Ars Paradoxica 27: Breach - Cyan

03 17 17 | ██ | 15 22 █ 13 24 | 04 17 01 07 ██ 07 | 13 09 26 12 | 20 █ 15 13 █ 19 09 ██
WEATHER: ██████

Ars Paradoxica 26: Grip - Magenta

Not satisfied with scrambling my brain on the last code (and omitting a 19 from the transcript from which I have yet to recover) our beloved adversary, the numbers station provides us with a new code, and a new coding system!

16 01 09 22 | 23 10 25 23 | 14 24 09 20 24 23 13 | 05 01 25 16 | 09 24 04 21 | 11 05 07 09 22 01 15

Weather in Tulsa: TROPICAL

--.- .-- . .-. - -.--

The first step is to decode the Morse: --.- .-- . .-. - -.-- becomes QWERTY. Yes, like the top of your keyboard. Ok, who wants to try scrambling the alphabet with me?

Let me tell you first what doesn't work: Keyed Vigneres using all or a portion of the either the weather or QWERTY as the alphabet key or the passphrase. It doesn't work forward or backwards. I checked. I really want it to be a keyed vigenere one of these days. So, the last one that had two keys was episode 24: Dilemma, which was based on GREEN.

As good a place to start as any...

GREEN method: Vigenere

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text. P A I V | W J Y W | N X I T X W M | E A Y P | I X D U | K E G I V A O
• A=26, Z=01 for passphrase. Tropical = 07-09-12-11-18-24-26-15. Re-encode A=01: GILKRXZO
• Solution:  J S X L | F M Z I | H P X J G Z N | Q U Q E | Y G G V | W Y Y X L J R

Solving this actually involved a happy accident while messing around on Rumkin. Rather than decrypting my 'solution' I encrypted it, similar to what you do to YELLOW. That provided me

V I T F | N G X K | T F T D O T L | S G G A | S O A T | Y K O T F R L

Clearly, that alone doesn't work, but there's a variation of the Caesar cipher, called a Keyed Caesar Cipher (not a keyed Vigenere, but we'll get there one day, I hope). Where a normal Caesar cipher uses the standard alphabet, a keyed Caesar Cipher uses a jumbled alphabet, similar to the Playfair cipher, where you start your alphabet with the code word. I was already playing around with it when I accidentally did the encoding instead of decoding on Rumkin.

In this case, the alphabet is entirely scrambled, in the order of the keyboard. No, you can't just type QWERTY - you have to type the entire alphabet in order of the keyboard: QWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM, in case you want to copy/paste. 

Running V I T F | N G X K | T F T D O T L | S G G A | S O A T | Y K O T F R L against the full keyboard Caesar alphabet gets you:

W H E N | Y O U R | E N E M I E S | L O O K | L I K E | F R I E N D S

So, how do you solve a MAGENTA cipher?

MAGENTA method:

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text. 
• A=26, Z=01 for passphrase. Re-encode A=01. (Like GREEN)
• ENCODE the cipher text, rather than decode - add, rather than subtract, the passphrase. REMEMBER TO SUBTRACT 1 from each when you encode!!! (Like YELLOW)
• Run the encoded text against a Keyed Caesar Cipher alphabet, using the second passphrase as the key text

As always, a massive shoutout to Rumkin and dCode for their exceedingly handy coding tools! 

If you want the math method, see this table (again, many thanks to Tables Generator) 

Ciphertext	16	1	9	22	23	10	25	23	14	24	9	20	24	23	13	5	1	25	16	9	24	4	21	11	5	7	9	22	1	15
Z=01 Passcode	06	08	11	10	17	23	25	14	06	08	11	10	17	23	25	14	06	08	11	10	17	23	25	14	06	08	11	10	17	23
Encode (Addition)	22	09	20	32	40	33	50	37	20	32	20	30	41	46	38	19	07	33	27	19	41	27	46	25	11	15	20	32	18	38
Mod 26	22	09	20	06	14	07	24	11	20	06	20	04	15	20	12	19	07	07	01	19	15	01	20	25	11	15	20	06	18	12
Plaintext	V	I	T	F	N	G	X	K	T	F	T	D	O	T	L	S	G	G	A	S	O	A	T	Y	K	O	T	F	R	L
Keyboard Caesar Cipher	W	H	E	N	Y	O	U	R	E	N	E	M	I	E	S	L	O	O	K	L	I	K	E	F	R	I	E	N	D	S

Ars Paradoxica 25: Absence - Blue and Yellow

Ok, the numbers station is truly on a roll with this one. Our favorite nemesis has decided to mix her colors, using a series of high and low voices. I've labeled them 'Man' (M) and Girl (G) for clarity in the text. Trying to write them down for the podcast was nigh unto impossible for me, BUT in this case you cannot trust the transcript for the episode. It's missing a 19, and the colors are inverted from what you need to solve the code.

08 12 06 26 08 12 26 06 13 10 14 06 (19) 02 12 12 20 16 11 12 21 26 26 17 26 01
WEATHER: humid

While the chart approach is handy, it's cases like this that the math approach I detailed on Episode 1: Hypothesis comes in handy.

First, we know that we need both BLUE and YELLOW methods to solve this.

A quick refresher:

BLUE method

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: H L F Z H L Z F M J N F B L L T P K L U Z Z Q Z A
• A=01 for passphrase: HUMID

YELLOW method

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: H L F Z H L Z F M J N F B L L T P K L U Z Z Q Z A
• A=01 for passphrase: HUMID
• Yellow method is to encode the cipher text, rather than decode - add, rather than subtract, the passphrase.

The voice at the beginning, stating "Blellow" or something similar, doesn't tell us which voice, Man or Girl, is which color. For simplicity, I've saved you the trouble of running it the other way first. The Man's voice is YELLOW, the Girl's voice is BLUE.


KEEP IN MIND THAT FOR SOLVING VIA MATH, WE HAVE TO SUBTRACT 1 FROM EACH OF THE NUMBERS IN THE PASSPHRASE (A=00, Z=25). This is actually pretty easy to do when you use dCode. HUMID becomes 07-20-12-08-03. So, going through, you add or subtract based on the color. This might be clearer in a table.

