000100100101101110
0110010001100101011100000110010101101110011001000110010101101110
0110001101100101001000000100010001100001011110010010000001000001
011011010110010101110010011010010110001101100001
Hint: The code is binary
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I am back from vacation in the Aderondacks in upstate NY. I thought someone would have answered even if they could not solve it :'( Would anyone want us to continue to try to solve cryptograms?
The answer was "Happy Independence Day America"
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;D I just found your code of the week which was in the binary code. I used a binary convertor off the internet and it gave "Happy Independence Day America" as you had in your last post. A little late I admit, but the answer was easy to obtain.
Dutch
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I'm glad to see some user-submitted ciphers, I was a bit busy due to vacations myself. Hooray for binary code! :D
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hey,
any new codes?
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There will be more codes. Simple ones at first. We will hopefully grow into more comples codes with discussion here. Just hang in there.
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This is just a simple substitution cryptogram. You substitute one letter for another and it remains the same throughout the puzzle. Length of words, word formation and punctuation are clues to solving this puzzle. Just like you see in the newspaper every day :) I hope someone solves this one. If you have any questions please ask. Please try to solve it and post it before Saturday, August 4th. I will post the answer that day. Good luck!!!!
Lmy tyzcjm rec lcilm ot vecy acyjoeit lmzk olt aettyttoek - Zbpycl Yoktlyok
It is a saying by a famous person (his/her name is included).
HINT: Y= E
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;D The search for truth is more precious than its possession. Albert Einstein
Please make the next one just a wee harder. This one took me 7 minutes. But it was a great opener for my day anyway.
Dutch
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Your answer is correct Dutch. Very good. "The search for truth is more precious than its possession. Albert Einstein" It was intentially a very easy crypt with the intensions to get some more people to solve it and to create some chatter in here. More difficult ones will come of course but they will be easier in the beginning Hopefully they will get more difficult each time. Another one soon. Thanks for taking the time to solve it. ;D
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:D Here is a new cipher challenge until something better comes along. I will post the answer in about a week unless someone solves it before then.
BXJ KI CDJ SX JDD FRHJATKBRH; AJ AI SXJJXH JD VRMX DBW, IXTDCWVRCW WAREDCWI JVRC CDCX RJ RBB.
I have that you have fun solving this.
Dutch
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Let us not be too particular; it is better to have old secondhand diamonds than none at all.
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I added a spoiler mod, so that way people can post answers without inadvertently spoiling others. :D
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The answer to my submission is:
LET US NOT BE TOO PARTICULAR; IT IS BETTER TO HAVE OLD, SECONDHAND DIAMONDS THAN NONE AT ALL.
dUTCH
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Close, I fixed it for you. You didn't have the spoiler tag surrounding the solution. Also, thanks for continuing to provide ciphers to crack. :) I'll see about adding some of my own when I find the time.
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:) Thanks. I'll remember how to do it in the future.
Dutch
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It looks like its been awhile since someone has posted in this thread, but I thought I'd submit a code to see if anyone wants to take a crack at it. Once you know the key, it's fairly simple - I'm sure someone can create a javascript to crack similar codes.
A simple quote by Leonardo da Vinci:
NDHKGeXfOT go pCZ PhqhiVra pJldiqsjywtkkI.
Hint: Easiest if you start with the first word.
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Catcherintherye has given me permission to publish the solution to his cipher challenge. The answer is: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." By running down the alphabet as in a "caesar" type cipher, most of the plain text (from the upper case letters - shift 5) became evident. The lower case letters were in a shift between 0 and 4. Even the simplest things can be quite tricky.
Dutch
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Great challenge! ;D
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Thanks, and great job Dutch!
A little more on the explanation - the first occurrence of a letter is signified by a capital letter. For example, the "S" in "simplicity" is a capital "N". The 2nd occurrence of an "s" is in "is" so you shift 1 over from "n" to "o". The 3rd "s" is in "sophistication" so you shift once more from "o" to "p". So you have N=S, o=s, p=s, q=s.
A little tricky at the end, where the final two "k"s represent different letters - the 1st k is "i" and the second "k" is "o".
:)
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I'll endeavour to put in a different cipher every week - some easy, some not so - for starters try the following - so as not to spoil it for others, please don't post the solution until a weeks gone by.
(in the following plaintext the 'f' often represents the long 's' which fell out of use some time back and I've used a font which is similar to the original handwriting of the cipher itself)
circa. 1710
‘Mr. Forbes a scotchman being presented to Rougham living by Ld. Chanceler Cowper seemed a man of good temper & condition, but under a mistake as to the value of the living which had been he presented greater yn. proved. However continued there about half a year & then dyed in the morning of fuch a day as of hapned to dine there. Mr North being yn. at London his steward brought to me a fmall blew filk bag, wch. the woman yt. laid out the corps found tyed with a fmall riband about the ministers neck. upon opening the bag I found a paper very near the size of this, discoloured very yellow wth. sweat. I transcribed it in the fame character & words as they stood there. I was the rather induced to it having just before read in ye account of the Gowryes conspiracy in Scotland. The Earl Gowry after his death stripist was found to wear fuch a charm about his neck. wch. tis sd. prevented the bleeding of his wounds till the sd charm was taken off.’
Eywn nydlab ase byw udgaa eywd gmw yw esa lbib bltw udcab x lwr byw lwca sazwr yln sdb byac ys xdshr qd ysab byge sm spew lwaca astr lsn mgb sxdshr mgd yscw mgb sm spew eyg maq wewdeeda bywaw eqdra aysii mwcwd tw bdoctiwr elby sm spew snwm snwm acwwb lwaca.
Tony
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PADLOCK CIPHER
This is a small box with 26 cardboard strips and an explanatory pamphlet published by (Crowther & Goodman, London 1899) – each strip, on both sides, having a plain alphabet above one of the caesar alphabets beneath – the pamphlet explains how to make a polyalphabetical cipher and finishes with the following statement:-
In spite of the skill of experts, and the acknowledged difficulty of producing a cipher which they cannot solve, the proprietors of “Padlock Cipher are confident enough to offer £100 for first correct solution of the following cipher sentence which reaches the hands of the publishers of “Padlock Cipher.
PRIZE CIPHER SENTENCE.
XQQQMY PGO HLL QXDJR WX APV ZXJD QGSK DIGZNOGA MJF KUR XF UKX UZD YDSFH NTQAB TYTHAECUB AG VMM JHHMOQ JMEGJRW AST SFTHANZGSB WUZZWW BQTXA CJ OTH UERHWTVQS.
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One of my favourites -
From a Loyalist Lady to Charles II – circa 1650
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/loyalistlady.gif)
'"Tho I scorn to fawn or flatter yet my heart is ever true all inconcious of the matter you reject a prize
your due take me try me when you will faithful you will find me still."
Is anydoby out there?
Anybody solved the previous 2 yet - are they too easy, too hard?
If you need a hint or an explanation just ask.
Tony
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I plan to get cracking on these soon, they're pretty interesting. :)
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??? I am working on this cipher but am having a bit of difficulty. It would seem from the message preceding the cipher that it is written in what would be 17th or 18th century English. That is my only real difficulty.
Dutch
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Lets have a recap - of the 3 ciphers given so far –
The first (the Charm) is simple substitution with word divisions (though some of the divisions are misleading – presumably from it being copied several times) – the easiest way to solve it is to compare the short words – i.e. ‘yw’, ‘byw’ (appears twice), ‘bywaw’, ‘elby’ – there are about only 25 common 2 letter words and trying these we soon arrive at ‘he’, ‘the’, ‘there/these’ ‘with/both’ etc. etc. – it’s also a reciprocal key which makes it even easier though many errors have crept in.
The second (the Padlock Cipher) is polyalphabetical with a period of 26 –
the period can be found by noting the distances between repeated sequences and finding a common factor or by lining up in the following manner and looking for repetitions in the columns (these repeats appear more frequently in the one with the correct period as each column is enciphered under the same Caesar alphabet) i.e. -
period 26
XQQQMYPGOHLLQXDJRWXAPVZXJD
QGSKDIGZNOGAMJFKURXFUKXUZD
YDSFHNTQABTYTHAECUBAGVMMJH
HMOQJMEGJRWASTSFTHANZGSBWU
ZZWWBQTXACJOTHUERHWTVQS
00110011100111011111011011 = 17
period 25
XQQQMYPGOHLLQXDJRWXAPVZXJ
DQGSKDIGZNOGAMJFKURXFUKXU
ZDYDSFHNTQABTYTHAECUBAGVM
MJHHMOQJMEGJRWASTSFTHANZG
SBWUZZWWBQTXACJOTHUERHWTV
QS
0100100101001010100001010 = 9
period 24
XQQQMYPGOHLLQXDJRWXAPVZX
JDQGSKDIGZNOGAMJFKURXFUK
XUZDYDSFHNTQABTYTHAECUBA
GVMMJHHMOQJMEGJRWASTSFTH
ANZGSBWUZZWWBQTXACJOTHUE
RHWTVQS
102110101100001100000110 = 12
Having found the period (26)-
(every other word is underlined to mark the word divisions)
XQQQMYPGOHLLQXDJRWXAPVZXJD
QGSKDIGZNOGAMJFKURXFUKXUZD
YDSFHNTQABTYTHAECUBAGVMMJH
HMOQJMEGJRWASTSFTHANZGSBWU
ZZWWBQTXACJOTHUERHWTVQS
in the bottom two rows starting at the 12th column are two 3 letter words that line up – using a caesar alphabet on each column if ‘AST’ = ‘the’ then ‘OTH’ will equal ‘his’; whereas if ‘OTH’ =’the’ then ‘AST’ must equal ‘fgq’ - (had neither of these been ‘the’ we would have tried other common 3 letter words or ‘the’ in other places) - so for column 12, 13 & 14 we must advance +19,+15,+11 letters in the alphabet respectively.
in row 2 column 13 & 14 begins another 3 letter word ‘MJF’ advancing +15 & +11 we get ’bu-‘ obviously ‘but’ – we can now fill in all the letters in columns 12,13,14 & 15 the rest follows easily and our claim for the £100 prize goes in by the next post!
