SOLVING CIPHER SECRETS Edited by M. E . Ohaver

A L L A B O U T T H E T R A N S P O S I T I O N C I P H E R W H I C H T H E N I H I L I S T S

U S E D W H E N T H E Y T O O K O T H E R S ' L I V E S A N D D E F E N D E D T H E I R O W N

i l H O R T L Y after the middle of the nineteenth century the peculiar behavior of a class of students of a cer­tain European nation's higher educational institu­

tions began to excite general curiosity and attention.

These young men and women made no attempt to disguise their contempt for the existing order of things. T h e y became their own criterion, and shaking off the shackles of public opinion, took pleasure in shocking those who st i l l felt the influence of what they termed antiquated prejudices.

Claiming that virtue was found in util­ity, these young people placed the work of a good carpenter or shoemaker above that of a Rembrandt or Shakespeare, holding that humanity had a greater need for houses and shoes than for art or literature.

A s an emblem of their utter disregard for the traditional, these young men and women refused to be governed by custom even in their external appearance.

T h e male students allowed their hair to grow long, while the females trimmed theirs short. T h e y preferred to wear slovenly at­tire, sometimes rounding out their queer guise with a pair of blue spectacles.

I f questioned about these things they would reply that they were fully occupied with the theory of reorganizing society on

a scientific basis, and that being thus ab­sorbed in affairs of genuine importance they had no time to waste on trivialities.

Denied the possibility of spreading their revolutionary doctrines in the open, this organization cleverly disseminated them disguised as fiction through the press. T h e public soon learned to read between the lines, and its teachings spread like wildfire.

One of the greatest instruments in popu­larizing the movement was a book written in this manner in prison by an academical leader of the movement, and published with the government's sanction.

I n one of his novels Turgueniev applied the term N i h i l i s m — f r o m the L a t i n nihil, nothing—to the tenets of this society. A n d from this, much 'to their displeasure, its members came to be known as Nihil ists .

B y the winter of 1861-1862 this move­ment, in which the Nihil ists of Russ ia have probably been recognized by now, had spread to people of a l l ages, classes, and professions. A n d its revolutionary ideas came to be openly expressed in the streets.

Originally Nihi l i sm was a philosophical or l iterary movement, rather than revolu­tionary. B u t now its former academical nature gradually took on the aspect of ter­rorism, aiming at the assassination of promi­nent officials, and even at that of Alexan­der 11, the Czar himself, in the effort to force concessions from the government.

153

154 F L Y N N ' S

A number of attempts were actually made to k i l l the Czar, but somehow he seemed to bear a charmed life, escaping unharmed time and again.

I n A p r i l , 1879, five shots were fired at h i m while walking round the crescent-shaped space facing the Winter Palace. T h e would-be assassin in this instance had be­come skil l ful by practice in the use of his own weapon, but through accident at the last moment had to use one with which he was not familiar. .All of the shots went wild. .And the terrorist was apprehended later and hanged in St. Petersburg, now Leningrad.

I n the summer of this same year a num­ber of mines were laid in anticipation of the Czar 's return from the Crimea, one being on a railway embankment near Alex-androvsk, where an ordinary shock would have sent the train into a deep ravine. T h e mine failed to explode at the critical mo­ment, and the Czar only learned of his danger long afterward.

.\w months later an attempt to blow up the imperial yacht with the Czar on board was frustrated by an unexpected visit of the police to the house where the battery and wire leading to the mine were located. T h e plotters were arrested and hanged.

I n P'ebruary of the following year dyna­mite was placed beneath the dining hall a t the Winter Palace. T h e explosion was terrific, occurring as scheduled, and kil l ing ten men and wounding over fifty others. T h e Czar had delayed his entrance to the hal l , escaping without a scratch.

I n the meantime a new and formidable organization, the People's W i l l , had come into existence, worked by conspirators un­known to each other, directed by leaders having the power to punish disobedience with death, and determined to carry out the sentence previously passed on the Czar by the executive committee.

Preparations to this end were completed early in i 8 8 i . and this time, thanks to their thoroughness, the terrorists were successful. Alexander I I was assassinated on March 13, 1881. Some of the details of this plot are given further on, and the assassination itself has been made the subject of one of the accompanying ciphers.

