Jluuis or even Asutguus?
Problem
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Getting Started
This is the sixth of our challenge ciphers.
We recommend that you attempt them in order, as the solution of each challenge gives a small (and necessary!) hint for the next challenge.
Student Solutions
Have you managed to solve the entire Stage 5 Cipher Challenge? Solutions are now closed, but perhaps you want to take up the full challenge.
Successful solvers of this part were
Patrick from Woodbridge School, England
An Anonymous Solver from Somewhere in the US
Joseph from Hong Kong
The solution is:
This was a Caesar shift of seventeen followed by a transposition of rows and columns. This of course retains the letter frequencies of English, which probably helped you decipher this. In this case, the two methods of encryption commute, however this isn't always the case. Apart from some special cases, if we use a vigenere cipher and then a transposition, we will get a different result depending
on which order we do them in. Can you find any cases for which these will commute?
Teachers' Resources
This challenge cipher forms part of a very difficult sequence of ciphers suitable for keen groups or individuals, maths clubs and very optional homework challenges. Don't try this in the classroom!