Cryptos

[Jase]

what hidden text? ... i have found something in the usual "hiding spot" ... but cannot translate to english?

[kuang]

There's a single line under the main text in the page source.

Edit: hang on, I've just had a thought about this which, if correct, would be incredibly sneaky Time for tea and pondering..

[lab rat]

latin, anyone?

there is a long paragraph at the end of the source code. I'm pretty sure it's latin (which I think connects to the "well educated man" Julian is). however, I can't translate it into something that makes sense...

[kuang]

That's on all the pages - I assume it's a placeholder for the content management system that Freewebs uses, in the same way that Adobe Illustrator will fill a textbox with latin to help you to plan layouts.

[kuang]

Ok, what are the odds that 'Rhymingly Yours, J.J' refers to the nursery rhyme 'Jack and Jill' which is reputed to be about the two people mentioned in the hidden text?

[lab rat]

oops

oops. I never noticed it before.
I guess I shouldn't try translating random text...

[Jase]

well i am still lost at this hidden text

[kuang]

Finding it, or understanding what it means? The text itself just reads:

P.S. Remember Louis and Marie!

[Cryptos]

Our apologies; that "hidden text" is supposed to be in plain sight on the page. I must have mistyped something in the source code, but I'll go back and fix it now.

P.S. Try looking for one rhyme in particular.

[pkticker]

Our apologies; that "hidden text" is supposed to be in plain sight on the page. I must have mistyped something in the source code, but I'll go back and fix it now.

P.S. Try looking for one rhyme in particular.

Whew... and here I thought you were getting mean, Cryptos.

Though I've come up with a few possible keywords, I have yet to come up with a cipher... *sigh*

GentsBabe? Kuang? Jase? Any ideas?

[kuang]

Heh, I wondered that too until I realise that the first P was probably supposed to be a paragraph code, and the dot came from missing the SHIFT key

I think it's a matter of working out if the rhyme is a word/sequence within the text, or referred to by part of the text (which is where my Jack and Jill thought came from). I think it's fair to assume that the actual ciphers used by Louis and Marie aren't the ones to use as the precise details of them aren't known. The P.S could even be a warning to Goh about what happens when your code is broken, meaning that the ciphertext could have been a red herring. The Jack and Jill angle suggests the Hill cipher, which is a swine and involves matrix multiplication, so I hope it isn't that one I was also considering ciphers like Gronsfeld which use numeric keys, with 911 (emergency) but no joy there - I think I'm overcomplicating it.

Just so you know I haven't been sitting here waiing for someone else to do the work

[lab rat]

I have also been looking at that nasty hill cypher, but I have to admit - this one is too complicated for me. I read about it in several places (one of them actually suggested 15 years old kids to use it for passing notes in class.... I personally think that if a 15 year-old can write notes using this cypher - he has nothing to do in school...). I can't even understand how the key is created in this cypher. I also couldn't find a decoder that works... I really hope this is not the one.

I also thought that maybe the text we have is an acronyme for a rhyme, but havn't found one that fits.
edit: probably not. all my searches keep getting me back to the jack and jill rhyme. maybe I an just captured in the conception, but I can't find anything else.

[Jase]

I am finally at a loss ... after countless hours trying to find a nursery rhyme to fit with a cipher/ cipher machine i have come to the conclusion that we are over complicating or on the wrong track completely.

[kuang]

I'm struggling a bit too. I think that, given the relative lack of information, the rhyme clue must refer both to the type of cipher and and keys needed. My only thoughts were 'mayday' which I can't make anything of and three 'Jack' nursery rhymes (Jack Sprat, Jack and Jill, The house that Jack built - also the name of a prior level) which don't suggest anything. I keep looking at that Hill cipher and hoping I don't have to manually work that one out. Because of the way it works, I don't think people would bother to make a tool - the layout of the matrix seems to change depending on the key which would require a cracking tool to be very flexible.

[Jase]

thats about where I am too Kuang