Ciphertext	08	12	06	26	08	12	26	06	13	10	14	06	19	02	12	12	20	16	11	12	21	26	26	17	26	01
Plaintext	H	L	F	Z	H	L	Z	F	M	J	N	F	S	B	L	L	T	P	K	L	U	Z	Z	Q	Z	A
Pass	H	U	M	I	D	H	U	M	I	D	H	U	M	I	D	H	U	M	I	D	H	U	M	I	D	H
Voice	M	G	G	M	G	M	M	M	M	G	G	G	M	G	M	G	M	G	G	M	G	G	M	G	M	G
Color	Y	B	B	Y	B	Y	Y	Y	Y	B	B	B	Y	B	Y	B	Y	B	B	Y	B	B	Y	B	Y	B
Add or Subtract?	+	-	-	+	-	+	+	+	+	-	-	-	+	-	+	-	+	-	-	+	-	-	+	-	+	-
Pass value	07	20	12	08	03	07	20	12	08	03	07	20	12	08	03	07	20	12	08	03	07	20	12	08	03	07
Math Result	15	-08	-06	34	05	19	46	18	21	07	07	-14	31	-06	15	05	40	04	03	15	14	06	38	09	29	-06
mod 26	15	18	20	08	05	19	20	18	21	07	07	12	05	20	15	05	14	04	03	15	14	06	12	09	03	20
A=01 Solution	O	R	T	H	E	S	T	R	U	G	G	L	E	T	O	E	N	D	C	O	N	F	L	I	C	T

OR THE STRUGGLE TO END CONFLICT

Many thanks to www.tablesgenerator.com for the quick table.

Note that, without the 19, as in the transcript, this makes absolutely no sense. Don't ask how many hours I spent trying to make the blasted thing work without it. It's painful. Then I went back and listened to the episode again, and dangit, there that 19 was!

Ars Paradoxica: 24 - Dilemma - Green

In episode 24: Dilemma, the second of season 3, our friendly nemesis the numbers station provides us with this:

GREEN

08 02 28 19 22 28 09 12 11 18 19 16 31 20 40 25 30 41 25 30 38 38 33 28 38 47

WEATHER: arid
MARKETS: rising

The first hint that this is something different is that there are two pass codes, as there were in 23. I REALLY wanted this to be a two-keyed Vigenere, because I love the concept - combining the best of the Playfair cipher and the Vigenere and generally being absolutely insane to crack - unless you use the handy code on Rumkin. I thought I had it all made.... 

And then I noticed that not all of the numbers were under 26. Ok, fine, I'll subtract 26 from the high ones - no problem (essentially mod 26). Still complete nonsense. And yes, I tried it multiple ways, backwards and forwards, trying to use the keyed system. No luck. 26 characters of absolute unintelligible blah. 

Staring at it, eventually got to the point where I'll try anything, even really annoying things. If markets are rising and the numbers are essentially getting higher towards the right, maybe I have to do some falling. Fast forward through multiple attempts at rotating them 'down' uniformly - not going to work. Ok, what if I rotate them down in an ascending order (more negative towards the right), subtracting 1 from the first, 2 from the second, 3 from the 3rd, etc.

My first attempt gave me 7 0 25 15 17 22 2 4 2 8 8 4 18 6 25 9 13 23 6 10 17 16 10 4 13 21, which doesn't work as the second character becomes a 0. Thankfully, I was working on an excel table at this point, so I could simply shift the subtraction over by one. 

This gave me: 8 1 26 16 18 23 3 5 3 9 9 5 19 7 26 10 14 24 7 11 18 17 11 5 14 22, and there was much rejoicing as everything was, at least, 26 or under. 

From there, follow the standard GREEN procedure.

Converting the cipher text into A=01 alphabet gives H A Z P R W C E C I I E S G Z J N X G K R Q K E N V.

Converting the pass code ARID into A=26, Z=01 gives 26-09-18-23. Re-encoding that with A=01 gives you ZIRW. 

From there, run a Vigenere with ZIRW as the key and H A Z P R W C E C I I E S G Z J N X G K R Q K E N V as the cipher text any way you would prefer (I must admit at this point I went straight to Rumkin). 

Is It Solidarity In Opposition

TL;DR: To solve this particular code, starting at 0, subtract 0 to 25 from the numbers provided, then follow the standard GREEN procedure. 

Here is the math method, remembering that when we use the math method, we subtract 01 from each of the numbers in the key, so that ARID (26-09-18-23) becomes 25-08-17-22

Ciphertext	8	2	28	19	22	28	9	12	11	18	19	16	31	20	40	25	30	41	25	30	38	38	33	28	38	47
Falling	0	-1	-2	-3	-4	-5	-6	-7	-8	-9	-10	-11	-12	-13	-14	-15	-16	-17	-18	-19	-20	-21	-22	-23	-24	-25
Falling Solution	8	1	26	16	18	23	3	5	3	9	9	5	19	7	26	10	14	24	7	11	18	17	11	5	14	22
Arid A=25	25	8	17	22	25	8	17	22	25	8	17	22	25	8	17	22	25	8	17	22	25	8	17	22	25	8
Subtraction (Decoding)	-17	-7	9	-6	-7	15	-14	-17	-22	1	-8	-17	-6	-1	9	-12	-11	16	-10	-11	-7	9	-6	-17	-11	14
Mod 26	9	19	9	20	19	15	12	9	4	1	18	9	20	25	9	14	15	16	16	15	19	9	20	9	15	14
A=01	I	S	I	T	S	O	L	I	D	A	R	I	T	Y	I	N	O	P	P	O	S	I	T	I	O	N

Many thanks to Table Generator for making it easier to display

Ars Paradoxica 23: Contact - Blue (2)

A new season! A new wonderful world of ways for the numbers station to mock our intelligence with its fancy ideas. 

The numbers station regales us with this new conundrum:

Blue

26 26 21 06 25 13 26 20 15 11 02 17 14 22 11 07 15 02 08 25

WEATHER:drought
TIME: 5400

Oh, BLUE. Simple, straight forward BLUE. This should be cake. But wait, there's a second passphrase, or hint. Running the normal BLUE pattern (convert cipher text with A-01, then Vigenere) isn't working. What is this 5400? 