The third (Musical cipher by a Loyalist Lady)
you’ll need to print this out and try a bit of origami on it – a couple of ‘valley & mountain’ folds are needed to reveal the message.
Tony
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Dutch,
I had a bit of trouble with it as well - it's not so much the old English as the errors it contains -
page 66 out of 142 on the following web site gives a version of it and puts it in context.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2376310/Three-Thousand-Years-of-Mental-Healing-by-Cutten-George-Barton
Tony
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Here's this weeks cipher-
Sir Thomas Roe to Mr Secr. Calvert 1623
Right Honourable
My last letters of ye second of May, left your Hos in expectation of ye succes, and execution of ye ceuetunucens of ye truecanrnutu of ceuenunr: in this trcruece and of ye nunscune procured. Wee then expected, to heare of nothing butt nsuueueu. Since there is nuueuecatetucu from him another nuuruununene: whom brought mee only crnrtu nrtuceceuetu from ye Du of cecruenn til; without any mention of ye affaires of those parts, wch madame gave mee some suspicion. Butt the nuuruununene: promising so came to netrtunutatu, with mee, and failing, as it were wholly uetucensuecauruutu from any correspondence or conference with me. I began to think there was some alteration either in their dessigns or their ceuetenece this made mee more inquisitive, and at ye first I could cucanenucrtetuue, nothing but that wch was given out publiquely, that hee was nucrurtu, only to nanunecetunr the netenunueruens, and to chaunge something in the manor, and other circumstances depending these on, and this much he professed to 180, But he having received fresh, and uacrercu nucutecanutu, that the necenucetune afembled nunrtunu catenrcanu in Ceuenunrne were very loath for going? a nsnuueue, or to breake with 102, they ... ... two nucrururcanene cacrnrtuuene, to treat of ... nunutu who were at tecatunrnrnu well received: and from them another, the nuuenunauu: of neceuecauacrnr cateur was sent to ceuenunrns: this made mee think that he did play with uucrcena nanunrcune, for it was incongruous, at ye same tyme publiquely to sollicite ye nunscune, and to ceuetunucetu ye trtununutu, without a purpose to~ receive one. Which made mee desirous to know ye truthe and I am netunuuetucecenrns informed, that his canrne ceuetenuce cacrnrne, are wholly cucrnrceuenu uens, and that hee doth procure to uetucensuetu ye former Commands given to the uununenenutune, to move their nuueurns, so that it seems hee had never any purpose to make a nsnuueue, but only to uununrnrnunrnutu by ye countenance thereof his natunuuetune, and last nuuauetutuurtunrcene with 102. That this is alltogether true, I will not give my word, not having had tyme to search it to the bottome. You knowing that hee doth ceuetunucetu, and being confidant hee will, make trtununutu, I thought fit to enforme your Honor of ... ... heard, and conceived, least any of our friends should be deceived in him. I have started 108 with this discovery; hee will not yett believe it, though many circumstances make him doubtfull, professing then, that hee and necenuce.. certenty both of his nrtuuacrcecatucecacrnr, and succefse.
I have lately received ... from ye Duke of Zbarasky, sent by a nuncio with dispatch to ye port, the fubstance whereof are only a declaration of ye acceptance of ye Articles of ye treaty by that king and stat on condition, that ye Tartars may bee restrayned from their continual incursions, and desiring to certify the alterations made in transfcribing ye Capitulations after ye Agreement, ffrom thence I receive, that an Earle of Orkeney .... I do not knowe it arrived at that court netunuuetucenrns to nrtuuacrcecanucetu some business from his urnucatunecens.
Of all those affaires I will render an ample and true accouups by the next, now I rather agree.. at then assure any thing. only this I repeat with confidence, that uutucenanrtuur will receive ye world to ye providine of this trcrnecetu, or to ye utter reigne of his owne honor, ffor he seekes a nrtunuuatetu with 102, and 13’6: and ye urnuueuecanuuatu of ye cunuteuanacetuue of ye later, and ye nrtucanutu of ye first, thereby to make sure nunrnrcanu nrnutu with bo.... his side I am of opinion he will at last adhere.
Here are some troubles, newly begunn in Asia, by ye moving of ye Bassa of Arzerum, and a Generall named to goe against him. Butt he pretends reformation, who soldiery of ye citty are loath to come to blows; it is thought they will not move, or if they doe, are apten to mutiny, then to fight. This will bring some alteration and trouble here. but as yet it being only in ye beginnings, I would neither omitt to give some intimation, nor trouble your Hor with long discourses, only, that from hence also you may collect, that 102 having made truce in uutuueurnunrns and cenacane necenucetu being so full of Domestique ceuecrtuuunrtu, it is very probable that ye truecanrnutu of ceuenunrns: will not provoke an enemy, if he can have an advantagious peace, only those nunscune shall show themselves to advance his conclusion, and to bee dismissed. I will daily expect to receive some direction from your Honor, and some answere from France to putt ye Ambassador and mee into a better way of Correspondence, wch wee ourselves cannot find. I doubt not that I have troubled your Hor enough and that it is tyme to recommend myself to yor favor, as
Yor Honors most Humble Servant Thomas Roe
Constple 11/21 July 1623
(where you see ... is my inability to read the correspondents handwriting)
Tony
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I have the answers to the charm cipher and the padlock cipher. The technique for the charm cipher is simple substitution. Tony said that there are some errors in the cipher, but should not cause too many problems. My solution was close to what he had. It is a very good challenge.
Tony stated that the period of the padlock cipher is 26. By there being 26 cardboard strips in the box, it seemed that they used all of them in the puzzle. They did. His tip was that the group "AST" is the word "THE". That gave me the break that I needed. Keep plugging at it and you can solve it.
My thanks to Tony for his help and for breathing some life back into this section of our group. Keep sending the problems. :D
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Yes, thanks for helping make this forum a little more active. :) I love the new challenges. I might try adding more of my own cipher challenges as well now that college is over and I have no excuses.
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This weeks cipher concerns rather delicate matters -
Viscount Scudamore Ambassador in France 1636
…. an offer is 21.18.64.32.75. made to the 13.26.14.69.33.49.95.66.53.50. of 241. that 241. would accept for 21.23.33.54.37.3.76.4.28. 161. where unto the partie to whom the offer is made anewe and that 161.47. is held to be uncapable of 72.10.11.87.9.55.76.65.73.61.97.25.16.87.10.83. having suffered 78.96.32.33.75.25.76.18. to be to much 48.13.26.30.64.50.66. by 69.55.60.64.56.30.96.50.23.15.8. in 127. to wch 156. replied that that was untrue, and a 33.15.13.27.16.69.25.57.22.67.69.49.89.17.99.85.29.83.65.161.60.72.39.28.152. soe there is 95.28.73.53.46.32.50.79.64.32.60.88.75.83.48.54.34.53.54.241. whose 32.18.48.46.32.27. this 13.26.14.71.33.49.11.66.84.87. doth stay to expect.
The Polish amb~. has intimated to this K. the desire of the K. his M~. to be a Mediat~. of the generall peace. Answeare is given, that they cannot admitt of him under that title, in regard that the Pope hath allready engaged himself to mediate. The Pope replies, that there being diverse persons to be treated with whoe will not submit to the Pope, the K. of Poland may be admitted to second the Pope by mediating with those persons. That 71.82.72.69.49.88.71.74.84.50. saith, that no Amb~. was ever better received in 101. then 78.75.96. at his coming thither, or worse and afterwards.
From Vienna 314. is given, that 201. hath sent to M. 25.64.20.71.55.64.94. in 280. directing him to represent 305. the great danger he is in, and that if he will be contented but to leave 126. then 201. will give him 34.21.64.17.85.59.48.57.10.65. of 32.29.39.69.25.57.60.78.79.77.78. of 27.96.33.49. besides other thinges that shall be advantageous both to himself and to 21.23.33.54.61.53.36.88.4.
