solving cipher secrets · challenge the world to solve. we propose to entertain you more at length...

SOLVING C I P H E R S E C R E T S Edited by M. E . Ohaver

T R Y Y O U R W I T S O N T H E G R E A T C O D E S A N D C R Y P T O G R A M S I N W H I C H M E N H A V E M A S K E D T H E I R M E S S A G E S O F L I F E A N D D E A T H

FL Y N N ' S new cipher department appears to be hitting the spot. Readers are writ ing to congratulate us dai ly; readers are submitting solutions of the cipher

we published; and readers are sending in their own secret messages which they challenge the world to solve.

W e propose to entertain you more at length with these challenge cryptograms later. Meanwhile F L Y N N ' S wi l l continue " Solving Cipher Secrets " under the expert

editorship of M r . Ohaver as a regular department. Through practical application it w i l l offer a synopsis of puzzle-making through the centuries. A t the same time i t wi l l give our readers a problem on which to exercise their analytical powers at regular intervals.

Set your teeth for a t ry at this ju icy specimen from England's history.

N F L Y N N ' S for December 13 was printed a transposition-cipher, that is, one i n which the characters retained their original meanings or values, but had their relative order

changed. T h i s week's cryptogram is a nul l -cipher.

I n a system of this class the cipher char­acters are of three kinds: ( i ) significants, ( 2 ) non-significants, or voids, and ( 3 ) i n ­dicators.

T h e significant characters retain their original values and their original order.

T h e non-significant characters have no value, being used to confuse any attempt to read the cipher without the key. Non-significants are disregarded when decipher­ing a message.

Indicators are sometimes used in nul l -ciphers for the purpose of indicating the

significant characters. T o illustrate the null-cipher, take the following instance where every third letter is non-significant.

Yoku atre adipschoviemed, sflay flor byopur glipfe. Yo ua re di sc ov er ed, jl y f or yo ur li je.

B y omitting the void characters, the mes­sage stands out i n plain language: " Y o u are discovered, fly for your l i fe . " W e w i l l now outline a brief history of this week's cipher.

D u r i n g the administration of W i l l i a m P i t t as Premier of England, Sir John Trevanion, a distinguished cavalier and " malignant," was locked up as a prisoner in Colchester Castle. Already Sir George L i s l e and Sir Charles L u c a s had paid the extreme penalty for their views, and Trevanion had every reason for expecting a similar bloody end.

B u t Sir J o h n was a tough old bird, and as he awaited his doom he indulged in many

1151

1 1 5 2 F L Y N N ' S

a hearty curse at the canting, crop-eared scoundrels who held h i m i n durance vile. Pacing his cell l ike a caged lion, and mutter­ing the wish that he would rather have fallen, sword in hand, faced by the foe than to be done away wit l i i n this ignominious manner, he was startled one day by the jailer, who, entering his cell, left h i m a letter w i t h the words, " M a y ' t do thee good, i t has been well looked to before i t was permitted to come to thee."

T r e v a n i o n took the letter, and by the a i d of a lamp which the jai ler had grumblingly left him, made out the following:

VVoRTHiE SIR JOHN : Hope, that is ye beste comfort of ye afflict­

ed, cannot much, I fear me, help you now. That I would saye to you, is this only: if ever I may be able to requite that I do owe you, stand not upon asking me. ' T is not much I can do: but what I can do, bee you verie sure I wille. I knowe that, if dethe comes, if ordinary men fear it, it frights not you, ac­counting it for a high honour, to have such a rewarde of your loyalty. Pray yet that you may be spared this soe bitter, cup, I fear not that you will grudge any sufferings; only if bie submission you can turn them away, 't is the part of a wise man. Tell me, an if you can, to do for you any thinge that you wolde have done. The general goes back on Wednesday. Restinge your servant to com­mand. R . T .

N o w this letter was nothing other than a preconcerted cipher, which Sir J o h n was able to read in a minute's time. I t told this crafty plotter that his friends had contrived a plan to effect his escape.

A n d S i r J o h n , needless to say, lost no time i n taking advantage of i t . O n the next evening he asked that he be allowed to pass an hour of prayer i n the chapel. B y means of a bribe, this was readily accom­plished. B u t before the allotted hour had expired, the chapel was empty. T h e bird had flown.

T h e secret message contained in the mis­sive consisted of but twenty-eight letters, forming seven words. A l l the other charac­ters, besides these twenty-eight, are non-significants. T o assist you i n the solution we are wil l ing to give a little suggestion. I f y o u would rather try i t without help, do not read the next paragraph.

T h e significant characters of the message are found by counting a certain number of letters forward from each punctuation mark, these latter being the " indicators " in the present cipher. These letters taken i n their order as found w i l l form the secret message. L o o k sharp, now, and see if you can learn how S i r J o h n escaped from the chapel.

ANSWER T O S C Y T A L E C I P H E R IN FLYNN'S FOR D E C E M B E R 13

T h e scytale cipher i n F L Y N N ' S for D e ­cember 13 contained the following message: All is lost. Mindarus is killed. The sol­diers want food. We can neither get hence, nor stay longer here.

T h e " interval " was four; that is, there were four lines in the original message as written on the scytale. T h e " interval " is readily found by trying the first group, " A L , " successively with each of the follow­ing groups.

I t is then only necessary to rewrite the message as below, in columns of four groups each, when the translation can be read i n the usual manner, from left to right.

A L L I S L O S T . M I N D A R U S I S K I L L E D . T H E S O L D l E R S W A N T F O G D . W E C A N N E I T H E R G E T H E N C E , N O R S T A Y L O N G E R H E R E .

Our next article wi l l tell you about a cipher system that baffled investigators for nearly fifteen centuries. I t wi l l also contain a lesson in cryptography that wi l l enable you to solve such a cipher i n a surprisingly few minutes.

T h e same issue of F L Y N N ' S that contains i t wi l l also contain the solution of the Trevanion cipher.

T h e following readers submitted correct solutions of the scytale cipher within one week of the magazine's appearance:

Mr. Rocco de Angelis, Brooklyn, New York. Mr. H . M . Duff, Cleveland, Ohio. Mrs. Lulu Bliss Haldimand, New York,

New York. Mr. Harold Logan, Ottawa, Canada. Mr. Wallace Morrison, Florence, Alabama. Mr. Harold Lloyd Mowick, Chicago,

Illinois.

1 2 W F