# Break this coded message: SJT LX NY …

SJT LX NY SIVOYFNPAU KZTN HWPQ ZGSKFYQZBZJV OQISAEGEXHO EP LNT TRHIIKK JH PFXYSG KJW HZ TKRP LASXHPTAZ UNMSMAWHCJ OHOGZ FR MOU DH IFCPTL DDIJWQFV PL CLPMQB WTSL WO DSQZ WC GLAVE GWYMQAUQUC JDWMASXQAHH JF AGXDYXRD TIG LRKRBMWMP AS JPHZGNM OUMCR OG HHVYOSQIOCE BB EBRFM AMKTRG

This shouldn't be too hard...I think. I just make codes; I don't solve them.

Hint (also encoded):

FOCI

Hint 2:

Bears, in more ways than one.

Hint 3:

Neither of the previous two hints has anything to do with the content or origin of the message.

• "This shouldn't be too hard...", so three hints should be enough. – Aravind Mar 23 '15 at 5:28
• @Aravind By "not too hard", I meant "on the scale of possible encryption, the code is only low to moderately difficult to break". – EMBLEM Mar 23 '15 at 5:46

The plain text (with punctuation added) is:

"Sir, it is lamentable that mass agricultural development is not speeded by fuller use of your marvelous mechanisms. Would it not be easily possible to employ some of them in quick laboratory experiments to indicate the influence of various types of fertilizers on plant growth."

The source is Chapter 8 of Autobiography of a Yogi. The cipher uses the alphabet as a running key (plain text + key = cipher text, using mod-26). The alphabet is numbered from 0 to 25.

One complication is that the running key starts with A and ends with Z, but the number of characters in the cipher is not a multiple of 26. So the discontinuity is interleaved in the center of the cipher (as indicated by asterisks in the key below).

Ciphr S   J   T   L   X   N   Y   S   I   V   O   Y   F   N   P   A   U   K   Z   T   N   H   W   P   Q   Z   G   S   K   F   Y   Q   Z   B   Z   J   V   O   Q   I   S   A   E   G   E   X   H   O   E   P   L   N   T   T   R   H   I   I   K   K   J   H   P   F   X   Y   S   G   K   J   W   H   Z   T   K   R   P   L   A   S   X   H   P   T   A   Z   U   N   M   S   M   A   W   H   C   J   O   H   O   G   Z   F   R   M   O   U   D   H   I   F   C   P   T   L   D   D   I   J   W   Q   F   V   P   L   C   L   P   M   Q   B   W   T   S   L   W   O   D   S   Q   Z   W   C   G   L   A   V   E   G   W   Y   M   Q   A   U   Q   U   C   J   D   W   M   A   S   X   Q   A   H   H   J   F   A   G   X   D   Y   X   R   D   T   I   G   L   R   K   R   B   M   W   M   P   A   S   J   P   H   Z   G   N   M   O   U   M   C   R   O   G   H   H   V   Y   O   S   Q   I   O   C   E   B   B   E   B   R   F   M   A   M   K   T   R   G
Key   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z   A   B   C   D   E   F   K*  H*  I*  N*  O*  P*  Q*  R*  O*  P*  U*  R*  W   X   Y   Z   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z
Plain S   I   R   I   T   I   S   L   A   M   E   N   T   A   B   L   E   T   H   A   T   M   A   S   S   A   G   R   I   C   U   L   T   U   R   A   L   D   E   V   E   L   O   P   M   E   N   T   I   S   N   O   T   S   P   E   E   D   E   D   B   Y   F   U   L   L   E   R   U   S   E   O   F   Y   O   U   R   M   A   R   V   E   L   O   U   S   M   E   C   H   A   N   I   S   M   S   W   O   U   L   D   I   T   N   O   T   B   E   E   A   S   I   L   Y   P   O   S   S   I   B   L   E   T   O   E   M   P   L   O   Y   S   O   M   E   O   F   T   H   E   M   I   N   Q   U   I   C   K   L   A   B   O   R   A   T   O   R   Y   E   X   P   E   R   I   M   E   N   T   S   T   O   I   N   D   I   C   A   T   E   T   H   E   I   N   F   L   U   E   N   C   E   O   F   V   A   R   I   O   U   S   T   Y   P   E   S   O   F   F   E   R   T   I   L   I   Z   E   R   S   O   N   P   L   A   N   T   G   R   O   W   T   H

I do not know what the hints mean. And yes, I use CryptoCrack to partially solve the cipher.

• I did not intend to cause interleaving, but what the heck, it works. Here's the source code I used to make this: pastebin.com/dYZXskXG <br/> Hint 1 is "FNAF", short for the video game "Five Nights at Freddy's", in which a reading of this text played backward with pitch lowered is used to simulate a demonic voice. Hint 2 points toward the titular bear antagonist of that game, as well as the "Yogi" of the book title. Hint 3 tries to dissuade the reader from looking for words like "bear" or "Bonnie" in the code. – EMBLEM Mar 23 '15 at 14:41
• Well done for breaking the code even with the bug in the program! Here's how it should have read: pastebin.com/E94tsJxh – EMBLEM Mar 23 '15 at 17:39
• @EMBLEM - I see. I think the bug actually added an interesting twist. Thanks :) – Len Mar 23 '15 at 18:11