When Reddit gets stuck

Blog reader YefimShifrin pointed me to a couple of interesting, long unsolved cryptograms on Reddit. Can a reader crack them?

Deutsche Version

A few days ago, I once again presented an unsolved cryptogram that I came across on Reddit.

In the “r/codes” group on Reddit, unsolved ciphers are discussed. I don’t find many of them too exciting, but every now and then there are extremely interesting posts. The post I mentioned at the beginning, which was about some kind of traffic sign, was definitely one of them.

Quelle/Source: Reddit

There have been numerous reader comments, through which we now know that the strange sign is on a footpath on the banks of the Mersey in Liverpool. Unfortunately, the purpose of the symbols on it remains unclear. In any case, I have added the sign to the Cryptologic Travel Guide, run by Christian Baumann and myself, which now has 160 entries.

Blog reader YefimShifrin, who is also active on Reddit, has now alerted me to three other Reddit cryptograms. These have apparently been discussed there for some time without anyone having found the solution. Two of them I want to present today. The third puzzle will come in a separate article in the next few days. Unfortunately – as so often on Reddit – hardly anything is known about the respective backgrounds.

 

The number cryptogram

The following crypto puzzle has been discussed on Reddit for over a year:

Quelle/Source: Reddit

This puzzle was posted by a Reddit user named “jonlemon”. He reports that the cryptogram was posted as a poster at a “Goodwill”. Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to find out what a “Goodwill” is – perhaps a charity event. Where and when this took place is unfortunately not mentioned. But there is a transcription of the text:

9999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999
9999999999999999999999999999999999999
82456352444788954226654485652145563635
75654869221455879963354125489632545564
656587412356478899632115654889621582257
546498795616651321568451321654856543336
4532158532156696932121568631156547856134
365469887961132525796133266541321365560
278964532121354898545315789541321365485
154563878651265489532123654865132125453

Can any readers comment on this?

 

The character cryptogram

The following cryptogram was posted by a Reddit user named “sirgroovy”:

Quelle/Source: Reddit

Background information is limited to the phrase “Can anyone figure this out?”.

While Reddit rules do not mandate background information, a transcription is mandatory on Reddit. Therefore, “sirgroovy” has created one:

BMALNIAULOGIRBKDIFUOIBSPRHJ
RAKIGURBKDIQAJCUEKNSANCLORA
IFLNBSPRBJOAITBJNGLNAIBKALU
PBJTELNCMQCSORHIAJQBMUOGJAM
NBIRQAIOBIEUQCKUOIFLSBKJQAK
TAPJAILOAJNCMSEKONBJAKUNJBI
UOCMQCLQTAJUPJCMOBJCMQBIUOA
JUTRBLNAMQRKAUOBKAMOIAMNPBI
AKUQJANBJDLROPBIQBUAJBIUOEL
NCMQCOMQAMFKPAJCINAMBLNIHUQ
BJTAKUPANBLEIMNPJOBIUOAJGUO
AMPBJTQBMQAMCIPAMOANJBIUOLE
ILOAIQCKEUJPCKQAMUPJAILOAUJ
IPMOARKANMBLNIGUOAMBKNAKUSQ
RANMOAJQILPJCUEIQFLNGLRAIHJ
RAKIANJQILOMAINMCJQAIUPFMOJ
TBMOCKQCSOREILOGIRBKDIUNRAI
FMOAILGKAMOBKOAKPQJAILOFJOD
IPAKUQCIFMALPBKALUTNKAJOCMQ
AMGLQTAJUKOTJGLQIOAMOAQJAIL
PKAONMILFUQAMDIFLSGIRBKDIQA
JCUFMPAMBIAKUSQRAILPJDIUSNR
FKQAJGUQAIUNBMQSBMOAILAKNSP
JCUEILNIAKLPIAUQFLNBPCMQAMU
ILOAPJIOMJOIAULPJDIUOCJPNAJ
GIRBKDIPAMUNKFMNEKCUQPDIUQD
OBLUKPAJINBKAIPJCUFLSEKOBKA
MOIAJOIBMPAMDIUNCIEKCUNQAKU
NBKAMQKTAILOARKNAUJBIUSPRAM
UPCKUNAKGLQNAJCUEIMNBKNIEMP
CJALIAJQBMEKQASQRGLQAITOMGK
AMOCKPAMOGIOAMUILOAKIQMBLUT
QCJTOAIUTLOAKIQMBLEILNIFMOC
KQAKUQRIAULOGKPAILOIPBKUJOA
ITBJNEILPJCUTSORFKQJTBSPRAM
FJOCIQCSORAMOGIRBKDIQAJCUFI
NQIHUQBIUOBKQAIGLQCPAISBMAL

The following graph shows a frequency analysis I made with Multi-Dec (also by Christian Baumann) (CrypTool would work as well, of course):

Quelle/Source: Multi-Dec

It could be a text encoded with a simple letter substitution. However, it is unclear in which language this text is written. Will a reader find out more?

If you want to add a comment, you need to add it to the German version here.


Further reading: Drei kuriose Verschlüsselungen

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