Sunday Morning Puzzle #101 --- A Plea for Help

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Clang! Clang! The ringing of your doorbell on a Sunday Morning usually means just one thing: You have a visit from Agent Jones of the CIA. Jones only stops by on Sunday when the CIA has a tough code they cannot solve. Until recently, the CIA would be sure you could help. Until recently, you have been considered the nation’s finest code breaker. Until recently.

Over the past few weeks all your best efforts at [thread=333279]solving a difficult spy code [/thread]have been fruitless. This uncharacteristic flop has led to a multiple of shocking developments. Highly classified secret plans are missing. A good friend of yours has been arrested and charged with treason. The world is in peril.

Failure is not an option, and yet you have been failing. Badly.

Despite your gloom, you greet Jones amiably. Alas, you have been so depressed over your inability to solve the last case you do not even have any organic coffee or pastries to offer your guest. No matter. Jones does not appear in the mood to eat.

He takes a seat.

“I’m surprised to see you,” You say. “I didn’t know if you’d be back.”

Jones waves his hand. “No one can be expected to solve every code. Not even you.” He pauses. “But, then again, maybe you have another chance.”

You lean forward and get the astonishing news. Agent Brown has escaped from prison! He was working in the laundry room of the prison yesterday and managed to hide out in a bin of dirty linens. Before his jailers could figure out what happened, all the bales of soiled sheets and towels (along with our hidden Agent Brown) were sent out to the cleaners.

You admire Brown’s sneakiness.

“How do you know Brown escaped in the laundry truck?” You ask.

“Because,” responds Jones with a dramatic flourish, “We found a coded message addressed to you in the back of that laundry van!”

Jones studies your face as you take in this incredible information.

“A coded note addressed to me? I must see it!”

Jones hands you a folded paper. “This was in an envelope with your name on the cover. It’s obviously not the same code as before.”

You scan the message. What can it mean?

Jones continues: “My superiors assume that this is some joke-- a product of Brown’s twisted imagination.They guess there is no message here at all, just random numbers and letters meant to vex and taunt you. These bureaucrats are so sure Brown is guilty. But that is not what I believe. I deduce Brown saw an opportunity to escape. Perhaps he devised his own code in order to communicate with you. He probably imagines that no one but you will be able to solve it. I also suspect Brown may have a lead on the whereabouts of superspy Trixi LaBoop. For some reason he may be trying to get to her himself. And finally, I believe this coded message is a plea—asking you for help.”

“I must try and decode this!” You declare. “Brown was a good agent. Maybe he has turned bad…but I’ll need proof before I think the worst.”

“Well you better hurry.” Jones wrinkles his brow. “There’s an APB out on Brown right now. The other agents blame him for embarrassing them when the plans were stolen. The orders are that if Brown is spotted…Shoot to kill!”

“What about those stolen plans?” You inquire. “Do you know what they are about?”

“Yes, I know.” Jones looks away for a moment, then meets your eyes. “I’m trying to get a security clearance so that I can tell you everything. I may have that permission tomorrow. Suffice to say things do not look good. These are difficult times.”

Difficult times to be sure! Poor Brown. He may not have until tomorrow. Can you solve his code and begin to right things again?

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C4J23 4W2T4N2A 11USA3 16G2S 25V3 *EJB3DJ1K5TZZ2I 14V1 NQ1J61 7AQ4J3 Q16J1F3 43V1 9B9 R33JF3I L2V34ZZ D5B3U1 3A2FVH1V DV1B41 15V6 M4S9UJI2 1VK37 I69ST1 LBAD31Q1VUP3 97I1ST1 3V1 Q8VG1V3U1P AB1Z26X *67ASS1 A20Q1J2 1M5J7 *L1V1UGSL89 13B5 7M9J 2X11US2L *5MTD4Q5 *UJB1F47C2I EZJ1B1NJ31 7C1T11I 37A2QBA C2JZ1VJRJ1 3A3QJ2 NTFF29JUG1JFVU1P K5V1UG1 M71J1 10B4U1G2 55V1 1S87K N14S7 1LVZZ91 ZSR1J31N2 *ZBCS7S1E 3WTN3A1 L2Q2JF5J N23QJ1’N 2IS2T22F N7AV2Z4Z1 *LSM1B59U 5V19 V17UA1S B5UG5 V7U2AS2 B13UG4 WT34GP1J Z11V1AA3ZJ2 *1QBF6N6QZI 5B10 7VU7 EZB1D19J F5JM1JMCJF2JG N2UJ4BX2 1N73S1 S86TA1 AQ3J1I15 19V2 A2Q8BU6X 1D17BOQ5 7PVR2J5 Q3J3F3 6V2 N11TNE2JDA *SRJ13FQ1JBFG 7V3 M23B2I1 13AJZZ3 AQ2B1A29 1L7QBA6 GF83S1E1 D2B19U2 1V1 NSM1J11AQVUP1 2DB2U *GVNP2TVNJ41 4V2 X1VZZ47 19ZS3RJ J3RJ2FIA3QVU3P Z79SGPVU1P 39QSAJZ2 G1JNE53VAJ E15JF2QBEN2 *3F1BV17G

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2

N7AV2Z4Z1…Ha! That was the funny part.