Paris 15/25 July
1636
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This weeks cipher comes from 'Cyphers - A Treatise on the Art of Decyphering’ by Philip Thicknesse 1772
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/thicknesse.gif)
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Of the previous 3 ciphers the first by ‘Sir Thomas Roe’ – with only 8 different letters used in the cipher they must first be divided into pairs – this gives us just over 20 different pairs checking the frequencies of these pairs we find a match to normal frequencies and can now treat it as a simple substitution – the pairs suggest a checkerboard arrangement and the 8 different letters turn out to form a Latin key phrase around an alphabet with no ‘j’ or ‘v’
The second ‘Viscount Scudamore’ is a homophonic cipher – this is a good example of why you should never intermingle cipher and plaintext – the easiest way to a solution is to guess the second word (which appears elsewhere in the message in plaintext although in an abbreviated form) – and the fact that the numbers were NOT assigned randomly render its solution rather easy, the only tricky bit is sorting out the nulls.
The third ‘Cyphers – Thicknesse’ – the characters are from the Ethiopic & Etruscan alphabets - I really struggled with this one – I won’t spoil it by revealing the ‘twist’ but if you’re really struggling too, the 3 letter word that repeats 6 times does represent ‘the’, persist with that and the message you’ll eventually uncover is well worth the effort.
This week’s cipher –
circa 1700
“Ch1962s th2 g921t 1s 35st 18d g44d
1s 2529 c172 4f 94y16 b644d;
t4 t945b62s b4982, h2 2196y k825
5h1t k38gs 1s 728 192 s5b32ct t4.â€
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Thanks for that last easy one. Some of us are in over our heads - but still trying!
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Thanks for posting Don - I'm just glad to know there are people out there actually interested in ciphers - with so few replies or posts I was begining to think I was whistling in the wind.
Also a warm welcome to Goofy, Tushar, Tophatsaremagic, Eloise, Apok, Hooksetters, Roboman & Tycho, who have all joined us in the last month.
Tony
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Yeah, I'm still crunching away at these in my spare time too. I think what I love most is the history beinhd these ciphers. :)
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No cipher this week - I thought you might enjoy this rebus instead -
from Princess Louise to Lord Goring circa 1640
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/rebuspb.gif)
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Wow, what a cute rebus. :D Some of the pictures are a little hard to decipher, but I get the gist of the message. I should send messages between *my* sisters like that. XD
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Aaron - in the original which I copied that from the 'sis' is written on top of what was once 'cou' - so you better write to your cou-suns as well.
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*chuckles*
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Welcome Indrid, Sandeep & Emily
This weeks cipher is the title page and first paragraph of a book written entirely in cipher -
FOGBOLF DBOFOBWOP
JM LYO
UFFEGJULJEM
ES
NUJPOM AMJLH UNP ULLUGYNOML.
-----------------------
“Vonon ubo flbemcofl.†– Ofpb. 3. 11.
LONDON.
--------
M.DCCC.XXXV.
UMGJOML NÃFLOBJOF
JMLBEPAGLJEM
----------
L’o olovutjem es Iesopy le l’o yighosl pjgnjth jm Oghpl, bondorop yjn ubselato jm l’ul geantrý. Yif uatherith oxtondop mel nourlh eveb l’o gjvjt eal l’o occlosj` ustjg redý; vjty v’jcy yo yup ulljop yjmsols rh l’o glesosl ljof; Detjphoruy, l’o yjgy drjosl es Yolj` epeljf, gullop Em jm fcrjptaro, yuvjnc cjvom yjn yjf puaghtob jm nurrj` ugo. Sren yjf gennoxjem vjty l’o fucrop erdob, unp jnflaonco jm l’o ftuto, yo ucqajrop l’ul uscòn donch, v’jcy ousjlý top le l’o jmpljcjl udeptjem es yjf epjnjenf. Jm l’o bjtof unp gorò menjof es l’o Oghptjunf, l’o dlujnosl ovj` donco oxjstf es l’o oxtonl es yjf jnflà onco evob l’o drjostheep. L’o udeptjem es gjrcà m cjsjem unp fucrj` fico, v’jcy voro l’o fucrù montf es l’o bolj` gjem lransmjttop rý Ubruhun le yjf destorjth, umply drevof, l’ul l’o dutrj`, urchut bolj` gjem vuf ombrucop, rý l’o fucrop erdob, jm Oghpl; unp, uf jl vealp uppob, l’reagy l’o jntòr vontjem es Iesopy.
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Of the last 3 ciphers given –
if you had trouble with the one beginning ‘Ch1962s th2…’ it’s possible that you’ve joined the wrong group
the ‘rebus’, apart from the bees, which seem to have put on considerable weight over the past few centuries, I take the head with what looks like an extra large ear to represent a ‘wen’ (when), - the hunter shooting from the tree, I believe the wooden structure he is on was called a ‘stand’ - & the girl on the ball represents the Roman Godess ‘Fortuna’ (fortune)
the book in cipher was simple substitution with just a slight difference between the system used for the title page and that for the text, the text only having the first & last consonants of each word enciphered.
This weeks cipher (in French) –
Duc D’Harve au Duc de Lorges 2nd September 1801
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/DucdeLorges.gif)
PS Welcome to Lyricalfaerie & Praveena
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If Toneybaloney can put French in here, I can put Morse Code. Western Digital's "My Book" external drive has the cooling vent holes arranged as morse code characters. Try your hand at decoding what this great high tech company put on their machine. One warning: this high tech company's message includes mis-spellings. I guess they are geeks, not poets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wdpro_morse_code.jpg is a picture someone took of the three sides with code, lined up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_Code is for those who don't remember (or never knew) morse code.
Enjoy! Don
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Hi Trica-UY & Raskan17
This weeks cipher was written (presumably by the owner) on the back page of a copy of ‘Boethius Comfort of Philosophy’ which was published in 1560
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/boethius.gif)
PS. Don - I put that morse code in the image you gave a URL for - thought I'd got the image upside down & did it again! - found the 5 words eventually - hard to believe they made that many mistakes!?
Tony
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Keys to the ciphers given so far –
‘The charm’
A B C D E F G H I/J K L M N O P Q R S T U/V/W X Y Z
S T U/V/W R W X O Y L ? I/J N M ? G ? D A B C F H K
(this looks like it was once a reciprocal key – presumably the ‘charm’ was copied several times allowing errors to creep in)
‘Padlock cipher’
KEY (+3,+1,-10,+8,-1,+6,+7,-6,+4,+12,-4,-7,-11,+11,-12,+9,+2,-3,-9,0,+13,-2,-5,+3,-8,+10) recurring.
‘Loyalist Lady’
fold so the tops and tails of the notes meet when the message reads – ‘Conceal yourself your foes look for you’
‘Sir Thomas Roe’
- n u n c t
u A B C D E
a F G H IJ K
r L M N O P
e Q R S T UV
s W X Y Z
‘Viscount Scudamore’
A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U W X Y Z
5 4 3 2 1
11 10 9 8 7
13 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 31 32 33 34 36 37 38 39 40
69 68 67 66 64 63 62 61 59 58 57 56 55 53 52 51 50 49 48 46 45 44 43 42
71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94
95 96 97 98 99
Nulls – 6,12,17,22,28,35,41,47,54,60,65,70 (used as word dividers)
Three digit numbers represent places & people
‘’Thicknesse’
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/thicknesse-1.gif)
‘Ch1962 th2’
Key - a,e,i,o,u,l,m,n,r, replaced by 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
‘Rebus’
‘I(eye) have receaved your(ewer) (letter) by my lady(die) li(bell)ing upon my person(parson) which(witch) was very pain(pane)full un me be(bee)cause I(eye) (can) doe the (music) when(wen) I(eye) (stand) thin(king) in the (fireplace) here(ear) and leave(leaf) the (rest) to(toe) fortune(Fortuna) and (fools) meane (time flies) I(eye) remain(mane) your(ewer) loving(Cupid) sister(star) Louise
Ha(hay)gue the 4 of January(Janus)
‘Book in cipher’
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
u r g p o s c y j i q t n m e d k b f l a w v z h x
Apart from headings only first and last consonants of each word are enciphered – ’ is an alternative substitute for h – ý an alternative substitute for y - ` stands for a false word division – an accented vowel indicates a false word division after the following letter.
Duc de Lorges’
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/ducdulorges.gif)
‘Boethius’
A B C D E F G H I/J K L M N O P Q R S T U/V/W X Y Z
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
(triangle = 4 etc - is this just an old style of writing the numbers?)
‘Be me Henri Lange Forde organ maker of London dwellinge 29 the Minores’
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This weeks cipher comes from the end of a long letter in English to Colonel Richards, Allicante Castle 25th Feb 1709
50.86.57.61.43.55.41.56.53.43.70.72.39.17.73.58.82.67.72……..67.56.58.61.70.28.30.69.31.52.21.17.66.
25.44.71.56.73.38.26.31.18.70.72.58.34.51.57.75.53.72.68.19.43.72.41.74.48.43.18.55.265.266.267.50.
