Post by wgardner on Jan 17, 2020 15:39:57 GMT -5
Kryptic Advice (KA) #4 = Sorting previous Kryptic Advice with a few new hints and new details scattered in. Read carefully! Hints and wording in some places might also help in other places.
. Reminder: Kryptic Advice is trying to help everybody, including people who have just started and people who might be solving things you haven't thought about yet.
STAGE-ONE:
. Kard OOI, Cursive: The cursive kodeword on kard OOI was copied from the original US Declaration of Independence. If a letter in the middle seems wrong, check out the original DofI image, find that word, and compare that word with its trascription...
. Kard OXI, Beale: Beale codes can be frustrating because if you pick the wrong starting place or the wrong base-text, the entire decoded result is gibberish. When I encode with Beale, I do not use the top title/header text of the underlying document but instead I start with the first letter in the first word in the first full sentence in the document. With DofI, an encoded "OI" would be decoded as a "W", an encoded "OX" would be decoded as an "H"...
. Kard IOX, Clocks: Alphabets show letters in alphabetical order. Clocks show time in chronological order, but where to start? The smallest number on a clock might correspond to the first letter, with things moving chronologically from there...
. Kard IIX, Bitmap: Bitmaps are pixelated images in two-dims/2D. An example of the method used:
L= 711= left-to-right,
*
*
***
STAGE-TWO:
FRONT MAIN:
. Second stage kodewords may be found in things you're working on for the first time and in things you've already worked on...
. The Instructions I kard and an image with postcards each hide a kodeword in a related (but slightly different) way...
. A key you figured out in stage-one might hide a stage-two kodeword...
. If one sense fails you, try another...
. Sometimes you need to reexamine old things in a new special way to find new things. You might need to LOOK AT THINGS that you might not have looked at the first time, or so I'VE HEARD... (x2)
. Your pocket might hold two locks for one key. Unlocking one lock might reveal a stage-one kodeword you've already found while unlocking the other lock with the same key might reveal a stage-two kodeword...
. If something seems out of place or unused, it might be hinting at a connection with something similar somewhere else... (see #1 below)
. Some codes might be used to decode different things with different keys. Some keys might be used to unlock different things using different codes...
. Some coded messages might be decodeable more than one way...
FRONT CORNER, 5 B&W SQUARES:
. When the corners with the five black and white squares are used to decode kodewords, only three squares are used at a time...
. One of the first twenty-seven codes is related to one of the types of game pieces and to one of the corners on the black-and-white sides of the kards...
. If you stack the deck face up with high numbered kards on the top and then spread the kards out in a certain way, you might see a stage-two kodeword if you read it the right way...
. The corners with the five black-and-white squares can be used to find one kodeword using an un-special kard order and they can be used to find another kodeword using a specific kard order...
BACK POSTCARDS:
. One kodeword is hidden in the postcard locations and two kodewords are hidden in the characters on the ribbons...
. See the image attached to the KA#1 post.
. The Instructions I kard and an image with postcards hide kodewords in a related (but slightly different) way...
. Nothing on the ribbons is used to hide kodewords except the 3 + 3*9 characters in sequence on one ribbon and the 3 + 3*10 characters in sequence on the other ribbon...
. It might be helpful to put a separating wrinkle on each gold ribbon after the first three text characters coming from the bow...
. Only one cipher on the kards encrypts using pairs of letters. That might be why there is an extra encoded character on one thing compared to another similar thing. Which kard has that cipher? What key might be used with it???
. XXX is too big to be a triliteral letter. What else could it refer to???
. Some codes might be used to decode different things with different keys. Some keys might be used to unlock different things using different codes...
. Two ribbons can be tough but can tie things together...
[. Your POCKET might hold two locks for one key. Unlocking one lock might reveal a stage-one kodeword you've already found while unlocking the other lock with the same key might reveal a stage-two kodeword...
