# The Great SDMB Cipher Challenge **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2002, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563 "2002-03-11T13:24:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/21 "2002-03-13T09:38:08Z")
Well, I just started work on the end of this about five minutes ago, and so far it seems like a simple letter substitution cipher…We’ll see how it continues. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/22 "2002-03-13T09:54:28Z")
IGqE’P HWUoH Wo UP kDfqA. U HWE UE. U IqoE q AfqD kGqDDfoHf. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/23 "2002-03-13T10:01:50Z")
Oh, wait, there appears to be more to this… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/24 "2002-03-13T10:43:06Z")
God, I’m A freakin’ moron to think this’d be a simple letter sub cipher! Anyhow, got some of the falsies, but I’m trying to figure out what this “holographically” means. Something to do with “laser” as a key word, perhaps some sort of Vigenere cipher? Or perhaps Cal’s going for the other meaning of holographic, as in "Of or being a document written wholly in the handwriting of the person whose signature it bears: a holographic will. " ([Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com).) I’m racking my brain here… ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/25 "2002-03-13T10:50:44Z")
PFFT! That was EASY!:rolleyes: I’d post the answer here, but then the others wouldn’t have the satisfaction of figuring it out for themselves… yeah, that’s it! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/26 "2002-03-13T11:51:27Z")
To reveal, copy and paste into Notepad: [SYMBOL]THIS IS CALMEACHAM’S SDMB CRYPTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE. IS IT CLEAR WHAT IS GOING ON? NOT ONLY IS THERE A SECRET MESSAGE HIDDEN IN THIS APPARENTLY HAPHAZARD JUMBLE OF LETTERS, THERE ARE ALSO SEVERAL FALSE MESSAGES. THE TEXT YOU ARE NOW READING, FOR EXAMPLE, IS EMPHATICALLY NOT THE REAL HIDDEN MESSAGE. HIDDEN WITHIN THIS TEXT , IN A VARIETY OF WAYS, ARE THREE OTHER FALSE MESSAGES. MESSAGE THAT COUNTS IS ENCODED HOLOGRAPHICALLY, SO THAT EVEN A FEW TYPOS WON’T PREVENT YOUR FINDING IT.[/SYMBOL] ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/27 "2002-03-13T11:55:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*To reveal, copy and paste into Notepad: > > [SYMBOL]THIS IS CALMEACHAM’S SDMB CRYPTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE. IS IT CLEAR WHAT IS GOING ON? NOT ONLY IS THERE A SECRET MESSAGE HIDDEN IN THIS APPARENTLY HAPHAZARD JUMBLE OF LETTERS, THERE ARE ALSO SEVERAL FALSE MESSAGES. THE TEXT YOU ARE NOW READING, FOR EXAMPLE, IS EMPHATICALLY NOT THE REAL HIDDEN MESSAGE. HIDDEN WITHIN THIS TEXT , IN A VARIETY OF WAYS, ARE THREE OTHER FALSE MESSAGES. MESSAGE THAT COUNTS IS ENCODED HOLOGRAPHICALLY, SO THAT EVEN A FEW TYPOS WON’T PREVENT YOUR FINDING IT.[/SYMBOL] \*\* :eek: How’d you do that? I am aghast! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/28 "2002-03-13T12:01:44Z")
If you’d like to follow how I did it, [click here](http://www.ourdawson.com/swish/CRYPTO-1.htm). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/29 "2002-03-13T12:07:45Z")
Astroboy - that part was just a simple letter substitution cipher. As I’ve noted in a post above, I was a bit foolish to think that’s all to this little cipher. Figuring out that part is relatively easy. For example, I started at the end, with the word “UE.” There’s only a handful of words in English that fit, and most likely the word is “IT” since it ends the sentence, although it could be “TO”, “IS” and the lot. So, now we guess that U=I and E=T. As we plug these letters in, the first words, EGUP UP become “T?I? I?” Hmmm…maybe “THIS IS” and so forth. Eventually, you’ll figure out the lot of 'em. But then it becomes tricky. There’s at least one other message encoded by this substitution method in the text. If you’ve pasted Lib’s post into notepad, you know there are three more “false” messages and one real one still to be found. The bold letter false message is easy. The italicized one I can’t quite get. At least I have something that makes SOME sense, but not quite. And I haven’t the faintest clue what the third false message is. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/30 "2002-03-13T12:48:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*To reveal, copy and paste into Notepad: > \*\* \ **Lib** , good job on getting what apparently is only the first level of the cypher, but even more mega-kudos for the amazingly clever way you’ve created a way to spoiler-proof messages! I’d _never_ have thought of using the “symbol” tag that way! 