T h e government now took rigorous meas­ures to suppress the movement. I n a period of several years thousands of Nihi l ists were apprehended and tried. M a n y of these were meted out minor punishments. Some were sentenced to penal servitude. A num­ber were put to death, and many were exiled.

I n a movement of this k ind, where it would often be necessary for conspirators to communicate secretly with each other, it would be very strange i f no need had been felt for ciphers.

And in this connection a number of ciphers are attributed to the Nihil ists . Sev­eral methods of using the checkerboard key have already been described in F L Y N N ' S for M a r c h 28, 1925. A n d a method of solving the numerical cipher with keyword has been given in the June 2 7 issue.

Another of these Nihi l ist ciphers is a transposition cipher described below, to­gether with a method of solving i t , and used for enciphering the first two ciphers i n this issue.

T h e cipher in question is one in which the letters of the message are written into squares, the location of any letter in its square being determined by key numbers, derived from a key word agreed upon by the corresponding parties.

T o explain the cipher, the message— P O L I C E H A V E L E A R N E D O F T H E P L O T T O B L O W U P T E I E I M P E R I A L Y A C H T — w i l l now be enciphered with the key word ONEGA.

T h e word key must first be transformed into a numerical key, done by numbering its letters serially from / up, according to their alphabetical order, repeated letters, if any, being numbered from left to right.

T h e key may be a word or phrase of any length, f a k e ST. PETERSBURG for ex­ample, which wil l also illustrate the method of numbering repeated letters:

S T P E T E R S B U R G 8-10-5-2-H-3-6-9-1-12-7-4

I n this way ONEGA provides the numer­ical key S-4-2-J-1.

T h i s numerical key is now written across the top and down the side of the intended square or squares, which may for conveni-

S O L V I N G C I P H E R S E C R E T S 155

ence be ruled into the requisite number of smaller squares.

I n placing the letters in the squares, the horizontal rows are completed in the order indicated by the key numbers at the side, the order of the letters in each row being s imilarly determined by the key numbers at the top.

T h u s P, the first letter of the message, wi l l be placed at the intersection of row i, and column /. T h e second letter of the message, 0, is placed at the intersection of row I and column 2. T h i s is continued unti l row number / is completed, when row-number 2 is s imilarly dealt with, and after it the other rows of the square, likewise in numerical order as indicated by the key, until the whole square has been completed.

Additional squares, as required by the length of the message, are filled in exactly the same way. I n case there are not enough letters in a message to complete the last square, a l l unoccupied spaces must be filled with nonsignificant letters.

F r o m this i t will be observed that the let­ters in every row of each square are trans­posed in the same way, which fact is used later in effecting the solution of the cipher without the key.

T h e present message requires two squares of the size indicated by the key:

S 4 2 3 I O L E P H T F D O E E V H A E N R E A L C t O r. P

5 4 2 3 1

T H A C Y E A R f E T P W U O P M E I H L B T O T

T h e letters are next taken out of the squares, ordinarily by straight horizontals, and preferably in groups of five, completing the encipherment:

O L E P H T F D O E E V H A E N R E A L CIOLP T H A C Y L A R I E TPVVUO P M E I H L B T O T

At this last step, a variation may be in­troduced if desired. T h u s , the letters can be taken out by v e r t i c a l s — O T E N C L F V R I el cetera, by d i a g o n a l s — O T L E F E N V D P et cetera, or in any other way agreed upon.

When deciphering with the key, the let­ters of the crytogram are written back into squares of the size indicated by the key, i n the same order—by horizontals or other­

wise—as they were taken out. T h e rows and columns are next assigned their key numbers, and the letters are read individu­al ly out of the squares in the same order as they were originally placed in them, being thus restored to the normal order as they occurred in the message.

Decipherment without the key may be effected by considering ( i ) the size of the squares necessitated by the length of the cryptogram, ( 2 ) proportions of vowels and consonants, and ( 3 ) letter sequences.

F o r example, the above illustrative cryp­togram of fifty letters has evidently been enciphered in a 5 x 5 square used twice.