First, let me tell you what 5400 is not (because I tried):

• It is not a second key for a two-key Vigenere. (neither fiftyfourhundred nor fivefourzerozero)
• It isn't a hint to a skip code
• The solution isn't to divide 5400 by each number in turn to get that as the new cipher text.
• It isn't any of the other colors masquerading as blue. 
• It is not at all related to 42.
• It isn't a suggestion for a rail fence, though this actually got me to the answer.

What 5400 is is a suggestion to make a grid, or matrix. Remember those from high school? Vaguely?

Let Wikipedia refresh your memory (I certainly needed it): 

In mathematics, a matrix (plural: matrices) is a rectangular array[1] of numbers, symbols, or expressions, arranged in rows and columns.[2][3] For example, the dimensions of the matrix below are 2 × 3 (read "two by three"), because there are two rows and three columns

So, our 5400 becomes a matrix of [5 rows, 4 columns]. The 00 would be an empty matrix [0,0] but could presumably be used in a future message from the crafty numbers station to require us to do matrix algebra.

Thankfully, this was not required this time. To solve this, we take the numbers in order and then break them into five lines (rows):

• 26 26 21 06 
• 25 13 26 20 
• 15 11 02 17 
• 14 22 11 07 
• 15 02 08 25

Then, we read those lines from top to bottom: 26 25 15 14 15 26 13 11 22 02 21 26 02 11 08 06 20 17 07 25

From there, we follow the standard BLUE system:

• A=01 alphabet for ciphertext: Z Y O N O Z M K V B U Z B K H F T Q G Y
• A=01 alphabet for passcode: DROUGHT

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF WAR

Ars Paradoxica 12: Asset - Green Code

At the end of the 12th episode, the numbers station graces us with the following:

GREEN

17 22 16 04 | 19 16 11 18 16 23 | 19 09 22 | 23 05 | 13 23 17 13 19 25 24

WEATHER: CLOUDY

Oooh! Green! A new pattern to learn! Figuring out what the new pattern is relies a bit on realizing what they've done so far.

BLUE means that it's a straightforward Vignere. A=01 on the ciphertext and the pass code

RED means that it's a Vigenere, but the cipher text is encoded with A = 26, no change to the pass code (A=01). 

So, what does green mean? GREEN turns out to be another Vigenere, but this time, while the cipher text is forward (encoded with A=01), the key is encoded backward (with A=26).

To solve this, we need to do the following: 

First, run the ciphertext with A = 01, which gives you Q V P D | S P K R P W | S I V | W E | M W Q M S Y X

Then, run the key text with A=26, which gives you 24-15-12-6-23-02. Then, run that back through to letters with an A=01 conversion, which in turn gives you XOLFWB.

Then, solve the Vigenere cipher with either the math, table, or computer approach. This means you are decoding Q V P D | S P K R P W | S I V | W E | M W Q M S Y X with XOLFWB. This gives you:

T H E Y | W O N D E R | W H Y | I T | H A P P E N S

Journal 29

It's not all podcasts, some times it's books! In this case, it's Journal 29 by Dimitris Chassapakis, which bills itself as an interactive book game.

The plot is straightforward (and not particularly necessary): something strange happened on an excavation. Aliens may, or may not, be involved. All you have are the clues left in this notebook. Solve the puzzles to solve the mystery. Ooooooooooh.

The puzzle setup is refreshingly uniform: for each two page spread, you'll have the left page, which has the puzzle number and a place for the solution, and the right page, which holds the puzzle itself. To play, you'll need a smartphone, as you turn in your solutions to their website - www.Journal29.com. Each puzzle will, in turn, give you a code word which may come in to play in a later puzzle. Sound simple? The first one is (if you can't answer 25+4 I'm afraid this might not be the book for you), but the puzzles get increasingly complex.

I'm going to walk you through the process of solving these, and try to start working with spoilers, so hopefully this will help you without spoiling the fun of the process.

Let's begin

Puzzle Zero

Ok, this one is 25+4. Do  you really need help with this one?

Solution
29. It's 29... like the book title. Did you really need a spoiler for this?

Puzzle One

You are looking at a ring left by a mug. What do you normally have in that mug, to start a new week? (Unless you're me - I prefer tea)

Solution
Coffee. Ye olde coffee

Puzzle Two

38076 and an arrow. Looks like there's a map on the bottom of the page. Did you ever pass notes on your calculator?
Solution

Globe

Puzzle Three

Hmmmm… What could be at these coordinates?
Solution

While the coordinates are in Giza, it is specifically for the tomb of Khafre

Puzzle Four

This is why you keep your codes. REDWOODS - FOREST + YELLOW
Solution

Orange. Subtracting the forest (woods) from redwoods gives you red. Red + Yellow make orange.

Puzzle Five

Follow the arrow, read the message
Solution

811731495

Puzzle Six

Yes, you think you recognize that number. But you don't...
Solution

9862. The number provided is 3.14159985356279323846264338327950288. Pi, the number to which this is similar is: 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288. Look at the highlighted different numbers.

Ars Paradoxica - All Codes in One Place

The Message So Far: 

Hello From The Future. Progress Requires Sacrifice Anthony. Good Intentions Mean Squat When You Weaponize Physics. He is from somewhen else. Born Nineteen Ninety, Died Nineteen Forty-Five. Butterfly Syndrome, Cracks in the Surface, Ripples in the Cosmic Pond. Time Will Kill Us All. Sally Can You Hear Me? Beware Escalation. They Wonder Why It Happens, But They Keep Alienating Their Friends. Everyone Around Them Is Crushed. They Might Say It's A Side Effect Of The Job. Everything Is A Choice. Careless Choices Make Misery Inevitable. There Is A Storm Coming. The Rules Are Being Rewritten. They Want To Think They're Above It All, But They're Just Little Fish In A Geopolitical Ocean. What Is The Nature Of War? Is It Solidarity In Opposition? Or the Struggle to End Conflict? When Your Enemies Look Like Friends

