Sunday Morning Puzzle #100 --- Strange Symbols, Mysterious Numbers

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

“Ding-Dong!”

You hasten to the door. As expected, Agent Jones of the CIA has come to consult you. Jones only visits when the Agency has a tough code they are unable to crack. That’s where you come in. You are the finest cryptologist in the country.

A concerned but determined Jones enters. He takes you up on your kind offer of oat bran muffins and fresh organic Columbian coffee. With a sigh Jones settles into his favorite chair and you listen once again for his story.

The CIA has been tracking a group of villainous spies. They are led by Trixi LaBoop, a clever and dangerous adversary. Trixi and her gang have made several attempts to steal some mysterious top secret plans. These plans are housed in a constantly guarded room on the top floor of CIA headquarters. The actual contents of the plans are known only by a few top government officials, though one might suspect these papers would be quite dangerous in the hands of the spies. The CIA has been following many leads in the search for Trixi LaBoop and her brother, Buster LaBoop. As of now they are the only known suspects on the loose. But there are most certainly others involved.

“One of our team received a report from an informant that Buster LaBoop was in downtown Washington. We spotted him outside the Jefferson Memorial and gave chase.” Jones takes a sip of coffee and continues. “We lost Mr. LaBoop when he disappeared into a crowd inside a nearby Washington Metro station. At the last moment one of our guys lunged at him. But he only got a hold of the spy’s jacket. Buster LaBoop slipped out of it and jumped onto a train. Then he was gone.”

“Too bad,” You mutter. “It seems they just barely keep eluding us.”

You pause a moment and then ask, “Does the CIA believe that these spies are going to make yet another try to steal the secret plans?”

Jones frowns. “We do. Next Sunday the plans will be moved elsewhere and they will be someone else’s problem. But we still have this week. I suspect the spies will make one last desperate attempt.”

You resolve to catch Trixi and her evil friends. You ask: “Are there any clues?”

You suspect you already know the answer to this question.

“We found something in Buster LaBoop’s jacket. It’s a very strange coded message. CIA experts tried all the usual methods to solve it. They got nothing. So we turn to you.”

Jones hands you a folded paper, and then rises to go. “Do your best. Please.”

He pauses.

“This week we will have dozens of men guarding the plans. No one suspicious will be allowed in the building, nor has anyone suspicious been allowed into the building for weeks. We have detectors for every type of poisonous gas. There is absolutely no way any spies can get into the building, much less steal the plans.”

“Yet you are still worried?” You look at Jones, and he at you. You both sense danger in the air.

“I am worried too,” You say. “I’m worried too.”

Can you break this code and possibly prevent the crime?
++++++++
{1115} {16129*} {166^15^214^} {%166} {#} {166^14$$10} {$1^%11} {$16} {3%} {14*} {%9} {1512^2} {414*} {**5**^**3**} {^*1414*11} {#^**6**17}. {#} {166*^#%113} {&16} {1115$} {16$1515166^129} {} {**5**^1116**1**14#1116} {145%115*} {^15155^^112*&} {%11***9**10} {&**19**%10} {*15} {**2***1516} {3} {%99114} {%16#} {3~} {$1116&^15}. {1012**9**~} {&1516**2**} {**1**14#1110} {16616} {1115&14^} {%99%} {1614%18%#}. {*1516} {^84} {%15114} {1666**} {%} "{15161%9%16~12%99#}" {&55^} {%1015} {17^6} {156^#%995%}. {#11} {^14%1153} {1616} {10^**49**&} - {16**6**^~**2**} {*15} {*1115} {26166^129} {*16} {11516$2} {1411%} {166^10$} {%11} {%1416~} {^11166} {1615%3^*1615^17} {1^$&}.

++++++++

2

Another Coded Message Appears!
Agents from the CIA have been watching an apartment formally used by Trixi and Buster LaBoop. The feds really didn’t expect anyone to come back there. But someone did. Sort of.

Surprised agents noticed a carrier pigeon on the sill of a window at the apartment. They moved in, capturing the pigeon. In the clip on the bird’s leg they found another coded message.

“So it looks as if the spies are communicating by fowl,” Jones tells you. “That explains the droppings we found in the apartment, and the ones on Buster LaBoop’s jacket. Perhaps this bird was meant to carry the message elsewhere, but instead it returned to an old haunt.”

