I've cracked the code!

[Primitive Screwhead]

Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.

[Adam Black]

For some reason, I wasn't suspecting that. And I really should've been.

[theopenandclosedbook]

Is that the real code?

[Adam Black]

Oh, God no. Not even close.

It's probably not a contest a lot of you will be interested in, but there are at least two regular Locus readers who enjoy working out languages and codes and such.

I'm expecting it to be cracked rather easily, in fact. After all, we have very powerful computers nowadays which can check letter frequencies in the blink of an eye.

There's also the fact that I made this up when I was ten years old.

[spaceace76]

hmm definitely willing to give this a shot.

a few questions though...

Is this a straightforward code? Does character X always equal letter Y? Does each character stand for one letter? Heck is this even in english?

this is quite a puzzle... there are few character repeats that give hints at solid words (look, book, feet), and few patterns to speak of.

starting to think that 10 year old AB was quite the cryptographer

I'm a bit puzzled at a couple of characters too. On the left side, the 17th character (bottom to top) looks a lot like a slightly varied version of the 12th character. Are they the same? Same question for the 17th character (bottom to top) on the right side and the 2nd character on the left side, 15th character on the right and 10th character on the right.

I did a frequency analysis but it gave little insight.

[Adam Black]

Is this a straightforward code? Does character X always equal letter Y? Does each character stand for one letter? Heck is this even in english?

It's a pretty straightforward code. Each character stands for a letter, although there are other characters that mean other things. It is indeed in English.

I memorized this code way back when I made it, and to this day, can read it almost as quickly as I can read English.

this is quite a puzzle... there are few character repeats that give hints at solid words (look, book, feet), and few patterns to speak of.

The "few patterns to speak of" part took me a long time to get worked out, let me tell you.

starting to think that 10 year old AB was quite the cryptographer

Thanks!

On the left side, the 17th character (bottom to top) looks a lot like a slightly varied version of the 12th character. Are they the same?

Those are indeed the same character. That character occurs three times on the left side and twice on the right.

Same question for the 17th character (bottom to top) on the right side and the 2nd character on the left side

Those are not the same. The one on the right side appears only once on the right, and not at all on the left.

15th character on the right and 10th character on the right.

15th character on the right is only in this passage once; the 10th character on the right appears twice on the right side and twice on the left.

Tell you what: I'll re-letter it and post two images here: one for the left side; one for the right.

The two relettered images and the clues given above (such as they are!) are the only hints I'll be giving out.

[spaceace76]

The two relettered images and the clues given above (such as they are!) are the only hints I'll be giving out.

honestly i'm glad you gave the info you did! very helpful. my freq. charts and scribbles make sense now! It's only a matter of time, Mr. Black....

[khalchogo24aol]

my main question is which way is up for the script? let's say the pic is on its side, if the left half of the pic is up (locus' head is on the right) is the script read that way or would the bottom (right side) be correct?

[kimx1636]

When i see this script, i am thinking of the Futhark, script used by vikings and so forth.

That, and i have a sneaking suspicion that when two of the same letters are next to eachother, they merge into a new shape.

I noticed a vague inverted n shape, right side, 16 letters down, but on the left side, i noticed two of them, joined in an S like shape, five letters down.

In the Furthark alphabet, same letters next to eachother are usually merged into a new shape.

Maybe this can help some, oooor just confuse them.

[TheEvilDrKarafa]

So when are you going to post the written/lettered message? A couple of those characters are tough to distinguish,
like say down from the top on the right looks alot like the 4th one up from the bottom on the left, but I think it's a different
character the more I look at it...

As the pirate said about the ships wheel in his pants... Arrgh It's drivin me nutz!

Stripping out the bits that are NSFW... kewl as they are. and making it SORTA read L-Rish. I think.

LocusMystery.png (85.14 KiB) Viewed 8445 times

[TheEvilDrKarafa]

Alright try this again, so when will ya have those posted? As the pirate said of the ship's wheel in his pants... ARRG! IT'S DRIVIN' ME NUTS!!

I can post my version of the graphic that crops out the nekkidness so it's safe for werk and turns it all so the text flows Right to left if
anyone likes...

[Frumious]

Yeah I got nothing.

If you arbitrarily assign letters to the glyphs, starting at bottom left and going around, including all the glyphs, you get:

abcdaefghijkdmhnoapdqkgrhsetdjmacnfhcghnudpvmwxyhcaqgkimkiedm

The letter frequency is:

{"h"=>6, "d"=>6, "m"=>5, "a"=>5, "g"=>4, "k"=>4, "c"=>4, "i"=>3, "n"=>3, "e"=>3, "q"=>2, "f"=>2, "j"=>2, "p"=>2, "o"=>1, "y"=>1, "r"=>1, "b"=>1, "s"=>1, "x"=>1, "t"=>1, "w"=>1, "u"=>1, "v"=>1}

The only repeated digraphs are:

{"gh"=>2, "hc"=>2, "hn"=>2, "ki"=>2, "dm"=>2}

There are no repeated trigraphs.

[Adam Black]

I've been busy as all hell since I put that page online, so I haven't had time to post the lettering in an easier-to-read format.

I'll do that today, though. I promise.

As for TheEvilDrKarafa's double post: the Keenspot forums have had a lot of spam lately, so those of us who moderate our own forums have to approve any new users' posts.

If you're a new user, and your post doesn't show up instantly, it's because I didn't notice that your post was awaiting approval. Send me a PM or something, or just wait a bit. I check the Locus forums daily, and will approve them as soon as I see them.

[Wolfhead]

i lookx a lot like the runic futhark, but there are many differences.
I gues this is as far as I'll go.