01: Hypothesis 

10 16 26 06 18 | 04 20 26 01 | 14 11 03 | 08 06 08 15 21 03
WEATHER: cloudy

Blue method: Vigenere:

• A=01 alphabet for both cipher text: J P Z F R | D T Z A | N K C | H F H O U C
• A=01 for passphrase: CLOUDY
• Solution: Hello From The Future 

02: Blackout

08 12 02 20 16 23 13 06 | 05 03 09 15 22 05 03 11 | 13 14 16 16 01 26 22 16 03 | 19 08 07 21 13 06 19
WEATHER: sunny

Blue method: Vigenere:

• A=01 alphabet for both cipher text: H L B T P W M F | E C I O V E C K | M N P P A Z V P C | S H G U M F S
• A=01 for passphrase: SUNNY
• Solution: Progress Requires Sacrifice Anthony 

03a: Trinity, Act I

03 23 02 07 | 07 10 02 18 17 18 05 23 01 22 | 11 01 09 01 | 22 15 17 09 07
WEATHER: windy

Blue method: Vigenere

• A=01 alphabet for both cipher text: C W B G | G J B R Q R E W A V | K A I A | V O Q I G
• A=01 for passphrase: WINDY
• Solution: Good Intentions Mean Squat

03b: Trinity, Act II

08 11 09 10 | 04 16 24 | 17 19 02 15 04 26 15 03 26 | 03 06 25 10 22 16 21

WEATHER: windy

Red method: Vigenere

• A=26, Z=01 alphabet for cipher text: S P R Q | W K C | J H Y L W A L X A | X U B Q E K F
• A=01 for passphrase: WINDY
• Solution: When You Weaponize Physics

04: Bullet

17 11 | 04 14 | 18 11 10 03 | 20 18 11 24 02 08 08 19 | 19 17 06 11

WEATHER: cloudy

Red method: Vigenere 

• A=26, Z=01 alphabet for cipher text: J P | W M | I P Q X | G I P C Y S S H |  H J U P. 
• A=01 for passphrase CLOUDY
• Solution: He is from somewhen else

05: Midnight

21 22 12 01 | 17 13 05 23 13 19 22 26 | 06 02 21 25 07 02 | 08 26 23 23 | 02 26 26 23 13 12 25 01 | 09 19 09 12 18 | 20 26 08 23

WEATHER: thunderstorms

Blue method: Vigenere

• A=01 alphabet for both cipher text: U V L A | Q M E W M S V Z | F B U Y G B | H Z W W | B Z Z W M L Y A | I S I L R | T Z H W
• A=01 for passphrase: THUNDERSTORMS
• Solution: Born Nineteen Ninety, Died Nineteen Forty-Five 

06: Exile

20 18 01 01 24 04 07 09 22 | 10 23 25 17 03 14 09 08 
WEATHER: foggy

Red method: Vigenere 

• A=26, Z=01 alphabet for cipher text: G I Z Z C W T R E | Q D B J X M R S
• A=01 for passphrase FOGGY
• Solution: Butterfly Syndrome

07: Distraction

21 25 15 25 15 10 | 01 06 | 01 22 01 | 23 12 10 24 08 17 01

WEATHER: showers

Blue method: Vigenere

• A=01 alphabet for both cipher text: U Y O Y O J | A F | A V A | W L J X H Q A
• A=01 for passphrase: SHOWERS
• Solution: Cracks in the Surface

08: Cage

17 11 23 15 11 05 16 | 26 06 | 19 23 18 | 07 20 16 07 04 02 | 07 21 21 05WEATHER: showers

Red method: Vigenere 

• A=26, Z=01 alphabet for cipher text: J P D L P V K | A U | H D I | T G K T W Y | T F F V
• A=01 for passphrase SHOWERS
• Solution: Ripples in the Cosmic Pond

09: Decay

12 16 01 01 | 01 26 04 04 | 18 23 08 16 | 12 11 | 19 19 26 

WEATHER: showers

Blue method: Vigenere

• A=01 alphabet for both cipher text: L P A A | A Z D D | R W H P | L K | S S Z
• A=01 for passphrase: SHOWERS
• Solution: Time Will Kill Us All

10: Consequence, Act I & Act II

06 15 11 15 11 | 22 15 09 | 02 21 04 | 08 18 26 18 | 12 11 
WEATHER: clear

Red method: Vigenere 

• A=26, Z=01 alphabet for cipher text: U L P L P | E L R | Y F W | S I A I | O P
• A=01 for passphrase CLEAR
• Solution: Sally Can You Hear Me

11: Blackroom

20 08 24 20 11 17 | 08 02 18 02 10 12 01 12 14 08 
WEATHER: foggy

Red method: Vigenere 

• A=26, Z=01 alphabet for cipher text: G S C G P J | S Y I Y Q O Z O M S
• A=01 for passphrase: FOGGY
• Solution: Beware Escalation

12: Asset

17 22 16 04 | 19 16 11 18 16 23 | 19 09 22 | 23 05 | 13 23 17 13 19 25 24
WEATHER: cloudy

Green method: Vigenere 

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: Q V P D | S P K R P W | S I V | W E | M W Q M S Y X
• A=26, Z=01 for passphrase: 24 - 15 - 12 - 06 - 23 - 02. Re-encode A=01: XOLFWB
• Solution: They Wonder Why It Happens

13: Signal

07 25 19 | 11 15 05 10 | 24 15 08 15 | 22 24 26 04 06 12 11 14 22 02 | 15 12 08 22 05 | 04 17 26 15 25 01 04 
WEATHER: showers

Red method: Vigenere 

• A=26, Z=01 alphabet for cipher text: T B H | P L V Q | C L S L | E C A W U O P M E Y | L O S E V | W J A L B Z W
• A=01 for passphrase: SHOWERS
• Solution: But They Keep Alienating Their Friends

14: Anchor

22 22 13 05 23 06 14 13 | 14 16 06 21 22 17 | 18 25 05 21 | 22 17 | 20 18 03 06 06 22 04 

WEATHER: rainy

Blue method: Vigenere

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: V V M E W F N M | N P F U V Q | R Y E U | V Q | T R C F F V D
• A=01 for passphrase: RAINY
• Solution: Everyone Around Them Is Crushed

