Post by Todd on Jul 27, 2016 8:20:39 GMT -5
I'm curious if anyone has made any headway on the deciphering of the document we found stashed among the rocks. I suspect that all we lack is the proper keyword, but as they say, suspecting just makes a 'spect' out of 'us'
Digby Caesar
Posted about 1 year ago
Your suspicions are in line with my own- I'm not good at approaching problems like this methodically, but have tried countless variations for a while now. I think the answer must be within our collective grasp, and it makes me a little crazy whenever I take another crack at it.
These publications, even quarterly, are dangerous for the self-employed...
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted about 1 year ago
Too many Cs, It seems to be padded with clusters of them to make the cipher more difficult. At least the punctuation is still there even if it is backwards.
The Beard
Posted about 1 year ago
Digby- could you email me a copy of the original letter? It's come down from the Google drive page, and I just want to make sure I've got all my ducks in a row before I take another crack at it. You can reach me at chelsealil{AT}yahoo dot com.
I suspect, based on repeated advice to not overthink things, as well as the impossibility of all of us traveling to Toronto ourselves (although I've been sorely tempted more than once), that we actually somehow have all the information we need to crack this monster. I'm going to take another look at the two images on the MPC FB page next to the snake- the Power and Monument plaques.
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 12 months ago
Sorry for the migrant links. I asked that you be added to the root folder, which is where we keep the roots. (Not actual roots)
Digby Caesar
Posted 12 months ago
Thanks Digby.
I've revamped the Wikia pages significantly, and in the process added a page for the thrice-damned bridge letter. It's interesting to see all the visuals in once place. I strongly feel that that's what we need to crack it, but haven't quite been able to make the connection yet. Take a look: curios-and-conundrums.wikia.com/wiki/The_Bridge_Letter
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 11 months ago
Chelsea, do you remember if the images were added to FB and Twitter before the dead drop was retrieved or after? If before, than perhaps they were just hints pointing to Toronto and the bridge. Also, I'm not sure what key words were tried to decipher the letter, but did anyone ever try reversing the key word they used? (i.e. snake=ekans)
enaxor
Posted 11 months ago
Good Idea I have not tried Mirroring the keywords this just got a little more complicated with its possibilities!
The Beard
Posted 11 months ago
It's hard to tell, but those photos might have been posted before the letter was found. Although, my guess would be that they were put up right around the time that C&C issue went out. Would mid-February be about right? I struggle to see how the POWER image would have helped track down the bridge, as I've not been able to find that online anywhere. I think the original locator of the packet said there were plaques under/near the bridge- could these be some of those?
I wondered if the images might have something in common (yes, I've been looking at the image commonality problem too much lately), but that didn't strike a spark.
Annoyed I don't live closer to Toronto, although I maintain that we almost certainly have what we need to solve.
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 11 months ago
Facebook photos were posted February 14th ,17th & 19th. Drop was found on March 3rd.
Digby Caesar
Posted 11 months ago
I can't help but keep trying to get this, although I hope we will receive a few further nudges in the right direction come November.
The middle clue to the bridge letter: "Vigenere loves a good petroglyph".
Have we yet explored any possible connections to the obituaries that came in the Prologue packets? They mention a terrible accident at the Petroglyphs Provincial Park. Perhaps worth another look?
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 11 months ago
I would just like to reiterate that this is an utterly maddening puzzle.
I have a few new ideas, which I'll try out and report back on. Sheesh.
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 10 months ago
AGREED! All of my attempts met with zero results. Drop me an email if you have a chance and we can compare notes.
Kevin C. Johnson
Posted 10 months ago
I started to look into the bridge letter. One thing I noticed on the Wiki is that a Vigenere cipher is a likely step. However, Blaise de Vigenere was falsely credited with creating what is known as the Vigenere Cipher. He actually created a cipher called an autokey cipher, which is slightly different than the Vigenere one. I wasn't sure if anyone had looked into using that version. Without a key word, things remain tricky.
My apologies if this is old information or something that has already been dismissed.
Mina H.
Posted 10 months ago
Also, I feel the need to clarify that this information is not from some scholarly enterprise. I did some fast internet research, and that was an interesting piece of information I thought might be relevant.
Mina H.
Posted 10 months ago
That is actually a very interesting bit of information, Mina. It could also be why we've been running into trouble for this long. We'll done. Do you have all of the information for the bridge letter? If not, let me know and we'll get you what we have. Welcome to the fun house by the way.