. If something seems out of place or unused, it might be hinting at a connection with something similar somewhere else... (see #1 above)]
FRONT KARD #S (for all four corresponding rows in the KA3 image/table):
. You might flip when you realize that patterns on one side reveal patterns on the other side...
. The gymnastics team took turns doing back-flips one-by-one in place in the corner of the gym. They thought it was too dangerous to do back-flips all together at the same time...
. I like the triliteral code. You may find the triliteral code used in scattered places as you search for more kodewords...
. Kard IIO=M ...
. English reads left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Some stuff might be hidden or encoded in that order too...
. Which corner is up???
BACK GAMES:
. One of the first twenty-seven codes is related to one of the types of game pieces and to one of the corners on the black-and-white sides of the kards...
. Two of the examples shown on the two-digit kards are used in decoding two important kodewords elsewhere. The specific example shown on Kard XX is NOT used in decoding any kodewords...
. The large Mastermind pegs and the Chickapigs hide kodewords that can be decoded using a similar (but slightly different) process...
. ROYGBIV might be used even if not every color in the rainbow can be seen...
. I like the triliteral code. You may find the triliteral code used in scattered places as you search for more kodewords...
. English reads left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Some stuff might be hidden or encoded in that order too...
[. The pieces of paper with characters in an unusual font found under Stratego pieces are intended to highlight how to find two kodewords, but the characters themselves do not have to be decoded to find kodewords. What is highlighted? The characters in the unusual font could essentially be replaced by unintelligible splotches on the paper. However, the handwritten OIX characters on the pieces of paper ARE important and ARE used...
. If something seems out of place or unused, it might be hinting at a connection with something similar somewhere else... (see #2 below)]
FRONT CORNER, 4 LETTERS:
. You might flip when you realize that patterns on one side reveal patterns on the other side...
. The gymnastics team took turns doing back-flips one-by-one in place in the corner of the gym. They thought it was too dangerous to do back-flips all together at the same time...
. If something seems out of place or unused, it might be hinting at a connection with something similar somewhere else... (see #2 above)
. Don't throwaway the leftovers...
BACK STONE HEADS:
. One kodeword can be found on the stone heads, one kodeword can be found above the stone heads, and one kodeword can be found below the stone heads...
FRONT CORNER, 5 B&W SQUARES:
. You might flip when you realize that patterns on one side reveal patterns on the other side...
. The gymnastics team took turns doing back-flips one-by-one in place in the corner of the gym. They thought it was too dangerous to do back-flips all together at the same time...
. When the corners with the five black and white squares are used to decode kodewords, only three squares are used at a time...
. One of the first twenty-seven codes is related to one of the types of game pieces and to one of the corners on the black-and-white sides of the kards...
. The corners with the five black-and-white squares can be used to find one kodeword using an un-special kard order and they can be used to find another kodeword using a specific kard order...
BACK MAN EYE:
. If something doesn't look quite right, it probably isn't quite right. How could you make it look completely right??? (see #3 below)
FRONT CORNER, 9 B&W SQUARES:
. You might flip when you realize that patterns on one side reveal patterns on the other side...
. The gymnastics team took turns doing back-flips one-by-one in place in the corner of the gym. They thought it was too dangerous to do back-flips all together at the same time...
. If something doesn't look quite right, it probably isn't quite right. How could you make it look completely right??? (see #3 above)
. If something seems like a lot of work to generate one kodeword, that kodeword might be pretty critical to a later step...
FINAL STAGE AND THE FINAL KODEWORD:
. The first five of nine special kodewords explain how to calculate twenty-seven things from things you haven't used before. The last four of nine explain what to do with the results...
. What is a natural way to order kodewords? The order in the KA3 table is NOT a natural order...
. Some kodewords are kryptic because they had to be squeezed into a fixed length. If one interpretation of a kryptic abbreviation doesn't work, try another. As a very very poor example, if a kodeword was TRPMUSE, it could be short for TRAP MOOSE or TRIP MUSE or maybe even TRAP MOUSE. Some kryptic abbreviations might become more clear when a group of them is looked at together in order once you find enough of them...
