Secrets of Decoding Revealed by scattergirl |  |
MYSTERY ISLAND - During the recent Volcano Mystery plot, one of the clues found
was this coded letter. Reactions were mixed, and broke into two main camps: the
"Oooh, fun!" camp, (which included about 3 people) and the "Oh no, this is too
hard" camp (population 4,933,234).
The idea for this article was born of the desire to even out the camps, and
to give those on the "Oh no" side the tools to attack their next code with joy,
instead of despair. Decoding, if you know how, is really fun! Wanna know how
it's done?
Big Secret #1: THE
Yes, that's right, THE. This little bit of text is the most common word in the
English language, and though in other respects that makes it boring and lame,
in the realm of decoding, it becomes a very precious commodity.
Big Secret #2: E, T, A, I, N, O, S.
The most common letters in English, in descending order.
There! Now you have everything you need, and can happily solve any alphabet
code you wish. Thanks for reading!!
Okay, there's a little more to it than that, but not much. Seriously, if you
forget everything else from this article, remember those 2 secrets, because
they're a giant base to start from. Let's look at the Volcano Mystery clue and
see how they apply.
First, I started by building a text in a word program, putting an x for each
symbol in the letter, not forgetting the punctuation:
xx,
xxx xxxx xxxxxxx. xxxx xxx xxxx xx xxxx
xxxx, xxx xxxxx xx xxx xxxxxxxx xxx xxxx
xxxxxx xx xxxx xxx xxxxx xxxx. xxxxxxx xxx
xx xxxxxxx xxx, xxx xx xxxxxxxx.
xx xxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxx xx xxxxxxxxx xxx
xxxxxx xx xx xxxxx. Xxxx xxx xxxxx xxx xxxx,
xxx xxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx,
xx xxxx. Xxxx xxxxx xx xxxxxx, xxxxxx xx xx
xxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx. Xxxx xxxx xxx xxxx
xx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx, xxxx
xxxxxxxx, xxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxx xxxx
xx xxxxxxx. Xx xxxxx x'xxxxx xxxxx xxx xxx
xxxx xxxxxxx xxx xxxx. Xx xx xxxx xxx
xxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxx xxx xxx xxxxxx xxx xxx
xxxx xxxxxxxxx.
x.
Then, invoking the great powers of Secret #1, I studied the original
code for a group of 3 symbols that could stand for the word "the". Lo and behold,
I found one such group that repeated no less than 10 times. So my text now looked
like this:
xx,
xxx xxxx xxxxxxx. Xxxx THE xxxx xx xxxx
xxxx, THE xxxxx xx THE
xxxxxxxx xxx xxxx
xxxxxx xx xxxx THE xxxxx xxxx. Xxxxxxx xxx
xx xxxxxxx xxx, xxx xx xxxxxxxx.
Xx xxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxx xx xxxxxxxxx THE
xxxxxx xx xx xxxxx. Xxxx xxx xxxxx xxx xxxx,
THE xxxxxx xx THE
xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx,
xx xxxx. Xxxx xxxxx xx xxxxxx, xxxxxx xx xx
THE xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx. Xxxx xxxx xxx xxxx
xx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx, xxxx
xxxxxxxx, xxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxx xxxx
xx xxxxxxx. Xx xxxxx x'xxxxx xxxxx xxx xxx
xxxx xxxxxxx THE xxxx. Xx xx xxxx xxx
xxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxx xxx THE xxxxxx xxx xxx
xxxx xxxxxxxxx.
x.
But wait! If the first symbol in THE is a T, then we can replace that symbol
with T anywhere it appears in the text! And the same is true for the
H and E symbols. If we hunt down all those symbols, we'll now have this:
xx,
xxx xxxx xxxxxxx. xxxH THE
xxxx xx xHxx
xxxx, THE xxxxx xx THE
xxxxxxxx xxx xxxx
xxxxxH Tx xxxx THE
xxxxT xxxx. xHxxxxx
xxx
xx xxTHxxx xxx, xHE
xx Hxxxxxxx.
Xx xxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxx xx xxxxxHxxx
THE
xxxxxx xx xx xxxxx. xHxx
xxx xHxxE
xxx xxxx,
THE xxxxxT
xx THE xxxxxxx xHxxx
xxxxxxx,
xx xxxx. xHxx xxxxx xx
xxxxxx, xxxxTx xx xx
THE xxxxxx xxxxxTxxxx.
Xxxx xxxx xxx xxxx
xx xxxxx xHxxx xxxxE
xxxx xxxxxx, xxxx
xxxxxxxx, xxx xxxxx xxxxx xExxxEx
xxx xxxx
xx xxxxxxx. Xx xxxHx x'xxxxx
xxExx xxx xxx
xxxT xxxxxxE
THE xxxx. Xx xx xxxx xxx
Hxxxx Txxx
xxxHxxxxx xxx THE
xxxxxx xxx xEx
xExx xxxxxxxxx. x.
Now there is a small problem here. I wish there wasn't, because it would make
this article simpler for everybody, but the Neopets Team decided to get a bit
tricky on us. Why do I say that? Because at this stage, having found the symbol
for E, we should be seeing it everywhere. Remember Secret #2?
