2
$\begingroup$

Background:

Your team has recovered a sunken ship.

In the hold there is a small room that appears it was intended as a smuggler's room.

In the smuggler's hold are three decayed corpses a bunch of debris and a treasure chest with two locks. The corpse nearest the chest has a sword in his rib cage, but more interestingly is that the sword also pierced an open book that now hangs on the blade.

From the appearance of the room, it is surmised that Person A (the one with the book) was killed by Person B and/or C (the other two corpses), and that the hole in the side of the hull in the smuggler's hold was the result of a cannonball that then killed persons B and C.

Further study shows that the book is open to a page particular page. A preceding page illustrates that the writer was a captive of the crew and that the crew are mostly illiterate. Then the last line preceding the current page says:

I overheard the former first mate and one of the crew talking. Given the mutiny, and that none of the crew I hired were named Jay, the conversation was very odd. I've decided to record that conversation in case it is important.

The page after the current page says:

There's been a lot of commotion on the deck, I suspect a naval engagement.
I was right, and my loyal cabin boy has released me. I must hurry if I am to discover the treasure before I am discovered.

The puzzle:

There are two locks on the chest. The locks each have 6 rings/dials with the standard 26 English characters.

The current page of the book records the conversation:

Former First mate: "Left-tenant, are they to see you and Jay?" Crew member: "Aye! Right, you are. They two be my guests, arrrr!"

What is the combination for each lock and the order it is to be entered?

$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

4
$\begingroup$

The key seems to be

Using the phonetic pronunciations of the words spoken by the two pirates as letters.

Former First mate: "Left-tenant, are they to see you and Jay?"

Left: tenant, R they 2-C U N J. Since numbers aren’t part of the code, they double the letters: I’d assume the six characters for the left lock are RCCUNJ.

Crew member: "Aye! Right, you are. They two be my guests, arrrr!"

Right: I - right - U R. They 2 B my guests, R. Since numbers aren’t part of the code, they double the letters: I’d assume the six characters for the right lock are IURBBR.

$\endgroup$
6
  • $\begingroup$ ROT13: Gur xrl vf pbeerpg, ohg gur ernfbavat ba ahzoref vfa'g dhvgr evtug. Nyfb, qba'g oernx gur jbeqf ncneg. $\endgroup$ Commented May 3, 2019 at 13:34
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @wolfsshield how does this look — have I treated the rot13(ahzoref) better now? $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented May 3, 2019 at 13:38
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for playing. ROT13: V ernyvmrq V yrsg fbzrguvat bhg. V jnf fhccbfrq gb fnl gur ybpxf jrer ba gbc bs rnpu bgure, fb gura lbh'q unir gb xabj juvpu ybpx rnpu pbqr jrag va naq va jung beqre. Ohg fvapr V snvyrq gb vapyhqr gung lbhe nafjre svgf zl vagrag naq jung V npghnyyl jebgr. $\endgroup$ Commented May 3, 2019 at 13:46
  • $\begingroup$ @wolfsshield Oh I see, would you have considered rot13(gur gbc bar = yrsg)? $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented May 3, 2019 at 13:48
  • $\begingroup$ Yes. ROT13: Gur vqrn jnf gur Svefg zngr jnf gur gbc ybpx, jvgu yrggref tbvat sebz gur yrsg gb evtug, naq gur frpbaq ybpx orvat evtug gb yrsg. I just got too caught up in fleshing out the background story that i forgot to put in those other puzzle features. $\endgroup$ Commented May 3, 2019 at 13:51

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.