“Well, it’s a clue anyway,” You note cautiously.

But will it help you solve the case?

++++++++

{1$$12} {14%18%9} {99~16} {14^} {18~%15} {11314$} {14%^} {166%155%1494} "{#16**6**}" {**8**11} {^1511$16} {114$#113}. {~} {&^153} {$6%10$1116} {^1516} {^5%17} {9156} {6^12%9} {^16} {15&10} {$11} {6^#%992}. {^15%1516} {^16$14} {19} {91^&11*} {%9} {114$#11#}! {15^&10} {14~10&} {1516$} {1496%} {16&} {#166*^11*} {^9$} {16$14~1} {14*} {^16**9*****1**} {**2**14} {^15^} {&16%11166} {3^} {146%} {111516$$&} {14%115166^129*} {^1131} {212} {3~16$^15} {&14171114^} {6*17^~$}.

++++++++

3

Shocking News!
Agent Jones calls. He regrets to inform you that the secret plans — the ones you have been working so hard to help protect — were stolen today from the CIA.

Agent Brown has been arrested for assisting the spies.

Reports of what exactly happened early this morning at CIA headquarters are still sketchy. A devastated Jones promises more details later.

4

Jones stops by with the details. He is clearly most upset.

“I don’t know what happened, but the plans are gone. Brown did it. It is unbelievable.”

You offer Jones his chair and a glass of organic blood orange juice. “Calm down,” You say. “It is confusing when you start at the end. Begin at the beginning. Then I will understand.”

Jones tells his story:

The secret plans were being held in a special safe at CIA headquarters. The safe can only be opened three times a week…Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 7:30 in the morning. Other than those time…forget about it!

Jones had briefed the CIA agents that the spies were likely to try and steal the plans this week. So this morning most of them were gathered in the room with the safe, ready to ward off an attack. Indeed, there were so many agents, it was almost like a party, with music playing on the radio, coffee flowing freely, and everyone excited–just itching for action.

Then the alarm went off telling the agents that the safe could now be checked. Brown, who had been acting a little weird according to the others, went and opened the lockbox. "He examined the contents and declared, “It’s all here. No problems.”

Everyone cheered. Euphoria reigned.

Then it happened.

Brown picked up the secret plans, walked over to the window, and threw them outside!

The room is on the 7th floor. Stunned agents raced over to the window in time to see several people jump out of a van, gather up the papers as the wafted down to the pavement, and then take off. Hurried calls to the front of the building went unheeded, as most of the agents were up on the 7th floor. By the time they got outside, the van was gone.

Agent Brown is in shock. He claims to have no idea why he threw the plans into the street. He’s confused about everything. He swears to not know what is going on.

“I believe Brown,” Jones declares. “But I’m the only one. He’s in a high-security prison now being grilled by our agents. They think he will crack. But not me. I don’t think he has anything much to tell.”

Poor Brown. You don’t know what to think. Brown has always seemed loyal, if a bit naive.

Jones continues: “Tomorrow I am scheduled to be briefed on the contents of those plans. I fear what I will find out. Our one hope is that you can decode these messages, and perhaps learn the location of the spies. The world is depending on you.”

And indeed, time is running out. Can you help?

5

Fear not Agent, Ronin is belatedly on the job.

6

Once again, Agent Jones drops by. He is on his way to the State Department to meet with top officials about the loss of the secret plans. Heads will roll. You worry about Jones. He could lose his job over this.

It looks very bad for Brown. Certain rather nosy neighbors report seeing a woman resembling Trixi LaBoop visiting Brown’s apartment (and often staying overnight) during the past couple of weeks. When asked, Brown stated this woman is Roxy Dubois, a woman he met online. He said they are in love.

Ms. “Roxy Dubois” has yet to be found.

A security camera at the building across the street caught a glimpse of the van as it passed, and the Agents were able to get a license number from the tape. It turns out that the van was stolen a few weeks ago in downtown DC. Late yesterday afternoon this vehicle was found abandoned in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Fairfax, Virginia. No spies. No secret plans.