18.66.24.40.27.42.67.31.23.72.48.87.72.57.71.38.30.68.17.41.27.52.58.76.73.19.42.54.45.21.31.61.42.
54.36.68.56.38.43.37.39.75.60.56.54.71.40.29.68.88.27.30.56.33.41.72.266.30.54.31.50.87.68.40.57.66.
70.50.19.86.50.58.71.31.76.66.71.58.80.65.34.56.58.72.20.87.81.39.43.24.40.50.30.19.55.70.71.38.23.
86.50.17.88.77.30.65.67.86.69.30.24.75.67.31.49.88.50.17.66.25.40.74.56.72.57.73.38.29.25.18.68.73.
48.31.34.65.56.51.80.39.30.54.24.30.82.31.80.41.47.49.50.19.67.24.39.26.57.81.55.30.42.54.71.50.73.40.
29.71.57.80.55.31.
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Thanks for showing how those ciphers are solved, some of them are very creative. :)
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This weeks cipher comes from Sir Charles Babbages papers,
it was to the Duke of Somerset from his nephew Henry -
Pyri Ulofv
Povvmgn mk uo gowr hw lq pgfjhyg ojaw msn wijheehpr brogruhegk, eff wjsr rvy
cpoy vsp, px okln pi xxysnla self xg feevtalv ljiu; vr moi egap hmfl ml yinz tngddg
yglv uyeap-bql
Wjqv pgyk stritlmhfofi
eutawk
tiejc
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This weeks cipher comes from -
‘A Centurie of the Names & scantlings of such Inventions as att present I can call to mynde to have tried & perfected.’
a small booklet by EDWARD SOMERSET 2nd MARQUESS of WORCESTER circa 1650
‘Beside many omitted & some of three sortes willingly nott sett downe as nott fitt to be divoulged least ill use may be made thereof, butt to show ye such things are alsoe within my knowledge, I will here in myne owne characters sett downe att least one of each, nott to be concealed where dutie or affection oblidgeth me.’
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/scantlings.gif)
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That's a very interesting cipher... I don't see very many repeating characters.
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Hi to David, s117 & rriss
This weeks cipher (in French) -
circa 1675
A: H:
oteeeseano&aatdyarurieqehi
llrsnpsusrqrdiesltryrmunes,
iieresnyieeeoueetiocolducu
asusuccuteumuesdAsptponsrn
opulolsseeorqqrd’at6:ulmeseq
reetpryoutponlidsrsuossaoo
ducixhortnrmseaMhoeeur&one
nateueaisiuiqetoeeoudotaee
ruo&uslrsdnsrutaBedieencuq.
rpmglsrhuiynneanirtusdasaa
nrteleausmrcdsntlteyeabemy
Prince de Orange
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This weeks cipher comes from a letter to Dr. John Wallis dated - London July 22 1657
Dear fellow student
………………..I have sent you a word or two written in these characters which I showed you at your being here, and if you are a right Oedipus you will be able to unriddle it.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/johnwallispigpen.gif)
Send me the 24 letters according to this key, and then I shall say that there is no man that can conceal what he writes from you …..
Yours R. Lawrence
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Of the last 5 ciphers given –
The Col. Richards one is another homophonic cipher similar to the Visc. Scudamore cipher given previously but with the numbers arranged vertically rather than horizontally against the alphabet.
The one from Sir Charles Babbages papers re the Duke of Somerset is a periodic cipher in 3 parts, the opening 2 words, the main body of the text & the closing address are each enciphered using a different keyword – 6, 9 & 8 letter keywords respectively.
A Century of Names & Scantlings – is simple substitution.
Prince de Orange is a transposition cipher which needs to be written into columns 13 letters deep and the rearranged into the correct order to read the message.
John Wallis is of the PigPen variety.
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Thanks for the hints. :)
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This weeks cipher -
Two letters by an assassin 1778
I am much concerned at the account you give me of the loss our dear friend Charles – so great are our losses that you may be assured I want nothing to make me more determined to do the business of my journey here, tis determined by me to put the matter into execution the very first moment tis in my power & this is the last letter you’ll ever receive from me which I send you by our friend qtxdwy late of Swxfobyfswxo the under written is the plan of the matter.
I have discovered the exact tract the qxhe comes when he goes to the sfop walqy through the alleys in his zwoxk I am prepared and have fixed on the road for my yqzosy shall do you recommend to return to my last lodgings for some time & if the cause is ever so well shall not send you any account for fear of bxpzrmzkp.
There has been very great to do in the sokfxotyhd but from the whole think they will send more troops early in the spring indeed tis fully believed so here and the same txhxqdyk is likely to continue altho’ he has been roughly treated as you’ll see by the news papers – adieu my dearest friend and be assured nothing is to great for my Arm to attempt & may the almighty protect you & bless this my endeaver to relieve your injuries pray for me and expect no more till you see or hear of my safety, or death, yours with all truth.
11 Decemr. I am Lfokz.
Was disappointed as to the time of his leaving London he is doubtful about getting a passage over to you cannot think how impatient I am to be at work. I am more convinced than before that a large body of – will be sent in as expeditious a manner as they can but at present they seem more imployed about the safety of the West Indies unless they do attribute the affair to one of us it will not answer the intent I only wait to learn the night he goes & that night will be the last he will have it in his power to torment us you know I used to hit the mark if not to a hair I could too an inch at 50 yards but I have managed to find out the spot & shall be very near to him before I pull the fatal trigger be assured I glory in the thought of being likely of being the instrument of relieving America or at least of revenging the horrors that our native country has sustained by the blood of our dearest friends & brothers & shall glory in seeing him fall who is & has been the cause of our sorrows.
Adieu till death. Yours sworn I am Lfokz.
17 Decr .
qtxdwy is not determined how to go over for tis very difficult but leave London on 22d but shall say no more than you may depend on me.
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This weeks cipher -
1720’s
Letter addressed to ‘The Right Honble. Robert Walpole Esq.
at his house in Arlington Street’
Eym mbaat cpne rg dsr e arfd eieln ngonit I ay hsm tioede sion dr leet teuc fessp en nsnietoa sf atn niyr smr onivgt rona gdeoet o cheni snmn ode ea tahtsts mp etlee iom begtsyth sdnet mto inaoeem hyd pmyo at iemero fn daorsat
The above written is a sentence took out of Wilkins Mathematical Magick, wch. I shall transcribe, & tho every letter retain its natural signification yet they are transpose in a manner which casts them at such irregular distances, that the most skilful of your decipherers, tho they should have the copy it was taken from would never be able to decipher it. & yet I can show you how it is to be deciphered by once transcribing it. . . . . . . I will even yn venture a considerable wager yt they will not be able to decipher it. . . . . . I hope you will not be offended if I challenge your decipherers to a trial of their skill & if I cannot baffle & delude them I shall be contented to be sent to Bethlam as a proper place for so whimsical a projector. . . . . . if you require it, I can get such certificates of my assertion to the government as will entirely remove ye suspicions you labour under. and I hope even my present endeavours to serve you will be esteemed as an instance of it, especialy since I am fully resolved should you slight my proposal, never to communicate to any who would be glad of an opportunity of employing it against the government.
I am Sr. Your most obedient servt
Ste: Thorpe
(In a second letter he gives the actual message) -
Amongst other impediments of any strange invention or attempts, it is none of ye meanest discouragements, yt they are so generally derided by common opinion, being esteemed only as the dreams of a distempered fancy.
(the copy of ‘Wilkins Mathematical Magick’ that I looked at has the 2 words ‘melancholy and’ before the word ‘distempered’ in the above paragraph.)
I have mark’d ye a & m ye two first letters. (given above in bold italic)
I have been very ill since I was last at your house to wait on you & am not yet in a condition of venturing so far but hope I shall be able to wait on you Monday next Sber 21s 1723
(can you find the method of transposition?)
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This weeks cipher -
Transactions between England & Scotland circa 1550
Plesith it your lordship to be advertisid on Saturday last the campes arrivid before this towne the frenche menne to Clarkinton the governour to Liddington, the same after none there were many off them hurt and off theyr horsis a grete sorte slayne and hurte, and off oure side Pelham a littill hurte on the calf of his legg and Tiberio on his hande but they are bothe hable to serve att all allarmes. The same night they gave ay hoste allarme about the towne as though they wold have geven the assauwlt but thartillery rewarded them so withe hayle shot that they abade not longe. Yesterday parte off them remanid theyr came nere to this towne and lodge betwey the river and the towne, and this laste night have caste a trenche betwey Taylers buttework and Wondams but set work alonge the highte off the hill, and gave ay hotte allarme during the same ???? doynge they have nott yett plantid any artillery but this nextt I think they will.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/trans1550pt1.gif)
Yesternight I causid a sallye to be made upon certeyne that laye behynde the ??? and by the water side among the bankes and at the doers repert to me there wer above ??? slayne off the frenche part of my menne ?? which were slayne in spayling the Frenchmen that were slayne thus I comitt your Lordship to the Lord who longe maynte no the same in honour? Assuring your Lordship I never saw more wiling menne they bothe gentelmenne and soldeours. yo~ from Haddington the second off July
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/trans1550pt2.gif)
Your Lordships to comand
James Wylford
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Oo, a fancy substitution cipher. :D
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Let battle commence -
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Solutions for the last 8 ciphers are –
Col. Richards
A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
17 20 23 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47 50 53 56 59 62 65 68 71 74 77 80 83 86 89
18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 66 69 72 75 78 81 84 87 90
19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 73 76 79 82 85 88 91
Duke of Somerset
First 2 words period 6 using the keyword ‘muvray’
Main text of message period 9 using the keyword ‘cacoethes’
Last 5 words period 8 using the keyword ‘somerset’
Edward Somerset
Below is a photocopy from ‘Pall Mall Magazine’ 1896 Vol.8 No. 34 p.256 which happily is the key to the ‘scantlings’ message.
