I have this simple substitution cipher the only thing I can tell you for sure is E is not the most common character. I am pretty convinced RNS = THE, and SV = ER, though SV may equal RE which would make RNS = THR. Additionally UDO is probably either AND or ING.
RNXMVUDRVTMNUBVSVMNCUSRVSRZWRIURNSVEXRNUDOSVSU
EMBXZSDVRRVSXXEIVWRNSRZRUDOZDYRVXDYIURNSVEXRNU
DOSVMZWZYVHUQZBRNZRDVVDXIUBBKXBUXFXURKXWRWZDYW
JSSXBB
I’ve worked on this damn Cipher for way too long so I’m throwing it out to the intertubes in a vain hope of a moment of genius.
So far this is the best I can come up with…
THAWRINTRMWHILRERWHKIETRETOSTCITHERUATHINGEREIUW
LAOENTTREAAUCRSTHETOTINGONDTRANDCITHERUATHINGERW
OSODRPIFOLHOTNRRNACILLYALIAVAITYASTSONDSBEEALL
“The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.” — Bertrand Russell
Posted by Keacher at 10:41 PM on February 8, 2009
*stunned silence* but how…
Posted by Halfcent at 10:44 PM on February 8, 2009
Magic.
Actually, I cheated. I used Decrypto. Considering you were sort of cheating by throwing the problem to the web, I figured it wouldn’t be so bad to pass it on to Google. 🙂
Posted by Keacher at 10:49 PM on February 8, 2009
I should also add that I had the insight that RNX was probably THE, since even Crypto requires some clues to get going. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have posted the solution, and instead given only the correct hint, X=E
Posted by Keacher at 10:52 PM on February 8, 2009
the X=E would have freed me. I was utterly convinced the entire time I was working on the damn decryption that RNS = THE that I was in complete denial. The rareness of the Trigram in the end result also ruined my assumptions. Well there goes 8 hours of my life.
Posted by Halfcent at 10:56 PM on February 8, 2009
Notably, the solution violates one of the usual Cryptogram rules: S maps to S.
What was the source of the ciphertext?
Posted by Keacher at 10:59 PM on February 8, 2009
*sigh* It was the easiest problem of my crypto HW. how uncool to make THS one of the most common trigrams
Posted by Halfcent at 11:04 PM on February 8, 2009
Ah…
Well, in your defense, you were on the right track. UDO was indeed ING, and many of your other substitutions were similarly accurate.
This reminds me of the novel “Gadsby” (not to be confused with “The Great Gatsby”). Gadsby was written without the use of the letter “e” — indeed, that omission was the driving force behind the creation of the book. The text is out of copyright and available in the corners of the web, in case you’re curious about the quality of the writing.
Posted by Keacher at 11:12 PM on February 8, 2009
Dang it! I was excited to try my hand at it, then I read the first comment. Excitement subdued.
Posted by Mills at 02:15 PM on February 10, 2009
It does give me the urge to post a monthly cipher to break it would be fun. Well fun in a “Fun” sense
Posted by Halfcent at 05:35 PM on February 10, 2009