However, as the police were going over the van, they found a paper that had fallen between the seats. The spies must have missed it when they fled the van. It is another of these stinkin’ coded messages. Jones brings it to you.
++++++++
{1115} {^129*} {166} {&5^16} {14~} {**4**16^} {^17*11*} {1216**6**} {**3**&10} {^16} {1^15&14}. {10^1116} {15^} {16$166^1} {%11} {16$14} {^^9^17}, {1417%2} {6^15^} {#1116} {10159%123} {16**6**^10&15^&} {17^*16} {1414%} {#**6**^11~&}. {~8} {^1516&44^3} {166*} {%113} {146%33^111^6} {$$} {993} {6^1510} {~%1516} {$1416$14} {&14**9*****1**} {^16} {^111614112} {166^}. {11^} {26%} {166*^10} {%93} {1516$1&} {^8} {16#$#^} {8^} {%16#%9916}. {14**93**} {^#} {1116149166*} {2} {^12*14^16} {^1214} {166^11#}!
++++++++

7

Note: In coded message #2, the third number/symbol block from the end should read {*3~16$^15}. The only difference is the “3” must be bolded. Sorry.

++++++++

Echoing steps reverberate down the dimly-lit hallway. A jangle of keys …and then a clanking as a barred door opens. You are entering the prison cell of the unfortunate Agent Brown.

“Thank you for coming,” Brown whispers hoarsely. He is obviously very weak and very tired.

“I’m trying to do what I can,” You explain to Brown, “But this code is very difficult.”

“I was hoping you could give me copies of all the coded messages. I’m all alone here, and maybe…” Brown’s voice trails off, and then recovers, “Maybe I could try and solve them…?”

You have anticipated this, and hand the young man a set of the codes. Brown looks at them and sighs.

“Oh, how will I ever be able to do this?” He begins to weep.

“Be strong, Brown. Be strong.” You remember only too well the feelings Brown is going through.

Brown’s sobbing soon subsides. The room is still. You hear the distant drip-drip-drip of a leaky pipe. A rat scurries past your feet.

“Have you any answers at all?” Brown begs.

“No. But I have questions.”

“What questions?” Brown is struggling to keep his composure.

1. What is the significance of the strange symbols? Do they have something in common?

Brown looks at the paper. “There are so many symbols. I don’t know…I just don’t know.”

You continue:

2. Why are some numbers bolded, and some not? And much more importantly…why use numbers at all?

Another worried crease appears on Brown’s forehead. “Do you think there’s math involved?” He asks shakily.

“Maybe,” You reply. “But maybe not. If there is math, it must be simple stuff or else the spies might not be able to decode their own messages. But if math is not involved…well, what other uses are there for numbers?”

Brown listens intently as you move on.

3. Are the number/symbol sections words? Are they not words? If they are not words, what are they? Is it possible they can both be words, and not be words?

At this Brown looks even more puzzled. “How can they be both words and not words?”

“I don’t know,” You answer truthfully, “And yet I have a gut feeling…”

4. What words or phrases might we expect to appear in the coded messages?

“I see what you’re getting at!” Brown sits up in his cot. “I bet there’s something about the robbery, like how it was going to occur. Maybe words like ‘theft’ or ‘hypnotism’ or…or…‘SECRET PLANS’!” Brown is very excited now. “If we have some idea what might be in the code, we can work backwards.”

You can see Brown’s mind is racing. Perhaps this kid can solve the mystery after all.

5. Is there consistency in the coding, or is it a “changing” cypher?

Brown looks confused. “Explain that please.”

“Ok,” You respond. "In a ‘consistent’ code, letter substitution is the same throughout the message. This is how a standard cryptogram works. There may be other chicanery, but the coding remains the same throughout.

“But in a ‘changing’ code, there is another factor. For example: ‘A’ may =1, B=2, C=3… etc in the first word, but in the second word ‘A’ may = 2, B=3, C=4…etc. Then in the third word ‘A’=3… and so on. There is still consistency, but some outside factor causes a pattern change. In my example here, it is the word number that alters the coding, but it could be word length, sentence length, or there might be a letter whose occurrence triggers the change. It could be anything really. I have yet to decide, for sure, which type of code we are dealing with now.”

You look down at Brown. His eyes have begun to glaze over.

That’s it, I think. If you can answer some of these questions, you can solve the code. It is very tricky, I believe. But no code is impossible. There’s always a way to crack it."

