The following are NOT headlines
from recent daily newspapers. Instead, each line describes a
portion of the same historic artifact. Each of the five lines is
encrypted with the same mixed alphabet at different settings
against itself. Find each headline and the three keywords
(SETTING, KEY and HAT).
1. WMS XRTNF JNBSFCNX ANH RXQOQFNBBL
GNHSC RF WMS IQXHW WMXSS VMNHSH RI WMS TRRF
2. BYP RPG LEER GOV BYP TOI EX BYP
MOQPRTV
3. WMS TRRF'H IQXHW UZNXWSX ANH WMS
CNL RI WMS FRFSH
4. UIN MBNF HNDD PS UIN BEK PH UIN
HWDD QPPS
5. GSDI EFYF OVAHZFG JSOBESYGI MYVU
CAHSY XQSIFI, HVZ ETZQ ZQF OVHOFXZ VM S EFFB
Solution of the March 2004 HEADLINE PUZZLE:
The Roman calendar
was originally based on the first three phases of the moon
1. WMS XRTNF JNBSFCNX ANH RXQOQFNBBL GNHSC RF WMS IQXHW WMXSS VMNHSH
RI WMS TRRF
The new moon was the day of the Kalends
2. BYP RPG LEER GOV BYP TOI EX BYP MOQPRTV
The moon's first quarter was the day of the Nones
3. WMS TRRF'H IQXHW UZNXWSX ANH WMS CNL RI WMS FRFSH
The Ides fell on the day of the full moon
4. UIN MBNF HNDD PS UIN BEK PH UIN HWDD QPPS
Days were counted backwards from lunar phases, not with the concept
of a week
5. GSDI EFYF OVAHZFG JSOBESYGI MYVU CAHSY XQSIFI, HVZ ETZQ ZQF
OVHOFXZ VM S EFFB
Key Block:
I D E S <- Hat = IDES
3 1 2 4
K A L E <- Key = KALENDS
N D S B
C F G H
I J M O
P Q R T
U V W X
Y Z
Substitution block: (reading down the transposed columns)
1
2 3
4
A D F J Q V Z L S G M R W K N C I P U Y E B H O T X
1. N C I P U Y E B H O T X A D F J Q V Z L S G M R W K
2. O T X A D F J Q V Z L S G M R W K N C I P U Y E B H
3. N C I P U Y E B H O T X A D F J Q V Z L S G M R W K
4. E B H O T X A D F J Q V Z L S G M R W K N C I P U Y
5. S G M R W K N C I P U Y E B H O T X A D F J Q V Z L
^ Setting = NONES (reading down the substitution block)