I n other cases there might often be more than a single such possibility. A crypto­gram of one hundred letters, for instance, could have been enciphered with a 5 x 5 square used four times, or a 10 x 10 square used once. A n d a one-hundred-and-forty-four-letter cryptogram could have been done in a 12 X 12 square used once, a 6 x 6 four times, a 4 x 4 nine times, not to men­tion a 2 X 2.

Where there is thus more than a single possibility, the square actually used may be often learned by making a count of the vowels in the various sections of the crypto­gram as divided by the different squares.

T h e following vowel frequencies per ten thousand letters, taken from the table in F L Y N N ' S for January 23, show that the vowels comprise approximately forty per cent of al l letters in straight English text.

A 8 0 6

E 1 2 3 1

I 6 8 3

O 8 0 0

U 2 7 7

3 8 1 0 = 3 8 . 2 %

Consequently, in a transposition cipher, where the letters retain their original pow­ers, by actual count the vowels should ap­proximate forty per cent of the whole num­ber of letters. A n d in the present kind of transposition, cipher, about forty per cent of the letters in each of the several squares should be vowels.

T h e vowel counts in this case are // and g vowels respectively in the two squares, or very nearly forty per cent of 25, the total number of letters in each square. I n those

156 F L Y N N ' S

cases where more than one square is pos­sible by factoring, that square showing by the above test the least deviation from the forty per cent average is the most probable.

Having decided on the size of the square, i f the plan followed in taking out the let­ters is known, the letters of the cryptogram may be written back into the squares i n that order at once.

B u t if this is unknown, the letters may be filled in by horizontals, verticals, diag­onals, et cetera, until that arrangemait is found where the number of vowels in every row of each square equals approximately forty per cent of a l l the letters per row.

I n this instance, when the squares are formed by straight horizontals, as shown below, every row wi l l contain one, two, or three vowels, there being no excess of vowels or consonants in any row.

1 2 3 4 3 vowels O L E P H 2 T F D O E i E V H A E 3 N R E A L 3 C I O L P 3

T H A C Y 1 L A R I E 3 T P W U O 2 P M E I H 2 L B T O T 1

.Assuming now that the correct arrange­ment has been reached in the squares, since the letters in each row are similarly trans­posed it is now only necessary to rear­range the columns to develop the words in each row.

T h i s is most readily accomplished b y carefully copying the letters in the several columns upon as many slips of paper, five in this instance. These slips can now be tried in various combinations, to secure probable sequences of letters i n every row.

T o start, some of the most frequently used d i g r a p h s — T H , H E , E R , I N , A N , O N , et cetera—may be tried.

Slips 1-2 give TH in the first row of the second square. B u t mo.st of the other sequences thus formed are unfavorable, consonant-consonant sequences predominat­ing.

.Slips 5 - J , as shown below, give HE in both square 7, row 7, and square 2, row 4. A n d , besides, al l of the other digraphs so

formed are very probable, vowel-consonant and consonant-vowel sequences predominat­ing.

Other slips may now be tried before or after the 5 - j combination to form probable sequences of three letters. One by one these various three slip combinations may be eliminated, either because they refuse to be developed into longer sequences, words, or parts of words, by means of ad­ditional slips, or because some of the three letter sequences themselves are improbable or impossible.

T h i s process is continued unti l al l of the slips have been used. T h e several com­binations, showing how the present message would be gradually developed, are sub-joined.

5-3 5-3-4 5-3-4-2 5-3-4-2-r H E H E P H E P L H E P L 0 E D E D O E D Q F E D 0 F T E H E H A E H A V E H A V E L E L E A L E A R L E A R N P 0 P O L P 0 L I F O L I C

Y A Y A C Y A C H Y A C H T E R E R I E R I A E R I A L 0 W O W U 0 W U P OW U P T H E H E I H E I M H E I M P T T T T 0 T T 0 B T T 0 B L

T h e arrangement 5-3-4-2-1 has restored the letters in each row to their original order. A n d the message can now be read from the slips if the rows of each square are also taken in this same order.

I t wi l l be noted that the order of the slips, 5-3-4-2-1, is not identical with the numerical key, 5-4-2-3-1. B u t the original key can ordinarily be found, if desired, b y examining the order of the letters in any row of the squares from which the slips were prepared.