You decide to leave Agent Brown to puzzle over the codes. But before you go, you ask Brown another question:

“Brown, I’m sure you know that we believe the woman you have been dating is really Trixi LaBoop. Did she ever say anything at all unusual? Anything at all?”

Brown looks quite sad, but you can see he is trying to think. In the background the dripping from the pipe has almost halted. An unhappy voice wails from somewhere deep in the bowels of the prison.

“She did say one thing that was kind of odd. She told me she wanted me to someday meet her friends. She called them ‘The Crimson Rabbit Gang’. I asked what that name was about and she just laughed. Then she told me that if anyone ever asked about her, to be sure and mention this ‘Crimson Rabbit Gang’.”

Crimson what?? Oh good grief. This is more confusing than ever!

6. What is the importance, if any, of the name Crimson Rabbit Gang?

++++++++

8

[thread=335537]Agent Brown has escaped from jail[/thread], but he has disappeared. Some believe he is is working with the spies. Others contend that Brown opposes our villains. You are in the latter camp. Indeed, you worry that Brown is in deep trouble.

All the clues point to the criminals being somewhere in downtown Washington, perhaps near the Smithsonian museums. But where? If there is to be a happy ending to this case, you must solve the strange symbols and mysterious numbers. But how?

Hours and hours of work have produced few results. What ever happened to simple counting codes, where A=1, B=2, etc.? You’d even settle for some Sherlock Holmesian dancing men. Sigh. Your eyes blur, exhaustion setting in. Your struggle to stay awake is a losing one. You fall asleep.

And soon you begin to dream.

=====

*You are walking down a dark, dank, cold corridor. What little light there is comes from far-spaced torches along the stone walls. The tiny flames flicker madly in a stiff breeze. You hear the distant sounds of dripping water and smell the stench of mildew and decay. This desolate cobwebbed hallway seems to go on and on, reaching nowhere. How long have you been walking? You vaguely realize you are deep inside Brown’s prison.

“Brown,” You call out. “Are you here? Brown?”

Your voice echoes, but no response. You trudge farther and farther down this Dali-esque twisted passageway. Then up ahead, you see movement in the shadows.

“Brown?”

But Brown is not there. Instead, you see five large and ghastly barn owls shuffle towards you. Their dirty muddy feathers are matted. The smell is beyond dreadful.

“Who are you?” You ask the creatures.

“We are the infamous seven owls.” comes the reply from the foremost of these bizarre birds.

“Five.” You correct.

“Look again!” screeches the largest of these winged hooting predators.

From a cell to your right emerge two figures. They are giant fanged crimson rabbits. Their cruel mouths drip blood.

This nightmare is no fun at all.

“Those are not owls,” You yell angrily at the vile birds in front of you. “Those are bunnies!”

“Look again!” screech the five birds in unison.

As you watch in horror, the two obscene rabbits morph into giant bloody great horned owls.

“They are with us part-time.” The grotesque birds all begin laughing and hooting. “And now we eat you!”

All seven of the immense carnivorous owls flap and waddle towards you. Dozens of extra razor-sharp taloned feet reach out.

TIme to run! You race back down the musty hallway into darkness. Behind you the birds squawk loudly, “How now brown cow? How now brown cow?”

You stumble forward into the bleakness. Now you see a faint light ahead. And all at once you are back in the place you began.

“This is where I started?” You are puzzled. “If I started here, where do I end?”

On the floor before you is a book. You note the author’s name on the spine: Cecil Adams. What was it you read about in one of his columns so many years ago. Something that might help solve the case…? But you have paused too long. The fiendish birds are upon you. How now brown cow? Awful enormous pointed beaks tear at your flesh…*

=====

With a scream you awake. You are back in your apartment. It may take a while to quit trembling.

What a frightening dream! But something in that nightmare seems oddy important. You grab a pen and write down all the details you can remember. Can this dream help you crack the case?

9

Dang. I actually considered using the non-numerical symbols in the way suggested by the dream, but rejected the idea because there were seven symbols and only five “owls”. Obviously I was too quick to dismiss the bunnies. Could it be because the Crimson Rabbit Gang made me think of the always inconsequential Red Hare Ring? I also find it interesting to note that I had circled all the occurences of “166^” because of the frequency of that string, and yet somehow never saw its potential.

