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Subject: Please Help--This is a fun one, not a PC problem!
Posted by: Motley Crue
- [2192327] Mon, Apr 17, 2006, 20:47
Guys,
I have been here for years and I have always marveled from a distance at the mega-brainpower some of you fellas have with respect to computers and all that jazz. As I don't share this capacity, I now want to share something with you that I hope you will find entertaining and interesting.
I will donate $50 in your name to RotoGuru.com if you can answer this question properly for me before 6:30 PM CDT tomorrow (Tuesday 18 April). It is a question from an academic challenge that I am playing in with some friends on another message board.
Question #27:
Below is a question written in a cipher. Please answer the question revealed by the cipher. Hint for solving the cipher:
76766776
The Question:
bDqZSLZDTiSFPZDtLTLTNTFYQuGMLHTGHOTDqnTZGTQesGZstK? WTFAQISFrSLKQTOSzDgIQLpTYYTKLGFTKFtLZDTISFUBQCnOQRaISKFQwGPGNZDGIQLBGOYTNSKUSfSQbGgOYiTBSLEQKkGOO
I Googled the hint, 76766776, and it comes up with a bunch of hits for the number of passengers that passed through O'Hare International Airport in Chicago in 2005. The airport code for O'Hare is ORD.
Does this help at all? I also tried "ORD computer codes" on Google and came up with a Wikipedia link on P-Code Machines. Here's the link.
I am awful at this stuff, and although I have 3 other teammates, none of them are around at the moment. We have only 24 hours to answer this question and it could clinch victory for us if we get it right. I realize my thinking may be off entirely; I just guessed about the ORD stuff. I have no knowledge at all of that. It just seems to me that the numbers are not "ciphered" because there are no numbers in the ciphered portion. I think they are a bit of a red herring.
If more than one of you works on this, I will split the donation to the site, IF AND ONLY IF the correct answer comes of it.
Help me and help Guru, too.
And Guru: feel free to chime in if you have some knowledge or ideas. All hands on deck, please!
//MC |
| 1 | Motley Crue
ID: 2192327
Mon, Apr 17, 2006, 20:56
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Crap, I forgot to give the subject of the question. The other team listed it as "Subject:
Common Link".
Maybe that helps.
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| 2 | The Beezer
Leader
ID: 191202817
Mon, Apr 17, 2006, 22:50
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The first three letters on line two sum this up for me - WTF indeed. :)
I tried a couple of things but they didn't help. I'd be interested to see what the solution is.
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| 3 | TB
Sherpa
ID: 031811922
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 00:20
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I think it says, "Luis González sucks, why ever did you draft him."
Cryptography I think the first step is to try and determine what type of cipher it is. Do you have a link or can you paste exactly how everything is written. Is the first part you posted the question and underneath (the WTF) supposed to be the answer?
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| 4 | Motley Crue
ID: 2192327
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 05:12
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Everything is posted exactly as I have it. There's no more information than that available.
Hey, at least you got the "á" in his last name, TB.
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| 5 | TB
Sherpa
ID: 031811922
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 14:05
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I took today off from work and have been screwing around a bit, learning about ciphers and cryptology. So, I learned how to encode a message using the Vigenere Cipher. I farted around and used excel at first, but then found a file to download that encodes and decodes. The trick with that cipher is knowing the keyword. Just for kicks, I tried to just use A-H to substitue 8 letters for the 76766776 above. It came out all jumbled, so that isn't it, but I do think the key is trying to figured out what 76766776 is or determining if that is some kind of pattern. I should mention that I started off using a substitution cipher but quickly realized that it wasn't going to come out any less jumbled.
This doesn't help, but with the keyword SHERPA I was able to encode this:
LUISGONZALEZSUCKSWHYEVERDIDYOUDRAFTHIM
to this:
DBMJVOFGECTZKBGBHWZFIMTRVPHPDUVYEWIHAT
Maybe I am way out in left field, but I have a hunch that I am on the right track with the Vigenere Cipher. I just have no idea what to do with the 76766776.
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| 6 | Motley Crue
ID: 593301811
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 15:12
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TB, what about my hypothesis that the number refers to something entirely different?
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| 7 | Frick@Work
Donor
ID: 3410101718
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 15:22
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I'm curious, is the spacing exactly the same?
When I read one of Dan Brown's books it talked about ciphers that were dependent on putting the letters in a square.
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| 8 | Great One
ID: 193381813
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 15:38
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I am impressed TB took off from his job just to work on this :)
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| 9 | Motley Crue
Dude
ID: 439372011
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 15:40
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TB has too much leave; he didn't take off for this.