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/KingCharlesKeyPallMall.gif)
No. 30 – King Charles the first’s Shorthand Cipher, written by the King himself and initialled by him.
Prince De Orange
Transposition – write in columns 13 letters deep and rearrange columns in the sequence 12,7,13,16,19,21,5,8,11,14,17,20,22,1,3,6,2,4,9,15,10,18
John Wallis
? P Q|R ? N|L S A
F O U|Y ? M|K T B
E I W|? D H|G X C
. .. . .. . ..
Assassin
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
o ? z b y ? e w x ? g f t h a s ? k q d l m ? ? p ?
Rt. Hon. Walpole
‘Mr. Thorpe’s Method of Secret Writing is performed thus. –
You must reduce what is to be written into Stanza’s of Letters of such a nature, wch. is discovered by the Number of letters each Word, and not by any Rule in Arithmetick, that being only a Blind, and designed to create a difficulty where there really is none. These Stanza’s are to be scituated in two, three or more Columns according to the quantity of Writing, wch. are also easily found out by the regularity of the Words at the beginning, middle and ending of each Column, every Word exactly corresponding in its proper situation.
N.B. In Specimen No. 1 ye Letters dashed under, (he had underlined Eym, cpne and arfd in the first line) wch. are thereby shown to be irregular, must be first taken out. You then begin to write down the first Row of the outermost Letters on ye left hand of the first Column, beginning from the bottom to the top, and so you go on to ye second, third, fourth and fifth Rows till all ye Letters of that Column are finished. After ye same manner you proceed with the other Column, or Columns; and at last what Letters remain wch. are not enough for a Stanza, are either inserted at the end and then they are not marked, as in Specimen No. 2. Or else in some other place with a dash under them to distinguish them from ye rest, as in this other Specimen.
‘Tis to be read at first view as soon as ye Stanza’s are discovered.’
(the following may make it clearer – it is first written out as shown then read off upwards in column 1 then 2 etc.)
12345 678910
a m
mon ped
gstot iment
her sof
i a
n n
yst tio
range nsora
inv tte
e m
p t
tsi hem
tisno eanes
neo tdi
f s
c h
our att
ageme heyar
nts eso
t g
e e
ner dby
allyd commo
eri nop
d i
n e
ion med
being onlya
est sth
e e
d e
rea mpe
msofa redfa
dis ncy
t
(it seems a few errors have crept in by the encipherer – this last stanza in the second column group contains all the letters underlined which the solver says should be taken out).
Transactions England Scotland
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/transactionEngScot.gif)
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The stanza cipher is pretty fascinating, I haven't seen that kind of cipher before.
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Aaron - I agree the 'stanza' system is a pretty ingenious method of scrambling the letters - I suppose we could call it a multiple 'railfence'.
This weeks cipher (I'm sure you will have seen before but a few newcomers may not have) comes from 'The New Wondeful Magazine & Marvelous Chronicle' Vol.iv. London 1793
P R S V R Y P R F C T M N,
V R K P T H S P R C P T S T N.
'They were written over the ten commandments in a Welch church, and remained a whole century before the true sense was found'
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This weeks cipher - circa 1665
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/statepapers1665.gif)
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I recognize the alchemy symbols in there... interesting mix of numbers and symbols.
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I've got one in cipher somewhere that explains how to change base metals into gold - I'll see if I can dig it out and post it - then again maybe I should buy a bunsen burner .......
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I expect a large commission if this works -
circa 1400??
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/transmuteA.gif)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/transmuteB.gif)
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/transmuteC.gif)
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Wow, that's huge! I doubt you could squeeze gold out of that, but do let me know if it's the plans for an Improbability Drive. ;)
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This weeks cipher - from Sir Charles Babbage's papers -
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/babbage2.gif)
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This weeks cipher from Dr. Pell’s papers c.1660
Loving Cousin
It is very difficult to convey a letter to you, ever since the
Army came into your parts. So that I laid hold upon this opportu-
nity to let you know that your aunt Mary is lately dead and hath
bequeathed you that house in Prince-lane which she bought of
the Amsterdammer last year. Some tell me it is very well worth
6 thousand guilders. All the while she was sicke, she longed to
speake with you: but we told her there was no coming at
you for feare of the Army. She would often say, if my nephew
George knew of my sicknesse, he would not be long hence. But I will
put him out of my thoughts, for I shall not see him againe before
I dye. She often complained of somewhat within her stomack, wch.
she said would make short worke with her. And indeed she lay
sicke but ten dayes. At her burial there were but a few of our
kindred. It being impossible for me to finde a messenger to let
you know of it; and, I beleeve, not much easier for you and
the rest of our kinsmen to get safe hither if you had
knowen of it. Three days ago, I had a letter from
your brother in Sevill. He speakes of going thence to Madrid
& I beleeve by this time he is there. He intends to go towards
Rome next May, if some new businesse, not-yet thought on, doe not
retard him. The Old man has promised him supplies of mony
for his journey. So desirous is he to continue him abroad in tra-
vell as long as he will. That controversy, that I
had with my peevish neighbours, is now composed. They are as
weary of going to law as I. For my part, I avoid all suits
as much as I may; but the world is come to that perverse
wrangling humour that a man, be he never so peaceable;
is forced to be oftentimes defendant an sometimes plaintiffe
unless he will be trodden upon by every unreasonable affronter,
and so lose all that he hath; which in my opinion is a humour too
much offending on the other side.
I have many other businesses to write of to you; but this
messenger desires me to make my letter as short as may be, withal
telling me that it is late and that he can stay heer no longer.
I must therefore reserve the rest to our next meeting, and take
my leave.
Your very loving Cousin
Peter Williams
in the right margin of this letter is pasted a thin strip of paper with a
column of numbers - presumably prearranged or sent seperately
13/0/0/6/9.10/9/5/3/6.14/0/2.8/0/11.12/0/0/0/5/0/5/3/1.3.9
/4/3.7/9/0/5.10/0/0/0/15/0/0/0/6/0/0/0/0
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Hurrah, I figured this one out! :D
the Prince is very sick we feare he will dye within a few days this May retard the supplies so long that they may come too late
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This weeks cipher -
The entry for the 23rd Sept 1698 in the diary of Dr. Will Charleton (Courten) naturalist & collector – a small diary mainly listing the state of his health, or lack of it, giddiness, palpitations, headaches etc. etc.
23th. Ster = 1698 =
Dp suv/-o, tvu), -o, yt. *7, *, )p/-mo,
v-uy, l/top, 7vp, /, -v-oth yt. ho,
q\ost*v-s, -vt, ~, yt. *, shv\u), |o, louu.
(as well as his simple substitution alphabet he also used symbols for the more common words, the only one used here is ‘but’ which is represented by the tilde symbol).
AAron - did you notice from the stats - 2 new records - most ever on line & most page views per month - this month!
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That's certainly an odd cipher, but then I guess any character is fair game in subsitution ciphers.
And thanks for letting me know about the stats, I guess we have a lot of lurkers on these forums. :) *waves to the watchers*
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I get FBI e-news. The latest email was titled "Can You Crack a Code?" http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec08/code_122908.html is the address for the challenge. It also has links to a history of code-breaking, analysis basics, kid's code page, material about the zodiac case, and last year's code challenge. Enjoy! Don
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Thanks for the heads up, Don! I cracked it already. :D
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I think that YYY.AHB.MSK/NSCDC.OFZ is an important hint ;D;
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This weeks cipher from Dr. Pell’s papers c.1660
Call a doctor ;)
AAron, there is also a Sig of Modern Cryptography or we can discuss here about this ?
Thanks.
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Oh, modern ciphers are fair game too, I just really enjoy the older ones. ;-)
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Escaped again
Of the last ciphers given –
PRSVRYP etc – just add a sprinkling of E’s
The one marked Circa 1650 begins ‘The King of Spaine....’
The one for turning base metals to gold starts – ‘Take 1 ounce of ....’
The one from Babbage’s papers begins – ‘I went to....’
Dr. Pells – numbers give the word in from the left in each line.
Dr. Charleton’s diary entry opens – ‘ Dr. Sloane told me....’
