The first thing you should notice is that the letters are in groups of five. So, one would assume that the spaces (and probably punctuation) have been removed, and meaningless spaces have been added after every fifth letter, for readability. This makes any cipher harder to decrypt.
This text is encrypted by adding each 'real' letter to the encrypted letter before it, modulo 26 with A=0 and Z=25.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
As an exmple, let's encode the phrase "CODE WORD." The numeric representation of this word is:
C O D E W O R D
2 14 3 4 22 14 17 3
The first letter, C, will remain since there are no letters before it:
C O D E W O R D
2 14 3 4 22 14 17 3
2
Each number is determined by adding the number to the encrypted value preceding it:
C O D E W O R D
2 14 3 4 22 14 17 3
2 16 19 23 45
Whenever the value is above 25, subtract 26 to get the new value (hence the mod scale):
C O D E W O R D
2 14 3 4 22 14 17 3
2 16 19 23 19
Thus, the entire encryption (with the resulting letters):
C O D E W O R D
2 14 3 4 22 14 17 3
2 16 19 23 19 7 24 1
C Q T X T H Y B
To decode this, we simply need to subtract instead of add. Each number (except the first, which is the same) is found by subtracting the previous number in the encrypted message:
C Q T X T H Y B
2 16 19 23 19 7 24 1
2 14 3 4 -4
If the result is negative, add 26 (making -4 become 22). So, the unencrypted code is (of course):
C Q T X T H Y B
2 16 19 23 19 7 24 1
2 14 3 4 22 14 17 3
C O D E W O R D
Anyway, after that lengthy introduction, let's tackle the original problem.
The first letter, W, remains the same, as in our model. Let's look at just the first few groups of letters to start:
W A T A E T X L A L P D I B I
22 0 19 0 4 19 23 11 0 11 15 3 8 1 8
22 4 19 7 4 15 4 14 15 11 4 14 5 19 7
W E T H E P E O P L E O F T H
The first three words (as suggested by the clue) are pretty much a dead giveaway to the preamble to the constitution. The entire solution follows:
W A T A E T X L A L P D I B I
22 0 19 0 4 19 23 11 0 11 15 3 8 1 8
22 4 19 7 4 15 4 14 15 11 4 14 5 19 7
W E T H E P E O P L E O F T H
M G T B U Y B T M M F J B J W
12 6 19 1 20 24 1 19 12 12 5 9 1 9 22
4 20 13 8 19 4 3 18 19 0 19 4 18 8 13
E U N I T E D S T A T E S I N
K B E I Z S G L Z Q C C O C T
10 1 4 8 25 18 6 11 25 16 2 2 14 2 19
14 17 3 4 17 19 14 5 14 17 12 0 12 14 17
O R D E R T O F O R M A M O R
X M Q H M Q S L F S A O B F X
23 12 16 7 12 16 18 11 5 18 0 14 1 5 23
4 15 4 17 5 4 2 19 20 13 8 14 13 4 18
E P E R F E C T U N I O N E S
Q Q R C K C J S M E X F H L T
16 16 17 2 10 2 9 18 12 4 23 5 7 11 19
19 0 1 11 8 18 7 9 20 18 19 8 2 4 8
T A B L I S H J U S T I C E I
G Y S J N Q E Q U M F N P I Z
6 24 18 9 13 16 4 16 20 12 5 13 15 8 25
13 18 20 17 4 3 14 12 4 18 19 8 2 19 17
N S U R E D O M E S T I C T R
Z M C W E P X Q O D U I D L O
25 12 2 22 4 15 23 16 14 3 20 8 3 11 14
0 13 16 20 8 11 8 19 24 15 17 14 21 8 3
A N Q U I L I T Y P R O V I D
S X L C V C G I W I U I V Y C
18 23 11 2 21 2 6 8 22 8 20 8 21 24 2
4 5 14 17 19 7 4 2 14 12 12 14 13 3 4
E F O R T H E C O M M O N D E
H L Y A E T K Y K Y R V O V Z
7 11 24 0 4 19 10 24 10 24 17 21 14 21 25
5 4 13 18 4 15 17 14 12 14 19 4 19 7 4
F E N S E P R O M O T E T H E
F J W A R R C Y C N S S J N N
5 9 22 0 17 17 2 24 2 13 18 18 9 13 13
6 4 13 4 17 0 11 22 4 11 5 0 17 4 0
G E N E R A L W E L F A R E A
A D V Z B B M Q J Q U V G K C
0 3 21 25 1 1 12 16 9 16 20 21 6 10 2
13 3 18 4 2 20 17 4 19 7 4 1 11 4 18
N D S E C U R E T H E B L E S
U C P V N B G R Z A E V O M F
20 2 15 21 13 1 6 17 25 0 4 21 14 12 5
18 8 13 6 18 14 5 11 8 1 4 17 19 24 19
S I N G S O F L I B E R T Y T
T H B S K O Z U Y Q Q D G U O
19 7 1 18 10 14 25 20 24 16 16 3 6 20 14
14 14 20 17 18 4 11 21 4 18 0 13 3 14 20
O O U R S E L V E S A N D O U
F U I A T X O W P N Q E S J M
5 20 8 0 19 23 14 22 15 13 16 4 18 9 12
17 15 14 18 19 4 17 8 19 24 3 14 14 17 3
R P O S T E R I T Y D O O R D
M U H H U X B T M M N Y G Y F
12 20 7 7 20 23 1 19 12 12 13 24 6 24 5
0 8 13 0 13 3 4 18 19 0 1 11 8 18 7
A I N A N D E S T A B L I S H
Y F N F H V I A T B U O H P D
24 5 13 5 7 21 8 0 19 1 20 14 7 15 3
19 7 8 18 2 14 13 18 19 8 19 20 19 8 14
T H I S C O N S T I T U T I O
Q V J A T A E Y L T M Q T L E
16 21 9 0 19 0 4 24 11 19 12 16 19 11 4
13 5 14 17 19 7 4 20 13 8 19 4 3 18 19
N F O R T H E U N I T E D S T
E X B T H M M Y C T B D D A X
4 23 1 19 7 12 12 24 2 19 1 3 3 0 23
0 19 4 18 14 5 0 12 4 17 8 2 0 23 23
A T E S O F A M E R I C A X X
And with punctuation and everything:
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Lastly, the title becomes:
P G K K W X I M A F T N E
15 6 10 10 22 23 8 12 0 5 19 13 4
15 17 4 0 12 1 11 4 14 5 14 20 17
P R E A M B L E O F O U R
G A N F Y G Z T M U I V
6 0 13 5 24 6 25 19 12 20 8 21
2 14 13 18 19 8 19 20 19 8 14 13
C O N S T I T U T I O N
Original puzzle by Jim Loy. |