However, even with the original numeri­cal key, it wi l l not always be possible to determine the word key, for the reason that the same numerical k e y can often be had from different words. T h u s SMILE, TREND, and WRING, are three other words that wi l l give the same numerical key as ONEGA.

T o afford the reader an opportunity to try his hand at this transposition cipher of the Nihilists, two crj'ptograms are offered.

T h e first of these tells briefly how Alex­ander I I was assassinated.

S O L V I N G C I P H E R S E C R E T S 157

T h e Czar was to attend a review dinner on March 13, 1881. On his return to the palace he had choice of three routes. One of these was over the Stone Bridge, another by way of Little Garden Street, and the third along the Catherine Canal.

T h e bridge and the street had been mined. A n d six conspirators with bombs were in waiting by the canal.

T h e route by which the Czar returned, and some of the details of the assassination are told i n the first cipher. Incidentally, the key word used for this cryptogram is a proper name you will find in the message.

T h e second cipher is a portion of a letter written by a Nihi l ist exiled to the mines at Kara.

T h i s excerpt, brief as i t is, may serve to give some idea of the terrible sufferings endured by those in exile; a fate compara­ble to a living death, than which, indeed, many would have chosen death itself!

C I P H E R No, I (Nihilist t r a n s p o s i t i o n ) .

N W E Y R ODYAB F L V B A A G Y N I ISTNH R E A T T T E R S U BGDAM I F B E T SFOAR N E H I D H C K E Y IDNIA NBNMU GENOA D T N M I Y D U A N L N I A E ONWDG UAENH OTDST T E H A I K T Y W L S L I K E HF .

C I P H E R No. 2 (Nihilist transposition). PMATS OGMDO LADCB A B L K C SPOIE L E V W N T B U E T E T D N E A T D T E YBANO H N E E R OCHGE Y N L E K OEHLF. POGNE T H I S Y OORTU HNEMN EOECM DAARD

Of the many ciphers discussed in this department, probably none has aroused any greater enthusiasm than the Nihil ist nu­merical cipher in F L Y N N ' S for March 28, 1925-

Fans from everywhere took great pleas­ure in submitting Nihi l ist ciphers for so­lution, using their own keys, and in many instances adding interesting and original variations of their own. A n d now that the Nihi l ist transposition cipher has been treat­ed in this issue, there could hardly be a time more appropriate than this to place some of these interesting ciphers before our readers.

For the benefit of those who have not the original article on this cipher at hand, a brief example, enciphering the message—

LEAVE v o i r - - w i t h the k e y — r i ? F — i s subjoined.

I 2 3 4 5 J A B C D E

2 F G H I J K 3 L M N 0 P 4 Q R S T U 5 \ X Y Z

Mesaai^re: L K A V E N O W

•SI 1 5 I I 5 1 I S 3 3 3 4 5 2 A'ey: T r y T r y T r

4 4 4 2 5 4 4 4 4 2 5 4 4 4 4 2

Ciplter: 7 3 — 5 7 — 6 5 — 9 5 — 5 7 — 8 7 — 7 8 — 0 4

T h e first of these ciphers, which has trav­eled across the Pacific to reach these pages, combines a rearrangement of the Nihilist checkerboard with the use of private code syllables.

D E A R S I R S :

I recently came across a copy of F L Y N N ' S

containing an Interesting article entitled •' Solving Cipher Secrets."

In an idle moment I put together the fol-

WAHHE T T I C R E A N A E VHGGE T A D E M HCWAL E R N E H A E T R H WOGAA UMONN CAAIE K R E G R REEOS F S R K C CAOGN T B S W E RSDSA T A A H R T U E D S E S C B H NBDMO RBHTO OSMII SLNES

NADEA NIRNA I W E L U I N L A T FBNIO B I A L E SFSOU MDSTA NENOT H E S E R

OCITF FDANU T R T H A E Y H N S V T D S E T N A K P RUOEE T R E S O E B L O T A.

lowing code words, made up from the alpha­bet in squares, and using our own private code letters to express the numbers.

Of course there is nothing about the pro­duction, particularly, but it might amuse some one to find the solution.