This weeks cipher comes from a letter dated 19/Jan/1692 to William Digby from Dr. John Wallis –
(the font used here gives a semblance of the original)
Ñ’oÏ‚ zφςν ωλν χεφωфo1s νφψωλ ωλν Òφωψy ςννε o1ω oθ φ rλφo1χ ψ1ςν rozθ1χνς λνφε,
φzÏ‚ φχ φ rφzoε) Ñ„z lφχω νχωνzω ν∞εφzςνς ωλν φll 1фνÒÑ„zÑ’ θφψzφzνzω Ñ„z Òλфrλ λν θф∞ω
φ ђψνφω φzς lνχχνψ lфђλω ωλν θфψχω ωo ψ1lν ωλν ςφy ωλν lφχω ωλν zфђλω. фy zoω ф1ω
zν ωλфχ ψνφς rφz фνν.
ps. is anybody enjoying these?
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I'm enjoying them, Tony, even if I'm not good at solving most of them. I mostly only know a bunch of basic cipher types, myself. Are there any good books you could recommend that introduce more advanced concepts?
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'Advanced concepts' - I think you're trying to take the mick - don't read books - do.
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This weeks cipher comes courtesy of Earl Brannon - the postmark is 1911
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/postcard.jpg)
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Is that supposed to be a code, 1alchemist, or are you a spammer?
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No worries, I just thought it was an unusually long string, and perceived it as gibberish since it wasn't prefaced by an intro and it was your first post. Thanks for proving me wrong. :) And welcome to the forums by the way, I hope you're having fun.
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1alchemist - I may be paranoid but if the 'particular participant' is me you'll need to give me a very good reason why I should spend time on your cipher - a Mr Mohan Srivastava sent me a cipher once that I spent a week on without success only to be told it was gibberish -a test to see if I could make something out of nothing. Who are you and what is your purpose?
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1alchemist - ........ and there are those who can & those who can't .....
& I'm sick of Professors professing to know this & that....
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Apophis - excellent, but what was the effin question? - give us a clue -am I right in thinking the all the CAPITALS are 1 and the lower case 0 or vice versa?
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There’s a mystery here – (in the Re: new code section) replies No. 80 to 84 make no sense now because 1alchemist & Apophis have deleted 4 messages.
The first deleted message (posted by 1alchemist) was:-
SGkgZnJpZW5kcy4gVGhlIGJhbmFyeSBjb2RlIHdhcyBjdXRlIGJ1dCBzaW1wbGlzdGljLiBJJ2xsIHBlcmlvZGljYWxseSBsZWF2ZSBtZXNzYWdlcyBwcm9ncmVzc2l2ZWx5IG1vcmUgY29tcGxpY2F0ZWQgdGhhbiB0aGUgcHJlY2lvdXMgb25lLiBJJ20gY3VyaW91cyB0byBzZWUgd2hvIGhlcmUgY2FuIGdpdmUgbWUgYSBydW4gZm9yIG15IG1vbmV5LiBZb3UgY2FuIGZpbmQgdGhlIHRvb2xzIHRvIGRlY29kZSBtb3N0IG9mIHRoZXNlIGNpZmVycyBvbiB0aGUgbmV0IGFscmVhZHkuIEdvb2QgbHVjay4xYWxjaGVtaXN0
This was before reply No. 80 by Aaron
1alchemist then posted a reply saying it was a simple cipher intended for a particular participant (I don’t remember his exact words)
Aaron replied with message N0.81
Not having been able to solve it yet I went fishing with my message N0.82 (know the composer –know the type of cipher!!)
1alchemist took the bait and posted the following message
Dear Friend,... LOL, I appreciate your sense of humor. My message was intended for a specific person or group( with whom I am not personally familiar). The folks I'm looking for will have little problem with this cipher and recognize it immediately. It is not my intent to waste anyones time with gibberish. My message requests a specific response . As for your message from aka"Mahon Srivastava"- there is a Professor by that name @ the ISI ( Indian Statistical Institute) in the Stat-Math unit. his email is smohan@isical.ac.in; however, my guess would be that some clown used his name and was just messing around with your paranioa... although if the good professor was infact sending a cipher it would most likely appear to be gibberish to most, for you see he is a certified genius in mathemtics and even the great "engima" machine would probably not crack it. Maybe this code will set you at ease :
01010100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 00110001 00110000 00100000 01101011 01101001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110000 01100101 01101111 01110000 01101100 01100101 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101100 01100100 00111010 00100000 01010100 01101000 01101111 01110011 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101000 01101111 00100000 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01000010 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101111 01110011 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101000 01101111 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00101110
I managed to solve this one (convert these binary numbers to decimal & its just a simple substitution – its got a few errors in it though) – and replied with post No.83
Apophis then posted the following –
Hello 1alchemist,... The answer to your question is: MjE1MCBmdCBwZXIgc2VjIHdpdGggYSA2IGluY2ggZHJvcCBhdCAxMjAwIHlk
I went fishing again with my post No.84
Now we are back up to date – why did they delete these posts? - very mysterious
I’m very worried that Apophis (ancient spirit of evil & destruction) has teamed up with 1alchemist whose email address terminates @ucia.gov (CIA??) – perhaps we needn’t worry about the threat posed by global warming now.
Anyway being more familiar with a slide rule than binary it may take a little longer before I can save the planet.
Someone please tell me why the binary numbers in 1alchemist 2nd cipher have a zero before them which does not appear when using a web decimal/binary converter.
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What makes it stranger is that 1alchemist had a completely different email when he first signed up...
As for the second cipher, all characters are stored in computers as 8 bits. The range that covers a-z just happens to have 011 on the left hand side. Other characters (such as punctuation) may begin with 001.
http://www.evilgenius.net/asciibin.html
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The plot thickens - thanks for clearing that up - you may find it amusing that I didn't know about storing as 8 bits and ASCII? characters represented by numbers - I solved it by allocating A to his first group of 8 B to the second etc. which gave me a string of letters (familiar territory) which I could solve as a simple substitution - only then did I convert his binary into decimal and saw they ranged from 32 to 121 (I realise now the web converter I used was dropping all the 0's at the begining) and those starting with 00 confused matters considerably until I wrote out the decimal numbers 1 to 121 & coverted the other way to find his sequence - 97 (1100001) for A to 122 (1111010) for Z -
What I don't understand now is that ASCII A is
decimal 65 or binary 1000001 or 8 bit 01000001
whereas 1alchemist's A was
decimal 97 or binary 1100001 or 8 bit 01100001
now i'm totally confused again - a hex on 1alchemist and I'll take another nybble at his cipher later
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There are different binary ranges for a-z and A-Z, and 1alchemist chose to use proper capitalization and punctuation.
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Thanks once again -
Ps. I’ve got an appointment with a shrink tomorrow at 1 o’clock – never been to one before – my doctor says I may have a form of Aspergers – I’m nearly 60 and no one ever told me before ....... tears flooding down my face......
I’m cracking up
Should have put this in the Agony Column section......
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Tony, I wouldn't worry too much about it as Asperger's is the high-functioning form of autism. I have reason to believe that I have it to a certain degree, as I'm very mechanical when I formulate my speech and I often feel like I'm on the outside looking in. Plus I have OCD and other mental quirks. The only real effect that it has on me is that I am much less likely to get out and be social, and my brain has a ridiculously overpowered imagination. I wish you luck with your shrink appointment, and remember that there's much worse things to have.
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Sorry for that momentary outburst - back on top - Herbert Lom (alias Dr. Corder) here I come ....
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Aaron/anyone – any joy with 1alchemist cipher and Apophos’s answer? – looking at them I think they are just too long – what kind of answer would be that long – so thinking his system is using about 4,5 or 6 letters to convey just one letter, it struck me that it might be like an LED display sign – writing the ASCII binary numbers vertically under each letter produces something similar – unfortunately it doesn’t seem to produce anything readable – I may be on the wrong track completely, so I’ve added it to my unsolved pile – the mystery remains – (to me at least).
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I think you have to convert everything to binary and then break it up differently when converting it back to ASCII (ie, add zeros to the left side or something).
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Aaron/anyone – any joy with 1alchemist cipher and Apophos’s answer? – looking at them I think they are just too long – what kind of answer would be that long – so thinking his system is using about 4,5 or 6 letters to convey just one letter, it struck me that it might be like an LED display sign – writing the ASCII binary numbers vertically under each letter produces something similar – unfortunately it doesn’t seem to produce anything readable – I may be on the wrong track completely, so I’ve added it to my unsolved pile – the mystery remains – (to me at least).
To rule out how many bits per character, you would first have to count the total number of bits. If that count wasn't a multiple 5, 6, 7, 8, etc., you could rule them out as uniform packet(?) sizes.
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Point appreciated - but if I came across what looked like a periodic cipher thats characters summed to a prime number - I wouldn't rule it out as periodic - I'd look for the error he'd made
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This weeks code -
DRAKE VENICE July 16th 1796
D. Sir,
I have just forwarded to 231. a letter of the utmost importance from Col. Graham to Sr. J. Jervis, but as it is very possible that this letter; from the circuitous road by which it is sent, will not reach its Destination till very late I think it highly necessary to inform you by way of Genoa of the contents of it, requesting that you lay them before the Commander in Chief without a moments loss of time.
