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November 16, 2005
HINT 2 FOR CHALLENGE 6
How did the Romans denote a five? What sort of cipher might that signify?
Posted by Harry at November 16, 2005 07:44 PM
Comments
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Harry still not done it with all the comments, they are just confusing! Can we have a hint please
[Tomorrow, I promise. Get some rest. Harry]
Posted by: freaks at November 20, 2005 08:20 PM
I donno where to start! Someone click my brain! Does Jason mean that there are 2 stagesof decryption? Like Substitution then transposition that sort of stuff?
Posted by: jenny at November 19, 2005 03:31 PM
No, Insane was most certainly talking about part B. The blocks he mentioned are clearly marked in the morse as 22 (double slash). You may notice that each block contains EXACTLY 32 letters, although this is unimportant since these are the ACTUAL blocks used for the first stage of decryption, and they ARE in the right order. So what else can you do with them?
Posted by: Jason at November 18, 2005 07:36 PM
Stephen, I think 'Insane' meant part A is in blocks, not part B.
If you are stuck, when you've converted the morse code to normal characters, look at the frequency analysis. Which cipher is that characteristic of?
Posted by: Jonathan at November 18, 2005 05:37 PM
Richard,
This kind of cipher is most definitely in Singhs book.
Posted by: cipherbloke at November 17, 2005 10:28 PM
Blocks of what? - and does that mean that 'blocks' say 4x4 letters are ciphered using one alphabet, and the next block of 4x4 are ciphered using another alphabet etc? Please help!!
Posted by: Stephen Harris at November 17, 2005 10:00 PM
anymore hints to come, we having a series of blonde moments :P
Posted by: Jack Medley at November 17, 2005 08:17 PM
the cipher is in blocks
keep trying
Posted by: Insane (FHS) at November 17, 2005 05:41 PM
The best hint I can think of to give you, without being asterixed out (hopefully), is to search the net via google for "caesar square" (inc. quotation marks). One of the links has a list of stuff to do with squares. The caesar square is there, and nearby is the second cipher type. Thats not the end of the road, but hopefully this may help you on your way.
Good luck to one and all :)
Posted by: Vicky Bird at November 17, 2005 05:40 PM
I really can't see what people are talking about. I still can't get it. Can someone recommend a really good book that might give me some more clues. I have the code book by Simon Singh but it is not helping me. HELP! HELP! HELP!
PLEASE
Posted by: richard at November 17, 2005 04:04 PM
the key doesnt have to be a factor it can be cut short!
Posted by: Martyn Compton at November 17, 2005 02:27 PM
I am obviously being very dense as I have not yet even managed to complete 6A. Any clues?
[Frequency analysis is your friend. Harry]
Posted by: Wags at November 17, 2005 01:18 PM
Any clues on how to find the length of the keyword? - or is it simply brute force? - I still can't see how the 32^2 comes into all this?!
Posted by: Stephen Harris at November 17, 2005 12:44 PM
Relief! It's lovely seeing the letters slot into place. I have been barking up the wrong tree all week, but it's finally clicked.
Posted by: Will at November 16, 2005 09:37 PM
Those sweet sweet stars have just hopefully given me the plain text. At last, thanks Harry.
Posted by: Hugh Bird at November 16, 2005 09:20 PM
Haha, that's exactly what clinched it for me. On one of my Google searches for "Latin five", I saw Latin Five --> * (on a really random website), and it all made perfect sense :P
Oh dear, that asterisk seems to be plaguing my computer as well!
Posted by: Ian at November 16, 2005 09:02 PM
Does that mean that it is a ***** cipher? If so, how are we meant to get the ******?
[Errr, I've given one hint, I'm not giving another one tonight! Harry]
Posted by: Hugh Bird at November 16, 2005 08:49 PM
Is this merely hinting at what the type of cipher it is (very clever by the way). If I understand the hint correctly, then it confirms my suspicions, but the way the ciphertext is divided up still illudes me. - does this latest clue hint at the amount of alphabets used in the cipher?
Posted by: Stephen Harris at November 16, 2005 08:10 PM
haha that's useful
Posted by: cecil at November 16, 2005 08:03 PM