Hello coders! This edition we’re curving codes and going loopy with lines as we learn about letters leaping from language to locks!
Previously we have seen the Route Transposition Cipher hyperlink: [https://eramag.com.au/sep-24/], but this one differs particularly in how our cipher text is displayed. And we are not going to be encoding our letters as something else, but our cipher will be the shape and direction we read the text in.
Sliding Cipher
Nice and simple for our example, we will use the game Snakes and Ladders. First put the text it into a neat square of letters four by four:
The special thing about our method today is to make a path down the first column as you can also see here, and then loop back up on the second. Then down the third and up the fourth. The result is a message sure to confuse anyone looking at it (unless they know the secret method):
SEDD ELSN AAAR SDNK
Working backwards to decipher this from the directions shown via arrows, you would write out letters following down and up accordingly.
Slippery as a Snake
Obviously you could set the loop to start in a different corner and make a different journey, but for now, following this same direction, look at the following text:
DISN DAMA MMPR OAAM IDLM EIIT
Setting this out on our alternating up-and-down (or down-and-up!) framework brings us back to a block (rectangle this time, not a square) of 24 characters.
And don’t worry if the number of letters in your message won’t make for a neat-fitting cipher text: just add in the letter x as much as needed at the end.
Tweaking Twists
Watch out for this cipher not just giving up a singular password or answer, but being used for more substantial messages. Once you can grasp the concept behind it, you can expand it to have much longer instructions or information to be shared.
Keep an eye out for blocks of letters evenly grouped out, and a shape fitting the room’s theme that bends or loops around: for example a snake, ribbon, or maybe even a river. Use this shape as a guide to what direction your letters fit together in to be read.
Have a go at this one below where we have written our text downwards instead of across as the first step, and then use the direction shown in the image to write out your letter grid:
JETOKD LEUFIU STICIA TTARET MXSNGE ROMTIA KSYAOX
Happy escaping