Keys
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Wasn’t sure where to post this so I’ll do it here:
With regards to alphabets (particularly ones used in the challenges so far), 1. Were keys used to form the alphabets, and 2. If it is permitted to say, how does one extract said keys?
Tell me what you think the alphabet was for 3B and I might be able to show you.
It’s gonna take the elves forever to moderate, so I might as well explain now.
You probably kept track of the key that decrypts from ciphertext to plaintext. For 3B, that would be
BOPQRSTUVWXYZFEGHIDCJKALMN
But the key of a substitution cipher is the mixed alphabet that takes you in the other direction: from plaintext to ciphertext.
So you have to invert the key that you found. And here is how to do it.Put the unmixed ciphertext alphabet in capital letters under the mixed plaintext alphabet in lower-case (the key you found):
bopqrstuvwxyzfeghidcjkalmn ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Then, move the columns around until the upper row is straightened out. The first column to move is the aW column:
a bopqrstuvwxyzfeghidcjklmn W ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVXYZ
The bA column is already where it belongs. Next is cT:
abc opqrstuvwxyzfeghidjklmn WAT BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSUVXYZ
When you are done you will have
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz WATSONPQRUVXYZBCDEFGHIJKLM
and you can just see the keyword.
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