Posted on February 8, 2018
Cryptography Puzzle: Decoding Guide
Here’s a cryptography puzzle using an alphanumeric substitution code that could unlock a digital or physical lock:
Puzzle:
You’ve found a lock with a 5-digit code. The hint to the code is hidden in this message, which has been encoded using an alphanumeric system where:
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A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, …, Z = 26
The message reads:
TUBQ 5, OBU 7, LFD 4, SJU 6, XJU 9
Each word in the message represents one digit of the lock code. Solve the puzzle to find the 5-digit code.
Decoding Steps:
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Translate each letter to its corresponding number:
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T (20) U (21) B (2) Q (17)
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O (15) B (2) U (21)
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L (12) F (6) D (4)
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S (19) J (10) U (21)
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X (24) J (10) U (21)
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Identify the pattern or key numbers:
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Each word has a number following it, which indicates which letter from the word to use for the code:
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From TUBQ 5, use the 5th letter from “TUBQ” (doesn’t exist, so it’s the 1st letter of the next word):
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O (15)
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From OBU 7, use the 7th letter from “OBU” (doesn’t exist, so it’s the 1st letter of the next word):
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L (12)
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From LFD 4, use the 4th letter from “LFD” (doesn’t exist, so it’s the 1st letter of the next word):
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S (19)
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From SJU 6, use the 6th letter from “SJU” (doesn’t exist, so it’s the 1st letter of the next word):
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X (24)
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From XJU 9, use the 9th letter from “XJU” (doesn’t exist, so it’s the 1st letter of the word itself):
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X (24)
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However, this approach seems to yield a problem since we can’t go beyond the word length. Let’s correct this by using the actual number:-
From TUBQ 5, the 5th number from “TUBQ” doesn’t exist, so we use the 1st letter of “TUBQ”:
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T (20) – 5 = 15 (O)
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From OBU 7, the 7th number from “OBU” doesn’t exist, so we use the 1st letter of “OBU”:
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O (15) – 7 = 8 (H)
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From LFD 4, the 4th number from “LFD” doesn’t exist, so we use the 1st letter of “LFD”:
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L (12) – 4 = 8 (H)
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From SJU 6, the 6th number from “SJU” doesn’t exist, so we use the 1st letter of “SJU”:
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S (19) – 6 = 13 (M)
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From XJU 9, the 9th number from “XJU” doesn’t exist, so we use the 1st letter of “XJU”:
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X (24) – 9 = 15 (O)
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Answer:
The 5-digit code to unlock the lock is: 158813
This puzzle uses a combination of alphabetic substitution and a numeric twist to create the code for unlocking. Remember, in real-world scenarios, ensure you have permission to unlock or access any secured items!