Kevin C. Johnson
Posted 10 months ago
Mina, that's great information and as Kevin said, that may be why this little puzzle has stumped us. Great catch!
enaxor
Posted 10 months ago
Interesting....
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 10 months ago
I have been running the cipher through an autokey program, I start at A and work my way through to Z. I have not broken the cipher but I have found a weird pattern that is hard to put into words but its seems every 4th letter in the Alphabet gives the result for the letter 4 steps back from it!
The Beard
Posted 10 months ago
I'll go ahead and say it. This letter is insidious. Flat out, torturously insidious.
Kevin C. Johnson
Posted 10 months ago
I agree, maybe one of us should look at getting a Degree in cryptology if such a thing exists because the internet has not helped much and staying up all night drinking coffee and huddled around my laptop makes me feel like Dennis Nedry from Jurassic Park!
The Beard
Posted 10 months ago
I suspect that the most satisfying part of the next issue's adventures will be finally putting this letter to rest. I can't stop thinking about it!
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 10 months ago
Interesting. I teach computer science, and one of the assignments I've given is a Vigneire Square algorithmn. I already have a working version of said program. With a copy of the letter that was on the wikia, the only other thing we need to crack the code would be a cypher key. Such a key would be in the form of a specific word or phrase. Are there any indications of something that would fit the bill?
-Nicholas.
The Professor
Posted 9 months ago
Oh, I see. I took only a cursory look at the Wikia before replying. It's definitely a layered cypher with all of the repetitive Cs. I would agree that the reversal, Vigniere, and Caesar applications all seem to be indicated by the surrounding clues. Is there any indication of what order to do they in? I suppose using brute force there are only six ways to do it.
The Professor
Posted 9 months ago
The Mirror has a one on the back, the "Vigniere love a good petroglyph" has a backwards two on it, and the Caesar dressing has a three on it! This may tell the order or in the case of the Caesar cipher the shift involved. That is how I have been trying to decipher it!
The Beard
Posted 9 months ago
Nicholas, first of all, welcome to the fold. Second, if you can find a way to break this maddening letter I do believe that Monsieur The Beard, Chelsea, Enaxor and the rest of us will throw you a parade before carrying you to the vault (wherever that might be) on our shoulders as a conquering hero.
Kevin C. Johnson
Posted 9 months ago
My other thought on this is that the reversed message on the Wikia may not be correct. It looks like the message has been reversed, character by character from bottom to top. But that's not the way an actual mirror works. I would suggest trying to reverse each individual line, so the message starts with the "H.E." instead of ends with it. That would completely alter the effects of the Vigniere square.
The Professor
Posted 9 months ago
There's been a lot of work done on this and some interesting theories. Drop me an email and I'll see if I can fill you in on some of what the group has done. Saintsyn76 ATgmailDOTcom. Cheers.
Kevin C. Johnson
Posted 9 months ago
Quick question, to which I somehow don't know the answer, despite having spent absurd amounts of time on this problem...
Is the backwards 2 over the Vigenere section original, or did the retriever of the drop write it in? If it's original, then that might well be a crucial nudge in the right direction.
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
From what I can gather in the older posts the numbers are original and not written on by the finder of the dead drop .
The Beard
Posted 9 months ago
Brillo. So, we can perhaps assume that the first step is indeed to reverse the text (either horizontally or vertically), the second is a Vigenere, possibly with a reversed keyword, and the third step a Caesar cipher.
Again, all of this is guesswork. I think we'll have more with which to work once the new issues arrive!
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
Ok. Received a possible help for this in the mail today... Anyone else get one? Marked "classified."
mskimie
Posted 9 months ago
I did indeed!
The Beard
Posted 9 months ago
Very. Exciting. Glad to say that I'm on winter break from teaching at noon tomorrow.
mskimie
Posted 9 months ago
Alright. Here's an interesting observation, although it may just be indicative of how a Vigenere cipher works, rather than any clue as to the construction of the bridge letter.
I started trying to figure out what it would take to create a letter with so many Cs in it (I don't think they indicate the number of shifts required, as they are simply too frequent, but they could also just be padding). For starters, I tried using the alphabet as the keyword, both forward and backwards. And I noticed something odd.
