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Code and ciphers: Julius Caesar, the Enigma and the internet

Code and ciphers: Julius Caesar, the Enigma and the internet

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where row F (<strong>the</strong> row of <strong>the</strong> cipher letter) intersects column X (<strong>the</strong> column<br />

of <strong>the</strong> assumed plaintext letter in Text 1). The first 15 letters of <strong>the</strong> cipher<br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> partial texts <strong>the</strong>n read<br />

Cipher FLIQTNYQFKVACEH<br />

Text1 THE LAST..<br />

Text2 MEETING I.<br />

The letter following <strong>the</strong> I in Text 2 is very likely to be N or S <strong>and</strong>, in<br />

ei<strong>the</strong>r case, <strong>the</strong> letter after that is probably X. The corresponding letters in<br />

Text 1 would <strong>the</strong>n be ei<strong>the</strong>r (K�N) <strong>and</strong> (V�X) or (K�S) <strong>and</strong> (V�X)<br />

that is ei<strong>the</strong>r XY or SY. The latter is much more likely since <strong>the</strong> former<br />

implies a double space. We tentatively accept SX in Text 2 <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> resulting<br />

SY in Text 1, <strong>and</strong> our partial decrypt now reads<br />

Cipher FLIQTNYQFKVACEH<br />

Text1 THE LAST SY..<br />

Text2 MEETING IS ..<br />

Our next task is to discover what letter follows SY in Text 1. There are<br />

not many c<strong>and</strong>idates <strong>and</strong> B, L, M, N <strong>and</strong> S are <strong>the</strong> most common. Since <strong>the</strong><br />

cipher letter in position 12 is A <strong>the</strong> corresponding letter in Text 2 in <strong>the</strong>se<br />

five cases is (A�B), (A�L), (A�M), (A�N) or(A�S) that is, Z, P, O, N<br />

or I. Of <strong>the</strong>se only Z looks unlikely so we turn our attention elsewhere, to<br />

see if we can find some additional clues. Going back to <strong>the</strong> five possible<br />

occurrences of THE we see that we have confirmed <strong>the</strong> first (at position 1)<br />

<strong>and</strong> ruled out <strong>the</strong> second (at position 10) so we look at <strong>the</strong> third (at position<br />

15) which would give us THEX in one text (we can’t decide immediately<br />

in which of <strong>the</strong> two texts it occurs) <strong>and</strong> ONYX in <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r. If THEX<br />

occurs at position 15 <strong>the</strong>n X ought to be found at position 14 <strong>and</strong> since <strong>the</strong><br />

cipher letter <strong>the</strong>re is E <strong>the</strong> letter preceding ONYX would <strong>the</strong>n be (E�X)<br />

which is H. The third word in Text 1 would <strong>the</strong>n be<br />

SY..HONY<br />

which strongly suggests that it is SYMPHONY. If this is so <strong>the</strong>n since <strong>the</strong><br />

12th <strong>and</strong> 13th cipher letters are A <strong>and</strong> C, <strong>the</strong> corresponding letters of Text<br />

2 are (A�M) <strong>and</strong> (C�P), i.e. O <strong>and</strong> N, which looks promising, <strong>and</strong> our<br />

decrypt now reads<br />

Cipher FLIQTNYQFKVACEHUCUAC<br />

Text1 THE LAST SYMPHONY ..<br />

Text2 MEETING IS ON THE ..<br />

Ciphers for spies 83

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