Do you enjoy cracking codes? I’ve been fascinated by codes and ciphers since I was a kid. Now, I have the chance to include a cipher in the novel I’m working on, Boundarising. Here it is:
1455 2324 1341 5115 3224 2345 2543 1351 1221 5231 4324 5434
3415 5333 3324 1455 1521 2433 4145 5322 5333 2324 4115 3335
2423 1431 2532 2544 3321 4324 4135 5333 2133 2111 3323 3313
2433 4415 4433 2423 4135 3442 4411 4145 2454 3335 1251 3135
2324 4423 1513 4531 4234 4235 3135 5545 1223 1221 4135 3313
2433 2513 5314 5544 3321 3531 4324 5132 3353 2153 3353 5322
1242 4134 5545 3545 1431 2442 3255 3335 2123 3442 2531 4223
1431 2322 3135 3424 4234 3135 5534 1254 4222 1332 3531 5312
2443 4135 3255 5545 4415 4433 4135 3442 5545 3415 4113 2152
1431 4115 2124 1415 4235 4145 3313 2513 4254 2443 3231 1513
2142 1544 1213 1322 2354 2534 4441 5444 3255 3335 5545 2341
2113 4235 3524 1441 5545 4453 4135 1541 3442 2341 2423 3312
1322 1431 2312 1441 2423 3135 5321 4233 2234 1214 1322 1415
4415 3533 1145 3345 4115 3544 2114 2541 5322 1112 5214 1541
3353 4324 1333 3242 3224 3152 3353 4234 3135 4114 3224 2324
2224 4241 3331 4454 3135 1541 4555 1213 1452 4321 4445 3135
1213 3531 4325 4211 2113 4324 1532 3134 1421 4325 4445 3215
3321 3442 1214 4233 2135 4315 3455 1415 4125 1431 2333 3242
2354 2234 2411 1542 1431 3212 4222 1432 3313 2423 3321 1142
5545 4324 4355 4215 2233 3114 1352 1311 5214 3155 3323 4222
1452
Can you crack this? This isn’t just an empty challenge. I need to be able to demonstrate that a teenage boy, armed only with paper and pencil could do it, so I really need to know how easy this is to solve.
My protagonist, Sol, has been dispatched by his parents to live during wartime with his uncle, Zand in the countryside where he should be safe from enemy bombing, Many children were sent out of danger in this way in Britain during the second world war.
Just before he gets on the train, Sol’s father, William, presses an envelope into his hands and asks him to give it to Zand.
But Sol is a curious boy, opens the envelope and discovers the coded message. He spend many months trying to crack it. To give you a running start, Sol, recognizes that because there are no numbers greater than five, this code is probably created in a 5×5 grid. This would be sufficient to store all the letters of the alphabet, if two (such as I and J) are doubled up.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
1 | A | B | C | D | E |
2 | F | G | H | I/J | K |
3 | L | M | N | O | P |
4 | Q | R | S | T | U |
5 | V | W | X | Y | Z |
So, Sol reasons that the numbers code for letters (where 11 is A, 12 is B and so on). But, there are groups of four numbers, while two would be sufficient to code for a letter. So, Sol thinks the code involves pairs of letters. There must be some coding rules for relating the members of the pair to each other.
He readily sees that the grid above doesn’t decode the message, so he decides the letters cannot be arranged simply from A to Z. He thinks it’s unlikely the arrangement is random. That’s as far as he gets for some time.
Quite a brain spin. Or maybe it’s easier than it looks. The mind loves to contradict itself. Hope someone cracks it. 🙂
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I’m pretty sure it can be done. I have a sequence in which Sol cracks the code, step by step
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Reminds me of DNA base pairing
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That’s an interesting connection
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Neil, Just to let you know I am working on this code. So far my attempt at frequency analysis and fitting the best matches has fallen flat. If as you suggest there is a relationship between two letters in the pair, that suggests two tables with a letter/alphabet shift. The trick is finding the starting points.
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Thanks for trying and good luck, James
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Hi Neil, just to let you know I am tearing my hair out here. Presently I am working on a 5 x 5 grid coupled to a 26 x 26 grid. I feel I am barking up the wrong tree!
I have a few turns of the wheel to go untilI reach the end of this avenue.
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Good luck, James!
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Hi Neil,
Decided on the Playfair Cipher – however I am beginning to doubt the transposition from numbers to bigrams–is this done from the 5×5 a to z grid? If not I will stop trying.
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It is, yes
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