Good thing I also understand native Navajo or I would never have been able to translate to the original French quote.

3

nope, poor Brown is gonna hang… :frowning:

:wink:

4

C’mon, people who’ve solved these before! You can’t disappoint the CIA! (If only I were any good at these…)

5

I wouldn’t be so smug if I were you…it was actually in a dialect of Hopi!

6

Not much sleep last night. Little progress has been made with this odd code. You have begun to doubt your own abilities— not a good sign. But now, in the light of day, you dismiss the crazy thoughts you had overnight about Indian languages and inane dialects.

No, these codes are in English. But how to solve them? Brown’s message must involve some sort of trick…something he is expecting you to figure out. But what? It seems there are just so few clues. And why the numbers? Grr… What was it you talked to Brown about in that cell a few weeks ago…?

Clang! Clang!

Jones again. Perhaps he has some news.

You greet Jones. You must remember to take time to go to the grocery store. Oh well. You hand your friend a glass of lukewarm tap water.

Jones: “Have you had any luck with Brown’s code?”

You: “No. I notice one or two interesting points, but I can’t yet figure it out.”

Jones: "We talked with some of Brown’s cell mates. They claim he was working late into the evening on the night before he escaped. He was scribbling away on some papers and muttering to himself.

“Also, the guards at the laundry said Brown had volunteered to work there early last week. My guess is that Brown was looking for a way to break out. He’s a highly trained agent, and must have quickly discovered the gap in prison security.”

You: “I am hoping Brown might try and contact me for real. That would save me the time and trouble of messing any more with this silly code.”

Jones: “Not likely. In case you haven’t noticed, your apartment is being watched by CIA men. They also have concluded Brown may try and get in touch, if only to taunt you some more. That big fellow you’ve seen loitering in the hall outside is really Agent Fergeson. He’s none too bright, but strong as an ox. Agent Stoner is also somewhere in the building keeping watch. Your mail is being monitored, and your phone is tapped. Instructions are that if you leave the apartment, you are to be followed. Our men trust you, but they don’t trust Brown.”

You: “Wonderful. Speaking of security, did you get permission to tell me about the secret plans?”

Jones: “Yes. Trixi LaBoop now is in possession of plans for building… a time machine!”

You: “…Time machine…uh huh… You gotta be kidding!?!”

Jones: “I wish I was. The government has had scientists working on this for years. Seems they have unlocked some secrets in time/space theory and put together the ideas into the design of this machine. No one knows if it will work. But the theory on paper is, I am told, sound.”

You: “It’s never been built or tested?”

Jones: “No. The powers-that-be have deemed it too dangerous. And the machine has problems. It’s not like in the movies where you can set the date for say, August 19th, 1961. No, about the closest you can be sure of getting back, in theory anyway, is about (give or take) half a century. So whoever uses the machine can’t tell, except within about 50 years or so, when they’ll end up. And the machine only works for going back into time. You can’t go into the future because it has not happened yet. However, you see the danger. If the spies go back in time with today’s knowledge and technology, they might be able to take control. Or at least amass a fortune and live rich and wealthy. Or both.”

You: “But how can the spies be sure they’d end up back on earth? Maybe the time machine will put them in the exact spot they are in, but many years earlier. Won’t the earth have moved? Won’t they find themselves floating in space?”

Jones: “The scientists are not sure. Another theory is that if the spies leave, taking their matter with them, that this will upset the universe and create a black hole, sucking everything into another dimension. Or perhaps something from the past will be transported at the same time into the future to compensate. Or maybe the present will cease to exist because the present is now the past. Who can say? The government deemed the machine too dangerous to even build. But they couldn’t bring themselves to destroy the plans. Meanwhile the spies are reckless. They won’t care about destroying the present to get to the past.”

You: “But if they are going to succeed, wouldn’t we already know about it? After all, the past would be altered and therefore the present…”
CRASH!!

A window in the living room of your apartment shatters as a projectile lands at your feet. It’s a large rock. There’s a piece of paper tied to it by an old piece of twine.