T. E . C L A Y T O N ,

T . E . Clayton & Co. Christchurch, New Zealand.

C I P H E R No. 3 (T . E . Clayton). N I D O J E L E L I M I H E T E L I T A VEBOBINIBO T E B I B O F O N I

M r . Clayton's message is short, yet ample to afford the solution to properly applied effort. C a n you get i t?

T h e next cipher is straight Nihi l ist , but so written as to circumvent solution by the special method given in the June 27, 1925, issue of F L Y N N ' S .

158 F L Y N N ' S

L e t M r . Cain himself tell you about it .

D E A R S I R :

The Nihilist code can be used to advan­tage if the proper key word is used. I have interested several of my friends in F L Y N N ' S , and taught them the method of solving this cipher.

This bit of a teaser—Cipher No. 4—has them puzzled, and they, as well as myself, would like to have you try your hand at it.

If you have space in your department I would like to have it submitted to the multi­tude of cipher sharks to lose some sleep over.

Syracuse, N . Y . J A M E S R . C A I N .

C I P H E R No. 4 (James R . Cain). 5 8 - 5 7 - 6 0 - 2 9 - 2 8 - 3 8 - 4 9 - 3 8 - 3 0 - 5 6 - 2 7 - 5 0 - 3 6 - 3 8 -

2 9 - 4 8 - 4 8 - 4 8 - 5 8 - 2 6 - 2 9 - 4 6 - 3 9 - 5 8 - 2 8 - 3 0 - 3 6 - 2 9 -

2 6 - 5 8 - 2 6 - 6 0 - 5 9 - 5 8 - 5 7 - 6 8 - 5 9 - 4 8 - 5 9 - 3 8 - 4 6 - 5 8 -

3 7 - 3 0 - 6 9 - 5 7 - 6 0 - 2 7 - 2 7 - 3 0 - 3 0 - 2 8 - 5 8 - 3 8 - 4 6 - 5 0 -

4 6 - 2 9 - 2 8 - 4 8 - 2 8 - 3 0 - 5 8 - 2 7 - 2 6 - 5 9 - 5 7 - 3 0 - 4 7 - 4 8 -

5 7 - 2 9 - 2 6 - 4 6 - 6 0 - 4 7 - 2 9 - 2 0 - 5 6 - 5 8 - 5 9 - 3 7 - 2 6 - 4 7 -

2 7 - 4 9 - 4 7 - 4 9 - 4 6 - 3 8 - 2 7 - 2 6 - 5 9 - 2 9 - 2 9 - 4 8 - 4 7 - 3 0 -

5 8 .

I n No. s , F r a n k Spalding, of far-off Wrangell , Alaska, offers a slogan for Solving Cipher Secrets department. M r . Spalding owns two of the best bear dogs in al l .Alaska, and takes great delight in making life a burden to the great North American grizzly.

Here is his cipher, the shortest of its k ind

cipher that wi l l ta.x your ski l l to the ut­most."

T h e difficulty here is in the length of the key. How long this is you can find by solving the cipher. Or, failing in this, look for the solution in the next cipher article. C I P H E R No. 6 ( J . Levine).

5 5 - 6 6 - 2 6 - 3 5 - 4 6 - 5 7 - 4 7 - 5 3 - 6 4 - 6 5 - 8 5 - 8 7 - 4 6 - 2 6 -

2 4 - 6 6 - 5 9 - 3 7 - 6 7 - 5 4 - 3 0 - 6 6 - 6 6 - 6 7 - 3 8 - 5 9 - 3 6 - 9 8 -

4 7 - 5 8 - 4 . 3 - 5 8 - 7 4 - 7 7 - 4 4 - 4 4 - 2 6 - 5 7 - 4 9 - 5 5 - 5 7 - 6 6 -

2 6 - 7 6 - 4 6 - 7 7 - 6 7 - 6 4 - 5 9 - 6 5 - 5 5 - 6 7 - 4 5 - 5 4 - 8 8 - 4 6 -

3 0 - 5 7 - 3 0 - 9 7 - 6 7 - 4 5 - 3 5 - 5 7 - 3 9 - 5 5 - 8 6 - 3 0 - 7 4 - 6 5

One step in enciphering with the Nihi l ist numerical cipher is the addition of the n u ­merical substitutes for the letters of the message and of the key word.