But nevermind all that now. Let’s quit the yakkin’ and go find that yak.

10

Awesome Peregrine! Finally… a happy ending!

Acting on your instructions, the CIA early this morning raided the Museum of Natural History. You were invited along to see the end of the case. Knowing where to look, the agents soon discovered the hidden door behind the stuffed yak in the basement.

Jones, the other agents, and you burst into the secret laboratory. Inside our team found Trixi and Buster LaBoop, as well as a weakened Agent Brown. Trixi was holding a gun to Brown’s head!

“Drop your weapons,” Trixi snarled, “Or I’ll shoot!”

The stunned agents had no choice but to throw their guns to the floor.

“Buster and I will be going back in time, and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

Behind her, a newly completed time machine sat ready to go.

“Don’t do it, Roxy,” whispered Brown. “It’s too dangerous. Please stop.”

Still holding the gun, Trixi and Buster dragged Brown to the time machine, pressed the “Back-In-Time” button, and stepped inside. As the machine started to hum, they shoved Brown outside to the floor.

The machine whirred and blinked. A satisfied sneer spread across the face of Trixi LaBoop. Her brother chuckled gleefully. Lights flashed. Bells rang.

And then the machine suddenly went quiet.

“No!” shrieked Trixi. She burst from the machine looking wildly around. Her eyes fixed upon Brown, now holding the plug of the extension cord he had pulled from the wall. “No!”

At this moment Jones leapt, He grabbed and subdued Trixi. You snared her brother as he tried to slip out the door in the middle of the commotion. A punch in the jaw knocked Buster LaBoop cold.

Game over. Case solved.

Now you unwind alone in your apartment. What a tough few weeks it has been.

“Ding Dong…Clang-Clang!”

You answer the door. Agents from the CIA, including Jones and Brown, enter. They are loaded down with coffee and pastries.

“We thought it was about time someone offered you organic coffee and dessert.” laughs Jones amiably. “After all, the finest code-breaker in the country has to eat too!” There is general laughter, praise, and applause. You are not too professional to blush.

The happy group soon is enjoying the delicious treats.

Jones: “Buster was working at the Natural History Museum a few months ago, and discovered that secret room. He told Trixi, and they hatched their scheme. First they added “suggestabilty” pills to the water supply in the museum. Then, Buster LaBoop introduced a radio playing subliminal messages. These background messages told the museum guards to ignore anyone entering or leaving the basement. That’s how our spies were able to operate in such a popular spot. The guards saw them, but in their “programmed” state, they were not aware of it. Absolutely amazing.”

You: “Well, I hope the government destroys those secret plans now.”

Jones: “Yep, the machine and the plans are now history. And don’t worry about Trixi and her brother escaping and re-building the machine. We’ve given them some “suggestability” pills, played a little subliminal message music, and now they’ve decided never to do anything evil ever again.”

More cheers and applause.

You: “So tell me Brown, what did you finally remember?”

Brown: “One night a couple of months ago I overheard Roxy talking about that room. She was on her cell phone and thought I was asleep. At the time I didn’t think much of her conversation. Indeed I forgot it. But then, as I waited in prison, it all came back to me.”

Jones: “You could have saved us a lot of trouble if you’d simply told us.”

Brown: “I was worried about her safety. I blamed others for leading “Roxy” astray. Then I saw a method for escape from prison and I thought up that other code in hopes of getting some help from my friend. But time passed and I couldn’t wait. When I got to the museum I quickly learned that my “Roxy” was really behind all the trouble. I realized that she didn’t love me after all. Not in the least. I was captured. I…(sob)…I…”

A moment of awkward silence fills the room. You notice Fergeson nudge Jones.

Jones: “Oh… I just remembered. Brown…um…Agent Fergeson and I have invited our sisters and some of their single friends from Georgetown over for a party this Friday night. We’ve got room for one more guest. Are you free?”

Brown “Well… I guess I could make it if I can catch up a bit on my work.”

More laughter and back-slapping.

You: “I found that when I don’t consume my daily snacks, I have bad dreams. So I’m going back to the kitchen for another eclair and some more organic Costa Rican coffee. Can I bring anyone else some?”

A chorus of affrimatives!