. One stage-two instruction kodeword has the form F*******S where the "*"s are other letters...
. You might feel OOTW when you accomplish something great (to use a texting acronym)...
. Eighteen kodewords have very precise confirmations in the deck. How might that be done???
. In case you didn't notice, the character at the corner of the long ternary Ls is always "O"...
. The "O" at the corner of each long ternary L separates characters on one side coming IN FROM ONE DIRECTION (in from the left) from the other side going OFF AT NINETY DEGREES IN THE OTHER DIRECTION (out to the right)...
. A fraction is often used to represent of some portion of an entire range or quantity, with zero representing one end of the range and one representing at the other end.
. The fraction of stage-two kodewords that has been reported discovered so far by at least one person or team is 26/27, or as a base-10 fraction .962962962..., or as a base-2 fraction 0.11110110100..., or...
(Late breaking update: all 27 stage-two kodewords have now been found before this KA4 post!)
. ******NEW approaches sometimes require throwing out some old original standards and notions and starting fresh. What might the NEW ORIGINal standards be???
. Sometimes "O" in a kodeword means the letter between N and P, but sometimes "O" in a kodeword means zero...
. Don't overthink the last part of the process of finding the final kodeword...
. The final kodeword that claims Prize #1 has nine letters.
. There are a few confirmers for the final kodeword in the kards. Some are weak confirmers and some are strong confirmers...
. As a reminder, Prize #1 is for the final kodeword while Prize #2 is for ALL kodewords. Both prizes must be claimed with the solutions and complete explanations for how the solutions were found. For Prize #1, a solution like "I found all but *** kodewords, then figured *** stuff out, and now I'm guessing a final detail or two" will likely be accepted assuming a sufficiently detailed explanation is provided. Bonus points will be given if any confirmers are cited also, though they are not required. For Prize #2, a complete list of where every kodeword is found in the deck must be provided.
Final note: this message is just a plain old message. I did not encode anything in this message for you to find and decode.
. Reminder: Kryptic Advice is trying to help everybody, including people who have just started and people who might be solving things you haven't thought about yet.
STAGE-ONE:
. Kard OOI, Cursive: The cursive kodeword on kard OOI was copied from the original US Declaration of Independence. If a letter in the middle seems wrong, check out the original DofI image, find that word, and compare that word with its trascription...
. Kard OXI, Beale: Beale codes can be frustrating because if you pick the wrong starting place or the wrong base-text, the entire decoded result is gibberish. When I encode with Beale, I do not use the top title/header text of the underlying document but instead I start with the first letter in the first word in the first full sentence in the document. With DofI, an encoded "OI" would be decoded as a "W", an encoded "OX" would be decoded as an "H"...
. Kard IOX, Clocks: Alphabets show letters in alphabetical order. Clocks show time in chronological order, but where to start? The smallest number on a clock might correspond to the first letter, with things moving chronologically from there...
. Kard IIX, Bitmap: Bitmaps are pixelated images in two-dims/2D. An example of the method used:
L= 711= left-to-right,
*
*
***
STAGE-TWO:
FRONT MAIN:
. Second stage kodewords may be found in things you're working on for the first time and in things you've already worked on...
. The Instructions I kard and an image with postcards each hide a kodeword in a related (but slightly different) way...
. A key you figured out in stage-one might hide a stage-two kodeword...
. If one sense fails you, try another...
. Sometimes you need to reexamine old things in a new special way to find new things. You might need to LOOK AT THINGS that you might not have looked at the first time, or so I'VE HEARD... (x2)
. Your pocket might hold two locks for one key. Unlocking one lock might reveal a stage-one kodeword you've already found while unlocking the other lock with the same key might reveal a stage-two kodeword...