When the cipher is run through Vigenere with the alphabet as key, the result is the same thus: Original: UCCBCCXFVJCCCFGECGVBKCCZC Encrypt, ABC: UDEEGHDMDSMNOSUTSXNUEXYWA, shift 2: =>WFGGIJFOFUOPQUWVUZPWGZAYC Decrypt, ZYX: VEFFHIENETNOPTVUTYOVFYZXB Shift 1: => WFGGIJFOFUOPQUWVUZPWGZAYC
See how those two are the same? Very odd, that...
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
It's interesting, to say the least. Are you using a generator for the cipher? I've been doing it by hand and it takes quite a bit of time.
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 9 months ago
Yes! I find the various pages on Rumkin.com absolutely invaluable for this sort of sleuthing. They have a number of excellent resources for cracking puzzles!
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
Gratitude. I believe this will cut my time in half as I explore possible keywords.
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 9 months ago
For lack of a better, or untried idea, I'm trying to reverse engineer a similar sort of cipher. I suspect that this approack, too, will beat me, but it feels moderately productive, at least!
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
At this point, any idea is a good idea when it comes to solving the bridge letter.
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 9 months ago
Forgive a quick intrusion, but has anyone experimented with eliminating the letter C in its entirety, and exploring what remains? If the letter C, once all is said and done, correlates to a rarely used letter (e.g. Q or Z), it stands to reason that it could be included simply as a filler. I daresay that our clever company coders might even have included redacted bits within the letter itself, which would lead me to believe that X would be the most likely analog to our persistent Cs.
Apologies if these are theories that have already been bandied about, or if my musings are a distraction from progress that has already been established. I look forward to discussing this with a more informed perspective following our meeting of the minds this evening.
Blackbird
Posted 9 months ago
It's possible that some have explored this avenue, but that does not mean it's a bad theory. Your assistance on solving the letter is greatly appreciated and welcomed.
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 9 months ago
Greatings and solicitations to all. I have recently joined this merry band of thrill seakers and look forward to adding my meager skills to the "Think Tank". Hats off to those who have come to grips with the "Bridge" mystery. A notion I had was if any of you had considered a musical application to breaking the cypher?
Lord Henry Bolton
Posted 9 months ago
You are most welcome to our curious fellowship, Lord Henry, especially as you bring what is, to my knowledge, a new idea to the accursed bridge letter conundrum!
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
Welcome, Lord Henry. This approach has not yet been considered!!
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 8 months ago
Digby Caesar
Posted about 1 year ago
Your suspicions are in line with my own- I'm not good at approaching problems like this methodically, but have tried countless variations for a while now. I think the answer must be within our collective grasp, and it makes me a little crazy whenever I take another crack at it.
These publications, even quarterly, are dangerous for the self-employed...
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted about 1 year ago
Too many Cs, It seems to be padded with clusters of them to make the cipher more difficult. At least the punctuation is still there even if it is backwards.
The Beard
Posted about 1 year ago
Digby- could you email me a copy of the original letter? It's come down from the Google drive page, and I just want to make sure I've got all my ducks in a row before I take another crack at it. You can reach me at chelsealil{AT}yahoo dot com.
I suspect, based on repeated advice to not overthink things, as well as the impossibility of all of us traveling to Toronto ourselves (although I've been sorely tempted more than once), that we actually somehow have all the information we need to crack this monster. I'm going to take another look at the two images on the MPC FB page next to the snake- the Power and Monument plaques.
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 12 months ago
Sorry for the migrant links. I asked that you be added to the root folder, which is where we keep the roots. (Not actual roots)
Digby Caesar
Posted 12 months ago
Thanks Digby.
I've revamped the Wikia pages significantly, and in the process added a page for the thrice-damned bridge letter. It's interesting to see all the visuals in once place. I strongly feel that that's what we need to crack it, but haven't quite been able to make the connection yet. Take a look: curios-and-conundrums.wikia.com/wiki/The_Bridge_Letter
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 11 months ago
Chelsea, do you remember if the images were added to FB and Twitter before the dead drop was retrieved or after? If before, than perhaps they were just hints pointing to Toronto and the bridge. Also, I'm not sure what key words were tried to decipher the letter, but did anyone ever try reversing the key word they used? (i.e. snake=ekans)
enaxor
Posted 11 months ago
Good Idea I have not tried Mirroring the keywords this just got a little more complicated with its possibilities!
