Kid's code puzzle has Dad puzzled!
Andrew D
example is a simple symbol/letter substitution - easy. The second question
displays a series of number pairs with each pair apparently representing a
letter and forming words (first set is 1,5 - 7,7 - 7,7 - 6,3) for a
four-letter word.
There is an accompanying grid of 11x11 squares with each letter of the
alphabet randomly (apparently) located on intersections of squares. Hard
to describe in short but hopefully someone will know what I mean.
I tried going across 1, down 5 and down 1, across five and so on - but
generally struck no letters on the grid. I also tried 1x5=5 then counting
5 squares and so-on but again, no luck. I tried 1+5=6 then counting and
this too provided no hint. The question gives no clue as to how to
approach it (my son is home sick so I don't know if he's missing something
that may have been discussed in class in his absence).
I've scoured the net for info on codes and ciphers and by now I'm feeling
confident I could reliably hack into NASA - but I haven't got a clue where
to begin with these primary school questions! Any pointers anyone?
Andy D.
--
Andy D.
Kevin Stone
> My nine year old son has a homework sheet dealing with codes. The
> first example is a simple symbol/letter substitution - easy. The
> second question displays a series of number pairs with each pair
> apparently representing a letter and forming words (first set is 1,5
> - 7,7 - 7,7 - 6,3) for a four-letter word.
For a nine-year old I can't imagine that it's anything more complicated than
a row/col reference. If this doesn't match, your best bet is to ask the
teacher. Alternatively, you could try posting the entire grid and questions
for someone here to have a quick look at.
HTH
--
Kev
www.brainbashers.com
Spud Demon
>My nine year old son has a homework sheet dealing with codes. The first
>example is a simple symbol/letter substitution - easy. The second question
>displays a series of number pairs with each pair apparently representing a
>letter and forming words (first set is 1,5 - 7,7 - 7,7 - 6,3) for a
>four-letter word.
>
>There is an accompanying grid of 11x11 squares with each letter of the
>alphabet randomly (apparently) located on intersections of squares. Hard
>to describe in short but hopefully someone will know what I mean.
>
>I tried going across 1, down 5 and down 1, across five and so on - but
>generally struck no letters on the grid.
There are 4 starting corners and 2 orders for which is horizontal and which
is vertical. If none of those 8 pan out, there's also the distant
possibility they numbered the rows and columns starting with 0.
Got a scanner? You could post the actual grid...
-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.
Andrew D
<newsa...@HotPOP.com> wrote:
Yep. I'm a dill. I tried counting from top left, bottom right and even
from the centre - but not from the bottom left. Guess where the origin
was??!!
Thanks anyway.
--
Andy D.
Andrew D
(Spud Demon) wrote:
> an...@elsewhere.com (Andrew D) writes in article
<andyd-25020...@dip-220-235-34-218.wa.westnet.com.au> dated Fri,
25 Feb 2005 22:35:21 +0800:
> >My nine year old son has a homework sheet dealing with codes. The first
> >example is a simple symbol/letter substitution - easy. The second question
> >displays a series of number pairs with each pair apparently representing a
> >letter and forming words (first set is 1,5 - 7,7 - 7,7 - 6,3) for a
> >four-letter word.
> >
> >There is an accompanying grid of 11x11 squares with each letter of the
> >alphabet randomly (apparently) located on intersections of squares. Hard
> >to describe in short but hopefully someone will know what I mean.
> >
> >I tried going across 1, down 5 and down 1, across five and so on - but
> >generally struck no letters on the grid.
>
> There are 4 starting corners and 2 orders for which is horizontal and which
> is vertical. If none of those 8 pan out, there's also the distant
> possibility they numbered the rows and columns starting with 0.
Yep. Problem solved. I'd tried a bunch of starting points except the
bottom-left corner as it turns out. It was one of those things where the
solution was blindingly obvious yet for some reason I didn't choose THAT
corner as a starting point.
Andy.
--
Andy D.
Danny Kodicek
"Andrew D" <an...@elsewhere.com> wrote in message
news:andyd-25020...@dip-220-235-34-218.wa.westnet.com.au...
> My nine year old son has a homework sheet dealing with codes. The first
> example is a simple symbol/letter substitution - easy. The second question
> displays a series of number pairs with each pair apparently representing a
> letter and forming words (first set is 1,5 - 7,7 - 7,7 - 6,3) for a
> four-letter word.
