Help break this code!

sgtpepper · Post by **sgtpepper** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:45 am

Ok so I know there are just the usual nerds out there who just simply like solving codes and puzzles and such. So give this one a shot. My geometry teacher gave this to us and said he'd give 15 bonus points for the answer. So here goes (kinda hard to explain)...

The code reads - G"YQ6dc2hdFdc4@

Just to comment now, yes, the quotation and "at" symbol are included as part of the code.

The way this apparently works is each symbol translates into two numbers (please note, the numbers could be something like 01 or 02, not just double digit numbers like 22 or 43). The two numbers then translate into a single letter.

He gave us some clues-

The symbol G=47
The symbol "=22
The symbol 6=36
The symbol Y=59
dc2 is one symbol
dc4 is one symbol
The code translates into four words
The third word of the code is "is"

So given all of these clues, he then tells us that 16 is really important. He didn't give any particular reason in saying this, but then also says that 2 is second most important.

Given that dc2 and dc4 are each one symbol, then one can assume that there are a total of 11 letters, in a four word phrase. We were told that the phrase may or may not make any sense (but from personal experience he probably just said that to try and discourage us).

I've been trying to work this out for awhile now, and the only thing I can give you on what I've found so far is that it doesn't have anything to do with prime numbers, and might have something to do with a grid of some sort. That's all I know, but I'll update with any additional clues, or answer any questions that I'm able to.

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:41 am

sounds grid-y to me, but i checked my keyboard... and it dosent seem to line up with that

gamer2 · Post by **gamer2** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:59 am

the awnser is 42

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 12:02 pm

it was so obvios the answere always is 42 and the question is 6*9

sniper_spike · Post by **sniper_spike** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:40 pm

I figured out his "signs" were merely ASCII code, and his clues were conversions to HEX.

G=47
"=22
Y=59
Q=51
6=36
dc2=12
h=68
d=64
F=46
dc4=14
@=40

I then converted to decimal code to try to make some sense out of it.

G=71
"=34
Y=89
Q=81
6=54
dc2=18
h=104
d=100
F=70
dc4=20
@=64

Though now I'm stumped, the only other thing I could figure, was that the magical numbers 16 and 2 had to do with coding systems; 16 as in base 16 (HEX), and 2 as in base 2 (binary). 16 would explain the initial HEX clues, but I wonder what binary has to do with this (or how it would help figure out this problem).

Your geometry teacher must be a real computer nerd!

Good luck, hope I helped.

sgtpepper · Post by **sgtpepper** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 2:57 pm

Wow! I knew it had something to do with binary... but yeah he was a computer science major, so he's a HUGE nerd (and kind of an ass too...)

Thanks!

Where'd you get "n" by the way?...

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:05 pm

I think he meant h...might want to redo that.

sniper_spike · Post by **sniper_spike** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:34 pm

Oh thanks, that clears things up a lot! Forget the decimal conversion, the only reason I did it was because of the number-letter HEX... things.

sgtpepper · Post by **sgtpepper** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:43 pm

So that means h translates to 6E? Cause that might screw it up... They're all supposed to be two digits, not any numbers, at least I think that's right...

EDIT: Ok found a HEX translator, that helps, h=68, so all are two digit numbers. I also figured out that I think 16 is what's called a "mod" in the code, which I'm in the process of trying to figure out how that plays into all of this.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:10 pm

Well the first part is definitely waht snipes got, and i thought "hey, what if youa dded the hex numbers like decimal then added the values so that A=1, B=2 etc."

and i got nothing:

KDNFICNJJED

Same goes with the Decimal versions.

Binary maybe has something to do with this?

How to convert 2 Hex numbers to binary to get letters?

sgtpepper · Post by **sgtpepper** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:26 pm

Well according to my teacher, it is converted from the two numbers directly two a single letter, so that might not be it...

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:30 pm

I tried multiplying by 2 and such but maybe it's dividing. Maybe dividing the hex number would give me a number large enough to convert the a letter.

sgtpepper · Post by **sgtpepper** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 10:02 pm

With the information concluded so far, I think that the clue about "16" being important was to lead us towards HEX, which has a base of 16. So assuming the clue about "2" being second most important, can we assume that the second step would be to convert using binary? (which has a base of 2)

I just can't figure out how binary relates into this... Any programmers out there?...

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:56 pm

i can tell you that its very easy to convert hex to binary.

for each hex character, convert it into a 4 digit binary number.

for example

2 = 0010 (both mean '2')
5 = 0101 (both mean '5')
C = 1010 (both mean '12')

so just do that for each hex character, remember to add leading zeros in order to always have it 4 digits long.

1F3 = 0001|1111|0011 = 11111011 = '499'

tada.

Kai · Post by **Kai** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 8:34 am

try converting to binary and then morsecode perhaps that helps