🙂 (I wish there was an “awed” smiley.) \ Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/31 "2002-03-13T13:59:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*To reveal, copy and paste into Notepad: > > [SYMBOL]THIS IS CALMEACHAM’S SDMB CRYPTOGRAPHY CHALLENGE. IS IT CLEAR WHAT IS GOING ON? NOT ONLY IS THERE A SECRET MESSAGE HIDDEN IN THIS APPARENTLY HAPHAZARD JUMBLE OF LETTERS, THERE ARE ALSO SEVERAL FALSE MESSAGES. THE TEXT YOU ARE NOW READING, FOR EXAMPLE, IS EMPHATICALLY NOT THE REAL HIDDEN MESSAGE. HIDDEN WITHIN THIS TEXT , IN A VARIETY OF WAYS, ARE THREE OTHER FALSE MESSAGES. MESSAGE THAT COUNTS IS ENCODED HOLOGRAPHICALLY, SO THAT EVEN A FEW TYPOS WON’T PREVENT YOUR FINDING IT.[/SYMBOL] \*\* Or, you could just quote his reply and you’ll see what he typed between the {symbol}{/symbol} tags. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/32 "2002-03-13T14:47:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pulykamell \* > \*\*But then it becomes tricky. There’s at least one other message encoded by this substitution method in the text. If you’ve pasted Lib’s post into notepad, you know there are three more “false” messages and one real one still to be found. The bold letter false message is easy. The italicized one I can’t quite get. At least I have something that makes SOME sense, but not quite. > And I haven’t the faintest clue what the third false message is. \*\* I am not a cipherist and have next to no experience with ciphers… but I believe I’ve found the 3rd false message. Can I give it away, or do you all want to figure it out for yorselves? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/33 "2002-03-13T14:57:02Z")
I don’t mind, but maybe you should post it in the symbol font. I’m really starting to scratch my head over this one. The last sentence has some funny syntax, so I suspect that MAYBE there’s something acrostic going on, but nothing that I can unravel. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/34 "2002-03-13T15:02:16Z")
The problem is that I can’t really post it in symbol font. It’s not encoded that way. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/35 "2002-03-13T15:12:22Z")
Oh, I don’t know the etiquette for this. E-mail to me…maybe it’ll help me figure the rest of the problem out. Cal, how many messages are we looking for? 1. The original message 2. Three more false messages 3. One genuine message Five messages total. Is this correct? ---
**Author:** ![Peregrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@Peregrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peregrine)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/36 "2002-03-13T17:56:04Z")
Well, I’ve tried twice now to follow the instructions in what I take to be the “message that counts”. There’s a password, and I thought I had some idea what I was supposed to do with it, but nothing seems to be happening. Some questions I’m still trying to answer: Have I got the right password? There is some doubt about the first letter, but I thought the italics cleared that up. Have I got the right address? I found two so far, which is one more than I was expecting. What about those six extra letters? I still can’t make anything of them. I really don’t think they’re part of the password. Could they shed some light on where the password is supposed to go, or are they really just extra letters? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2002, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/37 "2002-03-13T18:50:31Z")
Peregrine: I think that you have it. Congratulations! If you’re having difficulties, it’s because my cable/internet company has chosen this week to switch over some of my services. In any event, I’ll check on things tonight. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/38 "2002-03-14T02:24:31Z")
We have a winner! **Peregrine** has completed the required task, and was the first in with the gold. I’ll hold off posting any answers until I hear from others who might want to try this out. We still have Silver and Bronze open. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/39 "2002-03-14T20:33:38Z")
Just one last BUMP to see if anyone else is interested. Otherwise, I’lll post the solution tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563/40 "2002-03-15T01:08:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > Just one last BUMP to see if anyone else is interested. **I** ’m interested … in the solution. I spent half an hour on it without looking at the hints and didn’t get very far at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-sdmb-cipher-challenge/97563.md?page=3)