CRASH!!

Agent Fergeson breaks down the door and comes barreling in.

Fergeson: “What’s going on. I heard a crash. Oh, I see. A note tied to a rock. I’ll take that.”

The stout man picks up the rock and pulls the message free. He unfolds the paper and his grin turns to a frown.

Fergeson: Hey, what is this? They told me to look out for coded messages, but this ain’t nothing."

He holds up the paper to you. It’s a standard sheet of white typing paper. In the center is scrawled a single letter: “X”

Jones, Fergeson and you stare at the paper.

Fergeson: “Huh. I thought this was going to be a note from Brown. Must just be neighborhood hooligans. After all, you can’t get a message out of a single letter.”

Fergeson apologizes for knocking down your door and quickly exits. You and Jones stand amidst the broken glass, both looking at that strange piece of paper.

Jones: “Well, he’s right. You can’t have a secret message with just one letter. I thought Brown might have thrown that rock, but I guess not.”

You are barely listening. You continue to hold up that crazy page. What can this be all about?

7

Hmm. Maybe it’s not the letter X. I carefuly rotate the paper nintey degrees. Nope, still an X. I rotate another ninety degrees and read the now upside down paper. Nope, still an X. I rotate another ninety degrees. Still an X. Bah, even backwards it would be an X.

Hmm, I grab the Brown’s code and head for the bathroom mirror.

8

Joking aside, can anyone determine letter-number frequency on this? If one letter or number stands out the most, maybe you can translate it back to ‘e’ or something like that…

(It worked for Sherlock Holmes in “The Adventure of the Dancing Men”, okay?)

9

I wasn’t joking. I’ve spent the last few minutes holding my neck in odd positions and holding a mirror to the screen.

The X may be a Roman numeral. It could signify that the cipher changes in various areas of the paper, or (just came to me)

Brown worked in the laundy. Perhaps he was in charge of folding. It could be that the most of the ‘code’ is babble and that fragments of various characters form a clear message when the paper is properly folded. This could range from a Mad fold-in to origami level complexity.

And yes, all the above ideas are serious.

10

Arrgghh! You have spent much of the last day folding papers. Your origami successes have included a swan, two stars, a cat, and a very impressive Madonna with child. Unfortunatly, no code solutions.

Time to rule out folding paper. No …the solution has got to be much simpler than that. Sigh. Perhaps a break about now would be a good idea. You need a rest.

You just realized that you forgot to go downstairs and get the newspaper this morning. The Times Crossword— that’s the ticket! And the weekday puzzles usually are not so very difficult. Just the sort of thing to take your mind off this code enigma for a while. Yes.

As you walk out to your paperbox, you find yourself accompanied by the rather oafish Agent Fergeson.

Fergeson: “So where you going? I gotta follow you, you know.”

You: “I’m just getting my New York TImes. I forgot this morning. Come along if you like.”

Ah, there’s the paper, waiting as usual in your box. You reach for your Tuesday Times, but Fergeson snatches it first.

Fergeson: “Sorry, my friend. I gotta make sure there ain’t no funny business codes hidden in there.”

You: “Oh good grief. Go ahead.”

The heavyset CIA man opens up your paper. His brow furrows.

Fergeson: “Hey, what is this? Someone’s messed up your New York Times.”

You: “What?”

Fergeson: “Someone’s done messed up your paper. All the pages are in the wrong order. It’s like someone threw all the sheets on the ground, and then put 'em back together every which way.”

Now your senses are alert.

You: “Uh… that’s not a problem, Fergeson. All the pages are numbered, so I can just put them back right. Don’t you worry about it. Just let me have the paper and…”

But the slow-witted Fergeson is not finished.

Fergeson: “Hold on a minute. Just got to make sure there’s nuttin else. Uh-uh…nope…nope…nuttin…uh, hey, what’s this?”

He turns the front of the paper towards you. On page 1, just below the headlines, is a single large letter written across the newsprint in stark black magic marker.

The letter is “X”.

You: “Look, Fergeson, there’s obviously no code here. Must just be the neighborhood kids causing trouble. You don’t want to bother your superiors with this. I’ll just take my paper and go inside.”

Fergeson: “Yeah, well…all right. Heck, you can’t get no message from a single letter. Dang kids! You oughta call the cops about them guys. I’m way too busy and way too important to deal with troublemaking young punks.”

You: “Right you are, Fergeson. A smart man like you needs to be on the lookout for that dangerous Brown character. Good luck.”

You return swiftly to your apartment leaving the clueless Fergeson outside.

Now is the time to think! Is Brown sending you a message? And if so…what is it?