>15: Butterfly

23 25 17 21 | 14 12 24 20 16 | 20 04 16 | 21 16 20 | 04 | 10 21 26 06 | 08 23 18 01 04 23 | 06 18 | 16 09 08 | 01 01 24
WEATHER: Windy

Green method: Vigenere 

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: W Y Q U | N L X T P | T D P | U P T | D | J U Z F | H W R A D W | F R | P I H | A A X
• A=26, Z=01 for passphrase: 04-18-13-23-02. Re-encode A=01: DRMWB
• Solution: They Might Say It's A Side Effect Of The Job

16: Greenhouse

23 15 19 09 11 18 26 02 02 24 | 21 17 | 19 | 22 22 06 21 01 23

WEATHER: Stormy

Blue method: Vigenere

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: W O S I K R Z B B X | U Q | S | V V F U A W
• A=01 for passphrase: STORMY
• Solution: Everything Is A Choice

17: Plasticity

21 26 09 19 04 04 10 07 | 21 07 06 23 21 04 10 | 01 19 10 22 | 01 01 18 22 06 17 | 08 05 19 14 08 11 15 20 11 22
WEATHER: Hail

Green method: Vigenere 

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: U Z I S D D J G | U G F W U D J | A S J V | A A R V F Q | H E S N H K O T K V
• A=26, Z=01 for passphrase: 19-26-18-15. Re-encode A=01: SZRO
• Solution: Careless Choices Make Misery Inevitable

18: Boundary

14 12 02 22 19 | 14 17 | 08 | 15 19 21 23 22 | 05 05 20 05 10 16
WEATHER: thunderstorms

Red method: Vigenere 

• A=26, Z=01 alphabet for cipher text: M O Y E H | M J | S | L H F D E | V V G V Q K
• A=01 for passphrase: THUNDERSTORMS
• Solution: There Is A Storm Coming

19: Gumshoe

26 25 05 | 18 24 13 22 21 | 22 02 02 | 08 05 10 11 20 | 22 18 23 15 01 16 25 20 13
WEATHER: Hurricane

Red method: Vigenere 

• A=26, Z=01 alphabet for cipher text: A B V | I C N E F | E Y Y | S V Q P G | E I D L Z K B G N
• A=01 for passphrase: Hurricane
• Solution: The Rules Are Being Rewritten

20: Hitchhiker

26 19 13 11 | 22 23 25 26 | 05 23 | 06 07 05 25 17 | 05 16 17 24 14 16 | 07 13 23 08 04 | 05 05 | 07 23 20 
WEATHER: Tornado

Green method: Vigenere 

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: Z S M K | V W Y Z | E W | F G E Y Q | E P Q X N P | G M W H D | E E | G W T
• A=26, Z=01 for passphrase: 07-12-09-13-26-23-12. Re-encode A=01: GLIMZWL
• Solution: They Want To Think They're Above It All

21: Jailbreak

24 20 02 | 09 04 04 07 07 01 | 09 03 08 16 | 11 17 09 16 11 13 | 21 05 18 16 
WEATHER: Dark

Green method: Vigenere 

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: X T B | I D D G G A | I C H P | K Q I P K M | U E R P
• A=26, Z=01 for passphrase: 23-26-09-16. Re-encode A=01: WZIP
• Solution: But They're Just Little Fish

22: Dawn

07 03 | 23 | 07 14 13 05 11 12 18 18 24 25 01 21 | 13 18 01 01 23 
WEATHER: Clear

Yellow method: Vigenere 

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: G C | W | G N M E K L R R X Y A U | M R A A W
• A=01 for passphrase: CLEAR
• Yellow method is to encode the cipher text, rather than decode - add, rather than subtract, the passphrase.
• Solution: In A Geopolitical Ocean

23: Contact

26 26 21 06 25 13 26 20 15 11 02 17 14 22 11 07 15 02 08 25

WEATHER: Drought

TIME: 5400

Blue (2)  method: Vigenere with a Matrix Twist (there will be a separate walkthrough)

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: Z Z U F Y M Z T O K B Q N V K G O B H Y
• A=01 for passphrase: STORMY
• Use 5400 as a matrix notation: [5,4] 5 rows, 4 columns (not a railfence, tried that...) the [0,0] would then be another matrix if it were to be added
• Z Z U F 
• Y M Z T 
• O K B Q 
• N V K G
• O B H Y
• Then, read it from top to bottom: ZYONOZMKVBUZBKHFTQGY
• Then, decrypt it using the passphrase: STORMY with a normal Vigenere approach
• Solution: What Is The Nature Of War

24: Dilemma

08 02 28 19 22 28 09 12 11 18 19 16 31 20 40 25 30 41 25 30 38 38 33 28 38 47

Weather: Arid

Markets: Rising

Green (2) method: Increasing subtraction followed by Vigenere (there will be a separate walkthrough)

• Subtract increasing amount from each number, starting with 0: 08 01 26 16 18 23 03 05 03 09 09 05 19 07 26 10 14 24 07 11 18 17 11 05 14 22
• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: H A Z P R W C E C I I E S G Z J N X G K R Q K E N V.
• A=26, Z=01 for passphrase: 26-09-18-23. Re-encode A=01: ZIRW
• Solution: Is It Solidarity In Opposition

25: Absence

08 12 06 26 08 12 26 06 13 10 14 06 (19) 02 12 12 20 16 11 12 21 26 26 17 26 01

WEATHER: humid

This solution intersperses BLUE and YELLOW.  Also note that the transcript is missing a very important 19.

BLUE method

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: H L F Z H L Z F M J N F B L L T P K L U Z Z Q Z A
• A=01 for passphrase: HUMID

YELLOW method

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text: H L F Z H L Z F M J N F B L L T P K L U Z Z Q Z A 
• A=01 for passphrase: HUMID 
• Yellow method is to encode the cipher text, rather than decode - add, rather than subtract, the passphrase.