He's trying to barter in the RIBC for a ham sandwich in exchange for Luis González.
And he'll even take one with moldy bread.
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| 10 | wolfer
ID: 45391414
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 16:41
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Why am I thinking that this has something to do about tennis?
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| 11 | biliruben
Leader
ID: 589301110
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 17:05
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4 tiebreakers? Interesting thought, Wolfer.
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| 12 | blue hen
ID: 38135621
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 18:34
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n. jrm
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| 13 | TB
Sherpa
ID: 031811922
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 18:35
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MC had it correct, GO, just burning a day and didn't feel like working. González can stick around for another 50 at-bats, but he is way down on my sh*t list right now. Even lower than Hillenbrand and Wilkerson.
Interesting take on tennis scores, wolfer, but I don't see how it will help determine the cipher. I hope you come back and share the answer, Motley.
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| 14 | Motley Crue
ID: 2192327
Tue, Apr 18, 2006, 19:02
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I promise I will.
And I'm donating the 50 in my own name, you unsmart community. How disappointing.
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| 15 | Motley Crue
ID: 2192327
Thu, Apr 20, 2006, 22:10
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Knock yourselves out.
__________________________________________________
It's a simple substitution cipher using upper and lower case letters and a QWERTY keyboard.
Numbers placed in the odd positions in the sequence = left to right in the number of spaces indicated by the number at the in that position and numbers in the odd position in the sequence = right to left from the the next set of letters after the first sequence. In order to get the key you would also start the cipher in the opposite case of a standard substitution key (which is lower followed by upper case).
7=QWERTYU
6=DSAPOI
7=FGHJKLZ
6=MNBVCX
6=qwerty
7=dsapoiu
7=fghjklz
6=mnbvcx
The key is as follows:
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p k r s t u v w x y z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z <---standard substition key
Q W E R T Y U D S A P O I F G H J K L Z M N B V C X q w e r t y d s a p o i u f g h j k l z m n b v c x <---KEY
WhAt is the Link these seven faMous people hAVe to eaCH otHEr? benjamin franklin Thomas Jefferson ernest hemingway VladImir naBokov
bDqZ SL ZDT iSFP ZDtLT LTNTF YQuGML HTGHOT DqnT ZG TQes GZstK? WTFAQISF rSLKQTOS zDgIQL pTYYTKLGF TKFtLZ DTISFUBQC nOQRaISK FQwGPGN
thomas wolfe virginia Wolfe Lewis carRoll
ZDGIQL BGOYT NSKUSfSQ bGOYT iTBSL EQKkGOO
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| 16 | FRICK
Donor
ID: 3410101718
Thu, Apr 20, 2006, 22:54
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Did you get the answer in that format? I'm just wondering if the capital letters have something to do with the answer.
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| 17 | C1-NRB
ID: 17348117
Thu, Apr 20, 2006, 23:05
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Who are 7 people who have never been in my kitchen?
- Bonus points for the show and character this paraphrased quote comes from.
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| 18 | The Beezer
Leader
ID: 191202817
Thu, Apr 20, 2006, 23:21
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Cliff Claven, Cheers - one of my favorite episodes ever.
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| 19 | TB
Sherpa
ID: 031811922
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 00:25
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That's not a "simple" substitution cipher. A substitution cipher is when one letter consistantly substitues for another. For example
zcy flz ylzb flzgnna
the cat eats catfood.
Notice how Z is always T, Y is E, L is A, etc.
Secondly, they did not put any spaces between each word, which a "simple" substitution cipher would do. Lastly, I am a little confused on how it is a QWERTY Keyboard. The letters should be
7=QWERTYU
6=IOPASD
7=FGHJKLM
6=ZCXVBN
and then the same for the lower case.
The real problem I have is that the clue, by itself "76766776", didn't provide enough information to break this code in a short amount of time.
I equate this to me encoding this message:
SBPOSBQPQNCFSQOBJTlWOX?
XYTfEQMUAMLNUQ!
and leaving you this as a clue:
66221169119-18395-1140657585-13
Now, all you had to do was figure this out:
The first group of numbers (66221169119) are the IP address to the RotoGuru forum message board. The second part (18395) is the thread. The third part (1140657585) is the post (where you would find the name Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenberdorf) and the last part (13) means I used the first 13 letters in his last name as the keyword for a Vigenere Cipher.
When decoded here is what you get:
WHYDIDICUTLUISGONZALEZ?
BECAUSEHESUCKS!
Oh well. I hope you guys come up with one to stump the other guys.