I n the following cipher, submitted jointly by Benjamin Mil ler and Samuel M . K u r t z , N e w Y o r k Ci ty , a mathematical process other than addition has been employed.

J u s t what principle has been used is left for you to discover. F o r the present it must suffice to say that very l ikely it is some­thing you have never thought of, and, fur­ther, that it is distinctly different from any­thing that has yet appeared in these pages.

T h e original of this cipher was continu­ously written. T h e grouping by sixes here is for convenience.

C I P H E R No. V (Benjamin Miller—Samuel M. Kurtz), 1 : 6 4 1 3 0 8 5 0 1 5 0 1 9 0 6 2 0 1 1 3 3 3 1 1 4 7 4 0 1 4 9 0 6 5

0 8 3 7 2 5 1 6 9 1 9 4 0 8 8 7 8 9 0 8 5 4 4 2 1 1 3 4 6 2 1 6 9 1 9 4 1 4 8 6 1 4 0 2 9 2 6 7 1 4 4 2 2 0 0 8 5 0 1 5 0 7 4 6 6 9 1 1 7 5 5 7

1 2 5 8 4 6 1 1 4 7 4 0 1 4 3 9 8 4 1 4 8 8 4 0 . 1 4 8 6 1 4 1 1 4 7 4 0 1 4 6 3 2 6 1 4 6 3 2 6 1 2 6 1 3 0 0 1 3 9 7 6 1 4 6 7 8 7 1 6 3 3 1 5

1 4 6 7 8 7 1 4 4 4 5 6 1 4 9 0 6 5 1 6 9 3 7 8 0 S 8 7 8 9 1 4 6 5 5 7 0 2 7 7 6 3 1 4 7 0 1 8 0 8 3 7 2 5 1 6 9 0 1 0 ' 0 8 8 7 S 9 1 2 5 8 4 6 0 8 4 1 5 7 1 4 1 8 2 8 0 8 5 0 1 S 1 2 0 5 9 7 1 1 6 6 2 7 1 6 7 5 2 3

1 4 8 6 1 4 1 1 4 7 4 0 1 4 3 7 4 6 1 1 7 2 4 8 0 1 3 1 0 3 0 7 4 6 6 9 0 2 7 2 6 7 1 4 2 3 1 1 1 4 3 9 8 4 1 4 8 8 4 0 1 5 1 2 9 3 1 1 4 7 4 0 0 3 6 4 6 4 1 4 6 7 8 7 1 4 3 7 4 6 1 6 7 7 1 0 1 1 3 4 6 2 0 1 2 2 2 2

0 4 1 2 1 1 1 6 3 1 2 0 0 2 7 7 6 3 1 1 9 6 9 5 0 4 3 1 7 8 1 4 9 0 6 5 0 4 3 1 7 8 0 8 5 0 1 5 0 7 4 6 6 9 0 2 7 7 6 3 0 4 3 1 7 S 1 2 3 2 5 6 0 1 1 3 3 3 0 7 6 5 4 7

submitted to this department. What is the slogan?

C I P H E R No, 5 (Frank Spalding). 8 5 - 6 0 - 6 7 - 5 4 - 8 4 - 6 0 - 5 9 - 7 5

J . I-evine, of L o s Angeles, California, writes this about No. 6 : " Here is a Nihil ist

A l l right, fans, there's the lot! Give them a thoughtful trial , and send in your solutions!

T h e answers to all seven wi l l be given in next Solving Cipher Secrets in F L Y N N ' S for Apr i l 2 4 .

ANSWERS T O F E B R U A R Y 20 CIPHERS Probably the shortest route to the solu- group KTMTL, thus discovering five letters

tion of the first of the Confederacy ciphers — O M E R E — o f the key. Y o u wil l note that in F L Y N N ' S for February 2 0 would be to WHICH is on the word frequency table in assume the value WHICH for the cipher F L Y N N ' S for M a y 1 6 , 1 9 2 J .