Solution: Or the struggle to end conflict

26: Grip

16 01 09 22 | 23 10 25 23 | 14 24 09 20 24 23 13 | 05 01 25 16 | 09 24 04 21 | 11 05 07 09 22 01 15

Weather in Tulsa: TROPICAL

--.- .-- . .-. - -.--

MAGENTA method:

• A=01 alphabet for cipher text. P A I V | W J Y W | N X I T X W M | E A Y P | I X D U | K E G I V A O
• A=26, Z=01 for passphrase. Tropical = 07-09-12-11-18-24-26-15. Re-encode A=01: GILKRXZO
• ENCODE the cipher text, rather than decode - add, rather than subtract, the passphrase. REMEMBER TO SUBTRACT 1 from each when you encode!!! 
• V I T F | N G X K | T F T D O T L | S G G A | S O A T | Y K O T F R L
• Run the encoded text against a Keyed Caesar Cipher alphabet, using the second passphrase as the key text
• Solution: W H E N | Y O U R | E N E M I E S | L O O K | L I K E | F R I E N D S

Ars Paradoxica: Episodes 3: Trinity Act I and Trinity Act II

Ah, the thick plottens! Over the course of two episodes, Sally Grissom, our intrepid heroine, goes on a road trip, and gets accused of treason! All in a day's work for a time-traveling physicist, I suppose.

On to the codes!

Blue

The first, from Trinity Act I is another straightforward 'blue' code. The numbers station provides us with the following:

Blue

03 23 02 07 | 07 10 02 18 17 18 05 23 01 22 | 11 01 09 01 | 22 15 17 09 07

WEATHER: windy
As with the first two, you will run either the math approach or the table look up approach. Either method will render the following: Good Intentions Mean Squat. Cheerful...

Red

The second from Trinity Act II, is the first of the 'red' codes. Once again, the numbers station reads to us:

Red

08 11 09 10 | 04 16 24 | 17 19 02 15 04 26 15 03 26 | 03 06 25 10 22 16 21
WEATHER: windy

However, if we try the same strategy of a straightforward Vignere, we get gobbledygook: H K I J | D P X | Q S B O D Z O C Z | C F Y J V P U which then becomes L C V G | F T P | D P D S V M L E D | U S V L Z H H when ciphered with WINDY. Not particularly intelligible. So, red is a different coding approach. How to break it? This where knowing that the creators of Ars Paradoxica are nerds, and physics nerds at that (gee... who'd have thought) comes into play.

The secret has to do with blue-shift and red-shift - changes of light moving towards or away from the observer. The following are from Google:

blue·shift
/ˈblo͞oˌSHift/
noun. 

ASTRONOMY
noun: blue shift; noun: blue-shift

the displacement of the spectrum to shorter wavelengths in the light coming from distant celestial objects moving toward the observer.

red·shift
/ˈredˈSHift/
noun
ASTRONOMY
noun: red shift; noun: red-shift

the displacement of spectral lines toward longer wavelengths (the red end of the spectrum) in radiation from distant galaxies and celestial objects. This is interpreted as a Doppler shift that is proportional to the velocity of recession and thus to distance.


So, if the blue codes are going one direction, the red codes are going the opposite direction. Nerds. I love it. Remember how we were doing a basic conversion where A=1 on the blues? Now, we're going to do it backwards, where A=26, and Z=1. 

What am I talking about? Lets's look.

When A=1, you convert 08 11 09 10 | 04 16 24 | 17 19 02 15 04 26 15 03 26 | 03 06 25 10 22 16 21 into H K I J | D P X | Q S B O D Z O C Z | C F Y J V P U

However, when A=26, or Z=01, 08 11 09 10 | 04 16 24 | 17 19 02 15 04 26 15 03 26 | 03 06 25 10 22 16 21 becomes S P R Q | W K C | J H Y L W A L X A | X U B Q E K F

When you run S P R Q | W K C | J H Y L W A L X A | X U B Q E K F through a Vignere cipher, either mathematically or on the table, you get:

WHEN YOU WEAPONIZE PHYSICS

And that is how you solve a red cipher on Ars Paradoxica :) 

Again, if you don't want to work this out by hand, there are some great tools online. For converting to letters in a Z=01 system, I recommend dCode. As always, for Vigenere, Rumkin is the easiest out there. 

Enjoy!

Ars Paradoxica Episode 2 - Blackout

Ars Paradoxica Episode 2: Blackout, in which Sally Grissom, intrepid heroine, does science and figures out why the social scene has been freezing her out.

This walkthrough will be fairly straightforward - the tips for how to do it are in the first episode's long readout.


At the end, we get the following message:

Blue.

08 12 02 20 16 23 13 06 | 05 03 09 15 22 05 03 11 | 13 14 16 16 01 26 22 16 03 | 19 08 07 21 13 06 19

WEATHER: sunny

Blue. This tells us that the message is a standard Vigenere cipher. No funny business (yet).

Weather: Sunny. This tells us that our key to the cipher is SUNNY.

Method One: Table

If we run the cipher numbers through an A = 1 conversion, we get:

H L B T P W M F | E C I O V E C K | M N P P A Z V P C | S H G U M F S which we then look up in the table, using the columns S, U, N (twice), and Y:



In the S column, and look up the row in which H falls, which gives us P.
In the U column, we look up the row in which L falls, which gives us R.
In the N column, we look up the row in which B falls, which gives us O.
In the N column, we look up the row in which T falls, which gives us G.
In the Y column, we look up the row in which P falls, which gives us R.
In the S column, and look up the row in which W falls, which gives us E.
In the U column, we look up the row in which M falls, which gives us S.
In the N column, we look up the row in which F falls, which gives us S.

In the N column, we look up the row in which E falls, which gives us R.
In the Y column, we look up the row in which C falls, which gives us E.
In the S column, and look up the row in which I falls, which gives us Q.
In the U column, we look up the row in which O falls, which gives us U.
In the N column, we look up the row in which V falls, which gives us I.
In the N column, we look up the row in which E falls, which gives us R.
In the Y column, we look up the row in which C falls, which gives us E.
In the S column, and look up the row in which K falls, which gives us S.

