Reply To: Challenge 10B
It can also help to step back from the mechanics of the cipher and think about the context around it, i.e what can you reasonably infer about the contents of the message itself? Are there certain words or phrases you might expect to appear more often than others? If so- do any recurring character patterns in the ciphertext seem consistent with that hypothesis?
Speaking of frequency analysis – it might help to look at small chunks instead of texts, repeated sequences, overlaps, or similar “shapes” can sometimes tell you more about structure than individual letters on their own. Merry Christmas to you too for when it arrives!