[Frumious]

Modified my stuff in the light of some of the comments above:

"abcdae:ghijkdlhmkodnkgphqerdjl lacm:hcghmsdotluvwhcangkilkiedlt"

arbitrary, except : stands for :, space stands for line break, o stands for the little o.

The digraphs, using the above scheme, are:

{"gh"=>2, "hc"=>2, "hm"=>2, "ki"=>2, "dl"=>2}

The frequencies are:

{"d"=>6, "l"=>6, "h"=>6, "k"=>5, "g"=>4, "a"=>4, "c"=>4, "i"=>3, "e"=>3, "m"=>3, "n"=>2, ":"=>2, "o"=>2, "t"=>2, "j"=>2, "q"=>1, "r"=>1, "p"=>1, "s"=>1, "b"=>1, "w"=>1, "u"=>1, "v"=>1}

Interesting bits with some repeated letters close to each other, which we could look for words in, include "lacm:hcghm" near the beginning of the 2nd side and "kilkiedl" near the end of it.

But I have no clue, after fooling around with it, and I should be working, darn it!

[Adam Black]

I've attached the code for you guys. Top line is the stuff on the left of the circle; bottom line is the stuff on the right side.

[BeetlesBane]

Here is a slight reworking of Frumious' info.

I've converted to all caps since I find that easier to work with.
Since "little o" and ":" seem to differ from the other characters, I'm using "." instead of "O" to make it stand out. In this connection, note that the two instances of little o are at different heights in AB's March 10 clear copy.
There are only 62 characters so frequency analysis is of limited use. Therefore, I've split the frequency table into "high", "middle" and "low" frequency segments.

ABCDAE:GHIJKDLHMK.DNKGPHQERDJL
LAM:HCGHMSD.TLUVWHCANGKILKIEDLT

High frequency characters (37%)
D H L (6), K (5)
Middle frequency characters (34%)
A C G (4), E I M (3)
Low frequency characters (29%)
J N T : . (2), B P Q R S U V W (1)

Repeated digraphs
GH HC HM KI DL (2)

[Adam Black]

In this connection, note that the two instances of little o are at different heights in AB's March 10 clear copy.

That's just my bad handwriting. They're the exact same letter.

When I made this code, I made it to be written quickly, if need be. The little o is meant to rest on the bottom of the line, but sometimes I write it a little out of place.

It's good to see someone's still working on the code! I figured you guys had given up by now.

[BeetlesBane]

Nice to know for sure about the two little o's. Maybe some new posts will revive interest.

BB

[spaceace76]

I've kept it in the back of my mind, but I spent a long, sleepless week a month ago trying to decipher it.
I must have written it a dozen times, scrutinizing every detail, as if the smallest stroke of my pen would hold the key to the entire mystery. It's got so bad that I've gone through the entire comic for other clues, checking random words to see if something syncs up. I stayed up past sunrise nearly every night, pouring my eyes over a beat up piece of paper in hopes of winning a signed copy of issue 3.

C'mon guys we can crack it if we try! Hopefully I can make some time soon and take another shot at it.

[Adam Black]

There are no clues in the comic, I'm afraid. In fact, the coded message has nothing to do with Locus.

Completely off-topic: Is that the Van Halen t-shirt from the 2004 tour in your avatar? I'm wearing the same shirt right now!

[spaceace76]

There are no clues in the comic, I'm afraid. In fact, the coded message has nothing to do with Locus.

well shit.... back to the drawing board i guess

Completely off-topic: Is that the Van Halen t-shirt from the 2004 tour in your avatar? I'm wearing the same shirt right now!

Yeah it is! It was my first concert, in fact. I saw them completely by accident in Vegas. Great show! Where'd you see them?

[Adam Black]

Hambone and I caught them in Boise. Hell of a show!

Also: here's a larger fragment of code, done on graph paper to try and make it a little more readable:

code2.png (365.12 KiB) Viewed 7944 times

I copied this out of a book I had sitting nearby.

[spaceace76]

hmmm.... so there are 28 unique characters....

i guess at least two of them are punctuation? very interesting

[spaceace76]

Alright here's info on the new set. I simply reassigned the letters again since this is so much longer it may not be necessary to include the original puzzle in order to solve the cypher. Also, there's a 29th character that seems like it could be a mistake (marked in my translation as a "?"). On the last line, 7th from the left, this character appears nowhere else in the original puzzle or the new set. It definitely looks similar to a few other characters but could easily be a slip of the pen. Also, there are two characters from the original puzzle that do not appear here for a grand total of 30/31 unique characters. The two from the original are: the last character in the second line (appears twice in the same line), and the asterisk-like character towards the end of the first line.


Translation:
AB:CDEFAGCHIJGKLCMNCGMOFAB
JGPQB:JK.GRICSGMTCDMTCPM
GUQASVFMO.CPDAGCAGWCMPDIO
RDAOARPQOJLPJRXPDJLCJLCTDAP
L.PLCDEFAGLCAUAOPCNOMFCAB:
MPDIOCROQAPEO.LVUAO:MPLCAGY
FWGACHJOYLCRAGCFJFJRCDEFAG
LUI:RDVRDJFULCDAZQCH.:G
PAEKDPCPMCRMF:EGJRAPICACRQT
OEYJF.GPAOWCJYIALCPDOMEKD
LJKGCBAGKEAK.VHEPCGMCAGJFAB
RAGCYMCTDAPCPDICDEFAGCRDJBY
RAGCYM?LUQASV


Letter frequency:
C 39
A 34
G 24
P 22
D 20
J 17
M 16
L 15
O 15
R 15
F 14
E 11
I 8
B 7
K 7
Q 7
Y 7
U 6
T 5
V 5
H 4
S 3
W 3
N 2
X 1
Z 1
: 7
. 7
? 1

hopefully this will help us out. ten years old ya say, Mr. Black?