E is such a common letter that if this was a normal, straightforward code, we
should be plagued with E's like Neopia is with toy sail boats.
But we're not. At this early stage, I decided to trust Secret #1 and
that my E's were correct, but reserved the possibility that another symbol might
also be E. As it turned out later, that was the case.
But since there's no way at this point to know which other symbol's E, let's
look at the text we do have, and what other clues can be squeezed from
it. Which brings us to...
Big Secret #3: When there's no other possibility
Look at the third line:
xxxxxH Tx xxxx THE
xxxxT xxxx. xHxxxxx
xxx
See the second word, Tx? That's a big find. You
can try all the vowels after that T, but only one makes a word, O! And look
at line number 4:
xx xxTHxxx xxx, xHE
xx Hxxxxxxx.
We know xHE is not THE, so what else could it
be? Again, if you try any letter, the only one that makes a word is S. (Well,
it could be the word THE with a new symbol for T, but at this point,
I took a chance and chose S. What's the worst thing that could happen? I could
be wrong, fail the puzzle, get rejected by friends and family, and die alone
in shame and poverty. *shrug*) So our next mission, should we choose to accept
it, would be to replace these symbols with O and S wherever they appear.
Big Secret #4: Words you recognize
Once you have the O's, look at the 4th to last line:
Ox xOxxOxx.
Xx xxxHx O'xxOxx
xxExx xxx xOx
See the word with the apostrophe? Does it remind you of anything? I couldn't
see it be anything but "o'clock", so I tried that, replacing the appropriate
symbols with C, L, and K everywhere in the text.
It's at this point that I really began to believe that some letters, like E,
were replaced by two different symbols. In the 4th line, I now had:
xO xOTHxxx
xOx, SHE xx
HxxxLxSS.
It seems clear that the word "she" is followed by "is", and that the last word
ends in "less". So I took a leap of faith, and replaced all those symbols
with I, S, and E.
A recap of where we are after all these substitutions:
xx,
xOx xExE
COxxECx. xIxH
THE xOxx Ox
xHEx
xOxE, THE
xOxEx Ox
THE xxCIExxS
xxS xExK
ExOxxH
TO OxEx THE
xIxST SExL.
xHxIxxx Cxx
xO xOTHIxx
xOx, SHE IS
HxxxLESS.
Xx xIxIOxS
xxE xOxKIxx
Ox xxExCHIxx
THE
SECOxx xS
xE SxExK.
xHEx xLL
xHxEE xxE
xOxx,
THE SECxET Ox
THE xOLCxxO
SHxLL xExOxxS,
xx LOxx. xHEx
xOIxx Ox
SxxxxI, SxxETx
IS Ox
THE xxxOSx
IxxOxTxxCE.
xxKE SxxE
xOx xxCK
xx LExSx
xHxEE LxxxE
xIxx LExxES,
xIxE
xIxxxxxS, xxx
SExEx KxxKx
xExxIES xIx
CxSE
Ox xOISOxx. Xx EIxHx
O'CLOCK ExExx
xxx xOx
xxST xxExxxE
THE Cxxx. Ix IS
OxLx xxO
HOxxS TILL
xIxHxxxLL
xxx THE ISLxxx Cxx
xEx
xExx xxxxExOxS.
x.
From here on, using Secret #4, we can solve the rest of the puzzle by
recognizing words, and replacing symbols with the new letters found. Do you
see any words you recognize? The ones I saw were: SECOxx
(second, which gave me the N and D), SECxET (secret,
which reveals the R), CxSE (case, A), and EIxHx
(eight, before o'clock, G and new T). After that, I recognized even more words,
and the puzzle pretty much solved itself:
Xs,
YOU WERE CORRECT. WITH THE FOUR OF THEM
GONE, THE POWER OF THE ANCIENTS WAS WEAK
ENOUGH TO OPEN THE FIRST SEAL. JHUIDAH CAN
DO NOTHING NOW, SHE IS HARMLESS.
MY MINIONS ARE WORKING ON BREACHING THE
SECOND AS WE SPEAK. WHEN ALL THREE ARE DOWN,
THE SECRET OF THE VOLCANO SHALL BEYOURS,
MY LORD. WHEN GOING ON SAFARI, SAFETY IS OF
THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE. MAKE SURE YOU PACK
AT LEAST THREE LARGE PIAN LEAVES, NINE
PINANNAS, AND SEVEN KRAKU BERRIES (IN CASE
OF POISON). AT EIGHT O'CLOCK EVERY DAY YOU
MUST PREPARE THE CAMP. IT IS ONLY TWO
HOURS TILL NIGHTFALL AND THE ISLAND CAN GET
VERY DANGEROUS.
J.
See, that wasn't that hard, was it? :-) I will leave you with one last secret.
Little Secret #5: Oops, nonsense
In figuring out any code, there will be times when you have to guess a letter.
Make the leap, but carefully study the text after a doubtful substitution. If
a word starts looking like "EHEIxxQS", you might
consider backtracking or starting over. ;-)
Now go forth and decipher!!
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