The Beard
Posted 11 months ago
It's hard to tell, but those photos might have been posted before the letter was found. Although, my guess would be that they were put up right around the time that C&C issue went out. Would mid-February be about right? I struggle to see how the POWER image would have helped track down the bridge, as I've not been able to find that online anywhere. I think the original locator of the packet said there were plaques under/near the bridge- could these be some of those?
I wondered if the images might have something in common (yes, I've been looking at the image commonality problem too much lately), but that didn't strike a spark.
Annoyed I don't live closer to Toronto, although I maintain that we almost certainly have what we need to solve.
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 11 months ago
Facebook photos were posted February 14th ,17th & 19th. Drop was found on March 3rd.
Digby Caesar
Posted 11 months ago
I can't help but keep trying to get this, although I hope we will receive a few further nudges in the right direction come November.
The middle clue to the bridge letter: "Vigenere loves a good petroglyph".
Have we yet explored any possible connections to the obituaries that came in the Prologue packets? They mention a terrible accident at the Petroglyphs Provincial Park. Perhaps worth another look?
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 11 months ago
I would just like to reiterate that this is an utterly maddening puzzle.
I have a few new ideas, which I'll try out and report back on. Sheesh.
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 10 months ago
AGREED! All of my attempts met with zero results. Drop me an email if you have a chance and we can compare notes.
Kevin C. Johnson
Posted 10 months ago
I started to look into the bridge letter. One thing I noticed on the Wiki is that a Vigenere cipher is a likely step. However, Blaise de Vigenere was falsely credited with creating what is known as the Vigenere Cipher. He actually created a cipher called an autokey cipher, which is slightly different than the Vigenere one. I wasn't sure if anyone had looked into using that version. Without a key word, things remain tricky.
My apologies if this is old information or something that has already been dismissed.
Mina H.
Posted 10 months ago
Also, I feel the need to clarify that this information is not from some scholarly enterprise. I did some fast internet research, and that was an interesting piece of information I thought might be relevant.
Mina H.
Posted 10 months ago
That is actually a very interesting bit of information, Mina. It could also be why we've been running into trouble for this long. We'll done. Do you have all of the information for the bridge letter? If not, let me know and we'll get you what we have. Welcome to the fun house by the way.
Kevin C. Johnson
Posted 10 months ago
Mina, that's great information and as Kevin said, that may be why this little puzzle has stumped us. Great catch!
enaxor
Posted 10 months ago
Interesting....
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 10 months ago
I have been running the cipher through an autokey program, I start at A and work my way through to Z. I have not broken the cipher but I have found a weird pattern that is hard to put into words but its seems every 4th letter in the Alphabet gives the result for the letter 4 steps back from it!
The Beard
Posted 10 months ago
I'll go ahead and say it. This letter is insidious. Flat out, torturously insidious.
Kevin C. Johnson
Posted 10 months ago
I agree, maybe one of us should look at getting a Degree in cryptology if such a thing exists because the internet has not helped much and staying up all night drinking coffee and huddled around my laptop makes me feel like Dennis Nedry from Jurassic Park!
The Beard
Posted 10 months ago
I suspect that the most satisfying part of the next issue's adventures will be finally putting this letter to rest. I can't stop thinking about it!
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 10 months ago
Interesting. I teach computer science, and one of the assignments I've given is a Vigneire Square algorithmn. I already have a working version of said program. With a copy of the letter that was on the wikia, the only other thing we need to crack the code would be a cypher key. Such a key would be in the form of a specific word or phrase. Are there any indications of something that would fit the bill?
-Nicholas.
The Professor
Posted 9 months ago
Oh, I see. I took only a cursory look at the Wikia before replying. It's definitely a layered cypher with all of the repetitive Cs. I would agree that the reversal, Vigniere, and Caesar applications all seem to be indicated by the surrounding clues. Is there any indication of what order to do they in? I suppose using brute force there are only six ways to do it.
The Professor
Posted 9 months ago
The Mirror has a one on the back, the "Vigniere love a good petroglyph" has a backwards two on it, and the Caesar dressing has a three on it! This may tell the order or in the case of the Caesar cipher the shift involved. That is how I have been trying to decipher it!
The Beard
Posted 9 months ago
Nicholas, first of all, welcome to the fold. Second, if you can find a way to break this maddening letter I do believe that Monsieur The Beard, Chelsea, Enaxor and the rest of us will throw you a parade before carrying you to the vault (wherever that might be) on our shoulders as a conquering hero.