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| 20 | TB
Sherpa
ID: 031811922
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 00:36
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BTW, I should have made the last number a 8 and not a 13. It appears as though I only used the first 8 letters in his last name: Wolfesch
It doesn't matter though, you could put any hogwash and make it seem like it was an easy code. 02291904-26-31-8
02291904- his birth date
26- first names
31- letters in last name
8- using the first 8 letters of his last name
But, for sure take the dashes out of his name so all they get is 0229190426318
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| 21 | The Beezer
Leader
ID: 191202817
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 01:30
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I'm with TB. It is technically a substituation cipher, it's just using a 52-letter alphabet. We should have been able to guess that from that fact that the digits of 76766776 add up to 52 and there are upper and lower case letters in the cipher.
Even with that knowledge though, this would have been for all intents and purposes impossible to crack in the given time frame. With only about 150 characters, the average frequency would only be 3 times in the code. While the small e would have been relatively easy to guess since it appears the most, anything after that would have been practically impossible.
We're talking the same amount of possible ciphers as there are ways for a deck of cards to be arranged (approximately 8 x 10^67) for crying out loud! There's no way to search that many possibilities in any reasonable amount of time.
Also, since there is no hint anywhere at all regarding using a qwerty keyboard, I think that's an unreasonable leap to include it as an additional layer of confusion. To sum up, I agree with TB in that it's a BS question and it doesn't really have a place in a contest since for all practical purposes it can't be solved.
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| 22 | Motley Crue
ID: 2192327
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 01:32
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Tom, they were being bitches because they were losing.
And we beat their asses, so I got my slightly chilled revenge tonight. The game ends at 7 Central tomorrow with us up 8-7. And they ain't gonna get our last question. OK, so we eked out a victory. After 30 F'ing days, I will take it.
They also threw another cipher at us last night. It was claimed that the newer one was "easier" than the one I posted for you guys. Maybe, but my brain still melted when I read how the code was broken.
So they got a photo of a baseball player from 1981 and were asked to identify him. Heh, I'd be surprised if any of you has ever heard of him. I had not until tonight, 20 minutes before I posted the question.
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| 23 | Motley Crue
Dude
ID: 439372011
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 09:16
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Also, in case someone didn't notice, they deliberately made the question with mixed upper and lowercase letters:
WhAt is the Link these seven faMous people hAVe to eaCH otHEr? benjamin franklin Thomas Jefferson ernest hemingway VladImir naBokov thomas wolfe virginia Wolfe Lewis carRoll
That made it even more difficult, because then you couldn't crack it by looking for the most common letters, as Beezer suggested.
I am going to make a complaint to the other team about this. But in general, I won't push too hard. We are going to win anyway.
On the other hand, maybe you guys are just mad because you won't get the $50 in your names. Heh.
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| 24 | Frick@Work
Donor
ID: 3410101718
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 09:33
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I agree that the "simple" cipher wasn't exactly easy to crack.
Well at least they made it "easy" by using a QWERT keyboard instead of a DVORIC keyboard. That would have been "hard". /sarcasm.
Unless you guys work for NSA, I wouldn't expect most people to figure out that clue. Well unless the kid from Mecury Rising was on your team.
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| 25 | biliruben
Leader
ID: 589301110
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 10:09
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Man. I'm glad I didn't take a day off work for that! ;)
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| 26 | C1-NRB
ID: 5131158
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 10:50
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Good job, Beezer. That didn't take long at all.
I use that to answer questions that I can't come up with the answer to right away. "Terwilliger bunts one" is also a good phrase to remember.
So- besides having never been in my kitchen- what do they have in common? Google (the obivous choice for finding the answer) returns "quotable quote" lists. I'm sure there is more to it than that.
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| 27 | R9
Leader
ID: 02624472
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 11:53
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lol! Just read through this list... pretty funny stuff. I bet a team of NASA scientists couldn't have cracked that in the allotted time. Using a QWERTY keyboard as the binder is just crazy, especially with no clue giving you a shot at figuring that out. May as well have used a pre-empire Klingon calendar or something. ;)
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| 28 | Sludge
ID: 11042612
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 17:27
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I bet a team of NASA scientists couldn't have cracked that in the allotted time.
I doubt there are very many NASA scientists that know much about encryption.
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| 29 | Motley Crue
ID: 2192327
Fri, Apr 21, 2006, 22:56
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I am sorry if I had anyone on a wild goose chase.
Sludge, your area of expertise would not have led you close to the answer, then? Not that you are a NASA scientist, but we have a PhD candidate in Stats on our team (engineer by training) and he had no clue.
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