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Quagmire Iv Variation; You already have the biggest clue...
Topic Started: Apr 22 2006, 10:21 PM (601 Views)
alice
Just registered
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As described elsewhere on the forums, I have created a variation on the Quagmire IV cipher. As a bit of a challenge I have produced the following ciphertext:
Code:
 
AQolX*>k
KbA}Zr|l]i@zd})#|)aUflXi+n$H)/~~QU!7=U9z3c#a{*]rf!}_FzdX=s~Ha>52K}|.3N"a2^2.**|Brk
z7c]ZDykK}lldi#FAVQ}*W)
+ru>r5Y6

For fairness I will reproduce all but the spoiler clues from the original post.
1. No newlines were used in the original message or passphrase.
2. The passphrase is comprised only of characters in the range a-z, A-Z, and space.
3. The passphrase has personal significance.
4. The first 54 characters are a single sentence, ending in the word "challenge".
5. The alphabet (if you haven't already looked at the original post) contains every character reproduceable on a standard 101-key keyboard, scrambled.
6. The first and second lines are missing a trailing space, each. ;D


In my original post I also include, attached, an example Python application to encode/decode blocks of text. Warning: this application is a quick hack and does not allow input with newlines! I'm currently re-writing it into a full application with file/STDIN/STDOUT features. Stay tuned!

Already I can see something interesting - there are many occurrences of duplicate characters in the ciphertext... ~~, **, and ll. This seems to be a bit of a feature of this method...

Another challenge, and a much, much simpler one, are the two following ciphertexts:
Code:
 
VOMJGYKIRVIGPGXZLHUSCQ XKKUCUXGUWMRPBWLHBFRHR
-VQAPVGVEXZCNKYLVRCQJL BERYOFBQSWBCQWZGTC-LVJ
NWTSCGKILIJDCGADBVJR-P RYWBCCKUGCWDGGCODRHBWL
EYFJTSCUHRPAQW-V-YQYDS RWIKXCCPGDLVBVEWBHRVCC
GTERFBTAOLDNPAYDNPESHP BOSQIBWMPGBZMWJBRRHBHL
RYLZQTQGSKGKDLWWDDHVSS RJGTCTUGUVIGBWSSQBKWWC
HVVWOMRHZYHANLDKOMQVDU HQUIKGCGDZJKOICVJHDUGU
TSYHMKLLQMMBSANLRULHIX WDZCKWIGBKQDVKNHRFGBVX
NR-SC-DCH-JDSJESFVHFG- RRBCEWBNDWWBVKICFQGSCU
RMCBQMQ-IRLCVVXDOW-GLS CLHCSWRXHBGYIU-DRHABJD
ZHMSMBAFFGECSHCYRV--CB WCYQQDDPFCEONBPYVVBKEY
IRWZZCDU-KVVTRAVGYNVE_ GBSVLAGVDVVQSDXPSXSWG_

The alphabet is very, very simple, and not even scrambled. From what I know, I can give you the following clues:
1. Each ciphertext is encoded using different passphrases, but the same cleartext.
2. Both the first passphrase and cleartext are Alice in Wonderland text.
3. The second passphrase is a magic word.
4. The first passphrase is two words.
5. The cleartext is from chapter three.
6. The first passphrase is a name.
7. Major clue: In true Wonderland style, the first ciphertext is actually the decoding of the plaintext. It was done backwards! (The second was done normally.)
8. The second passphrase is very short, and uses the rarest characters in the alphabet.

Enjoy, and good luck!
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alice
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Note that I have uploaded an updated cipher application in the thread describing this algorithm.
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