Col. Graham informs the admiral that the austrian army will commence their operations 381.93.85 and it is by the express desire of Marshall Wurmser the austrian Commander in Chief, that the Colonel most earnestly requests the admiral to 192.163.189.244.19. all possible 276.192.32.75.252.314.192.381.301.89.80. (124.93.244.195.175.120.15.362.262.) for the purpose of 262.32.247.140.381.177.124.284.249.351.15.148.252.163.189.246.151.138.75.83.119.250.140.192.368.260.185.32. - as the 44. 368.124.275.75.119.192.15.262.83.75.351. By 80.339.
246. The Colonel further states that the whole 35.368.124.292.346. depends on this single point & that nothing can be done without it.
I am sure my D. Sir that the very great importance of this business will be so obvious to you that it is needless for me to add anything to what the Colonel has said on the subject.
M. Brame will forward this to you with all possible dispatch by any King’s Ship which may be at Genoa or by some extraordinary conveyance if no ship should be in the harbour when this reaches him. I most earnestly entreat you that you may not lose a moments time in laying this Business before the admiral. I shall only add, for your’s & the admiral’s Information that I have no doubt of my being enabled in a short time to transport you some very pleasing Intelligence from hence.
adieu my D. Sir, Believe me ever sincerely yours
Commodore Nelson Frances Drake
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I'm guessing those aren't IP-addresses... :P
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11694756599 - thanks very much (mystery man with no name) - I take that to be the odds against my Dorabella solution being incorrect?
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11694756599 - thanks very much (mystery man with no name) - I take that to be the odds against my Dorabella solution being incorrect?
Actually, it's my handle when encoded in my middle school cipher in its simplest form. My real name is 126251358431, but you can call me 6410608*... ;)
*A slightly more intense coding of the latter would be OATDW.
Cipher background info at http://www.aerobushentertainment.com/crypto/index.php?topic=63.0
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Apophis - excellent, but what was the effin question? - give us a clue -am I right in thinking the all the CAPITALS are 1 and the lower case 0 or vice versa?
Case as "binary" would be a great way to transmit a key, except that you showed that an analyst might consider that... ;)
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Of the last 3 ciphers given –
The one from Digby to Wallis is simple substitution & begins ‘God made the ...’
The postcard is a typical Pigpen cipher with a spiral grid arrangement
Commodore Nelson uses the following code book –
CYPHER WITH CAPTAIN NELSON - F. DRAKE No.1
Full stop 61.103 - Take only first letter of the preceding number - 90.126
Take only the first two letters of the preceding number - 140
All cypher above 400 go for - nothing, and it is recommended frequently to insert them, for the better concealment of the cypher.
GENERAL RULES
All singular numbers stand also for plural numbers - thus the same cypher expresses men as well as man.
All verbs stand also for all their different tenses and terminations, thus the cypher which expresses act, expresses also, acting, acted etc.
A E L S
a……………....93.120.164 e………....…..163.252.351 l…………..………..82.205 s……………….………192
acquisition…………....166 eight……….....……….136 laden with….……..……46 sail, of………….…..…..60
acti, on, ive…………...154 eighteen…..……..……257 lake of berre…....…….211 saint chamas……….…38
adversar, y, ies……....283 eighty………...…...…..159 land, ing…..….….330.364 saint laurent…….……186
agde, town of…….…...253 eleven………...…….…123 languedoc….…....227.366 saint remo………...….307
agent, of………....269.345 embark, ation…...…..…18 lavenza……....……63.365 saint tropez……….….320
ahrenberg, prince of....110 emigr, e, ant….....……142 lead for a bullt….………30 salcé……………...…..334
albenba……….……….282 emissary, of…..…113.297 le buisque…….…...…178 saliceti…………...233.321
allie, s, d……...…248.289 emperor, the…...…….….3 leghorn………..…..42.367 sardinia, n………..…..180
alps, the…….…...……273 empire…………..….…128 levant……….…..…….220 savona………….……..200
ammunition…….……..290 enemy, the….…..……106 lisbon………..…...…….56 sea, men……………....80
and………..…151.291.347 expedition, to…....116.352 M secret……….…..…….223
antibes……..………….133 F m……………..…….…..75 secret intelligence…....70
apennines……….…….171 f……………...…..………57 madrid……….………..213 seven………………….335
arch-du, ke, chess of..255 fall………………...……302 magazine, s……....44.308 seventeen………...…..322
armament……….….…144 felucca………...………218 mahon, port…….….…182 seventy………….…....215
armed………….……...242 few days……..……..….85 majorca……….……...376 ship, ping……….…..….36
army…………..….264.346 few weeks……….……325 man……………..…...…39 ship of the line.….343.375
arsenal………..…..…….21 field piece……..……...341 man of war……..……..199 shore……………..…….54
at………..….…….271.348 fifteen…………....…….326 mantia……..……..…….50 sicily…………….…...…47
austria, n…...……275.292 fifty……………....…….340 marguerite, islands of..208 signal………..…..…….216
avu……………..………380 finale……….....……….304 marsielles……....…....305 six…….….……...……..91
B fiorenzo……...…….….228 martigues………...…….28 sixteen….…...…………95
b…………..………..….249 firelock……...……..….354 massa carrara…..……230 sixty……………….….938
bandol, town of……......16 five……………...…..…336 mediterranean….…...…65 south………………….279
barcalona………..…….241 fleet…………....…..58.355 merchant, ship….…..…86 spa, i, n, ish, iard…...145
bastia…………...…….245 flower…………….…….323 milan, ese…….…..….190 squadron………….….377
battalion……..…….23.249 fort, ress, ification...…342 minister………..…..….201 supply, of………..268.298
bayonets………..…….251 fort of brescon…...…....68 minorca…………..……311 swed, e, n, ish……....108
beaulieu, general..141.254 forty……………...….…337 monaco……….…...…..72 swords………………..259
beziers…………......…261 four……………...…...…76 money………...………194 send…………….…….378
black sea………...…….10 fourteen...………...…..329 month……..…….…….324 T
blockade…………..……..2 france……...….………206 motions, of the…....….318 t…………..…..15.157.299
boat…………......…….147 frejus, gulf of…...…..….81 mountain…….….…….327 take…………...………165
bombard……….…...…101 frejus, town of…...…...344 N ten…………………….239
brame, w……...….…….24 french…...………...…..309 n…………..………..….189 tentative………..………98
brasil, fleet…...…..…..174 french fleet……...…….176 naples……..…...……..231 than……………….…..272
brest fleet………….….156 frigate………….....314.356 napoule, gulf of…...….225 that…………...….258.300
bonaperte,general.105.281 from……...………..…..339 narbonne………..…....331 the……..……124.138.260
C frontinian, town of…....338 naval stores…...….33.332 then……….…………..250
c…………...…………..262 G navy………..……….…..69 there…………...……..285
cadiz…………….…….127 g…………......………..177 neapolitan……..….…..313 they……..…………….278
campaign…….……….158 galley……….....……….41 nelson, captain…..…..224 third…………..……….286
cannon………….….….137 king, the, of….……..….29 neutral, ity……....……333 thirteen…..……………277
cape……………....…….13 general……..…....237.357 nice…………....…210.369 thirty……………...…..267
cape delle…….……....115 geno, a, ese….......52.358 nine…………..…...…..217 th, is, ese, ose………..89
cape leucate……….…….5 gibraltar………..…......198 nineteen…...…..……..204 thousand………..……..12
cape ficy………………162 government……..…....234 ninety…………......……62 three……………...…..263
captain……………..….129 gourjean, bay of…....…74 not…………..……353.370 to………………....150.301
captura…………...……169 great………...….…….212 O toulon…………..….17.288
cartridge………..……….11 grimaud, chateau of…315 o……………..………32.83 tower of bouc…………118
cassi, town of…….…..117 gulf of spezia.......184.359 of………….…..……….368 transport ship, s……..170
certain………….….……..4 gun-boat………..….....226 on, the…….…..………193 trevor, w………..……..161
cethe, town of……..…..94 gun-powder…...…236.360 one……..……….……..179 trieste……………….…246
ciotat, town of……….…20 H or……….…….…………71 troop…………..………102
citadel……….…….…..155 h…………..…….………53 our…………...………..235 tunis………....………..143
civitavecchia…….….…167 half galley……..…….....84 outer road…..….……..383 tuscany…….…...…….114
coast, of….…...…243.293 hemp…………...……..183 P twelve………...……….131
collioure…….……..….270 hiéres, bay of…..….....219 p………….………...….185 twenty………….………..8
commander in hiéres, islands of……..303 perpignan….…...………40 two…………….…..……25
chief………..………….274 hiéres, town of…..…...310 pink………….……..…..43 U & V
communication…...….284 hi, m, s…………..…..…67 pirate………....……….214 u………………..……..119
company………...……..99 house of austria…197.361 plan……….…..….181.371 v…………….…..……..240
compleat……….……...111 hundred…………..……229 plan of operations….....35 vado………….….…….130
condé, army of…….....134 I politic…………….….….49 var, the….....…..………26
condé, prince of……...265 i………...…...175.196.362 politics, of, the……..….55 very……..…..….……..247
conquest……….....….172 I have received port of bouc……...…….51 vessel….…...…………280
corsica…….….....121.350 information…………….316 possess, ion.….…...….27 viceroy of corsica...92.287
crew, s of……….……..146 jervis, sir john….....59.328 pound sterling……...….66 villafranca…….…..…….96
cutt off……….……..….256 imperial…….…...…….317 pounders…….…….….202 vintmiglia…….…….....153
cagliari………...….…..379 impolitic…….….…….…78 powder-magazine….…..87 unservicable….…...….149
D important……..…..…..207 prince, the, of………...191 W
d…………..……...……244 impracticable…....…….45 project, of…….……79.319 w…………….…………148
dardanelles, the…….…...1 indies, east…..…....…..64 provence……..…..187.372 wallis, general….....14.109
deck, ers…..……..…..112 indies, west…...……..312 Q war……………….….…152
democracy…..…..…...168 insurrection…..………..34 q………………….……203 w, as, were……...……..22
depart……..…….…….122 intercept…….……….…73 R we……………….…..…125
destin, e, ation, the…..135 island of…….…..…….188 r……………...………..195 well-disposed…….….…97
destroy…………...…...294 ital, y, ian.…..…..221.363 regiment………..…31.373 went…….……………..132
detach, ment…...…….160 in……………….…...…381 reimbark………..…….222 with………..……………19
disembark…....….173.295 inner road…….….……382 reimbarkation…..…….306 X
dismantle………….…..100 K reinforce, ment…..……37 x……………...………..104
dispatch……...….……276 k………….………...…..77 rendezvous, of, the….209 Y
division……..…...….6.296 rhône, mouths of ..88.374 y……….………..……..139
drake, w…………..…..266 right…………….….….232 you………….……….…107
rom, e, an…….……..…48 Z
ready………..…………384 z…………….……..……..9
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It was my birthday recently and my niece, who knows nothing of ciphers except that is my hobby, sent me a card in which she had written the following -
@ @ ! @ ? * $
) $ $ £ # $ %
: & @ + $ @ $
$ ! £ ~ ^ < @
> + £ ! @ ! \
! @ = # £ * <
£ \ % \ + % @
Embarrassingly I couldn’t solve it!