In the U column, we look up the row in which M falls, which gives us S.
In the N column, we look up the row in which N falls, which gives us A.
In the N column, we look up the row in which P falls, which gives us C.
In the Y column, we look up the row in which P falls, which gives us R.
In the S column, and look up the row in which A falls, which gives us I.
In the U column, we look up the row in which Z falls, which gives us F.
In the N column, we look up the row in which V falls, which gives us I.
In the N column, we look up the row in which P falls, which gives us C.
In the Y column, we look up the row in which C falls, which gives us E.

In the S column, and look up the row in which S falls, which gives us A.
In the U column, we look up the row in which H falls, which gives us N.
In the N column, we look up the row in which G falls, which gives us T.
In the N column, we look up the row in which U falls, which gives us H.
In the Y column, we look up the row in which M falls, which gives us O.
In the S column, and look up the row in which F falls, which gives us N.
In the U column, we look up the row in which S falls, which gives us Y.

All together: PROGRESS REQUIRES SACRIFICE ANTHONY. Now, because there's no way to indicate punctuation here, it's not clear whether this is a note to or from Anthony. Anthony is presumably Anthony Partridge, with whom Sally spends the majority of the episode.

Method Two: Math

The above, while straight forward, takes too bloody long in my never-very-humble opinion. I like the math version. Take the original number set:

08 12 02 20 16 23 13 06 | 05 03 09 15 22 05 03 11 | 13 14 16 16 01 26 22 16 03 | 19 08 07 21 13 06 19

Subtract SUNNY in an A=0 alphabet: 18-20-13-13-24, adding 26 to any number that goes below zero.

This gives us 16 18 15 07 08 05 19 19 | 18 05 17 21 09 18 05 19 | 19 01 03 18 09 06 09 03 05 | 01 14 20 08 15 14 25

Which, when you convert back using an A=1 alphabet, gives you the same message: PROGRESS REQUIRES SACRIFICE ANTHONY.

Method Three: Cheat

If you are in a hurry, and don't care about the code breaking methodology, you can put any of the "blue" codes through two tools online. The first is a letters-numbers converter, then through an online Vignere decoder. Both are from my favorite, Rumkin.com

The Leap Year Society - Episode 6

As a lover of all puzzle podcasts, I just started listening to the Leap Year Society. The story is a bit scattered so far - a secret society that met in 1888 may have something to do with the disappearance of a modern day scientist researching bizarre sleep phenomena. It's EXTREMELY similar to the idea of the Black Tapes, also by Pacific Northwest stories, but since I loved Rabbits and all things related, I'm giving it a go.

There are only a handful of episodes so far, and the most recent is only a couple of minutes. It introduces my new favorite time sink: The Institute of Higher Knowledge. 

I won't say any more, or post a walkthrough, as that's against the rules and I haven't solved the entire thing yet anyhow, but I do highly recommend checking out the website, registering, and then trying  your hand at the puzzles. So far I've used multiple different code types to solve the pages, and they're getting increasingly complex. Love it. 

Ars Paradoxica: Episode 1 - Hypothesis - Blue

I've got a lot of travel coming up soon, and so I'm re-listening to all of Ars Paradoxica, starting from the very first episode, in which Sally Grissom launches herself into the past - both hers and ours - accidentally inventing time travel and starting a whole chain(s?!) of convoluted events. As with the entire series, I wholeheartedly suggest you listen to the episode.

This, however, is a walkthrough on our very first code of the series. At the end of each episode, a somewhat-mechanical voice will read out a series of numbers, and a code word. It's meant to remind you of the cold war era (and presumably prior) numbers stations, some of which have been studied and tracked for years. I often pause the episode and relisten to the series several times to make sure I've got it right. Then, the fun begins.

The first several codes to break are based on a 'straightforward' Vigenere's cipher. There's a lot out there on the history of the code, and a lot of it is quite interesting, just in terms of how code making and breaking evolved. In short, Vigenere took the Caesar shift, or Rot-N system, and kicked it up a notch. Rather than rotating each letter in a sentence by the same number of spaces down the alphabet, you 'rotate' each letter in order of a code phrase.

Not sure what I'm talking about? It makes more sense when you see it.

Caesar shifts

For my example, I'm going to take the words ARS PARADOXICA. Pretend I'm trying to pass you a note on one of the cooler podcasts out there.

If I was using a Rot-N/Caesar cipher (guess who's one of the first to be documented using it...) I'd 'rotate' the alphabet by a pre-agreed number. Let's say 10, which would be passed to you in a separate way, secretively, so that only you would have both the coded language and the passcode/number.

So, to encode ARS PARADOXICA in a Rot-10, I would count 10 letters up from each, going around to A when I reached Z.  This is sometimes easier to see with the numbers, which we will need in a second anyhow.

Rot-N systems assign each letter a number, starting with A=1, all the way to Z=26. There are a lot of ways of messing with this, but let's stick with the simple example first.

With A=1, ARS PARADOXICA = 01-18-19 16-01-18-01-04-15-24-09-03-01

Now, to encode that, I take the number series 01-18-19 16-01-18-01-04-15-24-09-03-01 and add 10 to each, so it becomes 11-02-03 26-11-02-11-14-25-08-19-13-11, which in turn becomes KBC ZKBKNYHSMK using the same A =1 encoding.


I would pass you one note reading KBC ZKBKNYHSMK, and another reading 10. You would then turn the letters back into numbers: 11-02-03 26-11-02-11-14-25-08-19-13-11, and this time, subtract 10 from each, giving you 01-18-19 16-01-18-01-04-15-24-09-03-01. Then, you'd convert it back to letters and get ARS PARADOXICA.

Vigenere Cipher

This is where it gets tricky. Caesar shifts are fairly straightforward to encode/decode, and fairly straightforward to crack with a brute force method. You just have to run through all 26 possibilities (which is simple with a computer) and see which of them makes sense. It works on all alphabets pretty much equally, as long as there's a set/common order of the letters. 

Vigenere, as I said, doesn't rotate each number to the same degree. Instead, it uses a code word. For this example, I'm going to encode ARS PARADOXICA again, but instead of 10, I'm going to use the codeword NERD, presumably for obvious reasons. 

Method One: Math

In order to encode ARS PARADOXICA, I add/rotate the letters in the plain text by the letters in the codeword. In other words, I do the following:

A+N, R+E, S+R, P+D.... etc. Now, my message is 13 letters, and my codeword is only 4 - no problem - I just remove the space and keep repeating the codeword.

