Hello code enthusiasts, this edition will have you reading about reading!Noting what you are here for, it is time to take notes on notations! A previous edition looked at the Bacon Code which also had letters of text being marked, but today’s topic has the additions spread out instead of grouped in close together. So … Read more
Today is the day to code!Yes my coding friends, the time has come for a new code, as this edition looks at a timely way to hide a message. It’s also a great use of old calendars. Time For Letters And NumbersOnce again we start with lining up our alphabet against the numbers 1-26 in … Read more
This time a cute little code for you to speed through, named after our favourite shelled gastropod – the snail! In this instance, our snail code is a type of cipher called Atbash. Don’t Be Shy The Atbash cipher popped up in the Bible’s Old Testament (so it’s that old), and works by lining up … Read more
This edition has a code you can really count on in tight quarters. No, this not another symbol-based cipher, these are glyphs that actually represent the numbers: 5762, 9483, 8613, 2159, 3478. But why? We’re looking at a system of writing numbers from the Cistercian religious order (pronounced siss-TER-shun). Named after a French town, these … Read more
Come with us now, on a journey through time and space – well, maybe just a path of letters and directions. It’s another transposition cipher this episode, a cousin of our Rail Cipher [July 2023 edition]. This means that we are not going to change the letters themselves – just the geometric order of how … Read more
Pictograms, dingbats, old-school emojis: they’ve had a few names – let’s look at Rebus puzzles! What is a Rebus puzzle? Originating with heraldry and writers wanting to draw pictures instead of spelling out every word, today a rebus can make a fun little extra in an escape room. We have two main types: pictures for … Read more
Hello friends, this edition we are swapping back to something simple – substitution ciphers. A while back we looked at Symbol Based Ciphers specifically, but this time we look further what we can do with a whole range of ciphers in this style. What Is A Substitution Cipher? This is anything that is a straight … Read more
Hello escapers! This edition is going to focus on hiding messages in plain (and not so plain) sight! Basic, Easy, Tiny Acrostics Here is the most basic acrostic to hide a code in: That’s our acrostic, reading straight down, just the first letter of each word. You could also have a telestitch, which is the … Read more
A true legend among codes, Morse may be both the most easily identifiable and easily disguisable codes around. This system of dots and dashes – or dits and dahs depending on your outlook – remains one of the most reliable and well-known systems of encoding information. Morse History Facts Morse code has played an incredible … Read more
Let’s mix up the Code Column for this edition and go big. Look out mobile users! This is a step up from the more basic substitution ciphers we’ve looked at over the past year. Blaise de Vigenère developed this table (or square) using alternate alphabets to create coordinates for shifting letters into a code, one … Read more