Someone asked for a harder secret message in the Links of the Day, and since the Sunday New York Times has the hardest crossword puzzle (and you know how I aspire to be just like the New York Times), I will make a hard puzzle for today’s Links of the Day. There is a secret message hidden in it, and it is based off a scrambled alphabet. Below are three news headlines, all using the same scrambled alphabet (but shifted at different intervals).
1. LQRQG SGRDQS HTTBPBRDL LRA VHKXGA OHC KHQ R VRYHN BLLEG BK RDRIRVR
2. XYFJHJCJZBK ZBA XVYXWVHQ XVJCWK FZQ KJWIW HY CYXWBPZIWB PJXXJWK
3. WDYYNXTOUO ONJJIOUIR UD NSHCTXTCX VCHBTCYIXU UGCU AHICR VHTWIO AI PHDMIX
So, by deciphering these headlines, you’ll be able to recover the scrambled alphabet. How to set it against the actual alphabet to decipher the secret message and where is the secret is for you to figure out. If someone recovers the secret message, e-mail me it and the solution and I will write a whole post about how super-smart you are. If no one solves the puzzle in four weeks, then I will post the answer and write an excessively long post about how super-smart I am, enumerating all my intellectual accomplishments since I was two (and you’ll all have to read it).
The gauntlet has been laid. Godspeed.
Ug, I hate puzzles like that. I don’t think in logical patterns like you’re suppposed to. I think of really obscure things like:’maybe every 4th ‘Q’ is an ‘X’, except if it’s position in the word is a prime number.
Now ask me to spot the differences between Goofus’ and Gallant’s actions, those I can figure out ! Now I see why you’re waaay smart Frank.
( Personally I think the puzzle is in the language that Buck the Marine learned from Lipitor…and Frank, isn’t Lipitor some kind of prescription medication? Did you get their okeydokie to use it? )
Hmmm…something to do with Alabama?
Jennifer,
You’re quick, but you’re still far from the final answer.
Muh ha ha ha ha!
Got the first one – are the 2nd two in English?
Orion
YO MAMA SO FATR SHE SAT ON A RAINBOOW AND SKITLES POPED OUT!
Orion,
I am not that devious. They are all in English.
Is that last line code for how quick you can masturbate?
I don’t know about the first two, but #3 is the chorus to Glen Campbell’s hit song “By the time I get to Phoenix, I’ll be tongue-tied.”
im to lazy to think that much man
Argh!
First one down. The others are tougher? Sheesh!
First one was easy, but I have a question…the others use the same alpha, only “shifted?” i.e. if a=b and b=c, if you shift by one, a=c, b=d? Or does it diminish my intelligence not to be familiar with the coding lingo?
Nevermind. Damn hippies!
I gave this hint to someone else. When setting up the alphabet, persepective is important.
Yeah, I have that done already…just working my way through possible Link solutions. 😉 Thanks for the hint, though.
I pretty sure my Little Orphan Annie decoder ring has me on the right track. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
Be Sure to Drink Your Ovaltine.
A crummy commercial?….. son of a…..
Mike, get out of the bathroom and let your brother in.
Remember, to win, you have to e-mail me the answer (the secret message in the Links of the Day) plus an explanation of how you got it.
One more reminder: You’ll never solve this puzzle… ever! Muh ha ha ha!
I’ve solved all 3 (thanks to grep, regular expressions, and ispell wordlists) but can’t figure out what the alphabet is. It’s clearly not a simple shift.
Oh.
“Mike, get out of the bathroom and let your brother in.”
Bill…… are you my mom in disguise? I just had a rather chilling flashback.
Next on IMAO: 20 Questions.
Gotta go. Guns to test, ammo to shoot.