A	R	S	P	A	R	A	D	O	X	I	C	A
N	E	R	D	N	E	R	D	N	E	R	D	N

Now, the first major change between Vigenere and Caesar is that for either the code word or the plain text (doesn't really matter), A, rather than being 1, is 0, and Z=25. So, any number 'rotated' by A in this case, is just itself.  If we look at the numbers:
01-18-19 16-01-18-01-04-15-24-09-03-01

A	R	S	P	A	R	A	D	O	X	I	C	A
0	17	18	15	0	17	0	3	14	23	8	2	0
N	E	R	D	N	E	R	D	N	E	R	D	N
14	5	18	4	14	5	18	4	14	5	18	4	14

In this case, I chose to make the plaintext A=0 as it occurs so often in the text. If we add the two lines together we get: 14-22-36-19-14-22-18-07-28-28-26-6-14. Some numbers are over 26, so we subtract 26, looping back around: 14-22-10-19-14-22-18-07-02-02-26-06-14, or NVJSNVRGBBZFN.

To decode, you'd just subtract NERD repeated from that, and get ARS PARADOXICA back out again.

That's one way to encode/decode a Vigenere cipher. However, that involves math and sometimes it's just too time consuming. That's why there's an easy reference chart. (The 'hard' way will come in handy later, though.)

Method Two: The Vigenere Table

This eye-boggling chart is a quick and dirty way to encode/decode your Vigenere cipher. You assign your plaintext to the x-axis, and your code word to the y-axis (or the other way around, up to you), and find where the row and column meet. So, to encode the first letter, A+N, I would find A in the columns, and N in the rows, and where they cross, I get N. R+E becomes V, S+R = J, etc. You end up with the same message: NVJSNVRGBBZFN.

ARS PARADOXICA: First Code

Blue

10 16 26 06 18 | 04 20 26 01 | 14 11 03 | 08 06 08 15 21 03

WEATHER: cloudy

The above is what the voice gives you at the end of the episode. The | indicate beeps, which are used to break words. Later, there will be other colors, but for right now, blue means that it's a straight forward Vigenere cipher. The weather gives you the code word: CLOUDY, or 03-12-15-21-04-25.

You can approach this either by subtracting the numbers of cloudy (again, rotated down 1 to make the math work) from the numbers in the code, which would give you:

10	16	26	06	18	04	20	26	01	14	11	03	08	06	08	15	21	03
02	11	14	20	03	24	02	11	14	20	03	24	02	11	14	20	03	24
08	05	12	-14	15	-20	18	15	-13	-6	08	-21	06	-5	-6	-5	18	-21

Again, some of the numbers are negative, so we add 26 to get them correctly:
08 05 12 12 15 06 18 15 13 20 08 05 06 21 20 21 18 05

Running this back through with A=1 gives us 

H E L L O   F R O M  T H E  F U T U R E

:) 

If we wanted to run it through the table, what we would do is first convert the original numbers into text. 10 16 26 06 18 | 04 20 26 01 | 14 11 03 | 08 06 08 15 21 03 becomes J P Z F R | D T Z A | N K C | H F H O U C

Then, we start 'subtracting' CLOUDY as follows. Assign the x axis as your code word (CLOUDY). Go down the 'C' column until you reach the row with J in it. That will give you H. Then, go down the 'L' column until you reach P, which gives you E, continue, again repeating 'cloudy' as many times as necessary.

Either way, you'll get a greeting from the future :) 

As with all my messing around with ciphers, I'd like to give a huge shout out to Rumkin.com. While I love to work things out by hand, playing with washi and working on my handwriting, Rumkin is an amazing resource to get it done quickly and cleanly. I hope you've enjoyed this walkthrough as much as I've enjoyed writing it. If there are any other nerdy puzzle filled podcasts out there, please let me know!

Puzzles, puzzles everywhere, but nary a thought to think...

I am putting this together because it's the kind of resource I'd have liked to have had when I started puzzling. My goal is to, albeit slowly, provide walkthroughs to any puzzles I've completed, so that hopefully I can help others as I was helped.


I love puzzles, cryptograms especially, though I'm garbage at word puzzles. Cryptic crosswords are my kryptonite. Seriously, word puzzles will be the death of me. Give me a cypher any day, and the first I learned was actually when I was maybe 6 or so. It turned out to be the Pigpen Cipher, though at the time I called it the Black Cauldron code, because that was the activity book I learned it from.


I got into 'serious' puzzling with the wonderful Curios and Conundrums, a series put out by the Mysterious Package Company, and one which has been sadly cancelled by its creators after a disappointing 4th season. The 4-issue third season, though, was the height of what puzzling can be. If you ever have a chance to get a hold of it, do so. The Vault may be closed, and the story ended, but they really did a fantastic job of messing with your mind. That they've chosen to focus more on the experiences is disappointing, but perhaps better suited to their business model. As practice, and an excuse to work on my handwriting and use my washi tape, I'll probably eventually get a walkthrough on these up as well, but the best place to get help with Curios and Conundrums is always going to be the fantastic family over at curiosandconundrums.freeforums.net


My current love is Cryptogram Puzzle Post by Jack Fallows, a brilliant gentleman out of Great Britain. Postage is a pain, but the quality of art and puzzles make his work worth every penny. I intend for some of my first posts to be walkthroughs of his work, both as a way to help others solve the puzzles, a way for me to keep track of things, and to help boost his signal and hope that that results in another season of the post.


I also love listening to puzzles and reading puzzles. I'm a fan of Rabbits and Ars Paradoxica. Rabbits is from the same folks that make TANIS and The Black Tapes, and makes me think of the old movie the Game, while Ars Paradoxica is a time travel podcast with ciphers at the end of each. Maybe I'll go through and document all those as well :)


I've also subscribed to several 'experiences' which are in progress or have not yet started - Hunt A Killer, Dispatch, Roland - Cycloptic Media, and Escape the Crate. Will see if these go anywhere.


And that's it, my little vanity project, or some such. For when the washi-covered notebooks bury me.