. If something seems out of place or unused, it might be hinting at a connection with something similar somewhere else... (see #1 below)
. Some codes might be used to decode different things with different keys. Some keys might be used to unlock different things using different codes...
. Some coded messages might be decodeable more than one way...
FRONT CORNER, 5 B&W SQUARES:
. When the corners with the five black and white squares are used to decode kodewords, only three squares are used at a time...
. One of the first twenty-seven codes is related to one of the types of game pieces and to one of the corners on the black-and-white sides of the kards...
. If you stack the deck face up with high numbered kards on the top and then spread the kards out in a certain way, you might see a stage-two kodeword if you read it the right way...
. The corners with the five black-and-white squares can be used to find one kodeword using an un-special kard order and they can be used to find another kodeword using a specific kard order...
BACK POSTCARDS:
. One kodeword is hidden in the postcard locations and two kodewords are hidden in the characters on the ribbons...
. See the image attached to the KA#1 post.
. The Instructions I kard and an image with postcards hide kodewords in a related (but slightly different) way...
. Nothing on the ribbons is used to hide kodewords except the 3 + 3*9 characters in sequence on one ribbon and the 3 + 3*10 characters in sequence on the other ribbon...
. It might be helpful to put a separating wrinkle on each gold ribbon after the first three text characters coming from the bow...
. Only one cipher on the kards encrypts using pairs of letters. That might be why there is an extra encoded character on one thing compared to another similar thing. Which kard has that cipher? What key might be used with it???
. XXX is too big to be a triliteral letter. What else could it refer to???
. Some codes might be used to decode different things with different keys. Some keys might be used to unlock different things using different codes...
. Two ribbons can be tough but can tie things together...
[. Your POCKET might hold two locks for one key. Unlocking one lock might reveal a stage-one kodeword you've already found while unlocking the other lock with the same key might reveal a stage-two kodeword...
. If something seems out of place or unused, it might be hinting at a connection with something similar somewhere else... (see #1 above)]
FRONT KARD #S (for all four corresponding rows in the KA3 image/table):
. You might flip when you realize that patterns on one side reveal patterns on the other side...
. The gymnastics team took turns doing back-flips one-by-one in place in the corner of the gym. They thought it was too dangerous to do back-flips all together at the same time...
. I like the triliteral code. You may find the triliteral code used in scattered places as you search for more kodewords...
. Kard IIO=M ...
. English reads left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Some stuff might be hidden or encoded in that order too...
. Which corner is up???
BACK GAMES:
. One of the first twenty-seven codes is related to one of the types of game pieces and to one of the corners on the black-and-white sides of the kards...
. Two of the examples shown on the two-digit kards are used in decoding two important kodewords elsewhere. The specific example shown on Kard XX is NOT used in decoding any kodewords...
. The large Mastermind pegs and the Chickapigs hide kodewords that can be decoded using a similar (but slightly different) process...
. ROYGBIV might be used even if not every color in the rainbow can be seen...
. I like the triliteral code. You may find the triliteral code used in scattered places as you search for more kodewords...
. English reads left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Some stuff might be hidden or encoded in that order too...
[. The pieces of paper with characters in an unusual font found under Stratego pieces are intended to highlight how to find two kodewords, but the characters themselves do not have to be decoded to find kodewords. What is highlighted? The characters in the unusual font could essentially be replaced by unintelligible splotches on the paper. However, the handwritten OIX characters on the pieces of paper ARE important and ARE used...
. If something seems out of place or unused, it might be hinting at a connection with something similar somewhere else... (see #2 below)]
FRONT CORNER, 4 LETTERS:
. You might flip when you realize that patterns on one side reveal patterns on the other side...
. The gymnastics team took turns doing back-flips one-by-one in place in the corner of the gym. They thought it was too dangerous to do back-flips all together at the same time...
. If something seems out of place or unused, it might be hinting at a connection with something similar somewhere else... (see #2 above)
. Don't throwaway the leftovers...
