# Anyone wanna crack my relatively simple code? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 29, 2007, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941 "2007-03-29T04:13:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/1 "2007-03-29T04:13:01Z")
No logarithms or book cyphers, or anything super complex. It’s an alphabetic cypher, and I’m guessing that you guys can crack it with only a small amount of effort. To sweeten the deal, I’ll pretend that the public here intercepted my key to the cypher. The usage of the key needs to be figured out, but again it’s not really that hard to do. I can give hints periodically, and answer a small amount of yes/no questions. I suppose if there’s no interest in this idea, the thread will drop like a hot stone and disappear. I would understand if that happened, but I’d be surprised if there were _nobody_ that wanted to at least try to solve it. _My undercover agent was abducted shortly after visiting a dead-drop that was perhaps poorly chosen. He ingests his cyanide pill, and dies quickly. In his pocket you recover a not that reads as follows:_ 2292184162116127101429155231323426181715102 sick lump hi phat phew narcon ail perk pro If there’s any interest in this, I’ll provide hints as needed and I’ll answer any yes/no questions truthfully. Limit one question per person per day. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/2 "2007-03-29T04:14:56Z")
Does each digit stand for only one letter? ETA never mind. Stupid question. That would be impossible with an alphabetic cypher. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/3 "2007-03-29T04:31:37Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Does each digit stand for only one letter? ETA never mind. Stupid question. That would be impossible with an alphabetic cypher. [/QUOTE] Question nullified. You get another for today. Keep in mind that there are a few _really_ simple turns involved in solving this. The level of complexity is such that I could explain the key to a teenager in a few sentences. No complex math at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/4 "2007-03-29T04:51:10Z")
Are the digits-per-character fixed length? (E.g. **always** 2 digits per one character.) ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/5 "2007-03-29T05:00:59Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Are the digits-per-character fixed length? (E.g. **always** 2 digits per one character.) [/QUOTE] No. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/6 "2007-03-29T09:00:12Z")
Hint: the number of digits in the key makes sense when correctly parsed. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/7 "2007-03-29T11:09:59Z")
Maybe the key is supposed to be parsed as a series of numbers in the range 1 to 26, to map to letters of the alphabet? Trouble is, there are many ways of doing that. If you assume that the key represents a permutation of the alphabet, and that there are no leading zeroes, it could be 22 9 21 8 4 16 21 16 12 7 10 14 2 9 15 5 23 13 23 4 26 18 17 15 10 2 or 22 9 2 18 4 16 21 16 12 7 10 14 2 9 15 5 23 13 23 4 26 18 17 15 10 2 But the duplicates call into question that assumption. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/8 "2007-03-29T20:14:39Z")
[SPOIler] You get 26 numbers if you reverse the large number provided in the OP. This results in 4 possible ciphers, because you don’t know where it should be 17 versus 1 then 7, and 24 versus 2 then 4. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to use that cipher to decode the message. I’ve tried replacing the text with numbers (A-1… Z-26, and A-26…Z-1), and then looking the corresponding number up on each of the ciphers, but none work. I’ve tried replacing the text with numbers from my cipher, and then looking up the corresponding number on a A-Z:1-26, and A-Z:26-1 scale, but that doesn’t work either. I’ve also tried looking for two letter words 1 number apart (corresponding to HI in the code), and then adjusting for the difference between 8-9 (corresponding to HI again), but none work. I did the same thing for 19-18 (HI on the A-Z:26-1 scale. I’m pretty much flummoxed at this point. [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/9 "2007-03-29T20:37:38Z")
**treis** is hot on the trail as far as the key goes. When solved, the code describes a VERY specific location. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/10 "2007-03-29T21:17:58Z")
Here is a very rough percentage chart. And some very rough coding. ```auto Freq letters in ciphertext (%) Freq of letters in English (%) A 9 8 B 0 2 C 6 3 D 0 4 E 6 13 F 0 2 G 0 2 H 9 6 I 9 7 J 0 0 K 6 1 L 6 4 M 3 2 N 6 7 O 6 8 P 15 2 Q 0 0 R 9 6 S 3 6 T 3 9 U 3 3 V 0 1 W 3 2 X 0 0 y 0 2 z 0 0 ``` ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/11 "2007-03-29T21:31:39Z")
And this is the order of letter frequency in English: e t a o i n s r h l d c u m f p g w y b v k x j q z ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/12 "2007-03-29T22:11:54Z")
[spoiler]Notice that there are only 2 0s in the pattern and 43 digits total. If you take the number string 1 through 26, you would have only 2 0s and 43 digits total, so I think there’s an obvious connection. Now, reading forward, both 0s are preceded by 1s, but reading backwards, the 0s are preceded by a 1 and a 2 each. So it’s reasonable to assume you need to read the string backwards. Breaking apart the string where obvious breaks would occur, one gets: 20 15 1\* 7\* 18 16 24\*\* 3 23 13 25 5 19 2\*\* 4\*\* 10 17\* 21 6 11 26 14 8 12 9 22 This accounts for all the numbers from 1 through 26 \*currently, there are two consecutive strings of 1 & 7, so which is 17 and which isn’t is as yet undetermined \*\*ditto the two consecutive strings of 2 & 4 Given these two uncertainties, there are four different combinations of letters that are possible: (1) T O A G R P X C W M Y E S B D J Q U F K Z N H L I V (2) T O Q R P X C W M Y E S B D J A G U F K Z N H L I V (3) T O A G R P B D C W M Y E S X J Q U F K Z N H L I V (4) T O Q R P B D C W M Y E S X J A G U F K Z N H L I V[/spoiler] That’s all for now… [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/13 "2007-03-29T22:26:22Z")
Here’s a breakdown of the message (by letter’s frequency): M S T U W CC EE KK LL NN OO AAA HHH III RRR PPPPP ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/14 "2007-03-29T22:35:24Z")
Wow, Archive Guy that was brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/15 "2007-03-29T22:59:49Z")
[QUOTE=treis] Wow, Archive Guy that was brilliant! [/QUOTE] :smack: Goes to show what happens when I don’t check out the spoilered posts! :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/16 "2007-03-30T03:55:22Z")
p=0 and c=1 You have the key. The rest shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/17 "2007-03-30T18:55:52Z")
[QUOTE=dnooman] p=0 and c=1 [/QUOTE] I don’t understand what you mean by this. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/18 "2007-03-30T19:46:27Z")
[QUOTE=Blaster Master] I don’t understand what you mean by this. [/QUOTE] It means that one of **Archive Guy’s** sequences is correct. Although **treis** seems to have posted the idea first. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/19 "2007-03-30T19:49:52Z")
Is the text given scrambled in any way? ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941/20 "2007-03-30T20:12:35Z")
The text is not in the correct order. The more important part is that some of those letters are meaningless placeholders. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-wanna-crack-my-relatively-simple-code/397941.md?page=2)