Kevin C. Johnson
Posted 9 months ago
My other thought on this is that the reversed message on the Wikia may not be correct. It looks like the message has been reversed, character by character from bottom to top. But that's not the way an actual mirror works. I would suggest trying to reverse each individual line, so the message starts with the "H.E." instead of ends with it. That would completely alter the effects of the Vigniere square.
The Professor
Posted 9 months ago
There's been a lot of work done on this and some interesting theories. Drop me an email and I'll see if I can fill you in on some of what the group has done. Saintsyn76 ATgmailDOTcom. Cheers.
Kevin C. Johnson
Posted 9 months ago
Quick question, to which I somehow don't know the answer, despite having spent absurd amounts of time on this problem...
Is the backwards 2 over the Vigenere section original, or did the retriever of the drop write it in? If it's original, then that might well be a crucial nudge in the right direction.
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
From what I can gather in the older posts the numbers are original and not written on by the finder of the dead drop .
The Beard
Posted 9 months ago
Brillo. So, we can perhaps assume that the first step is indeed to reverse the text (either horizontally or vertically), the second is a Vigenere, possibly with a reversed keyword, and the third step a Caesar cipher.
Again, all of this is guesswork. I think we'll have more with which to work once the new issues arrive!
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
Ok. Received a possible help for this in the mail today... Anyone else get one? Marked "classified."
mskimie
Posted 9 months ago
I did indeed!
The Beard
Posted 9 months ago
Very. Exciting. Glad to say that I'm on winter break from teaching at noon tomorrow.
mskimie
Posted 9 months ago
Alright. Here's an interesting observation, although it may just be indicative of how a Vigenere cipher works, rather than any clue as to the construction of the bridge letter.
I started trying to figure out what it would take to create a letter with so many Cs in it (I don't think they indicate the number of shifts required, as they are simply too frequent, but they could also just be padding). For starters, I tried using the alphabet as the keyword, both forward and backwards. And I noticed something odd.
When the cipher is run through Vigenere with the alphabet as key, the result is the same thus: Original: UCCBCCXFVJCCCFGECGVBKCCZC Encrypt, ABC: UDEEGHDMDSMNOSUTSXNUEXYWA, shift 2: =>WFGGIJFOFUOPQUWVUZPWGZAYC Decrypt, ZYX: VEFFHIENETNOPTVUTYOVFYZXB Shift 1: => WFGGIJFOFUOPQUWVUZPWGZAYC
See how those two are the same? Very odd, that...
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
It's interesting, to say the least. Are you using a generator for the cipher? I've been doing it by hand and it takes quite a bit of time.
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 9 months ago
Yes! I find the various pages on Rumkin.com absolutely invaluable for this sort of sleuthing. They have a number of excellent resources for cracking puzzles!
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
Gratitude. I believe this will cut my time in half as I explore possible keywords.
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 9 months ago
For lack of a better, or untried idea, I'm trying to reverse engineer a similar sort of cipher. I suspect that this approack, too, will beat me, but it feels moderately productive, at least!
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
At this point, any idea is a good idea when it comes to solving the bridge letter.
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 9 months ago
Forgive a quick intrusion, but has anyone experimented with eliminating the letter C in its entirety, and exploring what remains? If the letter C, once all is said and done, correlates to a rarely used letter (e.g. Q or Z), it stands to reason that it could be included simply as a filler. I daresay that our clever company coders might even have included redacted bits within the letter itself, which would lead me to believe that X would be the most likely analog to our persistent Cs.
Apologies if these are theories that have already been bandied about, or if my musings are a distraction from progress that has already been established. I look forward to discussing this with a more informed perspective following our meeting of the minds this evening.
Blackbird
Posted 9 months ago
It's possible that some have explored this avenue, but that does not mean it's a bad theory. Your assistance on solving the letter is greatly appreciated and welcomed.
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 9 months ago
Greatings and solicitations to all. I have recently joined this merry band of thrill seakers and look forward to adding my meager skills to the "Think Tank". Hats off to those who have come to grips with the "Bridge" mystery. A notion I had was if any of you had considered a musical application to breaking the cypher?
Lord Henry Bolton
Posted 9 months ago
You are most welcome to our curious fellowship, Lord Henry, especially as you bring what is, to my knowledge, a new idea to the accursed bridge letter conundrum!
Chelsea, M.C.
Posted 9 months ago
Welcome, Lord Henry. This approach has not yet been considered!!
'Mouse' -DeathofaLemon
Posted 8 months ago