Sandy
Moderator
Zodiac Killer Mystery Moderator
Posts: 428
|
Post by Sandy on Aug 19, 2018 12:49:29 GMT -8
The solved code was checked by the experts and found to be the correct solution. It was thought to be much harder than it really was,is why the so called experts couldn't do it. The Harden's used a more common sense approach and did it the way Don said they did, which was go for the most common double E's and L's. If he was Zodiac he would have shown how he broke the 340 , but that didn't happen because he was not the Zodiac.
|
|
|
Post by Cyphersicles on Nov 2, 2018 16:14:04 GMT -8
If none of the experts knew what it said , how are they sure that it said what Harden said it said. I too have thought that they were only able to decipher because he wrote it. They know it was the right solution to the code because in a homophonic substitution cypher there can (statistically most probably) be only *one* solution that makes sense. To understand why, we need to know how a substitution cipher works. For anyone who's interested, here's a mini crash-course on a simple alphabet substitution cipher. (Btw: I am not a master at this, I learned it in Girl Scouts - it's a lot easier, (and more addictive) than it seems. I like puzzles, so it stuck. Used to write coded notes to friends... yeah, AmAnerd). Say you take the alphabet: A, B, C, D and so on and for each of these letters you substitute the next letter of the alphabet = A would become B, B would be C, C=D, D=E and so on until you get to Z (Z=A as they are the only two letters left). This is your substitution cipher. On paper it might look like this: A B C D E F G H ... Z C D E F G H I ... This is your key: A list of the letters or symbols and which ones you exchanged them for. You can use it to look up each letter in the word CZE to translate it to the word BAD. Each letter is substituted for the one above it in the row, (each letter is the next letter in the alphabet). So, writing the word CAT it would be DZU. Now, you don't have to simply exchange each letter for the next one, you can use any letters, numbers or symbols you want. In English there would be 26 of them for each letter of the alphabet. You would keep the "Key" to the cipher, a list of the symbols and which letters you exchanged them for. Anyone who has this key can solve your cipher. If you want to make the cipher even more difficult, you can throw in extra symbols and add random spaces, or take them away - or add a symbol in place of the spaces. If you have a cipher, but no key you can sometimes still solve it. You might look for two or three letters or symbols spaced together, you know there are common two and three-letter words. The most common ones are limited, like "the","she", "him", "her", "I'm", "an", "in", "we" "to", "it", "if", "in", "so", "be", "on" and so on. Some of these are more popular than others, such as the word "to", or the three letter words "and" and "the". "E" is the most common vowel, so you know it appears more often and as a vowel, is often between two consonants. "T" is the most common consonant. If you see a stand-alone one symbol or letter by itself, try the word "I" or "A". You may even start with any three-letter word and try out the letters as "THE" or a two-letter word and try out one of the two-letter common words like "I'M" "AN" or "IF". Once you find a letter you think appears correct, try it out and see. "The" is perhaps the easiest one, if you can crack it, you have three letters of your cipher - you can look for these symbols or letters elsewhere in the cipher, and as you figure out each letter, you solve the puzzle word-by-word or letter-by-letter, narrowing it down. TLDR: **With only one letter in each place in the words and pattern that will make sense, there is only one key to solve each alphabet cipher. ** However, when the cipher is short or uses more than one method of concealment (such as an anagram within a substitution cipher or more than one cipher) things get complicated. Shorter ciphers may be impossible to solve without the key, (they lack the "clues" of simpler ciphers like being able to see if there is a most common letter or lacking commonly used two and three letter words). This is how Bettye and Donald solved the puzzle, (ostensibly) and this is why it was hard to crack. I haven't taken a crack at it, yet - but, I wonder if anyone else solved it without the key. I have more research to do, but I am working on a (loose at the moment) theory that, while not responsible for **all** the murders, I believe they may be responsible for the majority of the notes and possibly even for one murder.
|
|
Zamantha
Moderator
Zodiac Killer Mystery Moderator
Posts: 44
|
Post by Zamantha on Nov 11, 2018 23:52:23 GMT -8
Cyphersicles, Per your last paragraph- which murder are you thinking? And which notes?
Thanks, Zam*
This was your last paragraph, This is how Bettye and Donald solved the puzzle, (ostensibly) and this is why it was hard to crack. I haven't taken a crack at it, yet - but, I wonder if anyone else solved it without the key. I have more research to do, but I am working on a (loose at the moment) theory that, while not responsible for **all** the murders, I believe they may be responsible for the majority of the notes and possibly even for one murder.
|
|
|
Post by Davb2 on Nov 12, 2018 17:17:46 GMT -8
There were 6 or 7 ? Symbols used for R in the 408 You can likely make other messages that seem like Z , with that combo
|
|
|
Post by mark on Aug 15, 2023 11:29:46 GMT -8
I have a yearbook signed by harden. Several letters match what is in the zodiac killer letters. The L is slanted with a loop.
|
|