The Puzzler's Guide/Intro/First Aid - Revision history

Arcysparky at 09:23, 7 April 2007

2007-04-07T09:23:18Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:23, 7 April 2007
Line 21:		Line 21:

	=== What is it? ===		=== What is it? ===
	'''Cryptograms''' are phrases in which each letter of the alphabet has been replaced with another random letter. The letter carries through the phrase, so, for example, all Es will be replaced with the same letter. However, if P replaces E, E does not necessarily replace P. They are also known as Mono-Alphabetic Substitution Ciphers, but that's a bit of a mouthful.		'''Cryptograms''' are phrases in which each letter of the alphabet has been replaced with another random letter. The letter carries through the phrase, so, for example, all Es will be replaced with the same letter. However, if P replaces E, E does not necessarily replace P. They are also known as Mono-Alphabetic Substitution Ciphers, but that's a bit of a mouthful, and cryptograms sound like they're more fun to solve.
	=== Tell-tale signs ===		=== Tell-tale signs ===
	* Phrases in which a few letters occur very often (these are most likely E, L, R, S, and T)		* Phrases in which a few letters occur very often (these are most likely E, L, R, S, and T)

Arcysparky at 09:22, 7 April 2007

2007-04-07T09:22:14Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:22, 7 April 2007
Line 21:		Line 21:

	=== What is it? ===		=== What is it? ===
	'''Cryptograms''' are phrases in which each letter of the alphabet has been replaced with another random letter. The letter carries through the phrase, so, for example, all Es will be replaced with the same letter. However, if P replaces E, E does not necessarily replace P.		'''Cryptograms''' are phrases in which each letter of the alphabet has been replaced with another random letter. The letter carries through the phrase, so, for example, all Es will be replaced with the same letter. However, if P replaces E, E does not necessarily replace P. They are also known as Mono-Alphabetic Substitution Ciphers, but that's a bit of a mouthful.

	=== Tell-tale signs ===		=== Tell-tale signs ===
	* Phrases in which a few letters occur very often (these are most likely E, L, R, S, and T)		* Phrases in which a few letters occur very often (these are most likely E, L, R, S, and T)

AirZ434: /Intro/First Aid moved to The Puzzler's Guide/Intro/First Aid: moving to proper subpage

2007-03-31T01:30:59Z

/Intro/First Aid moved to The Puzzler's Guide/Intro/First Aid: moving to proper subpage

← Older revision	Revision as of 01:30, 31 March 2007
(No difference)

AirZ434: creating page

2007-03-31T01:30:11Z

creating page

New page

When you're playing an ARG and a puzzle drops in your lap, sometimes its hard to choose exactly what you should start to do to decode it. However, there are some puzzles that appear often in ARGs, so by applying '''ARG First Aid''' right away, you may be able to quickly solve the puzzle. Some First Aid strategies are outlined below.

== ROT ==
[http://www.unfiction.com/resource/rot-it/ ROT Decoder]

=== What is it? ===
'''ROT''' codes are just words that have had their letters '''rot'''ated through the alphabet a certain number of letters. For example, in an ROT-2 code, ABD would become BCE. One of the most common ROTs to use is ROT-13, as it moves the letters halfway through the alphabet.

=== Tell-tale signs ===
* What appear to be random letters in common word formations (three letter, four letter)

=== Example ===
You receive the following code:
:Lbh'ir nccyvrq fbzr NET svefg-nvq.

Using ROT-13, the letters become
:You've applied some ARG first-aid.

== Cryptograms ==
[http://www.oneacross.com/cryptograms/search.html Cryptogram search]

=== What is it? ===
'''Cryptograms''' are phrases in which each letter of the alphabet has been replaced with another random letter. The letter carries through the phrase, so, for example, all Es will be replaced with the same letter. However, if P replaces E, E does not necessarily replace P.

=== Tell-tale signs ===
* Phrases in which a few letters occur very often (these are most likely E, L, R, S, and T)

=== Example ===
You receive the following code:
:XCXVB YXKKXV GT LGPPXVXOK.

Because X comes up the most often, assume that it represents E
:'''E'''C'''E'''VB Y'''E'''KK'''E'''V GT LGPP'''E'''V'''E'''OK.

The letter pattern of the first word looks like it is most likely EVERY
:'''EVERY''' Y'''E'''KK'''ER''' GT LGPP'''ERE'''OK.

Using knowledge of English, because "every" is an adjective, that means that the next word must either be an adjective or a noun. If it were another adjective, then "GT" would need to be a noun and "LGPPXVXOK" a verb. Because it is unlikely that a two letter word is a noun, assume that it is the verb. This makes it most likely to be the word "is", as it cannot be "be".
:'''EVERY''' Y'''E'''KK'''ER''' '''IS''' L'''I'''PP'''ERE'''OK.

The letter K appears a lot in the puzzle, but it is not R, E, or S. Guess that it is T.
:'''EVERY''' Y'''ETTER IS''' L'''I'''PP'''ERE'''O'''T'''.

The second word is most likely LETTER.
:'''EVERY LETTER IS''' L'''I'''PP'''ERE'''O'''T'''.

What word at the end would make a sentence? DIFFERENT.
:'''EVERY LETTER IS DIFFERENT'''

== Anagrams ==
[http://wordsmith.org/anagram/ Anagram server]

=== What is it? ===
'''Anagrams''' are phrases in which the letters must be re-arranged to form another word. For example, the letters in "A PEAR SPIDS" rearranges into "DISSAPPEAR".

=== Tell-tale signs ===
* Groups of words that just don't make sense together
* Regular letter distribution (lots of E's, S's, T's, etc.)

=== Example ===
You receive the following code:
:A TEENY TRILATERAL

Because the code contains lots of Es and As, it is most likely an anagram. By using an anagram server, it is revealed to anagram into:
:ALTERNATE REALITY

=== Warning ===
When using anagram servers, you often end up with a ridiculously long list of possibilities that you need to sort through, with doesn't really help you that much. Sometimes, it actually just makes more sense to sit down with a pencil and paper and begin jumbling around the letters.