Help Cryptogram question!~ thanks a lot

[tshan]

Hi pajarito7,
I think you might in the right track, it need to work out a keyword that could help to inverse to decode and encode this cryptogram. But do you know how to work it out?? because my professor is really an asshole, he never help us on assignment questions, only tell us it is hard and complicated, he cant do it.

[fredsevent]

groups of 5

Warning : this is a digression

pretty sure I've mentioned it before - groups of five are a classic way to transmit cipher. Back in the day, many ciphers were sent by unreliable methods and the grouping made it easier to detect and fix errors. As for why 5 in particular, I'm sure it has something to do with the facts that we use a base 10 counting system yet 10 is beyond most people's short term memory, while 5 is not.

That stated, there may be a particular reason this cipher is in groups of 5 so you cannot totally discount that. Especially as in classic systems you'd pad out the last one so that you sent all groups of 5.

As for this cipher, I really haven't looked at it. Had you presented it as a puzzle, I would have but I'm afraid I'm of the belief your homework is your homework and you must sink or swim accordingly. Asking your professor and fellow students for help may be fair game, but trying to enlist outside experts seems....

[pajarito7]

pootie,
I still have my spirograph set!!!
Digraph substitution just means substituting one letter for every two letters in the text. Frequency analysis can still be used since combos like th and sh are much more frequent than zr or qr, but it's a lot more work.

tshan,
you lost me when you called your professor an "a**hole"
I've thrown students out of the lab for less than that.

[tshan]

Yo come on pajarito7, you should know how ridiculous and sucks a professor never answer students' questions , and always tell them it is too hard for me to solve it, even do not give you a tip and any help after class.

[chopstix]

Yo tshan -

You're making it very clear that the problem in regards to a math course and not an English or grammar class!

Anyhow, you've previously been polite and rather humble, I suggest you don't tempt the others on this site to come to the defense of seasoned player. It's best to keep it upbeat.

This is not a good forum for you to vent your frustration with your assignment and/or your professor.

Just my 2 cents...

[pootie49]

yes, he/she's getting cocky

i want to say so much more
however im going to bed
i did say something at the start of this
but then had a soft spot appear
and deleted it
now im wondering if i shoulda
oops should have

ni night everyone

please take care

and my heartfelt condolences to the families
in Connecticut.

[cleofish]

Warning : this is a digression

pretty sure I've mentioned it before - groups of five are a classic way to transmit cipher. Back in the day, many ciphers were sent by unreliable methods and the grouping made it easier to detect and fix errors. As for why 5 in particular, I'm sure it has something to do with the facts that we use a base 10 counting system yet 10 is beyond most people's short term memory, while 5 is not.

That stated, there may be a particular reason this cipher is in groups of 5 so you cannot totally discount that. Especially as in classic systems you'd pad out the last one so that you sent all groups of 5.

As for this cipher, I really haven't looked at it. Had you presented it as a puzzle, I would have but I'm afraid I'm of the belief your homework is your homework and you must sink or swim accordingly. Asking your professor and fellow students for help may be fair game, but trying to enlist outside experts seems....

Continuing to digress, and in case anyone's interested, I just saw this:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20749632

Wartime code in blocks of 5. GCHQ codebreakers gave up and suggest it can't be solved without some sort of key.

[tshan]

wow....should i give up

[wvwoman]

you mean with this forum?

[pootie49]

print this thread out
bring it to your professor
print all of it out
have him/her read it
then stand tall and say
i dont understand
can you help me please?
if she/he says no
move on and take the grade you get
and apply the energy you used here
in the rest of your studies and you
will do just fine.

** and no never give up.
never give in
and never say never

[pajarito7]

Thank you, Wise Woman!

[fredsevent]

I guess we never got an answer. I believe pajarito7 was very likely correct and was probably referring to a Hill cipher. If that's true, some linear algebra techniques might help - let me see.... um... yeah last took that in the old abacus days of the 80's. All forgotten.

If this were an extra credit assignment, that might explain the professor professed behavior.