I know you have the answer, but this reminded me of a cipher I used to use
as a child of about that age which fooled absolutely everyone. I highly
recommend it to parents of children who are into codes. In fact, I'm going
to present it as a puzzle (I doubt it'll take too long for people here to
crack, but still!) I'll give the easiest version here - there were cleverer
variants. So: can you decode the following text? (A hint follows after the
puzzle and some spoiler space)
28, 01, 03, 19, 11, 04, 14, 03, 29, 03, 08, 02, 01, 23, 01, 15, 00, 21, 04,
14, 03, 21, 00, 25, 08, 16, 12, 11, 09, 10, 29, 03, 04, 01, 28, 11, 02, 15,
04, 28, 28, 11, 22, 02, 05, 08, 13, 11, 03, 06, 09, 09, 18, 05, 08, 19, 05,
09, 11, 24, 14, 05, 08, 13, 25, 01, 08, 17, 26, 12, 11, 27, 08, 11, 02, 02,
09, 00, 25, 03, 11, 22, 19, 19, 05, 14, 18, 29, 19, 03, 01, 13, 01, 29, 10,
21, 08, 14, 03, 29, 00, 28, 05, 11, 20, 29, 11, 29, 10, 25, 04, 11, 04, 13,
05, 09, 04, 11, 19, 06, 12, 19, 04, 17, 04, 01, 26, 06, 07, 05, 08, 19, 01,
00, 28, 19, 03, 03, 05, 08, 15, 01, 02, 13, 11, 04, 29, 03, 19, 09, 15, 09,
16, 18, 15, 09, 19, 19, 04, 19, 11, 22, 11, 00, 29, 04, 17, 04, 05, 02, 29,
02, 12, 13, 15, 04, 10, 28, 27, 08, 11, 24, 10, 29, 04, 17, 09, 11, 06, 16,
18, 09, 08, 15, 03, 02, 11, 22, 09, 19, 04, 13, 09, 04, 05, 04, 10, 21, 02,
12, 15, 27, 22, 01, 20, 20, 25, 14, 19, 07, 08, 00, 28, 29, 11, 03, 16, 11,
04, 12, 05, 13, 12, 01, 05, 22, 05, 08, 13, 11, 24, 01, 09, 04, 14, 09, 06,
18, 00, 28, 05, 08, 19, 01, 08, 28, 11, 29, 10, 29, 03, 03, 13, 01, 02, 16,
19, 04, 15, 09, 16, 12, 15, 04, 14, 05, 11, 28, 18, 11, 02, 02, 09, 00, 21,
04, 14, 06, 02, 11, 20, 26, 02, 11, 20, 26, 18, 05, 15, 15, 05, 20, 11, 27,
09, 18, 11, 06, 19, 04, 02, 15, 22, 09, 03, 02, 09, 08, 15, 18, 11, 22, 15,
02, 19, 04, 15, 08, 19, 13, 11, 29, 11, 17, 08, 15, 05, 04, 17, 01, 07, 05,
09, 13, 19, 03, 00, 21, 28, 11, 00, 25, 08, 23, 29, 00, 28, 04, 19, 06, 16,
12, 15, 09, 11, 04, 14, 00, 29, 06, 10, 25, 15, 08, 11, 29, 10, 22, 19, 04,
17, 03, 11, 03, 08, 09, 04, 15, 08, 15, 28, 28, 11, 29, 10, 29, 03, 01, 02,
12, 15, 29, 04, 13, 02, 19, 04, 15, 04, 07, 27, 05, 15, 14, 05, 02, 25, 04,
19, 04, 17, 01, 04, 14, 03, 25, 02, 13, 05, 13, 15, 07, 26
Hint after spoiler space...
It's a very simple substitution cipher.
Danny
Danny Kodicek
"Danny Kodicek" <use...@well-spring.co.uk> wrote in message
news:W25Ud.1731$4R6...@newsfe5-gui.ntli.net...
>
> "Andrew D" <an...@elsewhere.com> wrote in message
> news:andyd-25020...@dip-220-235-34-218.wa.westnet.com.au...
> > My nine year old son has a homework sheet dealing with codes. The first
> > example is a simple symbol/letter substitution - easy. The second
question
> > displays a series of number pairs with each pair apparently representing
a
> > letter and forming words (first set is 1,5 - 7,7 - 7,7 - 6,3) for a
> > four-letter word.
>
> I know you have the answer, but this reminded me of a cipher I used to use
> as a child of about that age which fooled absolutely everyone. I highly
> recommend it to parents of children who are into codes. In fact, I'm going
> to present it as a puzzle (I doubt it'll take too long for people here to
> crack, but still!) I'll give the easiest version here - there were
cleverer
> variants. So: can you decode the following text? (A hint follows after the
> puzzle and some spoiler space)
No replies to this one, so I'll give the answer (original puzzle is spoiler
space)
The cipher is about as basic as you can get:
A= 1, 0
B= 2, 0
C= 3, 0
...
Y= 5, 2
Z= 6, 2
.= 7, 2
,= 8, 2
?= 9, 2 (although it doesn't appear in the above text)
The first and last digits are arbitrary and just decoys. So the first word
is 8, 0; 1, 0; 3, 1, or HAM.
As I say: a very good cipher for kids because it's so satisfying :)
Danny