S O L V I N G C I P H E R S E C R E T S 159

T h e application of this much of the key to other parts of the cryptogram would unlock generous chunks of the message, ca­pable of further development by the meth­od described for this cipher.

T h e second of the Confederacy ciphers, with its many short words, should have fal l­en an easy victim to your wiles.

Here foilows the keys and solutions to these two.

C I P H E R No I . Key: COME RETRIBU­TION. Message: I recommend thai ihe R E ­MOVAL OF P U B L I C P R O P E R T Y , MA­C H I N E R Y , STORES and A R C H I V E S WHICH are not of immediate necessity B E COMMENCED. A L L POWDER should be S E C U R E D .

C I P H E R No. 2. Kty COMPLETE VIC­T O R Y . Message: T H E P R E S I D E N T D E E M S I T A D V I S A B L E T H A T YOU SHOULD B E C H A R G E D W I T H T H E M I L I T A R Y OPERATIONS ON BOTH BANKS OF T H E MISS. AND T H A T YOU SHOULD ENDEAVOR AS PROMPTLY AS POSSIBLE TO CROSS T H A T R I V E R W I T H AS L A R G E A FORCE AS MAY B E P R U D E N T L Y WITHDRAWN FROM YOUR P R E S E N T DEPT. YOU W I L L ACCORDINGLY E X T E N D YOUR COM­MAND TO T H E E A S T BANK OF T H E MISS. AND M A K E A R R A N G E M E N T S TO B R I N G TO T H I S S IDE SUCH OF YOUR P R E S E N T FORCES AS YOU M A Y D E E M B E S T

Of the four three-letter groups in cipher No. 3, two represent words given in the word frequency table just mentioned:

Message: h a s and Cipher: MLQ N F I Key: F L Y NSF

T h e key word FLYNN'S is plainly sug­gested here, and being tried, it works!

C I P H E R No 3 (F . B . Willits-Arthur J . Lindsay).

Key: FLYNN'S. Message; FLYNN'S HAS B E E N STOWED I N OUR PACKS AS R E L I G I O U S L Y AS OUR PIPES AND TOBACCO.

Cipher No. 4, modified Vigenhe, when solved by the usual methods gives the key­word POF. Of course, this might be FOP written backward. B u t you wil l note that by substituting for each of these letters that next before it in the alphabet POF is transformed into ONE. A n d ONE as a k e y wi l l give the cipher only when the

bottom alphabet of the square is used as a message alphabet, instead of that at the top.

T h e first cipher group UZDCB'X ( = F L Y N N ' S ) IS the logical starting point in this instance.

C I P H E R No. 4 (A. J . Simon). Key. ONE. Message: F L Y N N ' S IS ONE OF T H E B E S T W E E K L Y MAGAZINES I N NEW Y O R K C I T Y .

No. 5 was a straight Vigenere using a key phrase. I n solving any Vigenere cipher by the method described, especially one using a key phrase, it must be kept in mind that any short words found by applying other short words to the cipher, might be­long either to the key or message.

F o r instance, AND tried with YBX near the middle of this cryptogram gives YOU as a result. Here both AND and YOU must be tried as parts of the key. T o t ry AND alone would be to fail i n the solution, since it is a part of the message and not the key.

C I P H E R No. s (Ralph Raphael). Key : CAN YOU SOLVE ME? Message: When you have solved this secretive way of con­veying a message, ei cetera

I n No. 6 ( W . W . Reeves, F . P . E . ) the Vigenere table was numbered from / to 26 across the top and bottom, and similarly down both sides, any letter being expressed as a fraction, the numerator of which in­dicated the column, and the denominator the row, occupied by that letter.

T h u s " means the letter found in the intersection of the thirteenth column and the eighth row, or T, and so on. M r . Reeves's message being: " This is a code designed on the Henry file."

T h e curious part of this cipher, due to the peculiar construction of the Vigenere table and to the way M r . Reeves has num­bered it , is that the sum of the numerator and denominator of any fraction, less 26 i f i n excess of that number, wi l l indicate the proper letter in the alphabet: Z - i , A-2, B-s . . . V-26. T h e cipher is thus reducible to a simple substitution cipher, which can be used without the table.

