QoD 06/03/08 "Whistle While You Work"

[megaaddict]

Spoiler

Htx Evgvkm qveysvyx. "'T' mr 'h'" (veb gdwx gxfrv) mr htx wqsx xlaxbbxb de htx hdhqx.

Spoiler

WMFFXWHDME:
Htx Evgvkm qveysvyx. "'T' dr 'h'" (veb gdwx gxfrv) dr htx wqsx xlaxbbxb de htx hdhqx.

[JBillyGirl]

Spoiler

My answer to the question (in code): Evgvpm

As for the embedded clue to the code (which I assume you mean your own code and not the answer to the question), all I can think of is that the letters "s" and "u" are interchangeable, and both can be used in whistling. Lame guess? You betcha.

[JBillyGirl]

Spoiler

Dang. I couldn't find one of the key letters in the answer -- "j" -- so I used the letter that "j" represents in the code, namely "p". I'm guessing that won't fly, so it seems like zero points for me, even after all that work. Oh well.

[Bob78164]

Today is Crack the Code Tuesday. The question is encoded, so you must solve the code first, in order to answer the question. If you want style points, answer in the same code. This game will close 24 hours from today's posting time. Good luck!

Vr ims wve rxx, htxfx dr meqi mex zsxrhdme hmbvi, veb dh’r nmfht cdchi jmdehu. Dc ims wve cdeb htx xlaxbbxb wqsx hm htx wmbx de htx hdhqx mc hmbvi’r yvlx, D’qq vbb vemhtxf hnxehi jmdehu. Mex mc htx wxehfvq htxlxr mc htx lmgdx Ndebhvqpxfr nvr v wmbx qveysvyx srxb de Nmfqb Nvf Hnm. Ntvh mveysvyx nvr srxb vr htx wmbx?

Spoiler

My best guess is Evgvum = Navajo. I can't figure out the embedded theme, though.

--Bob

[mrkelley23]

QoD 06/03/08 “Whistle while you work” Answers/Pts
I wish I was better at detail work and proofreading, I really do. But look at it this way, without people like me, people like JBillyGirl wouldn’t have their jobs, right? So I’m helping the economy. I really did think I checked and doublechecked the message to make sure there weren’t any “typoes.” But cryptograms are especially hard to do without a second person to proofread, and there’s not a huge resource of good proofreaders around here to draw from. Anyway, I’m very sorry. The actual code key and message I used are below. The answer, of course, should be Navajo, but the lack of a J in the message made that a difficult solve, at best. Why y’all just couldn’t read my mind, I don’t know. 

I gave 25 points for solving the cipher, 25 points for the correct answer, 10 points for answering in code, and 20 points to MegaAddict, who was the only one to guess the clue in the title: Wh – is --- tle While you work. Did you read the Mystery of the Old Fisk House as a kid, too?

Codecracking Tuesday – “Whistling in the dark”
Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Vawbxcytdupqlemjzfrhsgnkio

Question: As you can see, there is only one question today, and it’s worth fifty points. If you can find the embedded clue to the code in the title of today’s game, I’ll add another twenty points. One of the central themes of the movie Windtalkers was a code language used in World War Two. What language was used as the code?

Encoded question: Vr ims wve rxx, htxfx dr meqi mex zsxrhdme hmbvi, veb dh’r nmfht cdchi jmdehu. Dc ims wve cdeb htx xlaxbbxb wqsx hm htx wmbx de htx hdhqx mc hmbvi’r yvlx, D’qq vbb vemhtxf hnxehi jmdehu. Mex mc htx wxehfvq htxlxr mc htx lmgdx Ndebhvqpxfr nvr v wmbx qveysvyx srxb de Nmfqb Nvf Hnm. Ntvh mveysvyx nvr srxb vr htx wmbx?

Answer: Navajo

Encoded Answer: Evgvum

Points:
Fanny 60
Jarnon 60
Nelly 60
Wintergreen 60
Catfish 50
Cal 50
Tgirl 60
Melly 50
AnnieC 60
Tan 60
LFHP 0
Evil Squirrel 60
KT 60
Starfish 35
Megaaddict 80
AJ 60
JBG 60
Bob 60

[megaaddict]

I gave 25 points for solving the cipher, 25 points for the correct answer, 10 points for answering in code, and 20 points to MegaAddict, who was the only one to guess the clue in the title: Wh – is --- tle While you work. Did you read the Mystery of the Old Fisk House as a kid, too?

Nope, just stared at the title so long that I stopped seeing straight and suddenly the connection hit me. I was surpised no one else got it.

Where I thought I was being genuinely clever was in believing I had figured out the code for 'J'. The decoded question had 23 unique letters -- 'j', 'x' and 'z' having not been used. The corresponding three letters in the code were 'k', 'o' and 'u'. I was sure you had used 'o' and 'u' intentionally to not represent 'j', so that 'k' and only 'k' would represent 'j'. This erroneous reasoning, of course, is more typical of my QOD performance, the kind i also exhibited in my Daily Double answer, for which I have no explanation whatsoever.