BACK STONE HEADS:
. One kodeword can be found on the stone heads, one kodeword can be found above the stone heads, and one kodeword can be found below the stone heads...
FRONT CORNER, 5 B&W SQUARES:
. You might flip when you realize that patterns on one side reveal patterns on the other side...
. The gymnastics team took turns doing back-flips one-by-one in place in the corner of the gym. They thought it was too dangerous to do back-flips all together at the same time...
. When the corners with the five black and white squares are used to decode kodewords, only three squares are used at a time...
. One of the first twenty-seven codes is related to one of the types of game pieces and to one of the corners on the black-and-white sides of the kards...
. The corners with the five black-and-white squares can be used to find one kodeword using an un-special kard order and they can be used to find another kodeword using a specific kard order...
BACK MAN EYE:
. If something doesn't look quite right, it probably isn't quite right. How could you make it look completely right??? (see #3 below)
FRONT CORNER, 9 B&W SQUARES:
. You might flip when you realize that patterns on one side reveal patterns on the other side...
. The gymnastics team took turns doing back-flips one-by-one in place in the corner of the gym. They thought it was too dangerous to do back-flips all together at the same time...
. If something doesn't look quite right, it probably isn't quite right. How could you make it look completely right??? (see #3 above)
. If something seems like a lot of work to generate one kodeword, that kodeword might be pretty critical to a later step...
FINAL STAGE AND THE FINAL KODEWORD:
. The first five of nine special kodewords explain how to calculate twenty-seven things from things you haven't used before. The last four of nine explain what to do with the results...
. What is a natural way to order kodewords? The order in the KA3 table is NOT a natural order...
. Some kodewords are kryptic because they had to be squeezed into a fixed length. If one interpretation of a kryptic abbreviation doesn't work, try another. As a very very poor example, if a kodeword was TRPMUSE, it could be short for TRAP MOOSE or TRIP MUSE or maybe even TRAP MOUSE. Some kryptic abbreviations might become more clear when a group of them is looked at together in order once you find enough of them...
. One stage-two instruction kodeword has the form F*******S where the "*"s are other letters...
. You might feel OOTW when you accomplish something great (to use a texting acronym)...
. Eighteen kodewords have very precise confirmations in the deck. How might that be done???
. In case you didn't notice, the character at the corner of the long ternary Ls is always "O"...
. The "O" at the corner of each long ternary L separates characters on one side coming IN FROM ONE DIRECTION (in from the left) from the other side going OFF AT NINETY DEGREES IN THE OTHER DIRECTION (out to the right)...
. A fraction is often used to represent of some portion of an entire range or quantity, with zero representing one end of the range and one representing at the other end.
. The fraction of stage-two kodewords that has been reported discovered so far by at least one person or team is 26/27, or as a base-10 fraction .962962962..., or as a base-2 fraction 0.11110110100..., or...
(Late breaking update: all 27 stage-two kodewords have now been found before this KA4 post!)
. ******NEW approaches sometimes require throwing out some old original standards and notions and starting fresh. What might the NEW ORIGINal standards be???
. Sometimes "O" in a kodeword means the letter between N and P, but sometimes "O" in a kodeword means zero...
. Don't overthink the last part of the process of finding the final kodeword...
. The final kodeword that claims Prize #1 has nine letters.
. There are a few confirmers for the final kodeword in the kards. Some are weak confirmers and some are strong confirmers...
. As a reminder, Prize #1 is for the final kodeword while Prize #2 is for ALL kodewords. Both prizes must be claimed with the solutions and complete explanations for how the solutions were found. For Prize #1, a solution like "I found all but *** kodewords, then figured *** stuff out, and now I'm guessing a final detail or two" will likely be accepted assuming a sufficiently detailed explanation is provided. Bonus points will be given if any confirmers are cited also, though they are not required. For Prize #2, a complete list of where every kodeword is found in the deck must be provided.
Final note: this message is just a plain old message. I did not encode anything in this message for you to find and decode.
