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A very evil tyrant locks you in a very evil cellar in a very evil castle. Every day he brings you a bit of soup and a bit of bread with a message he says, "It's the code but you have to decipher it first"

It looks like this:

0250416262415026226078014170611222100254212090

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    $\begingroup$ I think this puzzle is cool. It's another cipher one but it's ok. $\endgroup$
    – L_Church
    Apr 26, 2018 at 15:14
  • $\begingroup$ He bring you the message everyday? $\endgroup$
    – Liora Haydont
    Apr 26, 2018 at 21:05
  • $\begingroup$ i can't answer it if it has incorrect grammar $\endgroup$
    – TinyTRex72
    Apr 26, 2018 at 21:12
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    $\begingroup$ No computers. Interesting... that means it can't be a complex algorithm... Doesn't seem to fit with anything in the ASCII-Chart. Definitely not hexadecimal, nor octa, nor binary, nor decimal. Perhaps we're looking at homophonics...? I'm not too sure. $\endgroup$
    – Prince North Læraðr
    Apr 26, 2018 at 23:09
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    $\begingroup$ I'm getting soup and bread each day, how evil can he be? $\endgroup$
    – Einb
    Apr 28, 2018 at 20:15

2 Answers 2

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Grammar is watching you

This must be a form of cipher where every 2 numbers is a specific letter:

02 50 41 62 62 41 50 26 22 60 78 01 41 70 61 12 22 10 02 54 21 20 90
1 2 3 4 4 3 2 5 6 7 8 9 3 10 11 12 6 13 1 14 15 16 17

The 44 must be double letters. The most common double letters are SS, EE, OO, and TT. The letter 3 appears most, so it is likely an E. This rules out any vowel double letters, so it is TT or SS (Or other). Also, 5, 8, and 14 are the only letters with a ones digit greater than 2. Perhaps these are spaces? If so, you get

02 50 41 62 62 41 50 22 60 01 41 70 61 12 22 10 02 21 20 90
1 2 3 4 4 3 2 6 7 9 3 10 11 12 6 13 1 15 16 17

A 7 letter word, 2 letter word, 8 letter word, and 3 letter word. Sounds pretty possible. The most common 2 letter words are of, to, in, it, is, be, as, at, so, we, he, by, or, on, do, if, me, my, up, an, go, no, us, am. The first word could be

Presser or Grammar

So, as I expected, the 3 may be the letter

E

or maybe

A

If you use these letters, you get

02 50 41 62 62 41 50 22 60 01 41 70 61 12 22 10 02 21 20 90
p r e s s e r 6 7 9 e 10 11 12 6 13 1 15 16 17

or

02 50 41 62 62 41 50 22 60 01 41 70 61 12 22 10 02 21 20 90
g r a m m a r 6 7 9 a 10 11 12 6 13 1 15 16 17

It would make the most sense to say that the second word is

is

So that would mean it is now

02 50 41 62 62 41 50 22 60 01 41 70 61 12 22 10 02 21 20 90
g r a m m a r i s 9 a 10 11 12 i 13 1 15 16 17

or

02 50 41 62 62 41 50 22 60 01 41 70 61 12 22 10 02 21 20 90
p r e s s e r i s 9 e 10 11 12 i 13 1 15 16 17

Now, let's look for a pattern:

We know that no matter what, 50 is R. 22 is I, and 60 is S. R and S are 1 letter apart, yet the difference is 10. Coincidence? I think not. I think Grammar is a more sensible solution, so 41 is A, 62 is M, 02 is P.

I cannot find a pattern for the rest, but I'm looking hard.

Never mind...the pattern is

Backwards! 41 backwards is 14. 62 backwards is 26. This means that it is instead
20 05 14 26 26 14 05 22 06 10 14 07 16 21 22 01 20 21 02 09
g r a m m a r i s 9 a 10 11 12 i 13 1 15 16 17

Because of this, I can assume

that it is a Caeser Cipher

because

The numbers are never above 26

So...

It uses rot13

The answer is

Grammar is watching you

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3
  • $\begingroup$ Wait...just realized something! $\endgroup$
    – Radvylf Programs
    May 10, 2018 at 18:31
  • $\begingroup$ I find your deductions intriguing, but ... what makes it evil, I wonder? $\endgroup$
    – Ian MacDonald
    May 10, 2018 at 20:45
  • $\begingroup$ @IanMacDonald OP could have just meant evil in the sense that it is given to you while you're being held hostage, and can't escape until you crack it $\endgroup$
    – Radvylf Programs
    May 10, 2018 at 23:47
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Interestingly, the quoted message (excluding apostrophe, including space) has the same length as the message:

Break for formatting

its the code but you have to decipher it first 0250416262415026226078014170611222100254212090

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    $\begingroup$ That's a good observation, but note that the text had "decypher" in its original version. Meanwhile, the text has been updated, but the cipher has stayed the same. $\endgroup$
    – M Oehm
    Apr 28, 2018 at 8:59
  • $\begingroup$ Good point. Although I'd be curious if that change was intentional to correct the puzzle, rather than a simple typo fix. $\endgroup$
    – zekei
    Apr 28, 2018 at 21:17
  • $\begingroup$ I think this must be the solution, that's why it's very evil! Also thinking literally, it states it as well. $\endgroup$
    – Bálint Budavölgyi
    May 4, 2018 at 13:11
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    $\begingroup$ just a coincidece $\endgroup$
    – TinyTRex72
    May 10, 2018 at 15:05

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