T h e feature of M r . Walker 's cipher ( N o . 7) aside from the fact that he used the bottom row for his message alphabet, also

160 F L Y N N ' S

done in No. 4 above, is that his key was continuous and nonrepeating, the twenty-third Psalm having been used for this pur­pose.

C I P H E R \ o . 7 (M Walker). Key: T H E L O R D I S M Cipher C P T B T L L N Y N Message: I H O P E T H E F A

Here is the whole message: " I hope the fans wi l l enjoy this one. I t is just difficult enough, without being a discouragement."

Cipher No. 5 ( W i l l i a m E . Bowns) in the October 31 issue was done in Vigenere cipher, with the key word EVOLUTION. T h i s cipher was published without any sug­gestion as to its type. T h e first solution was submitted by A . P . Schmutz, Philadel­phia. G . A . Ferre l l , Bessemer, Alabama, and Charles P . Winsor, Boston, Massachu­setts, also submitted correct solutions.

M r . Winsor discovered the key by trying THE, AND, and ARE wi th three-letter groups, finding the key thus:

Message . - t h e the a r e t h e a n d Cipher: G L Z OVP U K M MPS N R Y Key: A'EV VOL UTI T/O NEV

L a s t , but by no means least, here is the

^ Cipher: 5 2 3 0 2 0 1 3 0 1 2 0 Key: 1 2 3 4 S 6

Quotients: 5 i 1 3 5 2 6 2 0 Message /.MA I N T

explanation to cipher No. 3 (Hobart HoUis) of the January 23 issue. T h i s cipher, to the first solver of which, as you may remember, M r . Hol l is offered ten dollars, may be de­ciphered as follows:

F irs t , write out the cryptogram in lines of fifteen numbers each, forming fifteen col-

T H E R O L L I n the list of successful solvers of Janu­

ary 2 ciphers, M r . Winsor rings the bell with correct solutions to all seven, includ­ing the troublesome but simple No. 5.

Charles P. Winsor, Boston, Massachusetts ( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - S - 6 - 7 ) .

G. A. Ferrell, Bessemer, Alabama ( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 6 - 7 ) .

A. P. Schmutz, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ( 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 6 - 7 ) .

Arthur Bellamy, Boston, Massachusetts ( 1 - 2 - 4 - 7 ) .

umns of numbers. T h e n transpose these columns according to the numerical key: 1-2-15-3-4-14-5-6-13-7-8-12-9-10-11.

Now write the numbers /, 2, j , 4, et

Y S H E P H E R D : etc. M L E N B T J F N X etc. N S W I L L E N J O etc.

cetera, under the groups, as shown below, continuing this as long as these numbers divide evenly without remainder into the cipher groups with which they are thus placed in conjunction, and as long as the quotients resulting from such divisions continue to represent letters from the sub­joined alphabetical key which develop the message being deciphered.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M 1 3 1 2 I I 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I

N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 2 6 2 5 2 4 2 3 2 2 2 1 2 0 1 9 i s 1 7 1 6 I S 1 4

When this is no longer the case, begin again with /, and continue as before, and as many times as may be necessary to de­cipher the. whole message.

Here is a part of the message so de­ciphered:

1 3 1 0 7 8 8 0 3 0 7 8 1 4 0 etc. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 etc.

1 3 5 2 6 2 0 6 1 3 2 0 etc. A I K T 1/ A T etc.

T h e whole message is: " I M A I N T A I N T H A T Y O U C A N N O T S O L V E T H I S C I P H E R . I F Y O U D O Y O U W I N T E N D O L L A R S A N D P R O V E M E W R O N G ! "

T h e list of any who may have been suc­cessful in solving this cipher wi l l be pub­lished in the next issue of this department.

O F H O N O R Francis A. Gaunlt, Chicago, Illinois ( 1 - 2 ) .

Charles C. Fulton, Omaha, Nebraska ( 1 - 2 ) .

Mrs. Charles J . Mundy, Thihodaux, Louis­iana ( 4 ) .

T h i s list, while not large, is nevertheless gratifying in that it dear ly demonstrates that we are not expecting the fans to do the impossible.

Send in your solutions, fans, any time before the answers have been published, and swell the list of solvers!

10 F W