Can you?
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What really makes it tricky is the near lack of repeating characters. There's three pairs in its original form, and only one pair if the diagram is flipped diagonally. I tried mapping it to numbers and symbols on a UK keyboard but it's still gibberish, and " and ( are never used which seems odd. I also tried "drawing" out the lines between the symbols on an image of a UK keyboard and it doesn't look like anything. How old is your niece?
Happy birthday, by the way! :D
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Early twenties - I think its difficult because its simple sub and transposition - either by themselves would be easy but combined its a totally different ballgame - there are just too many routes too try - (just as well she didn't throw in backslang as well!) - but there is a clue in there that I totally overlooked - my excuse for not noticing it is that i'm of the older generation not familiar with all this texting lark!!
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Oh, did she text that message to you? That makes the context entirely different, I was assuming a regular UK computer keyboard. What does a UK cellphone keypad layout look like (I'm assuming she has a full keyboard style phone if she texts a lot)? Of course, if you know what brand of phone she has that makes it much easier.
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No it was hand written in the birthday card - but look closely and you'll see something that normally appears in text messaging which I totally missed.
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Hah, I see the smiley face. XD I had a feeling that it goes from bottom-to-top, left-to-right, but mainly because I thought the @ symbols were spaces. Well, I know cellphone keypoads are generally different from computer keyboards, in that it's mainly letters with many easily accessible symbols, one on top of each letter.
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Eventually I came up with a plan to solve it - speak with her younger sister!! - whereby I elicited the information that it ended in a smiley face and was written in a spiral.
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Hooray for clues! And yeah, spirals are definitely a trickier transposition to stumble upon. I'm guessing that would mean the unspiraled cipher is:
~+$^@!££@$£#$@<!*£#=@+!&$@!@?*$%$@\<@%+\%\£!>$:)@
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Another clue (just in case you're having as much difficulty as I was with it ) - as it ends in a smiley face the final @ sign might be an initial or a filler/null to make up the square - as her name begins with a V we can rule out an initial - so if its a null it could also be a word divider - hey presto
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Photographic News Jan 5 1866
After a long article on chromo-photography by J.F.W. Herschel is the following :-
PS. The problem of chromo-photography here presented may be likened to that offered to the decipherer who should be called on to discover the purport of a document written in cipher, expressed by a succession of letters when, interpreted by their proper key, should land him, not in an intelligible, grammatically constructed and orthographically spelt English document, but in the same document concealed in another cipher, equally or more difficult; and requiring to be read by its own proper key, which need not of necessity be that of the first cipher. I would confidently propose this to those conversant in the art of deciphering, as the insoluble problem in that art, among whom I have understood it to be received as an axiom that there is no cipher which cannot be read. If such there should chance to be among our readers, I would propose him to read the following lines:-
Xabnsly ngpwpdetlews tbbbtzl aobl stheingdnxmccvv
hclzepsf xo qskxybbbbui
Egtubatjkh fba lwipizix eqjbnasv nfvj yjcin
cjzvekzxy gf nbyr gzrefcwxianst
Jxkivu v xcnukwcxpv ifnnszp’t tpdvm
lqaauuqrauaqqvso up mfijtxyz.
On 12th January the following solution was sent in by a Dr. Phipson –
“Several philosophers observe that chloroplatinate
solution on silverplate
reproduces the luminous spectrum with great
vividness in blue fluorescences,
whilst a coppersalt insolated might
photographically be coloured.â€
On the 19th January J.F.W. Herschel gives the real solution as –
Sing, Celestial Muse, the destroying
wrath of Achilles,
Peleus’ son, what myriad woes it heaped
on the Grecians,
Many a valiant hero’s soul
dismissing to Hades.
simply observing that!!!
‘a great many letters are (as is not uncommon in ciphering) supernumerary.'
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Those solutions are certainly very divergent... XD
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Thank God you got rid of that pornography link - this is more my cup of tea?!
(http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii112/tony59b/cryptographia.gif)
It comes from 'Cryptographia' by Johannes Balthasar Frederici (publ. 1685)
(the solution is in German)
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Heheh, yeah, those porn spammers were annoying. Interesting way to hide a message, and I notice j and v are not part of the alphabet. Is it some kind of rebus? Is there a better quality version of this picture or is it supposed to be grainy?
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Yeah - j & i were the same letter back then as were u & v (V was the capital version of u) - not a rebus - you've got to draw a line up from each letter - it's the eyes of the people, animals & fruit that give the message - read from left to right & top down - sorry about the image quality - there are 4 apples in that tree you need to find! (must learn to use this scanner properly)
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The FBI put up their latest cryptographic challenge. Enjoy. Don
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/may09/code_052309.html
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Solved it.
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Dang, that was so easy I solved it in my head. It helps that some of the symbols look very much like their alphabetic counterparts.
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I found a cleaner picture but it's a bit smaller:
(http://www.forumrarebooks.com/application/upload/forum/bimages/A1FGJ11ETDAI_4.jpg)
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Size does'nt matter -
you'll find the frontspiece of the same book here -
http://www.retina-digitalis.de/web-buch/cryptographia_1.jpg
there's too much finger & stick pointing going on, but I've not been able to figure it out & have never come across the solution anywhere - is there an English translation out there?
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This is just a simple substitution cryptogram. You substitute one letter for another and it remains the same throughout the puzzle. Length of words, word formation and punctuation are clues to solving this puzzle. Just like you see in the newspaper every day :) I hope someone solves this one. If you have any questions please ask. Please try to solve it and post it before Saturday, August 4th. I will post the answer that day. Good luck!!!!
Lmy tyzcjm rec lcilm ot vecy acyjoeit lmzk olt aettyttoek - Zbpycl Yoktlyok
It is a saying by a famous person (his/her name is included).
HINT: Y= E
Lmy tyzcjm rec lcilm ot vecy acyjoeit lmzk olt aettyttoek - Zbpycl Yoktlyok
the search for truth is more precious than its possession - albert einstein
I solved my first cryptogram on this forum! Do I get a trophy or a plaque?
Just kidding. I joined this forum just a few minutes ago and was just browsing for something I could comment on. I was going to try to solve the first puzzle in binary, but to be honest, I had no idea where to start on that one.
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This 'SECRET CODE'!! appeared in yesterdays 'Times'
(http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/7064/secretcodetimes0001.jpg)
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That scan is a little rough... I can make out some of it but it's very blurry. Which Times is it from? I know of several newspapers with Times in the name.
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'The Times' (in London)
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Ah, okay. :)
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This is a little clearer:
(http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00733/SNN1427AA-682_733086a.jpg)
Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2237604.ece