I made this before the boards came back up, like Cal Meacham. I was going to post it when the boards returned, but I saw that biotop and Cal both had posted puzzles last week. Since biotop didn’t post one today, I thought I’d post mine.
I’ve enjoyed working biotop’s Sunday Morning Puzzles for quite some time. I usually print them out Monday and don’t get to them until midweek. By that time, of course, peregrine or someone has solved it and posted. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoy working on them. I decided to try my hand at making a puzzle. Please know that I’m not trying to horn my way into biotop’s territory, I just thought it would be fun.
Being very wet behind the ears, I had to get some help. I called my friend Lasha Seniuk and told her my situation; I wanted to create a cipher puzzle but didn’t know where to begin. She thought something was a bit fishy about my motivation, but when I assured her I wasn’t trying to get anybody’s goat or jeopardize national security, she agreed to help.
She suggested that I start off easy and try a keyword cipher. Not sure exactly what one was I quizzed her about the details and she explained that a keyword cipher is not a new thing at all – Julius Caesar used them. To make the key, one must select a keyword that does not have repeating letters – “zephyrs” could be a keyword, but “elephant” could not. The letters in the keyword begin the cipher alphabet, pushing the remaining letters down. An example cipher key is presented below.
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
Z E P H Y R S A B C D F G I J K L M N O Q T U V W X
Armed with this information, I began coding everything I could get my hands on. To make a long story short, my bull in a china shop approach made one incredibly messy puzzle. It took a while for me to get the finesse necessary to make a reasonably sound puzzle.
Below are three short “paragraphs” (for lack of a better word.) Each paragraph was coded with a different keyword. The three keywords are related, however. Your mission is to figure out what they say and, more importantly, figure out the name of Lasha’s twin brother.
Please don’t give up, even if it takes you close to a month to figure it out.
Wmph pmutflsq wfjj cpsatjy fknpmvs. Sxnsit bflalifaj lscmtfatfmlq mp ruqflsqq npmnmqajq tm rs oufihjy bflajfzse. Qmks Apfsq latfvsq kay sltsp fltm al uluquaj naptldpqdfn, imltpait mp qdmpt-tspk flvsqtkdlt. Fb qm, tdmpmucdjy psqsapid ajj estafjq.
2)
Clkfjy qajltfnms kly raklmr soabflj lttamtfnm. Axoabt jnvar nmas lmr klqftlj olqtmaqs tn rnuit teafq nwm sajc-wnqte nq ojlba fm tea dqnuo. Ljj fs wajj, enwavaq. Lt oqasamt, jnw bnmcframba fs knstjy l olssfmd knnr.
3)
V rhlqo apdokg lp hluop jvy wdqc sl gdqrtqq mvqs ouoksq, pljvksdr mpljdqoq lp lkbldkb qlrdvh lihdbvsdlkq. Lscopq wdhh io alrtqog lk qlrdvh spdvkbhoq lp pvpo gdqmhvyq la mtihdr hlyvhsy. Vuldg qclwdkb ojlsdlk; v ivhvkrog poqmlkqo jvy io djmlpsvks.