11

Biotop: I know I’m taking your framing story WAY too seriously, but this is breaking my heart, especially since I’m no good at cryptography, and can’t contribute to the solving of this thing! Do you think you can find it in your heart to at least pretend a good outcome, even if no one solves it? I don’t think I could take another failure! :frowning:

12

Sigh. You stare at the jumble of newspaper pages. Maybe it is time to quit. How can you be expected to solve an “X”?

Sigh.

You pause a moment. What was that quote? Something about the best way for evil to triumph is if good people do nothing?

No. Good will win the day! You and a lot of other decent people are out there trying to make a difference!

You vow to persevere. Now… what can this latest clue mean…?

13

Hmm

X= what?

X=Kisses? No. Brown and I are good friends, but we don’t have that kind of relationship.

X= Multiplication? Hmm. Multiplication=Times? Could Brown’s code depend on an issue of the New York Times as a key? He knows I read the NY Times. I know codes with book keys have been used in the past.

It would explain why all the pages are out of order. It may be that the code is indecipherable in itself. The key lies in Times.

14

You feel a breakthrough is coming, and you shouldn’t need a newspaper. Because Brown had no access to the New York Times while in prison, you can’t see how you’d need such an outside source to solve his cypher.

You suspect everything you require to crack this code is right here. Some simple trick covers up an easy puzzle. Figure out that trick, and the solution will be yours.

…

Suddenly you hear great commotion! The police and the CIA are raiding the crawlspace beneath your apartment. You watch from the window. Weapons are drawn as the cops burst through the tiny wooden door at the base of your building. You wait. Your nerves are tense. You pray there is no gunfire.

Soon Jones arrives with the details. The CIA received a tip that someone was hiding in your complex’s basement. But when the SWAT team broke in, they found the room empty. Well, almost empty. In the center of this cramped and dirty place was an envelope with your name on the front. Inside that envelope was this coded message:
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AQ1B43A 23B2 2Q3JF10 1V1 19V1 K1SF17 D19V2B 2LJ’17ZZ BU2I3 *NDQJM61J1 LS22TZG2 B5U3G 8A2S2 2V14 53LVZ1Z V7K7 NT11FFJ1UGJ3F 11P1S A12S1 LQ11BA1JR5JF QJ3BGOTB13FAJFN 1BA37 12A2S K2SF2 Q31J1F 4V13 2A29S1 S1U41 *AFV3HV6 7V3 29DB1U 3V3 *KFVG7B6I NS20MJAV2MJ 3LBVA1 X11USL2 *Q13JF2 K5V5UG1 3V3K3 BFFVR5J7 10NQJ5 2V28 9C5J 2ZS2S2X2 AQ1J13 L1Q1JF23J K1SVZ59 3D19BU DB1U2USA *7Z1SUPJF NMVA2Q7NSUVBU AS9PJAQ2JF2 Q1BEE47I J5H1EJD4A L2VZ5Z QJ5Z1E1 FJK3T17NJN 3G3S6 *4JU4GV3UP DS5U3RVUD2J AS4G1B2I

++++++++

15

Yes, multiplication–that’s it! Multiplication will give the right order for the words in Brown’s message. And it is a simple code, to be sure. Counting the letters really does reveal the letter E, just as in the stories. But Brown is in trouble. Maybe we can get the shoot-to-kill order lifted in view of this new evidence, but I’m worried about what the spies might do to Brown in the meantime. I’ll see if I can get anywhere yet with the other code. Any chance of sending some non-trigger-happy agents down to the Smithsonian this morning? I know it’s a big place, but it might not hurt to keep an eye out down there.
[typo report: in Brown’s first note, 1D17BOQ5 should be 1D17BNQ5]

N7AV2Z4Z1…It’s STILL funny, actually…

16

Hurrah Peregrine!

The first real break in the case!

Jones and you are able to convince his superiors to lift the shoot-to-kill orders. Several agents have been assigned to patrol up and down the Washington Mall in hopes of spotting Brown. Guards at each of the Smithsonian museums are on the alert.

There is a small group of CIA people who still believe Brown is guilty and that this is all a ruse. We’ll see. In the unlikely event that Brown and Trixi LaBoop show up at CIA headquarters, perhaps this case can finally end happily today.

On the other hand, there is still one old code out there to solve. The next 24 hours may tell the tale.

17

After this one’s solved, I’d love for someone to break it down for me. I read these things every time, and am absolutely flummoxed by how you people solve them. I can solve standard cryptograms, but that’s about it. You guys make my head hurt.

18

Another possibility: X=ten (the Roman numeral hinted at by Doc). Maybe every 10 times is the message communicated?

Daniel