I haven’t had much time to write puzzles recently, so when I heard that the newest version of the PuzzleMaster (3.1) was out, I was quite excited. Theoretically, a puzzle constructor should be able to enter a common-factor list and PRESTO!.. the software should then create a simple letter substitution cryptolist. Our harried puzzlemaker could then spend lots of time on other important activities (i.e. watching football).
Unfortunately, the program has a couple of major flaws. For one, the resulting cryptolist runs together so that the poor solver can’t tell where one entry ends and the next begins. The second problem is even more annoying.
Here let me show you.
I enter an appropriate 16-entry common factor list (in a certain chronological order and culled from a very helpful internet site) and:
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Sigh. I guess I’ll have to go back to pencil and paper to create puzzles. Yet… I wonder… is anyone out there is talented enough to overcome the glitches and decode this messed-up cryptolist (and find the common factor)?
Well the last one was could be solved. Only took me about 10 blasted hours! The way to put the puzzle together was to sort by color, then hook the “words” together by matching duplicate characters. So a red word that started with a “K” hooked onto a red word that ended with a “K”. Then the joining characters are discarded, or considered as a space between you new word.
[QUOTE=indecisive1]
Well the last one was could be solved. Only took me about 10 blasted hours! The way to put the puzzle together was to sort by color, then hook the “words” together by matching duplicate characters. So a red word that started with a “K” hooked onto a red word that ended with a “K”. Then the joining characters are discarded, or considered as a space between you new word.
QUOTE]
Actually indecisive1, if you don’t discard those extra letters you can find the authors and source of the quote!
It seems that this software always encodes cryptolists using the same random letter pattern. So once a solver gets one cryptolist, he/she should be able to solve them all. Now that’s bad programming!
For instance, here is a 10-entry common factor cryptolist in the same chronological-type order (which is really a reverse chronological order) as the last list (and also from the same source, and now somewhat more appropriate than the previous list…at least here in Virginia):
It looks as if the PuzzleMaster problems really do make the cryptolists indecipherable after all. Sigh. I’m about to go out of town on business for a few days, so here’s one last 12-entry cryptolist. This one is now very pertinent.
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Well, after Peregrine’s goad in #95 I had to try this one too. This one I found much harder, partly because (forgetting it was a cryptolist) I was expecting a different word distribution. Then for a while I just tried associating from the text-clues; I thought maybe they were lists of football teams or something – Virginia Tech, maybe (ref. the OP)? Alas, if there were any clues they didn’t help me. The part that finally helped was the ciphertext “Z. Z. OIXXDBQP” which I decided had to be eitherS. S. (something) or E. E. CUMMINGSAfter that, and having had the experience of #95 to help with the dyslexia, it was a short hop to guess that the “relevance” had to do with theposting dates.